Session 1

Agenda

• Instructor

• Course Overview

• What is Marketing?

• What is Marketing Research?

• Uses of Marketing Research

• Software Tools Used in This Course

About me

• Assistant Professor of Marketing

• Prior Education

  • BA in Economics, Yonsei University

  • MS in Statistics, University of Minnesota

  • PhD in Marketing, Cornell University

• Prior Work Experience

  • 4 years at Hyundai Motor Group

  • 2 years at the Republic of Korea Army

  • 4 years at the University of Hawaii

• Research Interest

  • Quantitative Marketing; Bayesian Analysis; Quasi-Experimental Methods

• E-mail: sungjin.kim@rutgers.edu

Introduce yourself!

• Name/Major

• Hobby

• Any Brand you love and why?

• Future dream job?

Agenda

• Instructor

• Course Overview

• What is Marketing?

• What is Marketing Research?

• Uses of Marketing Research

• Software Tools Used in This Course

Course Description

• Achieve core knowledge (e.g., terms, concepts, and technical words) of marketing research.

• We will use free software R.

  • Prior programming experience will help, but it is not necessary.

  • The aim of the course is not to learn “programming”

  • Rather, the aim is to learn how to analyze the data to make informed marketing decisions using a software tool, R.

• Focus on how to practically apply market research procedures and methods to real-world problems.

  • Understand the overall market research procedure.

  • Data Collection & Analysis Methods

• Relevance to your future job

What Will Class Be Like?

• The course adopts the “Tell-Show-Do” sequence.

  • Learning by doing; Learning from errors/mistakes.

  • Hands-on approach to learning Marketing Research

What Will Class Be Like?

• Through a combination of lectures, practical demonstrations, and assignments, you will acquire the necessary skills to apply scientific methodologies to marketing decision-making.

  • “Tell”: I will explain key concepts and models through lectures.

  • “Show”: After introducing theoretical foundations, I will show how you implement these concepts using R

  • “Do”: You will have lots of assignments designed to reinforce theoretical understanding and analytical skills

Texts and Course Materials

• Optional Text: Marketing Research by Alvin Burns and Ann Veeck or Marketing Research by V. Kumar, Robert P. Leone, David A. Aaker, George S. Day.

• Software: R and Rstudio.

  • R is a free data analytics software.

  • RStudio is a free integrated development environment (IDE) that helps you be more productive with R.

  • You can download them here: R and RStudio.

• Computer: Students are required to bring a laptop to the class.

  • Any laptops with Windows (Windows 7 or higher)/Mac/Linux OS with a minimum of 4GB RAM are available to use R and RStudio.

  • An iPad does not support R

Assignments and Assessments

• Class participation (Individual; 10%+\(\alpha\))
  • All students should read each assigned book chapter.
  • Please bring name cards to classes.
  • I emphasize quality of participation much more than quantity.
• Individual Homework (IHW) - 14%

  • Weight: ~2% per assignment (7 assignments counted out of 8, with the lowest score dropped).

  • Focus: Replication tasks to ensure students’ understanding of R applications demonstrated in class.

• Group Homework (GHW) - 20%

  • Weight: 4% per assignment (5 assignments total).

  • Focus: Case-study-based tasks encouraging students to think about real-world marketing research scenarios.

Assignments and Assessments

• Quiz - 6%
  • A single quiz designed to prepare students for the midterm exam and familiarize them with its style.
• Midterm Exam - 20%
  • Comprehensive assessment of concepts and skills from the first half of the course.
• Final Exam - 30%
  • A thorough evaluation of the entire course content, covering both theoretical and applied knowledge.

Agenda

• Instructor

• Course Overview

• What is Marketing?

• What is Marketing Research?

• Uses of Marketing Research

• Software Tools Used in This Course

What is Marketing?

What is Marketing?

• In short, “Marketing is meeting needs profitably.”

• Examples:

  • Tesla Electric Vehicles: Addressing demand for sustainable and high-performance transportation.

  • Netflix Streaming Service: Transforming how people consume entertainment.

  • Samsung Frame TV: Blending technology with home aesthetics.

• Marketing involves collaboration and learning from customers.

• Products and services are interrelated (e.g., GM offering cars as part of a service).

Marketing Process

What is Marketing Strategy?

Agenda

• Instructor

• Course Overview

• What is Marketing?

• What is Marketing Research?

• Uses of Marketing Research

• Software Tools Used in This Course

What is Marketing Research?

Marketing research is the process of designing, gathering, analyzing, and reporting information that may be used to solve a specific marketing problem.

What is Marketing Research?

• A more formal definition from the American Marketing Association is

  “the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information – information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve the understanding of marketing as a process?”

• Marketing research links the consumer to the marketer by providing information that can be used in making marketing decisions

Why Bother Learning Marketing Research?

• Marketing Research Jobs are the highest-growth job demand

  “The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics sees strong growth in the data science field and predicts the number of jobs will increase by about 28% through 2026. To give that 28% a number, that is roughly 11.5 million new jobs in the field.”

Agenda

• Instructor

• Course Overview

• What is Marketing?

• What is Marketing Research?

• Uses of Marketing Research

• Software Tools Used in This Course

Uses of Marketing Research

• Identify marketing opportunities and problems.

• Generate, refine, and evaluate potential marketing actions.

• Monitor marketing performance

Identifying Market Opportunities and Problems

• Some marketing research studies are designed to:

  • Identify consumer problems and pain points.

  • Evaluate solutions that address these problems.

• Example: Domino’s sales were struggling in early 2010.

• Domino’s conducted extensive marketing research through customer surveys, social media analysis, and focus groups.

• The research revealed two main problems:

  • Product Quality: Customers complained about the pizza’s taste (cardboard taste).
  • Delivery Issues: Frequent complaints about cold and late deliveries.

• Domino’s used the insights from this research to make drastic changes:

  • Recipe Overhaul: Improved pizza with fresher ingredients.
  • Tech Enhancements: GPS pizza tracker and better delivery logistics.

Generate, Refine, and Evaluate Potential Marketing Actions

• Selecting target markets

• Research product, pricing, promotion, and distribution options.

• Example: Apple iPhone Launch Strategy

  • Target Market Selection: Apple targets tech-savvy, premium consumers through market segmentation.
  • Product Research: Feedback from focus groups drives improvements in key features like camera quality and battery life.
  • Pricing Research: Competitive pricing based on customer surveys and willingness-to-pay data.
  • Promotion Research: Apple uses social media campaigns and influencer marketing to create pre-launch excitement.
  • Distribution Research: Apple ensures product availability through robust supply chain management and online/offline retail strategies.

Monitor Marketing Performance

• Marketing research helps companies:

  • Track sales and consumer behavior through data collection at various points of sale.

    • Coca-Cola uses point-of-sale (POS) systems in grocery stores and convenience stores, allowing them to adjust inventory and promotion strategies based on product performance.

  • Monitor brand performance using social media and other online metrics.

    • Coca-Cola monitors social media platforms to track customer sentiment and engagement with its campaigns.
    • They analyze hashtags, mentions, and consumer reviews to understand how their brand is perceived and identify emerging trends.

Marketing Research is Sometimes Wrong

• Most marketing research studies are trying to understand and predict consumer behavior, which is a difficult task.

Marketing Research is Sometimes Wrong: New Coke example

• Pepsi Challenge launched in the early 1980s:

  • Blind taste tests showed many consumers preferred Pepsi over Coca-Cola.

  • This campaign highlighted Coca-Cola’s declining market share.

• Coca-Cola conducted taste tests indicating consumers favored a sweeter formula.

  • Resulted in the development of New Coke.

• Despite positive research, consumers rejected New Coke.

• The backlash led to the reintroduction of the original formula as Coca-Cola Classic.

• Marketing research can provide valuable insights, but it may not capture the full scope of consumer sentiment.

• Emotional connections can significantly influence consumer preferences.

How about this? Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water

Agenda

• Instructor

• Course Overview

• What is Marketing?

• What is Marketing Research?

• Uses of Marketing Research

• Software Tools Used in This Course

Why Math & Statistics

• Compare the customer satisfaction scores.

Why Software?

• Compare the customer satisfaction scores.

Next Session

• Marketing Research Process