A research design is a framework or blueprint

or plan for conducting the business researchproject. It details the procedures necessary

forobtaining the information needed to structure

orTo solve business research problems.

Exploratory Research Design (The direction)

Descriptive Research Design (what, where, when, how and who of a decision problem, i.e., the description of market characteristics)

Causal Research Design or diagnostic or experimental (why)

COMPLETELY CERTAIN

ABSOLUTEAMBIGUITY

CAUSAL ORDESCRIPTIVE

EXPLORATORY

Exploratory Research (Unaware of Problem)

Descriptive Research (Aware of Problem)

Causal Research(Problem Clearly Defined)

What new product should be

developed for school lunches?

How should the new product be distributed?

Will an increase in the service staff be profitable?

What product appeal will be effective in advertising?

What should be the target segment?

Should a new budget or ‘no frills’ class of airfare be introduced?

Possible Situation

Exploratory Research (Unaware of Problem)

Descriptive Research (Aware of Problem)

Causal Research(Problem Clearly Defined)

Chocolate manufacturer

wanting to identify the ten most

important variables his consumers use to decide on whether to

buy a chocolate brand

“What kind of people are buying our product? “who buys out competitors products”

“Will buyers purchase more of our products in a new package?”

Debate among the working women executives the future of conveniences food in India

“What features do buyers prefer in our product?”

“Which of two advertising campaigns is more effective?”

Possible Situation

ExploratoryResearch Design

CausalResearch

CausalResearch

DescriptiveResearch

DescriptiveResearch

LongitudinalDesign

Cross-SectionalDesign

Cross-SectionalDesign

Multiple Cross-Sectional Design

Multiple Cross-Sectional Design

Single Cross-Sectional Design

Single Cross-Sectional Design

ConclusiveResearch Design

Research Design

Classification

ExperimentsExperiments

Acme Pharma, a well known multinational pharmaceutical company, was known for its nutritional supplements, especially Calmin, its multivitamin syrup. Calmin had always been the No 2 brand in the marketplace. When its volume of sales began to rise beyond the ambitious target in 1995, everyone was pleased. However, Ajay Bose, the marketing manager, was perplexed. The brand had always been supported well by the company, but no exceptional effort had been put in during the year. After two months, during which Calmin continued to exceed the sales target, he decided to call in the marketing research agency.

The MR agency recommended some exploratory research to begin with.

Initial research conducted to clarify and define the nature of a problem

Does not provide conclusive evidence Subsequent research expected

Formulate a problem or define a problem more

precisely• Identify alternative courses of action• Develop hypotheses• Isolate key variables and relationships forfurther examination• Gain insights for developing an approach to

the problem• Establish priorities for further research

Another common reason for conducting exploratory research is to test concepts before they are put in the marketplace, always a very costly endeavour.

In concept testing, consumers are provided with either a written concept or a prototype for new, revised or repositioned product, service or strategy.

1. Secondary data analyzed in a qualitative way - retail audit reports or Literature Reviews or Qualitative research

2. Survey of experts for calmin - doctors would be experts (doctors one to one basis or Focus groups analysis)

3. Examination of analogous situation - (case studies or simulation

How is the market growing? How are the major competitors faring? Have there been any significant changes in the marketing mix of any of the competitors? Is Calmin’s growth keeping pace with or outstripping the growth rate of the market?

1. Some marketing problems may lend themselves completely to solutions through secondary information

2. Saves time and cost: partial answers3. Provides direction and framework for the

investigation4. Provide pointers to some aspects of the

issue under investigation that had not been considered earlier.

In-company information External information

doctors would be experts (doctors one to one basis or Focus groups analysis)

Experts are the people who are likely to be knowledge about the subject.

This may be helpful to define the nature of the problem and provide indications of relevant variables, as well as their interrelationships.

May be helpful in defining hypotheses. Examining other brand of the company that

had faced a similar situation of sudden growth, with no major changes in the marketing environment.

Study three of a company’s best salespeople with three of the worst, to try and figure out what drives the sales of the products and their motivations

To describe the characteristics of relevant groups,such as consumers, salespeople, organizations, ormarket areas.• To estimate the percentage of units in a

specifiedpopulation exhibiting a certain behavior.• To determine the perceptions of product

characteristics.• To determine the degree to which marketingvariables are associated.• To make specific predictions.

Examining the sales or market share of the calmin

Demographic profile of its users (Might examine the variation in sales by age group) or (aimed at determining the patient’s age and the duration of the use of Calmin on the patient’s state of health)

Involve the collection of information from any given sample of population elements only once.

• In single cross-sectional designs, there is only one

sample of respondents and information is obtained from this sample only once.

• In multiple cross-sectional designs, there are two or

more samples of respondents, and information from each sample is obtained only once. Often, information from different samples is obtained at different times.

A fixed sample (or samples) of population elements is measured repeatedly on the same variables

A longitudinal design differs from a cross-sectional design in that the sample or samples remain the same over time

Conducted to identify cause and effect relationships

These studies are concerned with finding answers to the ‘why’ aspect of a problem.

These studies are more complex than exploratory or descriptive research

• To understand which variables are the cause

(independent variables) and which variables are the effect (dependent variables) of a phenomenon

• To determine the nature of the relationship between the causal variables and the effect to be predicted

• METHOD: Experiments

Experimentation in marketing aim at determining the impact of varying the levels of independent variables upon the dependent variable under controlled conditions.

Let us assume that the price of Calmin is reduced by 10% during a month. If sales at the end of the ensuing quarter rise by a percentage significantly higher than in the corresponding quarter the previous year, could the change be attributed to a reduction in price?

What could the cause be for the increase in sale?

P.Green and T.Tull (1978) have discussed two kinds of causation

1.Deterministic and2. Probabilistic

This defines the necessary and sufficient condition(s) for any change in an observed variable.

Let us consider the case of a change in the price of Calmin. Suppose that the only change in the marketing-mix of calmin has been this change in price.

If Calmin is the only brand in its category to have reduced prices and there has been no other major change, the change in the price of Calmin can safely be identified as the variable causing the change in the sales of the brand.

A probabilistic cause is a necessary but not a sufficient cause of the event’s occurrence.

For example, let us once again consider the case of a change in the price of Calmin. Suppose that in addition to a reduction in the price of Calmin, the brand’s major competitor is in short supply during the same period.

Since the two are independent events, the influence of one on the other is nil.

A change in the price of Calmin, although occurring at the same time as the shortage in the supply of the competing product, X, neither influences the shortage nor is influenced by it. It is, therefore, not possible to predict one from the other. At the same time, both influence and rise in sales (Rc )of calmin.

In other words, the rise in sales Rc is function F of Pc, and Sx, This may be expressed as

Rc = F (Pc, Sx)where Pc is the change in the price of Calmin and

Sx is the non-supply of competitor X. Both these independent variable influence the sales of Calmin separately.

ExploratoryResearch Design

CausalResearch

CausalResearch

DescriptiveResearch

DescriptiveResearch

LongitudinalDesign

Cross-SectionalDesign

Cross-SectionalDesign

Multiple Cross-

Sectional Design

Multiple Cross-

Sectional Design

Single Cross-Sectional Design

Single Cross-Sectional Design

ConclusiveResearch Design

Research Design

Classification

ExperimentsExperiments