Market Intelligence: How and Why Organizations Use Market Research (Market Research in Practice Series)

233 Pages·2004·0.56 MB·English

by  Martin Callingham

[Half Title & Title Page — To be supplied by
Kogan Page]
MARKET RESEARCH IN PRACTICE SERIES
Published in association with The Market Research Society
Consultant Editors: David Barr and Robin J Birn
Kogan Page has joined forces with The Market Research Society (MRS) to pub-
lish this unique series, which is designed specifically to cover the latest devel-
opments in market research thinking and practice. Taking a practical, action-
oriented approach, and focused on established ‘need to know’ subjects, the
series will reflect the role of market research in the international business envi-
ronment. This series will concentrate on developing practical texts on:
■ how to use, act on and follow up research;
■ research techniques and best practice.
Great effort has been made to ensure that each title is international in both con-
tent and approach and where appropriate, European, US and international
case studies have been used comparatively to ensure that each title provides
readers with models for research relevant to their own countries.
Overall the series will produce a body of work that will enhance international
awareness of the MRS and improve knowledge of its Code of Conduct and
guidelines on best practice in market research.
Other titles in the series:
Market Research in Practice: Aguide to the basics, Paul Hague, Nick Hague and
Carol-Ann Morgan
The Effective Use of Market Research, Robin J Birn
Forthcoming titles:
Questionnaire Design
Business to Business Market Research
Consumer Insight
To obtain further information, please contact the publisher at the address
below:
Kogan Page Ltd
120 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JN
Tel: [phone]
www.kogan-page.co.uk
[Half Title & Title Page — To be supplied by
Kogan Page]
Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this
book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot
accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for
loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of
the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or any of
the authors.
First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2004 by Kogan Page Limited
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or
review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication
may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the
prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction
in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned
addresses:
120 Pentonville Road 22883 Quicksilver Drive
London N1 9JN Sterling VA 20166-2012
United Kingdom USA
www.kogan-page.co.uk
©Martin Callingham, 2004
The right of Martin Callingham to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 0 7494 4201 8
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
ACIPrecord for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Callingham, Martin.
Market intelligence: how and why organizations use market
research/Martin Callingham.
p. cm. -- (Market research in practice series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7494-4201-8
1. Marketing research I. Title: How and why organizations
use market research. II. Title. III. Series.
HF5415.2.C25 2004
658.8’3--dc22
2004002672
Typeset by Datamatics Technologies Ltd, Mumbai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Creative Print and Design (Wales), Ebbw Vale
Contents
The editorial board vii
Introduction 1
1. Types of organization 5
Key points 5; Commissioning environments 7; Commercial
organizations 7; Not-for-profit organizations 11; Summary
of differences between the commercial and not-for-profit
sectors 20; Conclusion 21
2. Knowledge is the most important asset of a company 22
Key points 23; Company value 23; Different types of
asset 24; Knowledge as the ultimate asset 27; Management
of knowledge 28; Developing an information climate
for marketing 31; Conclusion 33
3. Decision making in an organization 35
Key points 35; Introduction 36; The psychology of decision
making 38; Handling change 40; The role of market
research 41; The international company 43; Conclusion 48
4. The market research function within an organization 49
Key points 50; The market research department 50; Consumer
insight 54; The power thing again 56; Conclusion 58
5. Buyer-supplier relationships 59
Key points 59; Types of buying 61; Proposing against a
written brief 63; Commissioning quantitative research 64;
Important factors when commissioning qualitative
research 67; Creating the qualitative list 70; Keeping the
client happy 71; Partnership relationship 76; Conclusion 77
6. The nature and scope of quantitative data 78
Key points 79; Competing paradigms 80; Formation of the
market research industry 81; Quantitative data 82; Market
analysis 83; The emerging new data 87; Characteristics of
v
Contents
quantitative market research data 90; The types of
quantitative market research data 94; Summary
of quantitative research 96; Conclusion 97
7. Qualitative information and its relationship
to quantitative information 98
Key points 99; The essential conflict between qualitative
and quantitative research 99; Quantitative research and
qualitative research are fundamentally different 103;
The challenges to qualitative research 105; Failures in
quantitative research 106; The difficulty of producing a
theory 108; Looking forward 110; Conclusion 111
8. Designing the research 113
Key points 113; What a market research design is 114; Who
does the design 115; The components of a design of research
116; Who has a stake in the design 130; Conclusion 135
9. Managing the research process from within the company 136
Key points 137; Having some form of process 137; The
elements of a process 138; The initial stages: the genesis of
the research 139; Managing the project through fieldwork
142; Transferring the information from the researcher
to the end-user client 145; The actual debrief 145; Post
debrief 147; Conclusion 147
10. Managing the results 148
Key points 148; How was it for you? 149; Incorporation
of the research into the knowledge of the business 157;
Conclusion 161
11. Knowing the future 162
Key points 162; Introduction 163; Thinking of a
consumer-led future 164; Taking control and determining
the future 171; Conclusion 172
12. Conclusion 173
Appendix: The Market Research Society Code of Conduct 179
Glossary of market research terms 205
References 211
Index 215
vi
The editorial board
CONSULTANT EDITORS
David Barrhas been Director General of The Market Research Society
since July 1997. He previously spent over 25 years in business infor-
mation services and publishing. He has held management positions
with Xerox Publishing Group, the British Tourist Authority and Reed
International plc. His experience of market research is therefore all on
the client side, having commissioned many projects for NPD and M&A
purposes. A graduate of Glasgow and Sheffield Universities, David
Barr is a Member of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow
of The Royal Society of Arts.
Robin J Birnhas been a marketing and market research practitioner for
over 25 years. In 1985 he set up Strategy, Research and Action Ltd,
which is now the largest international market research company for the
map, atlas and travel guide sector, and the book industry. He is a
Fellow of The Market Research Society and is also the editor of The
International Handbook of Market Research Techniques.
ADVISORY MEMBERS
Professor Martin Callingham was formerly Group Market Research
Director at Whitbread, where he ran the Market Research department
for 20 years and was a non-executive director of the company’s German
restaurant chain for more than 10 years. Martin has also played his part
in the market research world. Apart from being on many committees of
the MRS, of which he is a Fellow, he was Chairman of the Association
vii
The Editorial Board
of Users of Research (AURA), has been a council member of ESOMAR,
and has presented widely, winning the David Winton Award in 2001 at
the MRS Conference.
Nigel Culkinis a Fellow of The Market Research Society and member
of its Professional Development Advisory Board. He has been a full
member since 1982. He has been in academia since 1991 and is cur-
rently Deputy Director, Commercial Development at the University of
Hertfordshire, where he is responsible for activities that develop a cul-
ture of entrepreneurism and innovation among staff and students. He
is Chair of the University’s Film Industry Research Group (FiRG),
supervisor to a number of research students and regular contributor to
the media on the creative industries.
Professor Merlin Stone is Business Research Leader with IBM’s
Business Consulting Services, where he works on business research,
consulting and marketing with IBM’s clients, partners and universities.
He runs the IBM Marketing Transformation Group, a network of
clients, marketing agencies, consultancies and business partners, focus-
ing on changing marketing. He is a director of QCi Ltd, an Ogilvy One
company. Merlin is IBM Professor of Relationship Marketing at Bristol
Business School. He has written many articles and 25 books on mar-
keting and customer service, including Up Close and Personal: CRM @
Work, Customer Relationship Marketing, Successful Customer Relationship
Marketing, CRM in Financial Services and The Customer Management
Scorecard, all published by Kogan Page, and The Definitive Guide to
Direct and Interactive Marketing, published by Financial Times-Pitman.
He is a Founder Fellow of the Institute of Direct Marketing and a
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
Paul Szwarcbegan his career as a market researcher at the Co-opera-
tive Wholesale Society (CWS) Ltd in Manchester in 1975. Since then he
has worked at Burke Market Research (Canada), American Express
Europe, IPSOS RSL, International Masters Publishers Ltd and PSI Global
prior to joining the Network Research board as a director in October
2000. Over the past few years Paul has specialized on the consumer
financial sector, directing multi-country projects on customer loyalty
and retention, new product/service development, and employee satis-
faction in the UK, European and North American markets. Paul is a full
member of The Market Research Society. He has presented papers at a
number of MRS and ESOMAR seminars and training courses.
viii
Introduction
This is an unusual book because it is written from the client’s perspec-
tive. This is important to the market research industry as, without
client organizations, there would be no market research – it is they who
generate it. Given this perspective, the book does not address the tech-
nical nature of market research (there are plenty of texts about this), nor
does it look at advantages of doing it (there are many case studies to
testify to this); rather it examines how market research occurs in client
organizations.
Perhaps the single most important difference between working in
the using side and the supplying side is that in the using side there is
the constant need to be vigilant for ‘dark forces’ coming into play.
Although market research is mostly done within organizations for
straightforward logical reasons, there are occasions when much emotion
surrounds it and the research may become the centre of a power strug-
gle. It is when these comparatively rare situations arise that internal
researchers either do their job or not, and dependent upon this the status
of market research in the organization (and therefore the ability for this
to have a positive impact on the business) is determined. Often it is
possible to contain these types of problems before they become mani-
fest, and doing this is one of the most important functions of a research
manager. The ‘power’ and ‘political’ issues implicit in doing market
research are always in the background and therefore are a reoccurring
theme throughout this book.
A second theme that runs through this book is the one about the
basic quantitative – qualitative divide. The natural tendency for business
is to defer to numbers and to think that the world can be represented
1