Marketing Research

14 downloads 725061 Views 23MB Size Report
Naresh K. Malhotra Imad B. Baalbaki Nada Nasr Bechwati .... Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, Management Science,.
Arab World Edition

Arab World Editions Pearson’s innovative Arab World Editions have been developed specifically for students studying in the Arab world. Regional cases and examples make the book more relevant to students, while international examples provide a comparative perspective. Engaging pedagogical features, local photographs, and accompanying resources also support students and educators across the region.

Marketing Research

While there are numerous textbooks available on marketing research, none consider the topic from an Arab perspective. Until now.The adapting authors have created a series of practical examples and case studies from the Arab region to complement the global perspective of the original edition. The book contains coverage of Arab-specific environmental factors that affect the conduct of marketing research in the region, including legal, political, economic, cultural, and social. Coverage of macro and micro local environments is included to enhance readers’ appreciation of marketing practices in the Middle East and to demonstrate to students the need for multinational, regional, and local companies to understand the importance of their markets to achieve success.This is essential reading for any student of marketing trying to understand the dynamics of marketing research in the Arab region.

Malhotra Baalbaki Bechwati

CVR_MARE_SB_ARW_2367_CVR1.indd 1

Marketing Research Naresh K. Malhotra

Imad B. Baalbaki Nada Nasr Bechwati

11/12/2012 14:09

Pearson Arab World Editions—Business & Economics The Arab world’s location between three continents ensures its place at the center of an increasingly integrated global economy, as distinctive as any business culture. We think learning should be as dynamic, relevant, and engaging as the business environment. Our new Arab World Editions for Business & Economics provide this uniquely Arab perspective for students in and of the Arab world. Each Arab World Edition integrates cases, companies, research, people, and discussions representing the diverse economic, political, and cultural situations across the nations that span the Arab world, whilst retaining the quality, research, and relevant global perspectives of the world’s leading business thinkers. We hope that you find this edition a valuable contribution to your teaching or business studies. We aim to set a new benchmark for contextualized learning with our adapted and new titles, and hope that they will prove a valuable contribution in the success of students and teachers along each step of their business program. Supplementary support includes PowerPoint slides, instructor manuals, test bank generators and MyLab online tutorial and homework systems. Titles span a range of subjects and disciplines, including: n Management—Robbins & Coulter n Principles of Marketing—Kotler & Armstrong n Economics—Hubbard & O’Brien n Statistics for Business—Benghezal n Principles of Managerial Finance—Gitman n Marketing Management—Kotler & Keller n Organizational Behavior—Robbins & Judge n Human Resource Management—Dessler n Strategic Management—David n Introductory Mathematical Analysis for Business, Economics, and Life and Social Sciences—Haeussler n Marketing Research—Malhotra n Operations Management—Heizer n Auditing and Assurance Services—Arens

To find out more, go to www.pearson.com/middleeast/awe

00-Prelims_pp-i-xxv.indd 1

6/3/12 10:22:10

Marketing Research An Applied Orientation Arab World Edition

Naresh K. Malhotra

?

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A.

Imad B. Baalbaki

American University of Beirut, Lebanon

Nada Nasr Bechwati Bentley University, U.S.A.

Acquisitions Editor: Rasheed Roussan Senior Development Editor: Sophie Bulbrook Project Editors: Nicole Elliott and Jeanette Hewitt Copy-editor: Pat Winfield Proofreaders: Stephen York and Gwen Hewett Design Manager: Sarah Fach Permissions Editor: Rachel Thorne Picture Researchers: Zohir Naciri and Iman Naciri Indexer: Sarah Hilton Marketing Manager: Sue Mainey Senior Manufacturing Controller: Christopher Crow Cover Designer: Sarah Fach Typesetter: Tech-Set Ltd, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear Typeface: Times 10\12pt Printed in China

Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the world The rights of Naresh K. Malhotra, Imad B. Baalbaki, and Nada Nasr Bechwati to be identified as authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Authorized adaptation from the United States edition, entitled MARKETING RESEARCH, 6th Edition, ISBN: 0136085431 by MALHOTRA, NARESH K.; published by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall, Copyright © 2010. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system, without permission from Pearson Education, Inc. Arab World adaptation edition published by PEARSON EDUCATION LTD, Copyright © 2013. Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the appropriate page within the text, or in the Credits section. Microsoft® and Windows® are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and other countries. Screenshots and icons reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Corporation. This book is not sponsored or endorsed by or affiliated with the Microsoft Corporation. Many of the designations by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial caps or all caps. First published 2013 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 IMP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN: 978-1-4082-7236-7

I dedicate this work to the memory of my father, Burhan; to my self-sacrificing mother, Rabab; to my caring sisters, Thurayya, Souheir, and Salwa; to my loving wife and life partner, Annelie; and to my angels: Sarah, Roya, and Mia. – IB To the memory of my father, Ibrahim, the dearest of all; to the best mother, Souad; to my loving siblings: Melhem, Ikbal, Hoda, Michel, and Najoie Nasr; and to my blessings: Ibrahim, Maria, and Theresa Bechwati. – NNB

About the Authors

6

Dr. Naresh K. Malhotra is Senior Fellow (previously Nanyang Professor) at Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Regents’ Professor Emeritus of the College of Management, Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A. He has been listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in America continuously since the 51st Edition (1997) and in Who’s Who in the World since 2000. He received the prestigious Academy of Marketing Science CUTCO/Vector Distinguished Marketing Educator Award in 2005. In 2010, he was selected as a Marketing Legend and his refereed journal articles were published in nine volumes by Sage with tributes by other leading scholars in the field. In 2011, he was named Best Professor in Marketing Management at Asia’s Best B-School Awards. He was also selected to receive the Hind Rattan Award in 2012. In an article by Wheatley and Wilson (1987 AMA Educators’ Proceedings), Dr. Malhotra was ranked number one in the country based on articles published in the Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) between 1980 and 1985. He also holds the all-time record for the maximum number of publications in the Journal of Health Care Marketing. He was ranked number one based on publications in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS) from its inception through Volume 23, 1995, and during the 10-year period 1986–1995 (JAMS, 24(4) (Fall 1996): 297). In an editorial by Schlegelmilch (JIM, 11(1), 2003), Dr. Malhotra was ranked number one based on publications in the International Marketing Review (IMR) from 1992 to 2002, and has also been ranked number one based on publications in the IMR since its inception (1983) to 2003 (Table V, IMR, 22(4) (2005)), and from 1996 to 2006, based on a study by Xu et al. published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Management (25 (2008): 189–207). In a landmark study by Ford et al. (2010) examining publications in the top four marketing journals (JMR, JM, JAMS, and JCR) over a 25-year period from 1977 to 2002, Dr. Malhotra has three top-three rankings: ranked number three based on publications in all the four journals combined, ranked number three based on publications in JMR, and ranked number one based on publications in JAMS. He has published 10 papers in JMR. He has published more than 125 papers in major refereed journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science, Management Science, Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Health Care Marketing, and leading journals in Statistics, Management Science, Information Systems, and Psychology. In addition, he has published numerous refereed articles in the proceedings of major national and international conferences. Several articles have received best research paper awards. He was Chairman of the Academy of Marketing Science Foundation, 1996–1998, President of the Academy of Marketing Science, 1994–1996, and Chairman of its Board of Governors, 1990–1992. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy and a Fellow of the Decision Sciences Institute. He is the Founding Editor of the Review of Marketing Research, served as an Associate Editor of Decision Sciences for 18 years, and has served as Section Editor, Health Care Marketing Abstracts, Journal of Health Care Marketing. Also, he serves on the editorial boards of 10 journals. His book entitled Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, Sixth Edition, was published by Prentice-Hall, Inc. in 2010. This book has been translated into Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Hungarian, French, Bahasa Indonesia, and Japanese. In addition to the eight translations, this book also has several English editions including North America, International, Europe, India, and Australia and New Zealand. The book has received widespread adoption at both graduate and undergraduate level, and is used in more than 150 schools in the U.S.A. and in over 75 countries. His book, Basic Marketing Research: Integration of Social Media, Fourth Edition, was published by Prentice Hall in 2011. Dr. Malhotra has consulted for business, non-profit, and government organizations in the U.S.A. and abroad and has served as an expert witness in legal and regulatory proceedings. He has special expertise in data analysis and statistical methods. He is the winner of numerous awards and honors for research, teaching, and service to the profession, including the Academy of Marketing Science’s, Outstanding Marketing Teaching Award, 2003. Dr. Malhotra is an ordained minister of the gospel, and a member and deacon of the First Baptist Church, Atlanta. He has been married to Veena for more than 30 years and they have two children, Ruth and Paul.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS    7

Imad Baalbaki is Associate Vice President for Development at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Marketing at AUB’s Suliman S. Olayan School of Business. He holds BBA and MBA degrees from the American University of Beirut and a Ph.D. in Marketing and Research Methods from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S.A.). Dr. Baalbaki joined the professorial ranks of the (then) Graduate School of Business and Management at AUB in 1993. Founded as the School of Commerce in 1900, the Graduate School of Business and Management is one of the largest academic units in the University. Dr. Baalbaki became Director of the school in 1997, and led the school until it became the sixth independent faculty of the American University of Beirut in academic year 2000–2001. Thereafter, Dr. Baalbaki served as Director of Development and External Affairs for the university (2001–2007), Assistant Vice President for Development (2007–2011), and is currently Associate Vice President for Development at AUB. Dr. Baalbaki has taught courses and delivered marketing seminars in the fields of marketing and research methods in the United States, Lebanon, and the Arabian Gulf. He has researched and published in those fields in international academic journals including leading journals such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science and International Marketing Review. Dr. Baalbaki’s article on “Standardization Versus Customization in International Marketing: An Investigation Using Bridging Conjoint Analysis,” published in 1995 in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, is recognized as the first application of this technique in academia. Dr. Baalbaki’s article entitled “Patient Satisfaction with Healthcare Delivery Systems” in the International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing was recognized as a Highly Commended Award Winner at the Literati Network Awards for Excellence, 2009. Dr. Baalbaki has served as a reviewer and editorial board member for international business and marketing journals. He has participated in and presented papers at numerous international and regional academic and professional business conferences in North America, Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia, and Australia. He has also served at some conferences as a reviewer, discussant, and session chair. Dr. Baalbaki has also contributed to the development of academic programs at universities in the Arab world, and has been consulted on higher-education development matters. Dr. Baalbaki has served as a member of the Arab Open University Board of Trustees since July, 2010. The Arab Open University is a Pan Arab university, affiliated with the Open University in London, and has branches in five Arab counties so far. Dr. Baalbaki was one of 60 world-marketing leaders who were invited to participate in the First World Marketing Summit held in Bangladesh in 2012 to share their views and insights on how to build a ‘Better World Through Marketing.’ In addition to his work on this Arab World Edition of Marketing Research, Dr. Baalbaki is also a co-author of the Arab World Edition of another Pearson Publishing leading title: Kotler and Keller’s Marketing Management. The Office of Development at AUB is responsible for the fundraising efforts of the University and for its alumni relations. The University has two Development Offices, one in New York and one in Beirut. The New York office’s area of responsibility extends over North America, while the Beirut office covers the remainder of the world. Dr. Baalbaki has been heading the Beirut Development Office since 2001. In 2007, the AUB successfully completed a 5-year Campaign for Excellence, which had an ultimate goal of $140 million by the date of the University’s 140th anniversary. Dr. Baalbaki participated in the planning, implementation, and conclusion of what eventually turned out to be a record-setting campaign in all aspects (total donations, number of donations, number of donors, individual alumni participation, alumni chapter participation, and trustee participation). The campaign surpassed its goal and raised more than $171 million, making it the largest university fund raising campaign ever in the Arab Middle East.

8    ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Nada Nasr Bechwati is Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing at Bentley University, MA, U.S.A. She received her Doctorate in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing and minoring in Research Methodology, from Boston University in 1999. Her previous teaching engagements in the U.S.A. include the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and Boston University. In Lebanon, she taught at the American University of Beirut (Off-campus Program), Haigazian University, and the University of Balamand. She has taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate business courses including Marketing Management, Integrated Business Functions, Consumer Behavior, and Marketing Research. At Bentley University, she serves as Senator-atLarge and has been involved in the curriculum development of Bentley’s flagship MBA and in the NEASC accreditation self-study. Dr. Nasr Bechwati is the recipient of several academic awards including an international fellowship from the American Association for University Women (AAUW). Dr. Nasr Bechwati’s current research interests focus on transformative consumer research, research aiming at effectively fostering, supporting, and disseminating research insights that can improve quality of life. She has also studied behavioral pricing, customer lifetime value, and the link between the purchase process consumers go through and their post-purchase behavior such as product returns and consumer vengeance. Her consulting work mainly focuses on helping managers make better decisions through establishing a system to track and measure customer lifetime value. Her most recent clients include The Wilder Companies, eCornell, and Investools. Dr. Nasr Bechwati has published, among other scholarly journals, in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Journal of Services Research, and the American Statistician. Her work is highly cited with Google Scholar showing more than 1,200 citations. Her article entitled “Customer Lifetime Value: Marketing Models and Applications” is required reading in doctoral seminars on mathematical modeling in many universities in the U.S.A. and Europe. Dr. Nasr Bechwati has reviewed for, among others, the Journal of Marketing, Management Science, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Business Research and Journal of Product and Brand Management. She is a regular reviewer for the annual conferences of the Association for Consumer Research and the Society for Consumer Psychology. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Services Research and Industrial Marketing Management. Dr. Nasr Bechwati lives in a suburb of Boston with her husband, Ibrahim, and their twin daughters, Maria and Theresa. She spends her summers with the family in Lebanon.

Brief Contents Foreword  23 Preface  24 Acknowledgments  31

Part I

Introduction and Early Phases of Marketing Research    33

Chapter 1 Introduction to Marketing Research   34 Chapter 2 Defining the Marketing Research Problem and Developing an Approach  70

Part II Research Design Formulation    101

Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8



Chapter 9



Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12

Research Design  102 Exploratory Research Design: Secondary Data   130 Exploratory Research Design: Qualitative Research   168 Descriptive Research Design: Survey and Observation   206 Causal Research Design: Experimentation   246 Measurement and Scaling: Fundamentals and Comparative Scaling  278 Measurement and Scaling: Noncomparative Scaling Techniques  302 Questionnaire and Form Design   330 Sampling: Design and Procedures   364 Sampling: Final and Initial Sample Size Determination   396

Part III Data Collection, Preparation, Analysis, and Reporting    425

Chapter 13 Fieldwork  426 Chapter 14 Data Preparation  444 Chapter 15 Frequency Distribution, Cross-Tabulation, and Hypothesis Testing  474 Chapter 16 Analysis of Variance and Covariance   518 Chapter 17 Correlation and Regression   548 Chapter 18 Discriminant and Logit Analysis   586 Chapter 19 Factor Analysis  620 Chapter 20 Cluster Analysis  646 Chapter 21 Multidimensional Scaling and Conjoint Analysis   674 Chapter 22 Structural Equation Modeling and Path Analysis   708 Chapter 23 Report Preparation and Presentation   744 Chapter 24 International Marketing Research   768

CASES

Case 1.1 Case 2.1 Case 2.2 Case 2.3 Case 3.1 Case 3.2

Dell Direct  790 TV in the Arab World: Boosting Local Production   796 Baskin-Robbins: Can It Bask in the Good ‘Ole Days?   798 Agro-Food Industrie: Positioning Halal Food for Babies   801 AT&T Wireless: A Giant under Attack   803 IBM: The World’s Top Provider of Computer Hardware, Software, and Services   809 Case 3.3 Kimberly-Clark: Competing Through Innovation   818 Case 4.1 JPMorgan Chase: Chasing Growth Through Mergers and Acquisitions  825 Case 4.2 Wendy’s: History and Life After Dave Thomas   831

9

10    BRIEF CONTENTS



Case 5.1 The Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey (9-505-059)   838 Case 5.2 Compaq Computer: Intel Inside? (9-599-061)   838 Case 5.3 Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness (9-106-063)  838 Case 5.4 Freej (9-808-121)  838 Case 5.5 Silkor Laser Medical Center (E-353)   838 Case 5.6 El Mawardy Jewelry: Expansion During a Recession (9B11M051)  838

Appendix: Statistical Tables   839 Notes  851 Photo Credits  889 Glossary  890 Index  916 Selected Formulas  933

Contents Foreword  23 Preface  24 Acknowledgments  31

Part I

Introduction and Early Phases of Marketing Research    33

Chapter 1 Introduction to Marketing Research  34 Objectives  34 Overview  35 Definition of Marketing Research   39 A Classification of Marketing Research  40 The Marketing Research Process   42 Step 1: Problem Definition   42 Step 2: Development of an Approach to the Problem  42 Step 3: Research Design Formulation   42 Step 4: Fieldwork or Data Collection   43 Step 5: Data Preparation and Analysis   43 Step 6: Report Preparation and Presentation  43

The Role of Marketing Research in Marketing Decision Making   43 Marketing Research and Competitive Intelligence  46 The Decision to Conduct Marketing Research  46 The Marketing Research Industry   47 Selecting a Research Supplier   53 Careers in Marketing Research   54 The Role of Marketing Research in MIS and DSS  56 The Department Store Patronage Project  57 International Marketing Research   58 Ethics in Marketing Research   59 SPSS Windows  62 Summary    63    •    Key Terms and Concepts    64    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    64    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   64 Exercises    65    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    65    •    Activities    65    •    Dell Running Case  66   Video Case 1.1 Burke: Learning and Growing Through Marketing Research  67

Chapter 2 Defining the Marketing Research Problem and Developing an Approach  70 Objectives  70 Overview  71 Importance of Defining the Problem   72 The Process of Defining the Problem and Developing an Approach  73 Tasks Involved  74 Discussions with Decision Makers   74 Interviews with Industry Experts    75 Secondary Data Analysis  76 Qualitative Research  77

Environmental Context of the Problem   78 Past Information and Forecasts    78 Resources and Constraints   79 Objectives  79 Buyer Behavior    80 Legal Environment    81 Economic Environment    81 Marketing and Technological Skills    81 Environmental Context and Problem Definition    81

Management Decision Problem and Marketing Research Problem   82 Defining the Marketing Research Problem  84 Components of the Approach   86 Objective/Theoretical Framework    86 Analytical Model    86 Research Questions    87 Hypotheses    88 Specification of Information Needed    90

International Marketing Research   91 Ethics in Marketing Research   92 SPSS Windows  93 Summary    94    •    Key Terms and Concepts    95    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    96    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   96 Exercises    96    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    97    •    Activities    97    •    Dell Running Case  97   VIDEO CASE 2.1 Accenture: The Accent Is in the Name   98

Part II Research Design Formulation    101 Chapter 3 Research Design   102 Objectives  102 Overview  103 Research Design: Definition   104

11

12    CONTENTS

Research Design: Classification   104 Exploratory Research  106 Descriptive Research  108 Cross-Sectional Designs    109 Longitudinal Designs    111 Relative Advantages and Disadvantages of Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Designs    113

Causal Research  115 Relationships Among Exploratory, Descriptive, and Causal Research   116 Potential Sources of Error   118 Random Sampling Error    118 Nonsampling Error    118

Budgeting and Scheduling the Project  122 Marketing Research Proposal   122 International Marketing Research   123 Ethics in Marketing Research   124 Summary    125    •    Key Terms and Concepts    126    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    126    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project    126    •    Exercises    127 Internet and Computer Exercises    127 Activities    127    •    Dell Running Case    127   VIDEO CASE 3.1 National Football League: The King of Professional Sports  128

Chapter 4 Exploratory Research Design: Secondary Data  130 Objectives  130 Overview  131 Primary Versus Secondary Data   132 Advantages and Uses of Secondary Data   133 Disadvantages of Secondary Data   133 Criteria for Evaluating Secondary Data  134 Specifications: Methodology Used to Collect the Data  134 Error: Accuracy of the Data   135 Currency: When the Data Were Collected   135 Objective: The Purpose for Which the Data Were Collected  135 Nature: The Content of the Data    135 Dependability: How Dependable Are the Data?  136

Classification of Secondary Data   137 Internal Secondary Data   137 Database Marketing    138

Published External Secondary Sources  139 General Business Data    140 Government Sources  142

Computerized Databases  143 Classification of Computerized Databases   143 Directories of Databases   145

Syndicated Sources of Secondary Data   145 Syndicated Data from Households   145 Surveys  145 Purchase and Media Panels   153 Electronic Scanner Services   155

Syndicated Data from Institutions   157 Retailer and Wholesaler Audits   157 Industry Services    158

Combining Information from Different Sources: Single-Source Data   159 Computer Mapping  159

International Marketing Research   159 Ethics in Marketing Research   160 SPSS Windows  162 Summary    162    •    Key Terms and Concepts    164    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    164    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   164 Exercises    164    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    165    •    Activities    165    •    Dell Running Case  165   VIDEO CASE 4.1 The Mayo Clinic: Staying Healthy with Marketing Research  166

Chapter 5 Exploratory Research Design: Qualitative Research  168 Objectives  168 Overview  169 Primary Data: Qualitative Versus Quantitative Research  171 Rationale for Using Qualitative Research  173 A Classification of Qualitative Research Procedures  173 Focus Group Interviews   174 Characteristics  174 Planning and Conducting Focus Groups   176 Other Variations in Focus Groups    181 Advantages of Focus Groups    181 Disadvantages of Focus Groups    182 Applications of Focus Groups    182 Online Focus Group Interviews    183 Advantages of Online Focus Groups    183 Disadvantages of Online Focus Groups    184 Uses of Online Focus Groups    185

Depth Interviews  185 Characteristics    186 Techniques    186 Advantages and Disadvantages of Depth Interviews    188 Applications of Depth Interviews    188

Projective Techniques  190 Association Techniques    190 Completion Techniques    191 Construction Techniques    192 Expressive Techniques    193

CONTENTS   13

Advantages and Disadvantages of Projective Techniques    194 Applications of Projective Techniques    195

Analysis of Qualitative Data   196 Software Packages  197

International Marketing Research   198 Ethics in Marketing Research   198 Summary    200    •    Key Terms and Concepts    201    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    201    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project    201 Exercises    202    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    202    •    Activities    202    •    Dell Running Case    203   VIDEO CASE 5.1 Nike: Associating Athletes, Performance, and the Brand  204

Chapter 6 Descriptive Research Design: Survey and Observation   206 Objectives  206 Overview  207 Survey Methods  209 Survey Methods Classified by Mode of Administration  210 Telephone Methods  210 Traditional Telephone Interviews    210 Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing    211

Personal Methods  213 Personal In-Home Interviews    213 Mall-Intercept Personal Interviews    213 Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)    214

Mail Methods  215 Mail Interviews    215 Mail Panels  216

Electronic Methods  217 E-Mail Interviews    217 Internet Interviews    218

A Comparative Evaluation of Survey Methods  220 Task Factors    220 Situational Factors  224 Respondent Factors  225

Some Other Survey Methods   227 Selection of Survey Methods   227 Observation Methods  228 Structured Versus Unstructured Observation    229 Disguised Versus Undisguised Observation    229 Natural Versus Contrived Observation    229

Observation Methods Classified by Mode of Administration  229 Personal Observation    230 Mechanical Observation    230 Audit  232

Content Analysis  232 Trace Analysis    233

A Comparative Evaluation of Observation Methods  234 A Comparison of Survey and Observation Methods  236 Relative Advantages of Observation   236 Relative Disadvantages of Observation   236

Ethnographic Research  236 Mystery Shopping  237 International Marketing Research   237 Selection of Survey Methods    238 Selection of Observation Methods    238

Ethics in Marketing Research   240 Summary    241    •    Key Terms and Concepts    242    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    242    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   242 Exercises    243    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    243    •    Activities    243    •    Dell Running Case  243   VIDEO CASE 6.1 Starbucks: Staying Local While Going Global Through Marketing Research  244

Chapter 7 Causal Research Design: Experimentation  246 Objectives  246 Overview  247 Concept of Causality   248 Conditions for Causality   248 Concomitant Variation    249 Time Order of Occurrence of Variables    250 Absence of Other Possible Causal Factors    250 Role of Evidence    250

Definitions and Concepts   251 Definition of Symbols   252 Validity in Experimentation   253 Internal Validity    253 External Validity    253

Extraneous Variables  253 History    253 Maturation  254 Testing Effects    254 Instrumentation    254 Statistical Regression  255 Selection Bias    255 Mortality  255

Controlling Extraneous Variables  255 Randomization  255 Matching  256 Statistical Control  256 Design Control  256

A Classification of Experimental Designs  257

14    CONTENTS

Preexperimental Designs  258 One-Shot Case Study    258 One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design    258 Static Group Design    258

True Experimental Designs   259 Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design   259 Posttest-Only Control Group Design    260

Quasi-Experimental Designs  261 Time Series Design    261 Multiple Time Series Design    262

Statistical Designs  262 Randomized Block Design    262 Latin Square Design    264 Factorial Design  265

Laboratory Versus Field Experiments   266 Experimental Versus Nonexperimental Designs  267 Limitations of Experimentation   268 Time    268 Cost    268 Administration    268

Application: Test Marketing  268 Standard Test Market    268 Controlled Test Market    270 Simulated Test Market    270 Electronic, Virtual, and Web-Enabled Test Markets    270

International Marketing Research   270 Ethics in Marketing Research   271 Summary    273    •    Key Terms and Concepts    274    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    274    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   274 Exercises    274    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    275    •    Activities    275    •    Dell Running Case  275   VIDEO CASE 7.1 AFLAC: Marketing Research Quacks Like a Duck   276

Chapter 8 Measurement and Scaling: Fundamentals and Comparative Scaling  278 Objectives  278 Overview  279 Measurement and Scaling   280 Scale Characteristics and Levels of Measurement  280 Description    280 Order    281 Distance    281 Origin    281

Primary Scales of Measurement   281 Nominal Scale    282 Ordinal Scale    283 Interval Scale    284 Ratio Scale    285

A Comparison of Scaling Techniques   286 Comparative Scaling Techniques  287 Paired Comparison Scaling    287 Rank Order Scaling    288 Constant Sum Scaling    290 Q-Sort and Other Procedures   291

International Marketing Research   293 Ethics in Marketing Research   294 SPSS Windows  295 Summary    295    •    Key Terms and Concepts    296    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    297    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   297 Exercises    297    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    298    •    Activities    298    •    Dell Running Case    298   VIDEO CASE 8.1 Procter & Gamble: Using Marketing Research to Build Brands  299

Chapter 9 Measurement and Scaling: Noncomparative Scaling Techniques  302 Objectives  302 Overview  303 Noncomparative Scaling Techniques  304 Continuous Rating Scale   304 Itemized Rating Scales   306 Likert Scale    306 Semantic Differential Scale    307 Stapel Scale    309

Noncomparative Itemized Rating Scale Decisions  310 Number of Scale Categories    311 Balanced Versus Unbalanced Scales    311 Odd or Even Number of Categories    311 Forced Versus Nonforced Scales    312 Nature and Degree of Verbal Description    312 Physical Form or Configuration   312

Multi-Item Scales  314 Scale Evaluation  316 Measurement Accuracy  316 Reliability  317 Validity    318 Relationship Between Reliability and Validity    319 Generalizability    320

Choosing a Scaling Technique   320 Mathematically Derived Scales   320 International Marketing Research   320 Ethics in Marketing Research   321 SPSS Windows  323 Summary    324    •    Key Terms and Concepts    325    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    325    •    Live Research:

CONTENTS   15

Conducting a Marketing Research Project   325 Exercises    325    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    326    •    Activities    326    •    Dell Running Case  327   VIDEO CASE 9.1 eGO: Reinventing Wheels  328

Chapter 10 Questionnaire and Form Design  330 Objectives  330 Overview  331 Questionnaires and Observation Forms   332 Questionnaire Definition  332 Objectives of a Questionnaire   333

Questionnaire Design Process   333 Specify the Information Needed   334 Type of Interviewing Method   334 Individual Question Content   336 Is the Question Necessary?    336 Are Several Questions Needed Instead of One?  336

Overcoming Inability to Answer   337 Is the Respondent Informed?    337 Can the Respondent Remember?   337 Can the Respondent Articulate?    338

Overcoming Unwillingness to Answer  338 Effort Required of the Respondents    338 Context  339 Legitimate Purpose    339 Sensitive Information    339 Increasing the Willingness of Respondents    339

Choosing Question Structure   340 Unstructured Questions    340 Structured Questions  341

Choosing Question Wording  343 Define the Issue    343 Use Ordinary Words  344 Use Unambiguous Words  344 Avoid Leading or Biasing Questions    344 Avoid Implicit Alternatives    345 Avoid Implicit Assumptions    345 Avoid Generalizations and Estimates   345 Dual Statements: Positive and Negative    346

Determining the Order of Questions   346 Opening Questions  346 Type of Information    347 Difficult Questions  347 Effect on Subsequent Questions    347 Logical Order    348

Form and Layout   349 Reproduction of the Questionnaire   350 Pretesting  351 Computer and Internet Questionnaire Construction  353 Observational Forms  355

International Marketing Research   355 Ethics in Marketing Research   356 SPSS Windows  358 Summary    358    •    Key Terms and Concepts    359    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    359    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   359 Exercises    359    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    361    •    Activities    361    •    Dell Running Case  361   VIDEO CASE 10.1 Dunkin’ Donuts: Dunking the Competition   362

Chapter 11 Sampling: Design and Procedures  364 Objectives  364 Overview  365 Sample or Census   366 The Sampling Design Process   367 Define the Target Population    367 Determine the Sampling Frame    368 Select a Sampling Technique    369 Determine the Sample Size    370 Execute the Sampling Process    370

A Classification of Sampling Techniques  372 Nonprobability Sampling Techniques  373 Convenience Sampling  374 Judgmental Sampling  374 Quota Sampling  375 Snowball Sampling  376

Probability Sampling Techniques  377 Simple Random Sampling   377 Systematic Sampling    378 Stratified Sampling  379 Cluster Sampling    381 Other Probability Sampling Techniques    382

Choosing Nonprobability Versus Probability Sampling  385 Uses of Nonprobability and Probability Sampling  386 Internet Sampling  386 Issues in Online Sampling    386 Online Sampling Techniques    387

International Marketing Research   389 Ethics in Marketing Research   390 Summary    391    •    Key Terms and Concepts    392    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    392    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   392 Exercises    393    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    393    •    Activities    393    •    Dell Running Case  393   VIDEO CASE 11.1 Motorola: Projecting the Moto Lifestyle   394

16    CONTENTS

Chapter 12 Sampling: Final and Initial Sample Size Determination   396 Objectives  396 Overview  397 Definitions and Symbols   398 The Sampling Distribution   399 Statistical Approach to Determining Sample Size  400 The Confidence Interval Approach   401 Sample Size Determination: Means    402 Sample Size Determination: Proportions    404

Multiple Characteristics and Parameters  407 Other Probability Sampling Techniques  408 Adjusting the Statistically Determined Sample Size  408 Calculation of Response Rates   409 Nonresponse Issues in Sampling   410 Improving the Response Rates    410 Adjusting for Nonresponse    413

International Marketing Research   415 Ethics in Marketing Research   416 SPSS Windows  417 Summary    418    •    Key Terms and Concepts    418    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    419    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   419 Exercises    419    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    420    •    Activities    420 Appendix 12A    420    •    Dell Running Case  422   VIDEO CASE 12.1 Subaru: ‘Mr. Survey’ Monitors Customer Satisfaction   423

Part III Data Collection, Preparation, Analysis, and Reporting    425 Chapter 13 Fieldwork  426 Objectives  426 Overview  427 The Nature of Fieldwork   428 Fieldwork/Data-Collection Process  428 Selection of Fieldworkers   428 Training of Fieldworkers   430 Making the Initial Contact    430 Asking the Questions    430 Probing    430 Recording the Answers  431 Terminating the Interview    431

Supervision of Fieldworkers   433 Quality Control and Editing   433 Sampling Control  433 Control of Cheating   433 Central Office Control   433

Validation of Fieldwork   433

Evaluation of Fieldworkers   433 Cost and Time    434 Response Rates  434 Quality of Interviewing    434 Quality of Data   434

International Marketing Research   435 Ethics in Marketing Research   436 SPSS Windows  438 Summary    439    •    Key Terms and Concepts    440    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    440    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project    440 Exercises    440    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    441    •    Activities    441    •    Dell Running Case  441   VIDEO CASE 13.1 Intel: Building Blocks Inside Out   442

Chapter 14 Data Preparation   444 Objectives  444 Overview  445 The Data-Preparation Process   446 Questionnaire Checking  446 Editing  447 Treatment of Unsatisfactory Responses    448

Coding  448 Coding Questions    448 Developing a Data File    450

Transcribing  453 Data Cleaning  455 Consistency Checks  455 Treatment of Missing Responses    455

Statistically Adjusting the Data   456 Weighting  456 Variable Respecification    458 Scale Transformation    459

Selecting a Data Analysis Strategy   460 A Classification of Statistical Techniques  461 International Marketing Research   463 Ethics in Marketing Research   464 Statistical Software  466 SPSS and SAS Computerized Demonstration Movies  466 SPSS and SAS Screen Captures with Notes    466

SPSS Windows  466 Creating a Variable Called Overall Evaluation  466 Recoding to Create a New Variable Called Recoded Income  467

Summary    469    •    Key Terms and Concepts    470    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    471    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   471 Exercises    471    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    472    •    Activities    472    •    Dell Running Case  472

CONTENTS   17

Chapter 15 Frequency Distribution, CrossTabulation, and Hypothesis Testing  474 Objectives  474 Overview  475 Frequency Distribution  478 Statistics Associated with Frequency Distribution  480 Measures of Location    480 Measures of Variability    481 Measures of Shape    482

Introduction to Hypothesis Testing   483 A General Procedure for Hypothesis Testing  483 Step 1: Formulate the Hypotheses    483 Step 2: Select an Appropriate Test    485 Step 3: Choose Level of Significance, α    485 Step 4: Collect Data and Calculate Test Statistic    486 Step 5: Determine the Probability (or Critical Value)    486 Steps 6 and 7: Compare the Probability (or Critical Value) and Make the Decision    486 Step 8: Marketing Research Conclusion    487

Cross-Tabulations  487 Two Variables    488 Three Variables    489 General Comments on Cross-Tabulation    492

Statistics Associated with CrossTabulation  492 Chi-Square    493 Phi Coefficient  494 Contingency Coefficient  495 Cramer’s V  495 Lambda Coefficient    495 Other Statistics  496

Cross-Tabulation in Practice   496 Hypothesis Testing Related to Differences  496 Parametric Tests  497 One Sample    498 Two Independent Samples    499 Paired Samples    502

Nonparametric Tests  503 One Sample    503 Two Independent Samples    504 Paired Samples    506

Statistical Software  509 SPSS Computerized Demonstration Movies    509 SPSS Screen Captures with Notes    509

SPSS Windows  509 Summary    512    •    Key Terms and Concepts    514    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    514    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   514 Exercises    515    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    515    •    Activities    517    •    Dell Running Case  517

Chapter 16 Analysis of Variance and Covariance  518 Objectives  518 Overview  519 Relationship Among Techniques   521 One-Way Analysis of Variance   522 Statistics Associated with One-Way Analysis of Variance  522 Conducting One-Way Analysis of Variance  523 Identify the Dependent and Independent Variables    523 Decompose the Total Variation    524 Measure the Effects   525 Test the Significance    525 Interpret the Results    525

Illustrative Data  526 Illustrative Applications of One-Way Analysis of Variance  527 Assumptions in Analysis of Variance   529 N-Way Analysis of Variance   530 Illustrative Application of N-Way Analysis of Variance  531 Analysis of Covariance   534 Issues in Interpretation   535 Interactions    535 Relative Importance of Factors    537 Multiple Comparisons  537

Repeated Measures ANOVA  538 Nonmetric Analysis of Variance   539 Multivariate Analysis of Variance   540 Statistical Software  542 SPSS and SAS Computerized Demonstration Movies  542 SPSS and SAS Screen Captures with Notes    542

SPSS Windows  542 Summary    543    •    Key Terms and Concepts    544    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    545    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   545 Exercises    545    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    546    •    Activities    547    •    Dell Running Case  547

Chapter 17 Correlation and Regression   548 Objectives  548 Overview  549 Product Moment Correlation   550 Partial Correlation  554 Nonmetric Correlation  556 Regression Analysis  556 Bivariate Regression  556 Statistics Associated with Bivariate Regression Analysis  557

18    CONTENTS

Conducting Bivariate Regression Analysis  557 Plot the Scatter Diagram   557 Formulate the Bivariate Regression Model    559 Estimate the Parameters    560 Estimate Standardized Regression Coefficient   561 Test for Significance    561 Determine the Strength and Significance of Association  562 Check Prediction Accuracy  564 Assumptions  565

Multiple Regression  565 Statistics Associated with Multiple Regression  566 Conducting Multiple Regression Analysis  567 Partial Regression Coefficients   567 Strength of Association    568 Significance Testing    569 Examination of Residuals    570

Stepwise Regression  573 Multicollinearity  574 Relative Importance of Predictors   575 Cross-Validation  576 Regression with Dummy Variables   576 Analysis of Variance and Covariance with Regression  577 Statistical Software  578 SPSS Computerized Demonstration Movies  579 SPSS Screen Captures with Notes    579

SPSS Windows  579 Summary    580    •    Key Terms and Concepts    581    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    581    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project    583 Exercises    583    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    584    •    Activities    584    •    Dell Running Case    585

Chapter 18 Discriminant and Logit Analysis  586 Objectives  586 Overview  587 Basic Concept of Discriminant Analysis  588 Relationship of Discriminant and Logit Analysis to ANOVA and Regression   589 Discriminant Analysis Model  589 Statistics Associated with Discriminant Analysis  590 Conducting Discriminant Analysis  591 Formulate the Problem   591 Estimate the Discriminant Function Coefficients  593 Determine the Significance of the Discriminant Function  596

Interpret the Results    596 Assess Validity of Discriminant Analysis    598

Multiple Discriminant Analysis  599 Formulate the Problem   599 Estimate the Discriminant Function Coefficients    600 Determine the Significance of the Discriminant Function    600 Interpret the Results    600 Assess the Validity of the Discriminant Analysis    603

Stepwise Discriminant Analysis  605 The Logit Model   606 Conducting Binary Logit Analysis   606 Formulate the Problem    606 Estimating the Binary Logit Model    607 Model Fit    607 Significance Testing    608 Interpretation of the Coefficients and Validation    608 An Illustrative Application of Logistic Regression    608

Statistical Software  614 SPSS and SAS Computerized Demonstration Movies  614 SPSS and SAS Screen Captures with Notes    615

SPSS Windows  615 Summary    616    •    Key Terms and Concepts    618    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    618    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project    618 Exercises    618    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    619    •    Activities    619    •    Dell Running Case  619

Chapter 19 Factor Analysis   620 Objectives  620 Overview  621 Basic Concept  622 Factor Analysis Model  623 Statistics Associated with Factor Analysis  624 Conducting Factor Analysis  624 Formulate the Problem   625 Construct the Correlation Matrix   626 Determine the Method of Factor Analysis   629 Determine the Number of Factors    629 Rotate Factors    630 Interpret Factors    631 Calculate Factor Scores   632 Select Surrogate Variables    632 Determine the Model Fit   633

Applications of Common Factor Analysis  635 Statistical Software  640 SPSS Computerized Demonstration Movies    640 SPSS Screen Captures with Notes    641

CONTENTS   19

SPSS Windows  641 Summary    641    •    Key Terms and Concepts    643    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    643    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   643 Exercises    643    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    644    •    Activities    645    •    Dell Running Case  645

Chapter 20 Cluster Analysis   646 Objectives  646 Overview  647 Basic Concept  648 Statistics Associated with Cluster Analysis  649 Conducting Cluster Analysis  650 Formulate the Problem    650 Select a Distance or Similarity Measure   651 Select a Clustering Procedure   652 Decide on the Number of Clusters    656 Interpret and Profile the Clusters    658 Assess Reliability and Validity    659

Applications of Nonhierarchical Clustering  660 Applications of TwoStep Clustering   664 Clustering Variables  666 Statistical Software  668 SPSS and SAS Computerized Demonstration Movies    668 SPSS and SAS Screen Captures with Notes    668

SPSS Windows  669 Summary    670    •    Key Terms and Concepts    671    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    671    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   671 Exercises    671    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    672    •    Activities    672    •    Dell Running Case  673

Chapter 21 Multidimensional Scaling and Conjoint Analysis  674 Objectives  674 Overview  675 Basic Concepts in Multidimensional Scaling (MDS)  677 Statistics and Terms Associated with MDS  677 Conducting Multidimensional Scaling  678 Formulate the Problem    678 Obtain Input Data    678 Select an MDS Procedure    680 Decide on the Number of Dimensions    681 Label the Dimensions and Interpret the Configuration    681 Assess Reliability and Validity    683

Assumptions and Limitations of MDS   684 Scaling Preference Data   684 Correspondence Analysis  686 Relationship Among MDS, Factor Analysis, and Discriminant Analysis  687 Basic Concepts in Conjoint Analysis   687 Statistics and Terms Associated with Conjoint Analysis  688 Conducting Conjoint Analysis  688 Formulate the Problem    688 Construct the Stimuli    689 Decide on the Form of Input Data    691 Select a Conjoint Analysis Procedure   691 Interpret the Results    694 Assessing Reliability and Validity    694

Assumptions and Limitations of Conjoint Analysis  698 Hybrid Conjoint Analysis  698 Statistical Software  701 SPSS and SAS Computerized Demonstration Movies    702 SPSS and SAS Screen Captures with Notes    702

SPSS Windows  702 Summary    703    •    Key Terms and Concepts    704    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    705    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project    705 Exercises    705    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    706    •    Activities    706    •    Dell Running Case    706

Chapter 22 Structural Equation Modeling and Path Analysis   708 Objectives  708 Overview  709 Basic Concept  710 Statistics Associated with SEM   711 Foundations of SEM   712 Theory, Model, and Path Diagram    712 Exogenous Versus Endogenous Constructs    713 Dependence and Correlational Relationships  714 Model Fit  714 Model Identification    714

Conducting SEM  715 Define the Individual Constructs   715 Specify the Measurement Model   715 Sample Size Requirements    716

Assess Measurement Model Reliability and Validity  717 Assess Measurement Model Fit   717 Assess Measurement Model Reliability and Validity    719 Lack of Validity: Diagnosing Problems    721

Specify the Structural Model   721

20    CONTENTS

Assess Structural Model Validity   723 Assessing Fit  723 Comparison with Competing Models   723 Testing Hypothesized Relationships    723 Structural Model Diagnostics   724

Draw Conclusions and Make Recommendations  724 Higher-Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis  724 Relationship of SEM to Other Multivariate Techniques  725 Application of SEM: First-Order Factor Model  726 Define the Individual Constructs    726 Specify the Measurement Model   727 Assess Measurement Model Reliability and Validity    727 Specify the Structural Model   727 Assess Structural Model Validity    727 Conclusions and Recommendations    728

Application of SEM: Second-Order Factor Model  728 Define the Individual Constructs    729 Specify the Measurement Model   729 Assess Measurement Model Reliability and Validity    730 Specify the Structural Model   732 Assess Structural Model Validity    733 Draw Conclusions and Make Recommendations  733

Path Analysis  735 Illustrative Example of Path Analysis    735

Statistical Software  737 LISREL    738

SPSS Windows  739 Summary    741    •    Key Terms and Concepts    742    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    742    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   743 Exercises    743    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    743    •    Activities    743    •    Dell Running Case  743

Chapter 23 Report Preparation and Presentation  744 Objectives  744 Overview  745 Importance of the Report and Presentation  746 The Report Preparation and Presentation Process  747 Report Preparation  747 Report Format  748 Title Page    748 Letter of Transmittal    749 Letter of Authorization    749 Table of Contents    749

Executive Summary  749 Problem Definition  749 Approach to the Problem   749 Research Design  749 Data Analysis  749 Results    750 Limitations and Caveats    750 Conclusions and Recommendations    750

Report Writing  751 Reader Focused  751 Easy to Follow   751 Presentable and Professional Appearance   751 Objective  751 Reinforce Text with Tables and Graphs    752 Concise  752

Guidelines for Tables  752 Title and Number    752 Arrangement of Data Items    752 Basis of Measurement    752 Leaders, Rulings, and Spaces    753 Explanations and Comments: Headings, Stubs, and Footnotes  753 Sources of the Data   753

Guidelines for Graphs   753 Geographic and Other Maps   753 Round or Pie Charts   753 Line Charts    754 Pictographs  754 Histograms and Bar Charts    755 Schematic Figures and Flowcharts   755

Report Distribution  756 Oral Presentation  757 Reading the Research Report   758 Address the Problem    758 Research Design    758 Execution of the Research Procedures    758 Numbers and Statistics    758 Interpretation and Conclusions    759 Generalizability  759 Disclosure  759

Research Follow-Up  759 Assisting the Client   759 Evaluation of the Research Project    760

International Marketing Research   760 Ethics in Marketing Research   761 Statistical Software  762 SPSS Windows  763 Summary    763    •    Key Terms and Concepts    764    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    764    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project   764 Exercises    764    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    765    •    Activities    765    •    Dell Running Case  765   VIDEO CASE 23.1 Marriott: Marketing Research Leads to Expanded Offerings  766

CONTENTS   21

Chapter 24 International Marketing Research  768 Objectives  768 Overview  769 Marketing Research Goes International  771 A Framework for International Marketing Research  772 The Environment    772 Marketing Environment  772 Government Environment  772 Legal Environment    774 Economic Environment  774 Structural Environment  774 Informational and Technological Environment  774 Sociocultural Environment  774

Survey Methods  776 Telephone Interviewing and CATI    776 In-Home Personal Interviews    777 Mall Intercept and CAPI    778 Mail Interviews    778 Mail and Scanner Panels   779 Electronic Surveys  779

Measurement and Scaling   780 Questionnaire Translation  781 Ethics in Marketing Research   783 Statistical Software  783 Summary    784    •    Key Terms and Concepts    784    •    Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases    785    •    Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project    785 Exercises    785    •    Internet and Computer Exercises    786  •    Activities  786    •    Dell Running Case    786   VIDEO CASE 24.1 Nivea: Marketing Research Leads to Consistency in Marketing  787 Running Case with Real Data Case 1.1 Dell Direct    790 Comprehensive Critical Thinking Cases Case 2.1 TV in the Arab World: Boosting Local Production    796 Case 2.2 Baskin-Robbins: Can It Bask in the Good ‘Ole Days?    798

Case 2.3 Agro-Food Industrie: Positioning Halal Food for Babies    801 Data Analysis Cases with Real Data Case 3.1 AT&T Wireless: A Giant under Attack    803 Case 3.2 IBM: The World’s Top Provider of Computer Hardware, Software, and Services    809 Case 3.3 Kimberly-Clark: Competing Through Innovation    818 Comprehensive Cases with Real Data Case 4.1 JPMorgan Chase: Chasing Growth Through Mergers and Acquisitions    825 Case 4.2 Wendy’s: History and Life After Dave Thomas    831 Comprehensive PUBLISHED Cases Harvard Business School Cases CASE 5.1: The Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey (9-505-059   838 CASE 5.2: Compaq Computer: Intel Inside? (9-599-061)  838 CASE 5.3: Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness (9-106-063)  838 CASE 5.4: Freej (9-808-121)   838 Stanford Graduate Business School and Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut CASE 5.5: Silkor Laser Medical Center (E-353)  838 Richard Ivey School of Business CASE 5.6: El Mawardy Jewelry: Expansion During a Recession (9B11M051)  838

Appendix: Statistical Tables   839 Notes  851 Photo Credits  889 Glossary  890 Index  917 Selected Formulas  920

Foreword I am pleased to see the Arab World Edition of Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation. The text was first published for the North America region, but has been widely adopted by hundreds of universities in more than 75 countries. It has become the world’s leading textbook for marketing research. This book has been translated into Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Hungarian, French, Bahasa Indonesia, and Japanese. In addition to the various translations, this book also has several English editions including North America, International, Europe, Philippines, India, and Australia and New Zealand. These various translations and editions demonstrate that Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation, effectively meets the demand of educators and students for a book that explains basic and advanced concepts of marketing research and applies them to address real marketing problems in various cultural and environmental settings. In my travels around the world, both as a professor and Christian minister and Bible teacher, I have observed firsthand the need for people to be taught in a culturally relevant context with explanations, examples, and illustrations they can identify with and relate to in a meaningful way. As a mainstream MBA level text, Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation complements my other two textbooks on this subject. Basic Marketing Research: Integration of Social Media, fourth edition, is a mainstream undergraduate level textbook. My latest book, Essentials of Marketing Research: A Hands-On Orientation, first edition, is a more lower-level textbook suitable for use in lower-level undergraduate courses. All the three books offer the most coherent and expository treatment of marketing research concepts and issues with contemporary applications and a strong managerial focus and orientation. They are current and contemporary, and have a pervasive emphasis on international marketing research, the Internet, social media and new technologies, and ethics in marketing research. The IBM SPSS Statistics (SPSS), EXCEL, and SAS computerized demonstration movies, screen captures, and step-by-step instructions accompanying each of the three books offer the most comprehensive help available anywhere for learning these programs. The Arab edition is a welcome addition. The Arab edition further extends the reach of my marketing research textbooks by integrating examples, such as Research Next Door, that are relevant to the Arab culture and its business environment. Professors Baalbaki and Nasr Bechwati have done a great job in systematically addressing strategic issues facing the Arab world and in bringing the most widely used marketing research text in the world to Arab educators, students, and managers. I had the pleasure of guiding Imad’s doctoral program and thesis at Georgia Tech and I am very pleased to have him as a co-author. I am confident that, like the various other translations and adaptations, the Arab edition will also be a big success. Naresh K. Malhotra

23

Preface The Arab World Edition—Helping You Learn Marketing Research Marketing research is an integral part of marketing. Its task is to assess information needs and provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information to aid marketing decision making (see Figure 1.2). Companies use marketing research to stay competitive and to avoid high costs of poor decisions based on unsound information. If you are a marketing major, understanding your consumers, suppliers, channel partners, employees, and competitors and the environment is your foundation for developing effective marketing programs. You gain that understanding by conducting marketing research. This book and course will help you succeed in your marketing career. If you are not a marketing major, any company or organization you work for will use marketing research information for making decisions. You will want to understand how to generate such information and how to evaluate its relevance, accuracy, and usefulness. The research process we describe in this book is very general and applies to any area of management, not just marketing. Only the context in which we illustrate it is marketing. Therefore, this course and this book will help you be more effective in your job, regardless of the specific area in which you work. The Arab World Edition aims to enhance your understanding and appreciation of the practice of marketing research in the Arab world. In addition to covering universal research topics and guidelines, this textbook addresses the context in which the research happens in your region. Conducting research can be significantly impacted by the environments, both micro and macro, in which a researcher operates. Examples of micro factors include the attitude of consumers and businesses toward participating in or conducting marketing research and the level of openness to sharing one’s information. Macro factors involve political, legal/ regulatory, cultural, economic, and demographic aspects. The environments usually vary significantly among world regions. The main contribution of this textbook is the immersion of marketing research in the Arab world. This immersion is achieved through discussions of the key environmental factors that characterize the Arab world as well as examples and cases throughout the book covering firms operating and research projects conducted in the Arab world. For instance, Chapters 1 and 4 provide detailed descriptions of the marketing research industry in the Arab world. Similarly, Chapter 11 provides an example of actual research conducted in the Arab region for every single sampling method discussed in that chapter. Examples and cases in the Arab World Edition cover a variety of industries such as banking, tourism, health care, education, food, housing, media, etc. Some examples are Pan Arab and extend over many Arab countries while others are specific to certain Arab countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Morocco, and many others. Since research is best learned by doing, this book emphasizes a hands-on, do-it-yourself approach. You will have many opportunities to see how marketing research affects management decisions in chapter features including Real Research, Active Research, Experiential Research, Research Next Door, Decision Research, Project Research, cases, video cases, and extensive review questions, problems, Internet and computer exercises, and activities (role playing, fieldwork, and group discussions). The data analysis chapters illustrate in detail each step in running IBM SPSS Statistics (‘SPSS’), and we’ve provided four distinct ways in which you can learn these programs on your own. SAS instructions have been removed from the book itself, but can be found on the Web site. SPSS and SAS files are provided for all data sets; outputs, demonstration movies, and screen captures are also posted on the Web site. This book provides students with the most extensive help available to learn SPSS. Thus, we have prepared this textbook and all the additional materials to help you understand the fundamental principles of marketing research and how to apply them in real-life marketing situations. 24

PREFACE   25

Features Unique to the Arab World Edition While maintaining the basic structure of the Global Edition, the Arab World Edition contains major revisions to make it more relevant to the Arab world. Significant changes include: 1. Marketing Environment. The Arab World Edition contains detailed discussions of the research environment in the Arab world. The marketing research industry in the Arab world is also described, including a list of the major marketing research firms operating in the region. 2. Examples and Cases about the Arab World. Most opening vignettes focus on one or more cases from the Arab world. Additional Arab examples are provided throughout the chapters. The end-of-chapter exercises are also more applicable to your region of the world. 3. Updating. New and updated material starts with Chapter 1 and continues throughout the text. Interestingly, much of the research work referenced was done by academics teaching in educational institutions in the Arab World. 4. New Opening Quotes. Each chapter shows an opening quote by experts with extensive experience in the Arab world. The vast majority of the experts are native Arabs. 5. New Educational Feature: Research Next Door: A new feature, ‘Research Next Door,’ complements other educational features such as Real Research and Experiential Research and pushes the envelope even further by focusing on the implications of the research findings. In each chapter, Research Next Door describes research conducted in the Arab world and reports its findings. The students are asked to think about the research implications, i.e., the parties to which these findings can be meaningful and how these parties can use findings to inform future decisions. 6. New Critical Thinking Cases. Two new comprehensive cases with critical thinking and case questions are structured around principles for research, instructional strategies, Socratic questioning, critical reading and writing, higher-order thinking, and assessment, as propounded by the Foundation for Critical Thinking (www.criticalthinking.org). These cases are 2.1 TV in the Arab World: Boosting Local Production and 2.3 Agro-Food Industrie: Positioning Halal Food for Babies. Case 2.2 Baskin-Robbins is also modified to be more relevant to the Arab market. 7. Published Cases. The list of published cases suggested in the Global Edition was significantly revised to (1) include cases from various academic sources not exclusively published by the Harvard Business School, and (2) be more relevant to the Arab world. The current list consists of six cases published by the Harvard Business School, Ivey Business School, Stanford University, and the American University of Beirut and the following four cases are about the Arab world: Case 5.6 El Mawardy Jewelry: Expansion During a Recession (Ivey School of Business), Case 5.5 Silkor Laser Medical Center (Stanford Graduate School of Business and American University of Beirut), Case 5.4 Freej (Harvard Business School), and Case 5.3 Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness (Harvard Business School). 8. Updated and Modified Video Cases and Cases with Real Questionnaires and Data. Each chapter, except the data analysis chapters, is followed by a video case with questions pertaining to that chapter and all the preceding chapters. These cases are drawn from the Prentice Hall video library but have been written, with relevant discussion questions, from a marketing research perspective. Each can be used with or without the video. At the end of the textbook, five cases contain real questionnaires and real data sets. The data sets were obtained in actual surveys conducted by marketing research companies. All real data cases and written versions of the video cases have been (1) updated to reflect most recent information and (2) modified to make them more relevant to the Arab world. 9. English–Arabic Glossary. Each chapter has an English–Arabic glossary of the key terms introduced and/or used in the chapter.

Additional Special Features The Arab World Edition retains many of the key features in Marketing Research. These features include: 1. Concept Maps. Concept maps in each chapter connect concepts in a downward-branching hierarchical structure, with labeled arrows that articulate flows and relationships. The

26    PREFACE

contribution of concept maps to learning is well documented; find more information at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition Web site at www.ihmc.us. 2. Running Case about Dell. Case 1.1 begins a running case that features Dell Computers, using the actual questionnaire and real data collected by a prominent marketing research firm. This case is another way to see the linkages between chapters and trace the entire marketing research process throughout the book. Case questions conclude each chapter; answers appear in the Instructor’s Manual. 3. SPSS and SAS Computerized Demonstration Movies. Computerized demonstration movies illustrating step-by-step instructions for each data analysis procedure—SPSS and SAS—are available for downloading from the Web site for this book (see Box 14.4). 4. SPSS and SAS Screen Captures. In addition to the demonstration movies, we have also provided screen captures with notes illustrating step-by-step instructions for running each data analysis procedure presented in the book using the IBM SPSS Statistics (‘SPSS’) program. These, as well as SAS screen captures, are on the text Web site for downloading. 5. SPSS Step-by-Step Instructions. Each chapter contains separate step-by-step SPSS instructions for conducting the data analysis presented in that chapter. SAS instructions can be found on the Web site. 6. New and Updated Examples. In addition to the completely new examples about the Arab World, new global examples have been added, some old ones deleted, and the remaining ones updated as appropriate. 7. Online Materials. To keep the book concise, we have placed some material on the instructor Web site (Instructor Resource Center) and the student Web site. 8. Updated References. Each chapter contains many references dated 2011 or later. Of course, the classic references have been retained.

Integrated Learning Package If you take advantage of the following special features, you should find this textbook interesting and even fun. 1. Balanced Orientation. We’ve blended scholarship with a highly applied and managerial orientation showing how marketing researchers apply concepts and techniques and how managers use their findings to improve marketing practice. In each chapter, we talk about real marketing research firms, large and small, both in the Arab world and internationally. 2. Real-Life Examples. Real-life examples (Real Research) describe the kind of marketing research firms used to address a specific managerial problem and the decisions they based on the findings. Real-life examples are provided also in the Research Next Door described in each chapter. 3. Hands-On Approach. You’ll find more real-life scenarios and exercises in every chapter. Active Research features ask you to do some research on the Internet and play the roles of a marketing researcher and a marketing manager. Experiential Research features let you experience the research concepts in each chapter. Research Next Door provides you with the findings of research conducted in the Arab world and asks you to think about the implications of these findings. Decision Research presents a real-life marketing situation in which you assume the role of a consultant and recommend marketing research and marketing management decisions. 4. Running Project. A running example in every chapter is based on an actual department store project that Professor Malhotra conducted himself, although several aspects have been disguised. You will participate by conducting some research and analysis. 5. Critical Thinking Emphasis. You can practice your critical thinking skills including Socratic questioning, critical reading and writing, and higher-order thinking and assessment in the three comprehensive critical thinking cases, end-of-chapter review questions, applied problems, and group discussions. 6. Concept Maps. Concept maps help you visualize the interrelated concepts in each chapter. 7. Extensive Internet Coverage. We’ll show you how to integrate the Internet into each step of the marketing research process and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to do Internet research.

PREFACE   27

 8. International Focus. Every chapter has a section titled International Marketing Research or an example illustrating a data analysis technique in an international setting. Chapter 24 introduces advanced concepts in international marketing research.  9. Ethics Focus. Ethical issues are pervasive in marketing research. Every chapter has a section titled Ethics in Marketing Research or an example of a data analysis technique that raises an ethical question. We’ll talk about ethics from the perspectives of the four stakeholders: the client, the marketing research firm, the respondents, and the general public. 10. Focus on Technology. Technological developments have shaped the way in which marketing research is conducted and we talk about these throughout the book. 11. Contemporary Focus. We apply marketing research to current topics such as customer value, satisfaction, loyalty, customer equity, brand equity and management, innovation, entrepreneurship, return on marketing, relationship marketing, and socially responsible marketing throughout the text. 12. Statistical Software. We illustrate data analysis procedures with respect to SPSS and Excel. Separate SPSS Windows sections in the relevant chapters discuss the programs and the steps you need to run them. SAS instructions are provided online. The Web site includes all the SPSS data sets used in each data analysis chapter (plus additional SAS data sets) and the corresponding output files, the SPSS and SAS data sets for the relevant Internet and Computer Exercises, and cases. You can also download the SPSS and SAS demonstration movies and screen captures. 13. Video Instruction. Each chapter of the book, except the data analysis chapters, is followed by a video case and questions written from a marketing research perspective. You can study these cases with or without the videos. 14. Comprehensive Cases with Real Data. At the end of the book, you’ll find two comprehensive cases, relevant questionnaires, and statistical data files, with case questions that test your understanding of each chapter of the book. These cases (Case 4.1, JPMorgan Chase, and Case 4.2, Wendy’s) will let you see the interrelatedness of all the marketing research concepts discussed in the book. The data are the actual, original data, although the identities of the actual firms have been changed. There are three additional data analysis cases with actual questionnaires and real data (Cases 3.1 AT&T, 3.2 IBM, and 3.3 Kimberly-Clark). 15. Running Case About Dell. Case 1.1 is a running case about Dell that features the actual questionnaire and real data. This case is another way to see the linkages between chapters and trace the entire marketing research process through the book. 16. Published Cases. To show you how managers integrate marketing research with marketing management decisions, the book includes six cases published by leading schools including the Harvard Business School and Ivey Business School, with comprehensive marketing research questions that cover each chapter of the book (except the data analysis chapters). 17. Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project. If your instructor wishes to implement a marketing research project, we give specific steps in each chapter. 18. Extensive Exercises and Activities. Extensive exercises and activities, which include questions, problems, Internet and computer exercises, role playing, fieldwork, and group discussion, conclude each chapter. Here you’ll find ample opportunities for learning and testing yourself on the concepts in the chapter. 19. Learning Aids. We offer a complete set of learning aids, including a Web site that can be found at http://www.pearsonmiddleeastawe.com/malhotra. 21. AACSB Learning Standards. At the end of each chapter, we supply exercises that help you meet the AACSB learning standards with respect to • Communication. • Ethical reasoning. • Analytic skills. • Use of information technology. • Multiculture and diversity. • Reflective thinking.

28    PREFACE

You Can Learn SPSS on Your Own! Many students complain that they spend a substantial amount of time learning SPSS. We have addressed this situation. The Arab World Edition provides three ways in which you can learn SPSS on your own: (1) detailed step-by-step instructions appear in the chapter, (2) you can download (from the Web site for this book: http://www.pearsonmiddleeastawe.com/malhotra) computerized demonstration movies illustrating these step-by-step instructions, and (3) you can download screen captures with notes illustrating these step-by-step instructions. Thus, we provide the most extensive help available anywhere to learn SPSS!

Tips for Using This Textbook Here are a few tips on how to use this book to master the material. • Read the Chapter. Start by reading the chapter. Be sure to look at the objectives and read the overview so you will know what is in the chapter. Some students mistakenly think this step isn’t important; don’t skip it. • Review the Key Terms. Read through these new terms to be sure you understand each one. There is an English-Arabic Glossary at the end of the book. Key terms are often targets of quiz and exam questions. • Answer the Review Questions. Go through the review questions and try to answer them without looking in the chapter. When you are finished, go back and see whether you got them all correct. For those you couldn’t answer, go back and locate the correct information in the chapter. • Do the Problems. Pick several problems you believe would be interesting. Spend some time thinking about the question and the concepts each problem explores. You can make these problems fun to do as you analyze the concepts at a deeper level. • Attempt the Internet and Computer Exercises. These exercises give you practice in analyzing both qualitative data (that you will search for on the Web) and quantitative data (that you can download from the Web site for this book). • Try One of the Cases or Video Cases. The cases and video cases provide an excellent summary of the material presented in the chapter. Read one and answer each of the questions at the end. (You do not need to see the video to answer the video case questions, but you can view it on the Companion Website for this text by visiting http://www.pearsonmiddleeastawe.com/malhotra.) • Have Some Fun with Critical Thinking. Go to one of the critical thinking cases (2.1 TV in the Arab World: Boosting Local Production, 2.2 Baskin-Robbins, and 2.3 Agro-Food Industrie: Positioning Halal Food for Babies. These cases are comprehensive and contain questions on all the chapters except the data analysis chapters. Use what you’ve learned, along with the case information, to answer the critical thinking questions as well as the technical questions. Doing these cases will help you understand and apply the concepts in real-life situations from a critical thinking perspective.

How to Prepare for Exams If you’ve followed the tips, you’re almost ready for the exam. A brief review of the key terms and a scan of the chapter is all you need. If not, here is a sequence of activities that will help you learn the material. • • • • • • •

Read the chapter. Review the concept maps. Review the key terms and refer to the English–Arabic glossary. Answer the review questions. Read the chapter overview. Read the chapter summary. Go through the chapter and locate all the bold and italic words. Read the context of each term to make sure you understand it.

PREFACE   29

• Start at the beginning of the chapter and read the topic sentence of each paragraph. These provide a good summary of that paragraph. • Reread the chapter summary. Congratulations! You are now ready for the exam. Relax; you’ll do well.

Accompanying Website A functional and useful Web site accompanies this book. Access this site at http://www.pearsonmiddleeastawe.com/malhotra. It contains: • Data for Case 1.1 Dell; Cases 3.1 AT&T, 3.2 IBM, and 3.3 Kimberly-Clark; and Cases 4.1 JPMorgan Chase and 4.2 Wendy’s, given in the book (SPSS and SAS). • Data files for all the Internet and Computer Exercises (SPSS and SAS). • Data file for the data set(s) used in each data analysis chapter (SPSS and SAS). The corresponding output files are also provided. • SPSS and SAS computerized demonstration movies. • SPSS and SAS screen captures. • Videos for all the video cases. • Additional materials that supplement the topics discussed in the book.

Instructor Resources • Instructor’s Manual (IM): This fully adapted comprehensive supplement provides extensive instructional support. The instructor’s manual includes chapter guides for each chapter in the text, which include chapter objectives, a chapter outline and focus, teaching suggestions, and answers to exercises, activities, questions, and problems. The IM also includes answers to Case and Video questions. • Test Item File: The test item file contains on average 90 questions per chapter including multiple-choice, true/false, and short-answer/essay-type questions. Suggested answers, difficulty ratings, AACSB call-outs, and page number references are included for all questions. • PowerPoints: Fully adapted PowerPoint slides accompany the book. These can be used for class presentations, or by students for lecture review. Instructors may download the PowerPoint slides from the Instructor’s Resource Center through (http://www.pearsonmiddleeastawe.com/malhotra).

Acknowledgments From Imad B. Baalbaki: My very first word of acknowledgment has to be to my mentor Dr. Naresh K. Malhotra, my professor and Ph.D. supervisor during my doctoral studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology, U.S.A. Dr. Malhotra’s work commitment, professional advice, meticulous attention to detail, and ethical and moral values have not only guided me and my classmates at Georgia Tech through our doctoral years, but have also impacted and continue to impact my academic and professional career. I was a doctoral student of his when he was working on the draft of this Marketing Research textbook, and was privileged to review major parts of its early drafts. After about a couple of decades, working on the Arab World Edition of what eventually developed into a top-selling textbook on Marketing Research has been such a special and rewarding experience. I would also like to acknowledge my colleagues, friends, and students at the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at the American University of Beirut. I also recognize my colleagues at AUB’s Office of Development for being my second family, and my students of the past, present, and future for enriching my experiences and thinking. I have been blessed to be able to contribute to my community through a very noble profession—education, and at a world-class institution—the American University of Beirut. I am indebted to several members of my immediate and extended family. My late grandparents, Afif and Samiha, and my aunt Afaf, and uncles Hisham, Samih, and the late Abdulhafiz have embraced me with unwavering love and care, especially during my doctoral studies in the United States. A word of thanks is due to a special Moukaddem family (Fuadi, Maya, Mashhour, and Hazem). I owe the person I am to my parents: My late father Burhan and my mother Rabab, and to my sisters: Thurayya, Souheir, and Salwa. And to the one-and-only Annelie and our angels: Sarah, Roya, and Mia, I say: Thanks for being there. You are a blessing and my inspiration. From Nada Nasr Bechwati: For teaching me to appreciate research and showing me how fascinating marketing is, I am grateful to my professors at Boston University, U.S.A., and the American University of Beirut. For enriching my learning through teaching them, I thank all my students both in Lebanon and in the U.S.A. I also thank my past and present colleagues, many of whom are my friends, for their support and daily advice. My special thanks go to my colleagues at Bentley University and to the library team there, particularly Lisa Curtin. Sophie Bulbrook has been extremely helpful and patient in guiding me throughout the work on this textbook and I appreciate her valuable guidance. For their unconditional love and unlimited support, I cannot thank enough my family members: My late father Ibrahim, my mother Souad, my siblings Melhem, Ikbal, Hoda, Michel, and Najoie, my husband and life partner Ibrahim, and our daughters Maria and Theresa. The 10 of them are my life. Above and before all, I praise God to whom I owe everything. Reviewers of the Arab World Edition have offered many constructive and valuable suggestions. We gratefully acknowledge the help of the following: Alhassan G. Abdul-Muhmin, Western Michigan University, U.S.A. and King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia Binta Abubakar Ph.D., United Arab Emirates University, U.A.E. Dr. Tamer Awad, University College of Bahrain, Bahrain Dr. Dalia A. Farrag, The Arab Academy For Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AAST), Egypt Mohamed Nassar, University of Alexandria, Egypt, Gulf University of Science and Technology, Kuwait Edgard A. Rizk, Ph.D., Sagesse University, Lebanon Professor Ahmed Ali Soliman, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia The team at Pearson provided outstanding support. Special thanks are due to Rasheed Roussan, Acquisitions Editor; Sophie Bulbrook, Senior Development Editor; Sue Mainey, Marketing Manager; Nicole Elliott and Jeanette Hewitt, Project Editors; Sarah Fach, Senior Designer; and Christopher Crowe, Senior Manufacturing Controller. Imad B. Baalbaki Nada Nasr Bechwati

We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material: Figures Figure 1.3 on page 45 from “Management Consulting and Marketing Research Experience..”, www. powerdecisions.com/pdecisions.cfm. Used with permission of Power Decisions Group; Figure 8.3 on page 295 from ‘Ordinal Scales for Measuring Education and Income’, copyright © IBM SPSS Statistics software; Figure 9.3 on page 323 from ‘Likert-Type Scales for Rating Salespeople and Product Characteristic’, copyright © IBM SPSS Statistics software; Figure 22.13 on page 737 “Explaining Consumers’ Willingness to Be Environmentally Friendly”, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Vol 31 (3), pp.237-247 (AlMuhmin, A., 2006), copyright © 2006, John Wiley and Sons; Figure 22.14 on page 737 from “Social Usage of Instant Messaging outside the Workplace in Kuwait”, Information Technology & People, Vol 21 (1), pp.34-68 (Rouaibah, K., 2008), copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited; Figures 23.2, 23.3, 23.4, 23.5, 23.6 on pages 753-755 from Arab Social Media Report. January 2011, May 2011, and November 2011. Governance and Innovation Program, copyright © 2011 Dubai School of Government; Figures on page 791 adapted from “Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Returned to Growth in Third Quarter of 2009”, 14 October 2009; “Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Grew 3.2 Percent in Third Quarter of 2011” 12 October 2011; “Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Returned to Growth in Third Quarter of 2009” 14 October 2009; and “Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Grew 3.2 Percent in Third Quarter of 2011” 12 October 2011, www.gartner.com, copyright © 2012 Gartner, Inc. and/or its Affiliates. All Rights Reserved; and Figure on page 804 adapted from “2 out of 5 Smartphone Subscribers Now Use Android Platform” Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers (Smartphone & Non-Smartphone), www.comscore.com, Source: comScore MobiLens. Reproduced with permission. Screenshots Screenshot on page 140 from Zawya Homepage, www.zawya.com. Reproduced with permission; Screenshot on page 154 from Yahoo! Maktoob homepage, www.yahoomaktoob.com. Reproduced with kind permission; Screenshot on page 216 from Arab-Eye homepage, www.arab-eye.com. Reproduced with kind permission; Screenshot on page 322 from Bayt homepage, wwwBayt.com. Reproduced with kind permission; Screenshot on page 446 from Burke homepage, http://www.burke.com/, copyright © 2011 copyright Burke, Inc. Tables Table 1.2 on page 48 from “Top 25 Global Market Research Firms”, Marketing News, 30/08/2010 (Honomichl, J.). Reprinted with permission from Marketing News, published by the American Marketing Association; Table 1.3 on page 49 adapted from ESOMAR Market Research Directory, http://directory.esomar.org/ countries.php, copyright © 2011 by ESOMAR® - The World Association of Research Professionals. This paper first appeared online, published by ESOMAR; Table 6.2 on page 217 from “Internet Penetration in the Arab countries, 2011”, www.internetworldstats.com, copyright © 2000 - 2012, Miniwatts Marketing Group. All rights reserved; Table on page 476 from “Women: Segmenting the Home Fitness Equipment Market”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol 24 (1), pp.18-26 (McKehnie, D.; Grant, J.; Korepina, V.; Sadykova, N., 2007), copyright © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limited; Tables on pages 611, 612 from The International Journal of Management and Business, Vol 20, Issue 2, pp.55,57, Tables 1 & 2, (www.iamb. net), December 2011, Copyright © IAMB. All Rights Reserved; Table on page 634 from SAARANSH RKG Journal of Management, Vol 2 (1), p.18, Table 1, July 2010. Reproduced by permission of Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology (MBA); Table on page 637 from “Housing Preferences and Attribute Importance among Low-Income Consumers in Saudi Arabia”, Habitat International, Vol 34, Issue 2, pp.219-227, Table 5, (Opoku, R. and Abdul-Muhmin, A., 2010), copyright © 2010, Elsevier; Table on page 663 from “Ethical Segmentation of Consumers in Developing Countries: A Comparative Analysis”, International Marketing Review, Vol 22 (2), pp.225-246 (Al-Khatib, J., D’Auria Stanton, A. and Rawwas, M., 2005), copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited; Table 23.1 on page 752 from Arab Social Media Report. January 2011, May 2011, and November 2011. Governance and Innovation Program, copyright © 2011 Dubai School of Government; and Table 24.1 on page 771 from “The Honomichl 2011 Top 50 Report”, Marketing News, 30/06/2011, pp.11-18, (Honomichl, J.). Reprinted with permission from Marketing News, published by the American Marketing Association. Text Quote on page 34 from “Jawad Abbassi: Competition & liberalization drive the need for research in Middle East ICT markets” 25 April 2009, http://mediame.com, copyright © mediaME© (a division of MediaScope Ltd), 2007-2011 All rights reserved; Quote on page 70 from Eric Salama ‘New Dynamics’ by David Murphy July/August 2010, copyright 2010 © by ESOMAR® - The World Association of Research Professionals. This paper first appeared in Research World, published by ESOMAR; Quote on page 120 from “Leading Arab Television Stations Reject Zogby Report”, 02/01/2006, http://www.aawsat.com, copyright © H. H. Saudi Research and Marketing Ltd. All Rights Reserved; Quote on page 130 from “Omar Christidis: There’s no reason why the next big thing shouldn’t emerge from the Arab World” MediaME, 02/03/2011, http:// 31

mediame.com, copyright © mediaME© (a division of MediaScope Ltd), 2007-2011 All rights reserved; Quote on page 131 from “Bankable Perception”, Jordan Business Magazine, pp,42-43, Vol 76, April 2011, copyright © Jordan Business; Box 4.1 on pages 147-148 PARC’s Omnibus Panel, February 2012, www. arabiandemographics.com. Reproduced with kind permission from PARC; Quote on page 161 from Zara, www.zara.com, Reproduced with permission; Quote on page 168 from Haifa Abbas, Founder and Managing Partner Martpoint Marketing Research Consultants. Reproduced with kind permission; Quote on page 173 from “United Arab Emirates female entrepreneurs: motivations and frustrations”, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, Vol 30, Issue 5, pp.409-424 (Itani, H., Sidani, Y.M., Baalbaki, I., 2011), copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited; Quote on page 206 from Rabea Ataya, Chief Executive Officer of Bayt.com. Reproduced with kind permission; Quote on page 208 from Lama Ataya, Chief Marketing Officer Bayt.com, published by www.zawya.com. Reproduced with permission; Extract on page 237 from “The National Bank of Abu Dhabi Strengthen Their Strategy of Putting Customers First by Implementing the First Real-Time Mystery Shopping Program in the UAE”, AMEInfo.com, 21/02/2005 (www.ameinfo.com), copyright © 1996 - 2012 AME Info FZ LLC, A 4C Service. All rights reserved; Quote on page 246 from Amr Kais, Managing Director Ipsos, Egypt. Reproduced with kind permission; Quote on page 278; Quote on page 417 from Fred Van Bennekom, Hilton Hotel Customer Survey Program http://www.greatbrook.com/hotel_survey.htm, copyright © Great Brook Consulting, 2007. All rights reserved; Quote on page 426 from Mr Karim Malas, Partner Acumen. Reproduced with kind permission; Quote on page 444 from Steve Hamilton-Clark, TNS Research International (London). Reproduced with kind permission; Extract on page 502 from “Promoting Destinations via Film Tourism: An Empirical Identification of Supporting Marketing Initiatives”, Journal of Travel Research, Vol 44 (4), pp.387-396, (Hudson, S. and Ritchie, B), copyright © 2006, SAGE Publications; Quote on page 518 from Dr Ziyad Mahfoud, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Reproduced with kind permission; Quote on page 586 from Yasmin Kayali Sabra, Jasmine Marketing Services. Reproduced with kind permission; Quote on page 620 from Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Aali, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. Reproduced with kind permission; Quote on page 708 from Hamed M. Shamma, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Marketing, BP Endowed Chair. Reproduced with kind permission; Quote on page 744 from Mr Ramzi El-Hafez, InfoPro. Reproduced with kind permission; Extract on page 749-751 from ‘Real Research Global Guidelines’ copyright © TNS Global. All rights reserved. Used with permission of TNS Global; Extract on page 762 from Sunil John, CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller and Quotes by Joseph Ghossoub, chairman and CEO of the MENACOM Group, regional parent company of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller. Arab Youth Survey 2012, www.arabyouthsurvey.com. Reproduced with kind permission of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller. Please see their website for latest surveys; and Quote on page 768 from Didier Truchot, Chairman and CEO of Ipsos in “Moving Research Forward”, October 2010, copyright 2010 © by ESOMAR® - The World Association of Research Professionals. This paper first appeared in Research World, published by ESOMAR. In some instances we have been unable to trace the owners of copyright material, and we would appreciate any information that would enable us to do so.

32

23

Chapter

“ ” An essential part of our work is to present our

research process and findings to our clients.

The most challenging task is to explain what all the seemingly countless tables of data and graphs really mean.

Ramzi El-Hafez, President at InfoPro, Lebanon

Objectives

[ After reading this chapter, the student should be able to:]

 1. Discuss the basic requirements of report preparation, including report format, report writing, graphs, and tables.

 2. Discuss the nature and scope of the oral presentation and describe the ‘Tell ’Em’ and ‘KISS ’Em’ principles.  3. Describe the approach to the marketing research report from the client’s perspective and the guidelines for reading the research report.

 4. Explain the reason for follow-up with the client and describe the assistance that should be given to the client and the evaluation of the research project.  5. Understand the report preparation and presentation process in international marketing research.

 6. Identify the ethical issues related to the interpretation and reporting of the research process and findings to the client and the use of these results by the client.  7. Explain the use of the Internet and computers in report preparation and presentation.

744

Report Preparation and Presentation

Overview

Report preparation and presentation constitute the sixth and final step in a marketing research project. It follows problem definition, approach development, research design formulation, fieldwork, and data preparation and analysis. This chapter describes the importance of this final step, as well as a process for report preparation and presentation. We provide guidelines for report preparation, including report writing and preparing tables and graphs. We discuss oral presentation of the report. Research follow-up, including assisting the client and evaluating the research process, is described. The special considerations for report preparation and presentation in international marketing research are discussed and the relevant ethical issues identified. We conclude by discussing the use of software in report preparation and presentation. To begin, we provide two illustrative examples.

Real Research

Arab Media Outlook The Dubai Press Club (www.dpc.org.ae) periodically publishes a report assessing the media scene across most Arab countries. The Arab Media Outlook 2009–2013 (www.dpc.org.ae/UserFiles/AMO%20 Eng%20combined.pdf) is the third edition of this. The report, produced in partnership with Value Partners and The Nielsen Company and published in 2010, provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the Arab media industry and includes projections for the industry for the 2009–2013 timeline. The report builds on the previous two reports, which covered 12 Arab countries (Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Yemen, and the U.A.E.), and adds another three countries (Palestine, Sudan, and Syria) for a total coverage of 15 Arab countries, making the report much more exhaustive in terms of score and reach. The study relied on secondary as well as primary research. For instance, renowned media research companies were used to obtain data on the current state of the Arab media industry and its key indicators, including advertising revenues by media platform and media consumption habits (such as newspaper circulation and pay-TV subscription). In addition, primary qualitative data were collected through interviews with representatives of 125 media organizations for the countries covered. Also, and for the first time, the initiative included an extensive

The Arab Media Outlook report provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the Arab media industry and includes projections for the industry for the 2009–2013 timeline.

745

746        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING consumer market research study in four major media markets: Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E., through a representative sample of 400 to 500 consumers per country (primary quantitative data). Needless to say, with such a comprehensive and extensive study, the challenge lay in writing a report that adequately summarized the research undertaking and highlighted the important findings. The Dubai Press Club and its research partners are commended for their ability to produce a report that does just that. The 200-page report is divided into three major sections. Section 1 provides an analysis of media trends in the Arab world compared to those in the rest of the world. Section 2 offers an indepth analysis and forecast for the media markets in each of the 15 Arab countries. Section 3 addresses the creation and dissemination of local/regional content by the Arab media. The report makes good use of a vast combination of tables, figures, charts, graphs, and other visual elements to complement the summary write-up of the objective, methodology, findings, analysis, interpretation, and projections as they relate to the Arab media market. This results in a very valuable resource that is of benefit not only to media industry professionals, but also to a wider audience such as business organizations, marketing and communication experts, government officials, policy makers, university scholars, students, and even the general public.1

Real Research

Reporting the Friendly Skies The task of marketing research is to assess information needs, to provide this information, and to help the decision maker in making the right decision. That is what United Airlines, the U.S.-based airline company, has understood with its ongoing in-flight customer satisfaction tracking program. Each month, 192,000 passengers among 900 flights are selected and surveyed, using a four-page scannable form. The survey covers the satisfaction of passengers with both ‘on-the-ground services’ (flight reservations, airport service) and ‘in-the-air services’ (flight attendants, meals, aircraft). The attendants distribute the forms early in the flight so that passengers can take time to fill in the questionnaire. Each month, the internal department of marketing research at United Airlines issues a report summarizing customer satisfaction. The report is also posted on the Internet and available online to United’s managers all over the world. Because of the large size of the sample, the data are very reliable (representative) and all departments of the company use the report.

• The marketing department makes strategic planning, product positioning, and target marketing decisions.

• The finance department measures the success of its product investments. • The airport department evaluates ground service, including the speed and efficiency of check-in (service representatives, waiting lines).

• The executive management evaluates the performance of United, both internally in achieving its goals, and externally compared to the competition. The result of this high-powered customer satisfaction report is that all departments at United Airlines are customer oriented. This helps the company to differentiate itself in an environment where all companies have the same schedules, the same service, and the same fares. In winter 2009, United Airlines reduced the prices of many of its routes when its surveys showed that many passengers were looking for low fares in an uncertain and troubled economy.2

The above examples highlight the importance of the research report in capturing the essence and the richness of the research (Arab Media Outlook study) and the managerial insights that can be enhanced through regular reporting (United Airlines example).

Importance of the Report and Presentation report A written and/or oral presentation of the research process, results, recommendations, and/ or conclusions to a specific audience.

A report is a written and/or oral presentation of the research process, results, recommendations, and/or conclusions to a specific audience. For the following reasons, the report and its presentation are important parts of the marketing research project: 1. They are the tangible products of the research effort. After the project is complete and management has made its decision, there is little documentary evidence of the project other than the written report. The report serves as a historical record of the project. 2. Management decisions are guided by the report and the presentation. If the first five steps in the project are carefully conducted but inadequate attention is paid to the sixth step, the value of the project to management will be greatly diminished.

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      747

Figure 23.1 The Report Preparation and Presentation Process

Problem Definition, Approach, Research Design, and Fieldwork

Data Analysis

Interpretation, Conclusions, and Recommendations

Report Preparation

Oral Presentation

Reading of the Report by the Client

Research Follow-Up

3. The involvement of many marketing managers in the project is limited to the written report and the oral presentation. These managers evaluate the quality of the entire project based on the quality of the report and presentation. 4. Management’s decision to undertake marketing research in the future or to use the particular research supplier again will be influenced by the perceived usefulness of the report and the presentation.

The Report Preparation and Presentation Process Figure 23.1 illustrates report preparation and presentation. The process begins by interpreting the results of data analysis in light of the marketing research problem, approach, research design, and fieldwork. Instead of merely summarizing the statistical results, the researcher should present the findings in such a way that they can be used directly as input into decision making. Wherever appropriate, conclusions should be drawn and recommendations made. Recommendations should be actionable. Before writing the report, the researcher should discuss the major findings, conclusions, and recommendations with the key decision makers. Discussions play a major role in ensuring that the report meets the client’s needs and that the report is ultimately accepted. These discussions should confirm specific dates for the delivery of the written report and other data. The entire marketing research project should be summarized in a single written report or in several reports addressed to different readers. Generally, an oral presentation supplements the written documents. The client should be given an opportunity to read the report. After that, the researcher should take necessary follow-up actions. The researcher should assist the client in understanding the report, implementing the findings, undertaking further research, and evaluating the research process in retrospect.

Report Preparation Researchers differ in the way they prepare a research report. The personality, background, expertise, and responsibility of the researcher, along with the decision maker (DM) to whom the report is addressed, interact to give each report a unique character. In short or repetitive projects, an extensive formal written report of the type we describe here may not be prepared. Nonetheless, there are guidelines for formatting and writing reports and designing tables and graphs that should be generally followed.3

748        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING

Report Format Report formats are likely to vary with the researcher or the marketing research firm conducting the project, the client for whom the project is being conducted, and the nature of the project itself. Hence, the following is intended as a guideline from which the researcher can develop a format for the research project at hand. Most formal research reports include most of the elements in Box 23.1. BOX 23.1 Report Elements

I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX.

Title page Letter of transmittal Letter of authorization Table of contents List of tables List of graphs List of appendices List of exhibits Executive summary a. Major findings b. Conclusions c. Recommendations

X. Problem definition a. Background to the problem b. Statement of the problem XI. Approach to the problem XII. Research design a. Type of research design b. Information needs c. Data collection from secondary sources d. Data collection from primary sources e. Scaling techniques f. Questionnaire development and pretesting g. Sampling techniques h. Fieldwork XIII. Data analysis a. Methodology b. Plan of data analysis XIV. Results XV. Limitations and caveats XVI. Conclusions and recommendations XVII. Exhibits a. Questionnaires and forms b. Statistical output c. Lists

Prefatory Part

Main Body

Appended Part

This format closely follows the earlier steps of the marketing research process. The results may be presented in several chapters of the report. For example, in a Pan Arab survey covering several Arab countries, data analysis may be conducted for the overall sample and then the data for each of the Arab countries included in the study may be analyzed separately. If so, the results may be presented in several chapters instead of one.

Title Page The title page should include the title of the report, information (name, address, e-mail, and telephone) about the researcher or organization conducting the research, the name of the client for whom the report was prepared, and the date of release. The title should indicate the nature of the project, as illustrated in the following example.

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      749

Real Research

Global Guidelines on the Title Page Use client language in title—avoid ‘research-eze’:

• ‘Practices Followed in Selecting Long-Distance Carriers’ is better than ‘Long-Distance Service Study’ • ‘Customers’ Reactions to an Expanded Financial/Insurance Relationship’ is better than ‘Relationship Study’ Source: © Copyright TNS Global. All rights reserved. Used with permission of TNS Global.

Letter of Transmittal A formal report generally contains a letter of transmittal that delivers the report to the client and summarizes the researcher’s overall experience with the project, without mentioning the findings. The letter should also identify the need for further action on the part of the client, such as implementation of the findings or further research that should be undertaken.

Letter of Authorization A letter of authorization is written by the client to the researcher before work on the project begins. It authorizes the researcher to proceed with the project and specifies its scope and the terms of the contract. Often, it is sufficient to refer to the letter of authorization in the letter of transmittal. However, sometimes it is necessary to include a copy of the letter of authorization in the report.

Table of Contents The table of contents should list the topics covered and the appropriate page numbers. In most reports, only the major headings and subheadings are included. The table of contents is followed by a list of tables, list of graphs, list of appendices, and list of exhibits.

Executive Summary The executive summary is an extremely important part of the report, because this is often the only portion of the report that executives read. The summary should concisely describe the problem, approach, and research design that was adopted. A summary section should be devoted to the major results, conclusions, and recommendations. The executive summary should be written after the rest of the report has been completed.

Problem Definition This section of the report gives the background to the problem, highlights the discussions with the decision makers and industry experts, and discusses the secondary data analysis, the qualitative research that was conducted, and the factors that were considered. Moreover, it should contain a clear statement of the management decision problem and the marketing research problem (see Chapter 2).

Approach to the Problem This section should discuss the broad approach that was adopted in addressing the problem. This section should also contain a description of the theoretical foundations that guided the research, any analytical models formulated, research questions, hypotheses, and the factors that influenced the research design.

Research Design The section on research design should specify the details of how the research was conducted (see Chapters 3 to 13). This should include the nature of the research design adopted, information needed, data collection from secondary and primary sources, scaling techniques, questionnaire development and pretesting, sampling techniques, and fieldwork. These topics should be presented in a nontechnical, easy-to-understand manner. The technical details should be included in an appendix. This section of the report should justify the specific methods selected.

Data Analysis This section should describe the plan of data analysis and justify the data analysis strategy and techniques used. The techniques used for analysis should be described in simple, nontechnical terms.

750        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING

Results This section is normally the longest part of the report and may comprise several chapters. Often, the results are presented not only at the aggregate level but also at the subgroup (market segment, geographical area, etc.) level. The results should be organized in a coherent and logical way. For example, in a health care marketing survey of hospitals in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, the results were presented in four chapters. One chapter presented the overall results, another examined the differences between countries of the GCC, a third presented the differences between for-profit and nonprofit hospitals, and a fourth presented the differences according to hospital bed capacity. The presentation of the results should be geared directly to the components of the marketing research problem and the information needs that were identified. The details should be presented in tables and graphs, with the main findings discussed in the text.

Limitations and Caveats All marketing research projects have limitations caused by time, budget, and other organizational constraints. Furthermore, the research design adopted may be limited in terms of the various types of errors (see Chapter 3), and some of these may be serious enough to warrant discussion. This section should be written with great care and a balanced perspective. On one hand, the researcher must make sure that management does not overly rely on the results or use them for unintended purposes, such as projecting them to unintended populations. On the other hand, this section should not erode their confidence in the research or unduly minimize its importance.

Conclusions and Recommendations Presenting a mere summary of the statistical results is not enough. The researcher should interpret the results in light of the problem being addressed to arrive at major conclusions. Based on the results and conclusions, the researcher may make recommendations to the decision makers. Sometimes marketing researchers are not asked to make recommendations because they research only one area but do not understand the bigger picture at the client firm. If recommendations are made, they should be feasible, practical, actionable, and directly usable as inputs into managerial decision making. The following example contains guidelines on conclusions and recommendations.

Real Research

Guidelines on Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusions • Conclusions concerning, for example: Customer behavior. Customer attitudes or perceptions. The nature of the markets studied. • Generally, in studies with samples designed to represent the market, avoid interesting results that are not relevant to the conclusions. • May be in the form of statement or paragraphs. • Use subheadings to identify conclusions covering different subjects or market segments.

Recommendations • Recommendations regarding actions that should be taken or considered in light of the research results: Add/drop a product. What to say in advertising—advertising positioning. Market segments to select as primary targets. How to price product. Further research that should be considered. • Should be related to the stated purpose of the research.

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      751

• Sometimes omitted—e.g.: Client staff members want to author the recommendations. Study designed merely to familiarize client with a market. • Most clients are interested in our suggestions, in spite of the fact that we may not be familiar with internal financial issues and other internal corporate factors. Source: © Copyright TNS Global. All rights reserved. Used with permission of TNS Global.

Report Writing Reader Focused A report should be written for a specific reader or readers: the marketing managers who will use the results. First, the language used in the report wording should be agreed upon between the client and the research team. In the Arab world, Arabic, English, and sometimes French, are languages which are used to write research reports, with English being the dominant medium. In some cases, and at the request of the client, the entire report is written in English, while the executive summary might be translated into Arabic and/or French. Also, the report should take into account the readers’ technical sophistication and interest in the project, as well as the circumstances under which they will read the report and how they will use it. Technical jargon should be avoided. As expressed by one expert, “The readers of your reports are busy people; and very few of them can balance a research report, a cup of coffee, and a dictionary at one time.”4 Instead of technical terms such as maximum likelihood, heteroscedasticity, and nonparametric, use descriptive explanations. If some technical terms cannot be avoided, briefly define them in an appendix. When it comes to marketing research, people would rather live with a problem they cannot solve than accept a solution they cannot understand. Often the researcher must cater to the needs of several audiences with different levels of technical sophistication and interest in the project. Such conflicting needs may be met by including different sections in the report for different readers, or by separate reports entirely.

Easy to Follow The report should be easy to follow.5 It should be structured logically and written clearly. The material, particularly the body of the report, should be structured in a logical manner so that the reader can easily see the inherent connections and linkages. Headings should be used for different topics and subheadings for subtopics. A logical organization also leads to a coherent report. Clarity can be enhanced by using wellconstructed sentences that are short and to the point. The words used should express precisely what the researcher wants to communicate. Difficult words, slang, and clichés should be avoided. An excellent check on the clarity of a report is to have two or three people who are unfamiliar with the project read it and offer critical comments. Several revisions of the report may be needed before the final document emerges.

Presentable and Professional Appearance The appearance of a report is important. The report should be professionally reproduced with quality paper, typing, and binding. The typography should be varied. Variation in type size and skillful use of white space can greatly contribute to the appearance and readability of the report.

Objective Objectivity is a virtue that should guide report writing. Researchers can become so fascinated with their project that they overlook their scientific role. The report should accurately present the methodology, results, and conclusions of the project, without slanting the findings to conform to the expectations of management. Decision makers are unlikely to receive with enthusiasm a report that reflects unfavorably on their judgment or actions. However, the researcher must have the courage to present and defend the results objectively. The rule is, ‘Tell it like it is.’

752        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING

Reinforce Text with Tables and Graphs It is important to reinforce key information in the text with tables, graphs, pictures, maps, and other visual devices. Visual aids can greatly facilitate communication and add to the clarity and impact of the report; after all, sometimes “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Guidelines for tabular and graphical presentation are discussed later.

Concise A report should be brief and concise. Anything unnecessary should be omitted. If too much information is included, important points may be lost. Avoid lengthy discussions of common procedures. Yet brevity should not be achieved at the expense of completeness.

Guidelines for Tables Statistical tables are a vital part of the report and deserve special attention. We illustrate the guidelines for tables using the data for the number of Facebook users in the Arab world reported in Table 23.1. The numbers in parentheses in the following sections refer to the numbered sections of the table.

Title and Number Every table should have a number (1a) and title (1b). The title should be brief yet clearly descriptive of the information provided. Arabic numbers are used to identify tables so that they can be referred to in the text.6

Arrangement of Data Items The arrangement of data items in a table should emphasize the most significant aspect of the data. Thus, when the data pertain to time, the items should be arranged by appropriate time period. When order of magnitude is most important, the data items should be arranged in that order (2a). If ease of locating items is critical, an alphabetical arrangement is most appropriate.

Basis of Measurement The basis or unit of measurement should be clearly stated (3a). 1a

1b

3a

Table 23.1

Facebook Users in the Arab World (Jan. 2011–Oct. 2011) Number of Users

5b

5c

6a

4c

Country

4a

Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saudi Arabia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . U.A.E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tunisia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Algeria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lebanon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kuwait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Arab Countries* . . . . . . . . . . . . Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2a

Jan. 11 4,634,600 3,213,420 2,446,300 2,135,950 1,820,880 1,413,280 1,104,340 983,380 629,700 2,980,003 21,361,853

4b

5a

Apr. 11

Oct. 11

6,586,260 4,092,600 3,203,440 2,406,120 2,356,520 1,947,900 1,402,440 1,093,420 795,100 3,737,890 27,621,690

8,791,800 4,408,220 3,905,080 2,527,820 2,750,160 2,667,620 1,923,780 1,288,860 857,280 5,408,596 34,529,216

* Includes Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen Source: Arab Social Media Report, Dubai School of Government (January 2011, May 2011, and November 2011).

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      753

Leaders, Rulings, and Spaces Leaders, dots, or hyphens are used to lead the eye horizontally, impart uniformity, and improve readability (4a). Instead of ruling the table horizontally or vertically, white spaces (4b) are used to set off data items. Skipping lines after different sections of the data can also assist the eye. Horizontal rules (4c) are often used after the headings.

Explanations and Comments: Headings, Stubs, and Footnotes Explanations and comments clarifying the table can be provided in the form of captions, stubs, and footnotes. Designations placed over the vertical columns are called headings (5a). Designations placed in the left-hand column are called stubs (5b). Information that cannot be incorporated in the table should be explained by footnotes (5c). Letters or symbols should be used for footnotes rather than numbers. The footnotes should come after the main table, but before the source note.

Sources of the Data If the data contained in the table are secondary, the source of data should be cited (6a).

Guidelines for Graphs As a general rule, graphic aids should be employed whenever practical. Graphical display of information can effectively complement the text and tables to enhance clarity of communication and impact. The guidelines for preparing graphs are similar to those for tables. Therefore, this section focuses on the different types of graphical aids.7 We illustrate several of these using the data on the number of users of Facebook in the Arab world from Table 23.1.

Geographic and Other Maps Geographic and other maps, such as product-positioning maps, can communicate relative location and other comparative information. Geographic maps can pertain to regions (GCC, MENA, Levant), countries, within-country areas, sales territories, and other divisions. For example, suppose the researcher wanted to present information on the relative number of Coca-Cola Company bottlers versus the bottlers for PepsiCo and other competitors in each Arab country. This information could be effectively communicated in a map of the Arab world in which each Arab country is divided into three areas, proportionate to the number of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and other bottlers, with each area in a different color. Chapter 21 showed examples of productpositioning maps derived by using MDS procedures (e.g., Figure 21.4 on page 682).

Round or Pie Charts pie chart A round chart divided into sections.

Figure 23.2 Pie Chart of Facebook Users in the Arab World (Oct. 2011)

In a pie chart, the area of each section, as a percentage of the total area of the circle, reflects the percentage associated with the value of a specific variable. A pie chart is not useful for displaying relationships over time or relationships among several variables. As a general guideline, a pie chart should not require more than seven sections.8 Figure 23.2 shows a pie chart for the number of Facebook users in the Arab world (this has 10 sections for the sake of the illustration). 2WKHU$UDE&RXQWULHV 

(J\SW 

.XZDLW  /HEDQRQ  -RUGDQ 

6DXGL$UDELD 

$OJHULD  7XQLVLD 

8$( 

0RURFFR 

754        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING

Line Charts

line chart A chart that connects a series of data points using continuous lines.

A line chart connects a series of data points using continuous lines. This is an attractive way of illustrating trends and changes over time. Several series can be compared on the same chart, and forecasts, interpolations, and extrapolations can be shown. If several series are displayed simultaneously, each line should have a distinctive color or form (see Figure 23.3).9 A stratum chart is a set of line charts in which the data are successively aggregated over the series. Areas between the line charts display the magnitudes of the relevant variables (see Figure 23.4).

stratum chart A set of line charts in which the data are successively aggregated over the series. Areas between the line charts display the magnitudes of the relevant variables.

Pictographs A pictograph uses small pictures or symbols to display the data. As Figure 23.5 shows, pictographs do not depict results precisely. Hence, caution should be exercised when using them.10

pictograph A graphical depiction that makes use of small pictures or symbols to display the data.

Figure 23.3 Line Chart of Facebook Users in the Arab World (Jan.–Oct. 2011) 

(J\SW 6DXGL$UDELD 0RURFFR 8$( 7XQLVLD $OJHULD -RUGDQ /HEDQRQ .XZDLW 2WKHU$UDE&RXQWULHV

  )DFHERRNXVHUV

       

-DQ

$SU 0RQWK

2FW

Figure 23.4 Stratum Chart of Facebook Users in the Arab World (Jan.–Oct. 2011)  2WKHU$UDE&RXQWULHV .XZDLW /HEDQRQ -RUGDQ $OJHULD 7XQLVLD 8$( 0RURFFR 6DXGL$UDELD (J\SW



)DFHERRNXVHUV

       -DQ

$SU 0RQWK

2FW

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      755

Histograms and Bar Charts A bar chart displays data in various bars that may be positioned horizontally or vertically. Bar charts can be used to present absolute and relative magnitudes, differences, and change. The histogram is a vertical bar chart in which the height of the bars represents the relative or cumulative frequency of occurrence of a specific variable (see Figure 23.6).

bar chart A chart that displays data in bars positioned horizontally or vertically.

histogram

Schematic Figures and Flowcharts

A vertical bar chart in which the height of the bars represents the relative or cumulative frequency of occurrence.

Schematic figures and flowcharts take on a number of different forms. They can be used to display the steps or components of a process, as in Figure 23.1 on page 747. Another useful form of these charts is classification diagrams. Examples of classification charts for classifying secondary data were provided in Chapter 4 (e.g., Figure 4.1 on page 137). An example of a flowchart for questionnaire design was given on page 348 (Figure 10.2).11 ACTIVE RESEARCH

Reporting Banking Results Banking and financial institutions summarize their annual results in annual reports. Visit the Web sites of the following four major Arab banks: Kuwait’s NBK (www.nbk.com), Saudi Arabia’s NCB (www.alahli.com), Jordan’s Arab Bank (www.arabbank.com), and Egypt’s Banque Misr (www. banquemisr.com) and search for the latest annual report of each bank. Compare and critically evaluate the use of graphs and charts between these four major Arab banks. What benefit does the use of graphs and charts add for a reader such as yourself? As the vice president of marketing for Arab Bank or Banque Misr, how can you make use of graphs in your next annual report?

(DFK6\PERO(TXDOV8VHUV

Figure 23.5 Pictograph of Facebook Users in the Arab World (Oct. 2011)

(J\SW

0RURFFR

8$(

7XQLVLD

$OJHULD

-RUGDQ

/HEDQRQ

.XZDLW

2WKHU $UDE &RXQWULHV

   )DFHERRNXVHUV

Figure 23.6 Histogram of Facebook Users in the Arab World (Oct. 2011)

6DXGL $UDELD

       

(J\SW

6DXGL 0RURFFR 8$( 7XQLVLD $OJHULD -RUGDQ /HEDQRQ .XZDLW 2WKHU $UDELD $UDE &RXQWU\ &RXQWULHV

756        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING

Report Distribution The marketing research report should be distributed to appropriate personnel in the client organization. The report could be distributed in a variety of formats including hard copy and electronic. Increasingly, research reports are being published or posted directly to the Web. Normally, these reports are not located in publicly accessible areas but in locations that are protected by passwords or on corporate intranets. The various word-processing, spreadsheet, and presentation packages have the capability to produce material in a format that can be posted directly to the Web, thus facilitating the process. There are a number of advantages to publishing marketing research reports on the Web. These reports can incorporate all kinds of multimedia presentations, including graphs, pictures, animation, audio, and full-motion video. The dissemination is immediate and the reports can be accessed by authorized persons online on a worldwide basis. These reports can be electronically searched to identify materials of specific interest. For example, a Gulf Air or Emirates Airlines manager in Kuala Lumpur can electronically locate the portions of the report that pertain to his or her area of responsibility in Southeast Asia. Storage and future retrieval is efficient and effortless. It is easy to integrate these reports into the decision support system. One good example of publishing marketing research reports on the Web is offered by Starmark International. Their main QuickwebPro software provides a useful marketing and advertising reporting platform (http://interactive.starmark.com/QuickwebPro.3.lasso). Furthermore, new Internet applications are allowing companies to share information with specific recipients within their organization.

Decision Research

Subaru: A Report on Reporting The Situation Tomohiko Ikeda, chairman, president, and CEO of Subaru of America, knows that customer loyalty is a big part of the automotive industry today; Subaru has long been aware of this fact. Subaru in the past relied heavily on the traditional, paper-based response surveys from customers of its cars such as the Impreza, Forester, Tribeca, and Legacy models. Short, follow-up purchase experience surveys and service experience surveys were mailed to customers within 7 to 14 days after purchase. These surveys entailed both multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions. The response rates from the mailings ranged from 30 to 45 percent. After all the data were collected from the mailings, dealerships received a Subaru Owner Loyalty Indicator (SOLI) rating quarterly report. These reports provided valuable information to the dealers, but they used to receive this information only four times a year. Upon receipt of a report that contained customer complaints, it was usually too late to resolve the problems. To address this situation, the answer for Tomohiko Ikeda was the Internet, which would provide faster, more flexible service and information to dealers, field staff, and the management team. Subaru hired Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) to set up the program design and provide the ongoing service. The process begins by scanning the responses from customer survey forms using optical character recognition. Customer comments are captured and categorized. Next, all survey information is electronically added to the appropriate dealer’s database using a customized program developed by DRC. The entire process is managed by DRC; hence, Subaru may concentrate on what it does best: selling cars.

Web-based reports have enabled field managers and dealers of Subaru to stay on top of where they are in terms of customer satisfaction.

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      757

The Web-based reports give field managers an opportunity to see what is happening at their assigned dealerships. They can access up-to-the-minute reports on a specified dealership before meeting with the dealer. This works well because the managers are able to access this information from anywhere as long as they can tap into the Internet. Dealers are able to use the site to stay on top of where they are in terms of customer satisfaction. They can see their quality scores and check on a particular salesperson’s performance. Dealers are able to take immediate action because of this new technology. This allows for better management and, in the long run, better performance from all employees. As dealers became more comfortable with the Web format, they began to request more detailed and timely reports. As a result of this request, Subaru has recently begun to develop a series of reports called ‘Just-in-Time Reports.’ These reports provide immediate access to current performance rankings in addition to the quarterly rankings. These have become another tool for Subaru to help boost their sales and performance. This new technology and the refocused goals of customer measurement and loyalty will help Subaru win more clients in an increasingly competitive automobile market.

The Marketing Research Decision 1. While Subaru management may find the old report useful, the dealers have a slightly different opinion. What are some of its shortcomings, and how should the report be modified to improve its usefulness to the dealers? 2. Discuss the role of the type of report you recommend in enabling Tomohiko Ikeda to make the dealer sales effort more effective.

The Marketing Management Decision 1. What should Tomohiko Ikeda do to make the dealer sales effort more effective? 2. Discuss how the marketing management decision action that you recommend to Tomohiko Ikeda is influenced by the type of report that you suggested earlier.12

Oral Presentation The entire marketing research project should be presented to the management of the client firm. This presentation will help management understand and accept the written report. Any preliminary questions that management may have can be addressed in the presentation. Because many executives form their first and lasting impressions about the project based on the presentation, its importance cannot be overemphasized.13 The key to an effective presentation is preparation. A written script or detailed outline should be prepared following the format of the written report. The presentation must be geared to the audience. For this purpose, the researcher should determine their backgrounds, interests, and involvement in the project, as well as the extent to which they are likely to be affected by it. The presentation should be rehearsed several times before it is made to the management. Adequate consideration should be given to the presentation language, depending primarily on the audience. The presenter should ask beforehand about the language that the client audience is comfortable with, and prepare the presentation accordingly. Visual aids, such as tables and graphs, should be displayed with a variety of media. Chalkboards enable the researcher to manipulate numbers. They are particularly useful in communicating answers to technical questions. Although not as flexible, magnetic boards and felt boards allow for rapid presentation of previously prepared material. Flip charts are large pads of blank paper mounted on an easel. Visual aids are drawn on the pages in advance, and the speaker flips through the pages during the presentation. Computer projectors can present simple charts as well as complex overlays produced by the successive addition of new images to the screen. Several computer programs are available for producing attractive presentations. Blu-ray and DVD players and large-screen projectors are particularly effective in presenting focus groups and other aspects of fieldwork that are dynamic in nature. PowerPoint and other software are very useful for making a visual presentation. Computer projectors attached to personal computers, which project the monitor image onto the screens, may also be employed. They can be used for making computer-controlled presentations or for presenting technical information such as analytical models. It is important to maintain eye contact and interact with the audience during the presentation. Sufficient opportunity should be provided for questions, both during and after the presentation.

758        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING ‘Tell ’Em’ principle An effective guideline for structuring a presentation. This principle states (1) Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em, (2) tell ’em, and (3) tell ’em what you’ve told ’em.

‘KISS ’Em’ principle A principle of report presentation that states: Keep It Simple and Straightforward.

Real Research

The presentation should be made interesting and convincing with the use of appropriate stories, examples, experiences, and quotations. Filler words, such as ‘uh,’ ‘y’know,’ and ‘all right’ (or Arabic filler words of a similar nature), should not be used. The ‘Tell ’Em’ principle is effective for structuring a presentation. This principle states: (1) Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em, (2) tell ’em, and (3) tell ’em what you’ve told ’em. Another useful guideline is the ‘KISS ’Em’ principle, which states: Keep It Simple and Straightforward (hence the acronym KISS). Body language should be employed. Descriptive gestures are used to clarify or enhance verbal communication. Emphatic gestures are used to emphasize what is being said. Suggestive gestures are symbols of ideas and emotions. Prompting gestures are used to elicit a desired response from the audience. The speaker should vary the volume, pitch, voice quality, articulation, and rate while speaking. The presentation should terminate with a strong closing. To stress its importance, the presentation should be sponsored by a top-level manager in the client’s organization, as in the following example.

Taking It to the Top TNS Global (www.tns-global.com) conducted a research project to measure the relative effectiveness of television, print, and radio as advertising media for a client firm. In addition, the effectiveness of 10 TV commercials, radio commercials, and print ads was assessed. Given the nature of the project, the oral presentation of the report was particularly important in communicating the findings. A laptop computer and computer projector were used for showing PowerPoint slides and playing TV and radio commercials. A storyboard was used for showing the print ads. The presentation was made to the client’s top corporate officers, consisting of the president, all vice presidents, and all assistant vice presidents, at one of their monthly meetings.14

After the presentation, key executives in the client firm should be given time to read the report in detail. Some guidelines are available for report reading.

Reading the Research Report Guidelines for reading the report and evaluating the marketing research project have been developed by the Advertising Research Foundation.15

Address the Problem The reader should focus on the problem being addressed to determine if it has been clearly defined and that the relevant background information has been provided. The organization sponsoring the research, as well as the one conducting the research, should be clearly identified. The report should not assume that the reader has prior knowledge of the problem situation, but should give all the relevant information. A report that does not provide such information has missed the mark, as well as the readers.

Research Design If readers in the target audience of the report cannot understand the research design procedure, the fault lies with the researcher. The research design should be clearly described in nontechnical terms. The report should include a discussion of the information needs, data collection methods, scaling techniques, questionnaire design and pretesting, sampling techniques, and fieldwork. Justification should be provided for the specific methods used. Reports that do not contain, or otherwise make available, methodological details should be viewed with caution.

Execution of the Research Procedures The reader should pay special attention to the manner in which the research procedures were executed. The people working on the project should be well qualified and properly trained. Proper supervision and control procedures should be followed. This is particularly important with respect to data collection, data preparation, and statistical analysis.

Numbers and Statistics Numbers and statistics reported in tables and graphs should be examined carefully by the reader. Inappropriate numbers and statistics can be highly misleading. Consider, for example, percentages

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      759

based on small samples or means reported for ordinal data. Unfortunately, the occurrence of these types of misleading statistics in reports is not uncommon.

Interpretation and Conclusions The reader should evaluate the findings and assess if they have been reported in an objective and candid way. The interpretation of the results should be differentiated from the results per se. Any assumptions made in interpreting the results should be clearly identified. The limitations of the research should be discussed. Any conclusions or recommendations made without a specification of the underlying assumptions or limitations should be treated cautiously by the reader.

Generalizability It is the responsibility of the researcher to provide evidence regarding the reliability, validity, and generalizability of the findings. The report should clearly identify the target population to which the findings apply. Factors that limit the generalizability of the findings, such as the nature and representativeness of the sample, mode and time of data collection, and various sources of error should be clearly identified. The reader should not attempt to generalize the findings of the report without explicit consideration of these factors.

Disclosure Finally, the reader should carefully examine whether the spirit in which the report was written indicates an honest and complete disclosure of the research procedures and results. It is particularly important that procedures—for example, those used for the treatment of missing values, weighting, and so on—that call for subjective judgment on the part of the researcher be made known. If any negative or unexpected findings were obtained, they should be reported. The reader should feel free to ask for any relevant information that is not contained in the report. A careful reading of the report using these guidelines will help the client to effectively participate in research follow-up.

Project Research

Report Preparation and Presentation In the department store project, the formal report was prepared for the client’s vice president of marketing. The writing of the report was influenced by the style preferences of the vice president for marketing and other key executives. The first volume, the main body of the report, had a title page, table of contents, executive summary, and details of problem definition, approach, research design, methodology used to analyze the data, results, limitations of the project, and conclusions and recommendations. Volume I had a nontechnical orientation and was easy to follow. Volume II contained a title page, list of figures, and all the figures and graphs. Finally, all the statistical details, including all the tables, were given in Volume III. In addition to the written report, an oral presentation of the entire project was made to the top management. Several of the recommendations made to management in the report were eventually implemented.

Project Activities Read the Sears project write-ups in each chapter and consider all the analyses that you have done. Prepare an executive summary of the results for Sears’ management.

Research Follow-Up The researcher’s task does not end with the oral presentation. Two other tasks remain. The researcher should help the client understand and implement the findings and take follow-up action. Secondly, while it is still fresh in the researcher’s mind, the entire marketing research project should be evaluated.

Assisting the Client After the client has read the report in detail, several questions may arise. Parts of the report, particularly those dealing with technical matters, may not be understood and the researcher should provide the help needed. Sometimes the researcher helps implement the findings. Often, the client retains the researcher to help with the selection of a new product or advertising agency, development

760        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING

of a pricing policy, market segmentation, or other marketing actions. An important reason for client follow-up is to discuss further research projects. For example, the researcher and management may agree to repeat the study after 2 years. Finally, the researcher should help the client firm make the information generated in the marketing research project a part of the firm’s marketing (management) information system (MIS) or decision support system (DSS), as discussed in Chapter 1.

Evaluation of the Research Project Although marketing research is scientific, it also involves creativity, intuition, and expertise. Hence, every marketing research project provides an opportunity for learning, and the researcher should critically evaluate the entire project to obtain new insights and knowledge. The key question to ask is, “Could this project have been conducted more effectively or efficiently?” This question, of course, raises several more specific questions. Could the problem have been defined differently so as to enhance the value of the project to the client or reduce the costs? Could a different approach have yielded better results? Was the best research design used? How about the mode of data collection? Should mall intercepts have been used instead of telephone interviews? Was the sampling plan employed the most appropriate? Were the sources of possible research design error correctly anticipated and kept under control, at least in a qualitative sense? If not, what changes could have been made? How could the selection, training, and supervision of field workers be altered to improve data collection? Was the data analysis strategy effective in yielding information useful for decision making? Were the conclusions and recommendations appropriate and useful to the client? Was the report adequately written and presented? Was the project completed within the time and budget allocated? If not, what went wrong? The insights gained from such an evaluation will benefit the researcher and the subsequent projects conducted.

Experiential Research

Brevity in Report Writing and Presentation The Pan Arab Research Center (PARC) is a leading Pan Arab market research firm with operations in 13 countries covering a wide range of customized marketing research services as well as syndicated services. Go to http://arabiandemographics.iniquus.com/KnowledgeBase.aspx, review the list of reports in the PARC archives, and choose one with data that can be rendered into a brief report. Use Excel to create a set of charts for your report and import the charts into PowerPoint. Some of the reports may already include PowerPoint slides; others include charts that can be readily imported into PowerPoint. Can you make a compelling business presentation in 3 minutes? Select a topic from PARC’s archive. Then, develop a 3-minute presentation using no more than five PowerPoint slides to explain (1) why this research finding matters to a firm in an industry of your choosing, and (2) what this firm can do to take advantage of this finding. Alternatively, you can create your report and presentation by using your analysis skills and the IBM SPSS Statistics program or Excel. Share your final presentation with a group of fellow students in a formal setting. 1. What was the most challenging part of preparing, rehearsing, and making this presentation? 2. What will you do differently in your next presentation as a result of what you have learned in this experiential learning exercise?

International Marketing Research The guidelines presented earlier in the chapter apply to international marketing research as well, although report preparation may be complicated by the need to prepare reports for management in different countries and in different languages. In such a case, the researcher should prepare different versions of the report, each geared to specific readers. The different reports should be comparable, although the formats may differ. The guidelines for oral presentation are also similar to those given earlier, with the added condition that the presenter should be sensitive to cultural norms. For example, making jokes during a presentation, while acceptable in some cultures and useful for breaking the ice, might not be that acceptable or welcome in other cultures. Most marketing decisions are made from facts and figures arising out of marketing research. But these figures have to pass the test and limits of logic, subjective experience, and gut feelings of decision makers. The subjective experience and gut feelings of managers could vary widely across countries, necessitating that different recommendations be made for implementing the

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      761

research findings in different countries. This is particularly important when making innovative or creative recommendations such as those relating to advertising or promotional campaigns.

Ethics in Marketing Research Report preparation and presentation involves many issues pertaining to research integrity. These issues include defining the marketing research problem to suit hidden agendas, compromising the research design, deliberately misusing statistics, falsifying figures, altering research results, misinterpreting the results with the objective of supporting a personal or corporate point of view, and withholding information.16 A survey of 254 marketing researchers revealed that 33 percent of the respondents considered that the most difficult ethical problems they face encompass issues of research integrity. The researcher must address these issues when preparing the report and presenting the findings. The dissemination of the marketing research results to the client, and other stakeholders as may be appropriate, should be honest, accurate, and complete. The researcher should be objective throughout all phases of the marketing research process. Some research procedures and analyses may not reveal anything new or significant. For example, the discriminant function may not classify better than chance (Chapter 18). Ethical dilemmas can arise in these instances if the researcher nevertheless attempts to draw conclusions from such analyses. Such temptations must be resisted to avoid unethical conduct. Likewise, clients also have the responsibility for complete and accurate disclosure of the research findings and are obligated to use the research results in an ethical manner. For example, the public can be disadvantaged by a client who distorts the research findings to develop a biased advertising campaign that makes brand claims that have not been substantiated by marketing research. Such activities are condemned by the code of ethics of the American Marketing Association and other professional research associations (see Chapter 1).17 Ethical issues also arise when client firms, such as tobacco companies, use marketing research findings to formulate questionable marketing programs.

Real Research

Not Reporting Research Findings: Tobacco Industry Is a ‘Smoking Gun’ Examination of primary and secondary data sources uncovered the facts that tobacco smoking is a leading cause of cancer and heart disease, along with being associated with problems such as colds, gastric ulcers, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and other diseases. Do tobacco companies share an ethical responsibility for this situation? Is it ethical for these companies to employ marketing research to create glamorous images for cigarettes that have a strong appeal to the target market? It is estimated that advertising by the tobacco industry based on systematic research has a part in encouraging teenagers and children to smoke, and also in aggressively targeting other less-informed populations such as developing countries, because this is a way for tobacco companies to replace those smokers that quit or die. Several countries of the world have developed very strict laws regulating the advertising environment of tobacco products. Tobacco companies are being criticized for not reporting on the addictive and deadly consequences of smoking. For example, in one of the biggest civil racketeering and criminal business cases in history, the U.S. Justice Department alleged massive, coordinated fraud by cigarette manufacturers to hide and cover up tobacco’s deadly and addictive nature.18

Tobacco companies are being criticized for not reporting on the addictive and deadly consequences of smoking.

762        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING

ACTIVE RESEARCH

Bayt.com is Home for Reports Visit www.bayt.com and search for the recent reports posted on their Web site (under www.bayt. com/en/research-reports). What can you learn about report writing from these reports? Critically evaluate, from a researcher’s perspective, the format of one of the reports posted at www.bayt.com. As the marketing manager for whom one of the reports was meant, how useful do you find the report you considered?

Research Next Door

ASDA’A Arab Youth Survey Echoes Concerns of Arab Youth Since 2008, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, one of the Middle East’s leading public relations consultancy firms, has been conducting an annual survey of Arab youth in an attempt to better understand the largest demographic entity in the Middle East region—its 200 million youth. The third edition of the Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey (published and made available to the public in 2011) focuses on the political, financial, and social needs of the region’s youth. The fieldwork was conducted in December 2010 and January 2011 by multinational polling company Penn Schoen Berland (PSB) through 2,000 face-to-face interviews with Arab nationals and Arab expatriates aged 18–24 in 10 countries of the Middle East: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E.. Following unrest in the Middle East in January 2011, PSB conducted an additional 500 interviews in February and March 2011 in the countries most experiencing political events, namely: Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Iraq. “We are proud to produce, on an annual basis, the largest survey of young people in the Arab world,” said Sunil John, CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller. “From political beliefs to personal values, from online trends to educational aspirations, the ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey covers an unmatched array of key issues informing the future direction of the Arab world.” The research attempted to look at important issues for Arab youth, including attitudes toward democracy, access to technology, media consumption trends, social media networking, and attitudes towards education and employment. Attention was paid to sample composition in order to maintain a representative reflection of the population of interest. “In a region where two-thirds of the population is under the age of 30, policy makers, business leaders, marketers, and the media need to understand the priorities of our young people,” said Joseph Ghossoub, chairman and CEO of the MENACOM Group, regional parent company of ASDA’A BursonMarsteller. “We strongly believe that the 2010 ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey should be required reading for everyone who has a stake in the future of this diverse and rapidly evolving region.”19 Visit http://www.arabyouthsurvey.com/2010/files/AYS_2010_presentation.pdf and download the presentation. Write a five to seven-page report summary of the research following the framework suggested in this chapter. Be ready to present your report if asked.

Statistical Software In addition to a number of specialized programs, the mainframe and microcomputer versions of the major statistical packages have reporting procedures. We discuss the use of IBM SPSS Statistics (‘SPSS’) in detail in the subsequent sections. Excel has extensive charting capabilities and, through Microsoft Office, provides a direct link to Word and PowerPoint for report preparation and presentation. Other online and software packages are also available for efficiently producing graphs, charts, tables, and indeed entire reports by largely automating the process to make it more efficient. E-Tabs (www.e-tabs.com) is one example of a system designed for reporting continuous, tracking, syndicated, and customized projects and facilitating multilevel reporting. One of their products, E-Tabs Enterprise, automates the production of charts, graphs, summary tables, and reports directly from the research data and updates them automatically for every wave, region, or brand. This can significantly boost productivity in the time-consuming task of creating charts from ongoing tracking studies.

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      763

SPSS Windows Whereas the normal graphs can be produced using the Base module of SPSS, for more extensive graphing, the DeltaGraph package can be used. This package has extensive graphing capabilities with 80 chart types and 200 chart styles. Likewise, the SPSS TABLES program enables the researcher to create even complicated tables. For example, the results of multiple-response tables can be condensed into a single table. The researcher can create a polished look by changing the column width, adding boldface, drawing lines, or aligning. SPSS OLAP cubes are interactive tables that enable you to slice your data in different ways for data exploration and presentation. SmartViewer enables the researcher to distribute reports, graphs, tables, and even pivotal report cubes over the Web. Company managers can be empowered to interact with the results by putting a report cube on the Web, intranet, or extranet. Thus, they can answer their own questions by drilling down for more detail and creating new views of the data.

Summary Figure 23.7 gives a concept map of report preparation and presentation, the final step in the marketing research project. This process begins with interpretation of data analysis results and leads to conclusions and recommendations. Next, the formal report is written and an oral presentation made. After management has read the report, the researcher should conduct a follow-up, assisting management and undertaking a thorough evaluation of the marketing research project. Figure 23.7 A Concept Map for Report Preparation and Presentation

In international marketing research, report preparation may be complicated by the need to prepare reports for management in different countries and in different languages. Several ethical issues are pertinent, particularly those related to the interpretation and reporting of the research process and findings to the client and the use of these results by the client. The use of microcomputers and mainframes can greatly facilitate report preparation and presentation.

3UREOHP'HILQLWLRQ$SSURDFK 5HVHDUFK'HVLJQDQG)LHOGZRUN JXLGH EHJLQDQHZF\FOH

'DWD$QDO\VLV OHDGVWR

$QRWKHU3URMHFW

,QWHUSUHWDWLRQ&RQFOXVLRQDQG5HFRPPHQGDWLRQV GLVFXVVZLWK

SUHSDUH 5HSRUW)RUPDW

JXLGHOLQHVIRU

5HSRUW

LQFOXGH

LVIROORZHGE\

&OLHQW *UDSKV

7DEOHV

5HSRUW:ULWLQJ

PD\OHDGWR

2UDO3UHVHQWDWLRQ LQFRUSRUDWH ¶7(//·(P·3ULQFLSOH

LVIROORZHGE\

LQFRUSRUDWH ¶.,66·(P·3ULQFLSOH

5HDGLQJRIWKH5HSRUWE\WKH&OLHQW GR

5HVHDUFK)ROORZ8S LQYROYHV $VVLVWLQJ&OLHQW

LQYROYHV (YDOXDWLQJWKH5HVHDUFK3URMHFW

764        Part III  •  DATA COLLECTION, PREPARATION, ANALYSIS, AND REPORTING

Key Terms and Concepts report, 746 pie chart, 753 line chart, 754

stratum chart, 754 pictograph, 754 bar chart, 755

histogram, 755 ‘Tell ’Em’ principle, 758 ‘KISS ’Em’ principle, 758

Suggested Cases, Video Cases, and HBS Cases Running Case with Real Data 1.1 Dell Comprehensive Critical Thinking Cases 2.1 TV in the Arab World 2.2 Baskin-Robbins    2.3 Agro-Food Industrie Data Analysis Cases with Real Data 3.1 AT&T   3.2 IBM 3.3 Kimberly-Clark Comprehensive Cases with Real Data 4.1 JPMorgan Chase   4.2 Wendy’s Video Case 23.1 Marriott Comprehensive Published Cases Case 5.1: The Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey (9-505-059) Case 5.2: Compaq Computer: Intel Inside? (9-599-061) Case 5.3: Nutricia Middle East: Measuring Sales Force Effectiveness (9-106-063) Case 5.4: Freej (9-808-121) Case 5.5: Silkor Laser Medical Center (E-353) Case 5.6: El Mawardy Jewelry: Expansion During a Recession (9B11M051)

Live Research: Conducting a Marketing Research Project 1. The individual parts of the report can be assigned to the teams with each team writing a specific part. Each team also prepares the PowerPoint slides for that part. 2. The project coordinators should be responsible for compiling the final report and the presentation.

3. Make liberal use of graphs. 4. Make a presentation of the project to the client with each team presenting its portion.

Exercises Questions 1. Describe the process of report preparation. 2. Describe a commonly used format for writing marketing research reports. 3. Describe the following parts of a report: title page, table of contents, executive summary, problem definition, research design, data analysis, conclusions, and recommendations. 4. Why is the ‘limitations and caveats’ section included in the report? 5. Discuss the importance of objectivity in writing a marketing research report. 6. Describe the guidelines for report writing.

7. How should the data items be arranged in a table? 8. What is a pie chart? For what type of information is it suitable? For what type of information is it not suitable? 9. Describe a line chart. What kind of information is commonly displayed using such charts? 10. Describe the role of pictographs. What is the relationship between bar charts and histograms? 11. What is the purpose of an oral presentation? What guidelines should be followed in an oral presentation? 12. Describe the ‘Tell ’Em’ and ‘KISS ’Em’ principles. 13. Describe the evaluation of a marketing research project in retrospect.

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      765

Problems 1. The following passage is taken from a marketing research report prepared for a group representing the association of oriental sweet manufacturers in your country. Of note is that the oriental sweet manufacturers are essentially small, familyowned businesses with limited formal education: To measure the image of the oriental sweet manufacturers, two different scaling techniques were employed. The first was a series of Stapel scales. The second consisted of a set of Likert scales. The use of two different techniques for measurement could be justified based on the need to assess the convergent validity of the findings. Data obtained using both these techniques were treated as interval scaled. Pearson product moment correlations were computed

between the sets of ratings. The resulting correlations were high, indicating a high level of convergent validity. Rewrite this paragraph so that it is suitable for inclusion in the report. 2. Graphically illustrate the consumer decision-making process described in the following paragraph: The consumer first becomes aware of the need. Then the consumer simultaneously searches for information from several sources: retailers, advertising, word of mouth, and independent publications. After that, a criterion is developed for evaluating the available brands in the marketplace. Based on this evaluation, the most preferred brand is selected.

Internet and Computer Exercises 1. For the data given in Table 23.1, use a graphics package or a spreadsheet, such as Excel, to construct the following graphs: a. Pie chart. b. Line chart. c. Bar chart.

2. Using one of the report-generation programs discussed in this chapter or a similar package, write a report explaining the data and the charts constructed in exercise 1 of this section. 3. Visit www.gallup.com or one of the marketing research firms operating in the Arab world (refer to Table 1.2 in Chapter 1) to identify a recent report prepared by the company. How does the format of this report compare to the format suggested in the book?

Activities Role Playing 1. You are a researcher preparing a report for a high-tech firm on “The Demand Potential for Microcomputers in the Middle East.” Develop a format for your report. How is it different from the one given in the book? Discuss your format with your boss (role enacted by a student in your class). 2. In Fieldwork Activity 2, suppose you are the researcher who wrote the report. Prepare an oral presentation of this report for senior marketing managers. Deliver your presentation to a group of students and ask them to critique it.

Fieldwork 1. Make a trip to your library. Read the latest annual reports of three different companies that are known for effective marketing (e.g., Coca-Cola, P&G, Etisalat, NBK). Identify the strong and weak points of these reports.

2. Obtain a copy of a marketing research report from your library or a local marketing research firm. (Many marketing research firms will provide copies of old reports for educational purposes.) Critically evaluate this report.

Group Discussion 1. In a small group, discuss the following statement: “All the graphical aids are really very similar; therefore, it does not matter which ones you use.” 2. “Writing a report that is concise and yet complete is virtually impossible because these two objectives are conflicting.” Discuss. 3. “Writing reports is an art. Presenting reports is an art. Reading reports is an art. It is all a matter of art.” Discuss in a small group.

Dell Running Case Review the Dell case, Case 1.1, and questionnaire given on pages 790–795. Go to the Web site for this book and download the Dell data file. 1. Write a report for Dell management summarizing the results of your analyses. Prepare a set of charts using EXCEL. 2. What recommendations do you have for the management? 3. Can you make a compelling business presentation in 10 minutes? Develop a 10-minute presentation for Dell management using no more than 10 PowerPoint slides.

4. Share your final presentation with a group of fellow students (representing Dell management) in a formal setting. a. What was the most challenging part of preparing, rehearsing, and making this presentation? b. What will you do differently in your next presentation as a result of what you have learned in this exercise?

Video

Cases Cases­

VIDEO case 23.1  Marriott: Marketing Research Leads to Expanded Offerings

766

With roots that go back to the early years of the 1900s, Marriott International (www.marriott.com) has come a long way from its founding by husband and wife, John and Alice Marriott. As of 2009, Marriott had a presence in 66 countries with more than 3,100 properties, including a visible presence in many countries of the Arab world. This sustained vast expansion over the last few decades is due in large part to marketing research. Marriott began pioneering segmentation in the hospitality industry by expanding its product offering in the 1980s, both upward and downward in quality from its flagship Marriott brand. Marriott found from focus groups and survey research that it could have many types of hotels serving different market segments, and that these market segments, although all providing for the same basic needs, would not compete with each other. Certain brands under the Marriott umbrella serve the business traveler. Courtyard by Marriott, with pricing and scaled-back service levels compared to the larger Marriott hotels, is targeted toward the price-sensitive frequent business traveler. Courtyard hotels—said to be designed for business travelers by business travelers—offer high-speed Internet access, ample workspace within the room, and other amenities that are appealing to the business traveler. Fairfield Inns are priced still more modestly to appeal to travelers who are even more price sensitive. Other brands under the Marriott flag, such as the Ramada line, serve more of a family-style vacation market, with a focus on comfort and affordability. However, differentiation is not based on service and pricing alone. Marketing research has revealed other attributes that are important. For example, a family or a basic business traveler on a budget might be looking for a convenient location in addition to affordability. Hence, Marriott places Fairfield Inns in North America along interstates and highways, because these targeted groups travel by car. Convenient location becomes another attribute that adds value and enhances perception of the Marriott brand name. When Marriott began its Fairfield Inn and Suites brand, it started simply as Fairfield Inn. Then, with marketing research (focus groups and surveys), Marriott found that its Fairfield Inn customers desired a luxury-class room within the value hotel of the Fairfield line. Responding to this, Marriott changed the name to Fairfield Inn and Suites and added highclass rooms that contain amenities such as a spa.

Analysis of internal secondary data identified a substantial number of travelers who stayed in Marriott hotels for more than a few nights. Focus groups and surveys revealed that these extended-stay travelers have different needs. They might need meeting space to conduct business, a kitchenette to dine in occasionally, or a suite space so that they do not get tired of seeing the same four walls around their beds when they come ‘home’ in the evening after yet another day on the road. For these travelers, Marriott opened the Residence Inn line (a hotel line designed for an extended stay). Marriott found from subsequent marketing research that this segment had room to expand to a more valuepriced line as well. Again, responding to this research, Marriott introduced TownePlace Suites (a value-priced extended-stay hotel line). Some of the guests at Residence Inns or TownePlace Suites spend months at the same hotel. At the high end, Marriott offers even fuller service and higher prices with its JW Marriott luxury hotel and its Renaissance upscale business properties. According to Marriott’s research estimating potential demand, the size of this high-end segment is substantial. With all of these hotel lines, Marriott continues the commitment to quality that began with John and Alice. Knowing from research that all hotel residents desire quality, Marriott strives to provide this in all facets of the hotel service. One way in which Marriott demonstrates this is by empowering its customer service representatives to address customer problems. Although each of the various Marriott brands has worked hard to carve out a niche for itself, they all share the Marriott brand identity—the key ingredient to their success. According to Gordon Lambourne, vice president, marketing and public relations, the Marriott brand identity is all about commitment to service excellence, a strong focus on employees that work in the hotels, taking care of the associates so that they can really focus on their jobs and provide the level of service that customers demand and expect today, and consistent service throughout the world from New York to Hong Kong, Kuwait City, and Cairo. Each of Marriott’s hotels has a different personality with a distinct design and service level that make the guest feel like they are in London, Paris, or Jeddah, but all its hotels have a common thread running through them that identifies them as Marriott hotels. The numerous Marriott brands, rather than creating competition for each other, actually help bring in more business.

CHAPTER 23  •  REPORT PREPARATION AND PRESENTATION      767

According to Gordon Lambourne, each of the brands does an excellent job of going out to its particular segment. Each brand has its loyal following and markets itself independently and as a part of a portfolio of brands. There is some crossover, however, but Marriott views it as a great opportunity to serve customers whose needs may vary depending on the purpose of the stay, or may change over time. So a customer looking for an extended stay might prefer the Residence Inn, but choose a high-end fullservice hotel such as the JW Marriott hotel for a shorter trip. So whatever happens, whatever that need might be, Marriott is well positioned to capture that customer and that piece of business.

Conclusion Marriott has been highly successful in using marketing research to develop a segmentation strategy of targeting different customers with different needs by providing different products and options. The diverse offerings have helped Marriott appeal to an increasingly wide range of clients and win greater business. Continued reliance on marketing research will be critical to Marriott’s success in the future.

Questions 1. Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping Marriott formulate sound marketing strategies. 2. What are the different Marriott affiliated hotels in the Arab world? 3. Marriott would like to further penetrate the nonbusinesstravelers segment in the Arab world. Define the management decision problem. 4. Define an appropriate marketing research problem based on the management decision problem you have identified. 5. What type of research design should be adopted? Justify your recommendation. 6. Use the Internet to determine the most recent market shares of the major hotel chains. 7. What type of internal secondary data will be useful to Marriott? 8. What type of syndicate data will be useful to Marriott? 9. Discuss the role of qualitative research in helping Marriott further penetrate the nonbusiness-travelers segment in the Arab world. 10. Marriott has developed a new hotel package for families on a vacation. It would like to determine consumers’ response to this package before introducing it in the marketplace. If a survey is to be conducted to determine consumer preferences, which survey method should be used and why? 11. In what way could Marriott make use of experimentation? What specific experimental design would you recommend? 12. Illustrate the use of the primary scales for measuring consumer preferences for hotel chains. 13. Develop Likert, semantic differential, and Stapel scales for measuring consumer preferences for hotel chains. 14. Develop a questionnaire for assessing consumer preferences for hotels when on vacation. 15. What sampling plan should be adopted for the survey of question 10? 16. How should the sample size be determined for the survey of question 10? 17. How would you conduct the training and supervision of the fieldworkers for the survey of question 10?

18. According to Marriott’s vice president of marketing and public relations, quality, price, service, amenities, comfort, and convenience are all independent variables that affect the preference for a hotel chain. Assume that in a survey of hotel chains, each of the independent variables is measured on a 7-point scale, with 1 5 poor and 7 5 excellent. Preference for a hotel chain is also measured on a 7-point scale, with 1 5 not at all preferred and 7 5 greatly preferred. Each respondent rates Marriott and three competing hotel chains on all the independent variables as well as preference to stay there on a vacation. What statistical technique(s) would you use to answer the following questions? a. Is preference related to each of the independent variables considered individually? What is the nature of the relationship you expect? b. Is preference related to all the independent variables considered simultaneously? c. Do the respondents evaluate the hotel chains more favorable on quality than on price? d. The sample is divided into two groups: regular patrons (customers) of Marriott and patrons of other hotels. Do these two groups differ in terms of their ratings of Marriott on quality? e. Are the two groups of question (d) different in terms of income measured as high, medium, and low? f. Are the two groups of question (d) different in terms of quality, price, service, amenities, comfort, and convenience when all the independent variables are considered simultaneously? g. The sample is divided into three groups: heavy, medium, and light users of hotels. Do the three groups differ in terms of preference for Marriott? h. Are the three groups of question (g) different in terms of quality, price, service, amenities, comfort, and convenience when all the independent variables are considered simultaneously? i. Can the evaluation on quality, price, service, amenities, comfort, and convenience be represented by a reduced set of factors? j. Can the respondents be segmented based on their evaluations of hotels on quality, price, service, amenities, comfort, and convenience? How many segments should there be? k. What is the competitive positioning of the various hotel brands? What insights can be obtained? l. About 13 percent of the respondents have missing values on one or more variables. How would you treat the missing values? m. A question asked the respondents to check as many of the seven hotels as they had stayed in over the past 3 years. How should the data for this question be coded? 19. Can the service quality model applied in the context of banking services in Chapter 22 be applied in the case of hotel services? Why or why not? 20. What charts and graphs would you use in preparing a report for Marriott? 21. If marketing research to determine consumer preferences for hotels was to be conducted in Europe, how would the research process differ? 22. Discuss the ethical issues involved in researching consumer preferences for hotels.

References 1. www.marriott.com, accessed February 25, 2009. 2. www.hoovers.com, accessed February 25, 2009. 3. M. A. Baumann, “High-End Offerings the Result of In-Depth Research,” Hotel and Motel Management, 219(9) (May 17, 2004): 36.

Case 2.1 Comprehensive Critical Thinking Cases TV in the Arab World: Boosting Local Production The Arab television industry is unique compared to the rest of the world, mainly due to the fragmentation of its audience across a region of approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, a population of over 250 million people and an extensive number of spoken dialects. The TV industry is currently dominated by the free-to-air (FTA) sector, with close to 600 channels available on free satellite. The Arab world has a far higher proportion of free satellite channels than other countries in both the developed world and other emerging markets. The penetration levels of FTA satellite are particularly high in the Levant, while terrestrial is the most popular platform in North Africa and pay-TV is strong only in a few Gulf countries, most notably the U.A.E. It is worth noting that the relative popularity of Pan Arab channels varies across the Arab world, particularly also between the Gulf, Levant, and North Africa. In Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf, MBC dominates the market. In Egypt and the rest of North Africa, there is a stronger hold by national terrestrial channels. In Lebanon, and to some extent the surrounding Levant countries, the Lebanese channels dominate. The Arab television industry suffers from revenues that are low in relation to its viewership size. In 2011, the overall advertising revenues across the TV sector in the Arab world were approximately $6.5 billion, split between Pan Arab satellite and local channels. For a market with a population of over 250 million—making it three-quarters the size of the U.S.A., which saw annual advertising revenues of $53 billion in 2009—this figure is very low. Even when compared to other developing markets, the Arab TV industry suffers significantly from an undervalued advertising market. The way to improve TV revenues is to boost local content. While the top 15 Pan Arab channels make up 64 percent of audience share, they constitute 80 percent of the nearly $900 million Pan Arab advertising revenues, suggesting that— as is the case in other international marketing—the leading channels with the highest audiences are able to command a premium on their advertising. Extensive market research 796

carried out by the Dubai Press Club with consumers and industry experts confirms that stimulating local content has the potential to generate significant value for the industry. To prepare the third edition of its Arab Media Outlook (2009–2013), the Dubai Press Club conducted extensive qualitative and quantitative research across the Arab world. Data about viewership and advertising expenditures were collected and analyzed for the following 15 countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, and the U.A.E. The Dubai Press Club partnered with Value Partners, a leading global management consultancy firm with expertise in telecoms and media, to conduct 125 in-depth interviews with media owners, advertising agencies, and advertisers across the 15 countries. For consumer market research, the Dubai Press Club commissioned The Nielsen Company to conduct quantitative research in Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. The research was conducted across a large sample of the population, consisting of over 500 people each in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and over 400 in Lebanon and the U.A.E. It was conducted in major cities in each of the four markets. More specifically, surveys were conducted in Cairo, Alexandria, and Mansoura in Egypt; Mount Lebanon, Beirut, and Tripoli in Lebanon; Dammam, Jeddah, and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia; and Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah in the U.A.E. The respondents needed to be aged 151 and have watched TV at least once in the past week. The local content has plenty of room for future growth. In the Arab television market, there are currently three distinct types of content: (1) original programs that are developed and produced in the Arab world, (2) international formats that are adapted to the local market, and (3) programs that are acquired from international rights owners and subtitled or dubbed into Arabic. Across the top 15 Pan Arab channels, on average 30–40 percent of total output is first-run original Arabic content, a further 30–40 percent of TV content is imported from other markets (either subtitled or dubbed into Arabic), and the remaining 20–40 percent of output is made up of repeats and news programming. More than 70 percent of the respondents in the research reported preference for local/ Arabic content.

CASE 2  •  COMPREHENSIVE CRITICAL THINKING CASES     797

The extent of local production varies across Arab countries. Egypt, the first Arab country to create a thriving film and TV production industry, has been able to build up significant local content industries catering for its own domestic markets as well as, to some extent, the wider Arab world. Similarly, Lebanon has built up a significant TV production industry, with one of the largest talent pools in the region. Syria has become another strong player in content production, particularly for drama series, with successes such as the well-known Bab El-Hara Ramadan series based in Syria. Local production is, however, weak in most Arab countries. Boosting local content in a meaningful manner requires further research. Before producers invest in growing the talent pool and improving and developing new business models, a deeper understanding of related consumer behavior is needed.

Critical Thinking Questions 1. TV producers should conduct research studies to understand their current and prospective customers because ____________________. (State how the collected marketing research information may aid TV producers and TV channels in developing their marketing strategies.) 2. To better serve their target markets through offering local content, the key questions the TV channels need to address in this case are____________________. 3. Assume that MBC (www.mbc.net), a leading Pan Arab TV channel, plans to conduct qualitative research in its media business. Qualitative research can help MBC____________________. (State what possible benefits MBC can gain by conducting qualitative research using focus groups, depth interviews, or projective techniques.) 4. The main purpose of MBC’s planned qualitative research could be____________________. (State as accurately as possible its reasons for doing the qualitative study.) 5. The use of secondary and syndicated data (such as the Arab Media Outlook published by the Dubai Press Club described in the case) can be very useful to TV producers and TV channels because____________________. (State the advantages of using such data to assist TV producers and TV channels in developing their marketing strategies; support your statements with examples.) 6. MBC is thinking of conducting focus group interviews to obtain information on the behavior of Arab consumers regarding TV program consumption. MBC will probably face challenges in conducting the focus group because ____________________. (Describe how the shortcomings of conducting focus groups will be relevant to this case.) 7. After conducting qualitative research, MBC may plan to conduct a descriptive study because____________________. (Describe how a descriptive study can help MBC to better understand its marketing opportunity and the additional benefits that will be brought to MBC.) 8. The main inferences/conclusions in this case are ____________________. (Identify the key conclusions implied by the case.)

Technical Questions 9. Describe the marketing information needs of the TV production business for media players in the Arab world. 10. What role can marketing research play in providing the information needed? 11. Give some examples of the problem identification research that a leading TV channel such as MBC can undertake to ensure competitiveness in the TV production business. 12. Describe some of the types of problem solution research that the smaller local TV channels in the market could undertake to improve their market share. 13. You are the research director of MBC and you recognize that the management problem is to maintain the company’s market leadership position. Define your marketing research problem. 14. Based on the foregoing marketing research problem, develop two suitable research questions and formulate two hypotheses for each of them. 15. As research director of MBC, what type of research design would you recommend? Would you recommend more than one research design? 16. What kind of secondary and syndicated data would be helpful in assisting TV channel marketers in the Arab world in formulating their marketing strategies? What is the role played by such data? 17. Do you think that MBC should commission a survey in this case? If yes, which survey method would you recommend and why? 18. What kind of measures and scales will you employ in your recommended survey? 19. Discuss the scaling techniques that should be used in the survey you recommended to measure preferences, purchase intentions, and attitudes of TV viewers in the Arab world. Construct one question for each measure. 20. Suggest a sampling method for MBC in conducting the survey and briefly explain why. 21. If MBC plans to conduct an experiment to study customers’ buying behavior of Arabic TV content, what experimental design would you recommend and why? 22. Suggest a number of hypotheses that could be relevant to the case and which would be assessed and tested using: a) one-sample t test, b) paired t test, c) cross-tabulation, d) ANOVA, e) ANCOVA, f) regression, and g) correlation. (Suggest one possible hypothesis for each statistical method.) 23. Suggest some research questions that could be relevant to the case and which would be assessed using: a) discriminant analysis, b) logit analysis, c) factor analysis, d) cluster analysis, e) multidimensional scaling, f) conjoint analysis, and g) structural equation modeling. (Suggest one research question for each statistical technique.)

References 1. “Arab Media Outlook 2009–2013: Inspiring Local Content,” 3rd Edition, Dubai Press Club, Dubai, U.A.E. 2. Booz & Company, Trends in Middle Eastern Arabic Television Series Production: Opportunities for Broadcasters and Producers (2008). 3. Ipsos MENA, The Year 2011 in Numbers, Special Report, (2012): 6–9. 4. Ben Flanagan, “Arab World Prepares to Become Part of International TV Network,” The National (March 16, 2011). 5. Morris Kalliny, Grace Dagher, Michael S. Minor, and Gilberto DeLos Santos, “Television Advertising in the Arab World: A Status Report,” Journal of Advertising Research (June 2008): 215–223.

Glossary absolute fit indices | ‫مؤشرات التناسب المطلق‬ These indices measure the overall goodness of fit or badness of fit for both the measurement and structural models. Larger values of goodness of fit and smaller values of badness of fit represent better fits. acquiescence bias (yea-saying)  |  ‫تحيّز للموافقة‬ This bias is the result of some respondents’ tendency to agree with the direction of a leading question (yea-saying). adjusted R2 | ‫ المعدل‬R2 R2, coefficient of multiple determination, is adjusted for the number of independent variables and the sample size to account for diminishing returns. After the first few variables, the additional independent variables do not make much contribution. agglomeration schedule | ‫الجدول الزمني للتكتل‬ An agglomeration schedule gives information on the objects or cases being combined at each stage of a hierarchical clustering process. agglomerative clustering | ‫المجموعات المتكتلة‬ Hierarchical clustering procedure where each object starts out in a separate cluster. Clusters are formed by grouping objects into bigger and bigger clusters. alternative hypothesis | ‫الفرضية البديلة‬ A statement that some difference or effect is expected. Accepting the alternative hypothesis will lead to changes in opinions or actions. alternative-forms reliability | ‫موثوقية البدائل‬ An approach for assessing reliability that requires two equivalent forms of the scale to be constructed and then the same respondents are measured at two different times.

a priori contrasts | ‫تناقضات سابقة‬ Contrasts that are determined before conducting the analysis, based on the researcher’s theoretical framework. area sampling | ‫أخذ العيّنات بطريقة مناطقية‬ A common form of cluster sampling in which the clusters consist of geographic areas such as counties, housing tracts, blocks, or other area descriptions. association techniques | ‫أساليب ال ّربط‬ A type of projective technique in which the respondent is presented with a stimulus and asked to respond with the first thing that comes to mind. asymmetric lambda | ‫المبدا غير المتماثل‬ A measure of the percentage improvement in predicting the value of the dependent variable, given the value of the independent variable in contingency table analysis. Lambda also varies between 0 and 1. attribute levels | ‫مستويات خصيصة‬ The attribute levels denote the values assumed by the attributes. audit | ‫تدقيق‬ A data collection process derived from physical records or by performing inventory analysis. Data are collected personally by the researcher or by representatives of the researcher, and the data are based on counts, usually of physical objects other than people.

analysis of covariance (ANCOVA)  |  ‫تحليل التباين المشترك‬ An advanced analysis of variance procedure in which the effects of one or more metric-scaled extraneous variables are removed from the dependent variable before conducting the ANOVA.

average linkage | ‫ربط متوسط‬ A linkage method based on the average distance between all pairs of objects, where one member of the pair is from each of the clusters.

analysis of variance (ANOVA)  |  ‫تحليل التباين‬ A statistical technique for examining the differences among means for two or more populations.

average variance extracted (AVE)  |  ‫استخراج التباين المتوسط‬ A measure used to assess convergent and discriminant validity, which is defined as the variance in the indicators or observed variables that is explained by the latent construct.

analysis sample | ‫عينة تحليل‬ Part of the total sample that is used for estimation of the discriminant function.

890

a posteriori contrasts | ‫تناقضات الحقة‬ Contrasts made after the analysis. These are generally multiple comparison tests.

analytical model | ‫نموذج تحليلي‬ An explicit specification of a set of variables and their interrelationships designed to represent some real system or process in whole or in part.

back translation | ‫ترجمة عكسية‬ A translation technique that translates a questionnaire from the base language by a translator whose native language is the one into which the questionnaire is being translated. This version is then retranslated back into the original language by a bilingual whose native language is the base language. Translation errors can then be identified.

GLOSSARY   891

balanced scale | ‫مقياس متوازن‬ A scale with an equal number of favorable and unfavorable categories.

broad statement | ‫بيان واسع‬ The initial statement of the marketing research problem that provides an appropriate perspective on the problem.

bar chart | ‫شريط الرسم البياني‬ A chart that displays data in bars positioned horizontally or vertically.

budgeting and scheduling | ‫الموازنة والجدول الزمني‬ Management tools needed to help ensure that the marketing research project is completed within the available resources.

Bartlett’s test of sphericity | ‫اختبار بارتليه للكروية‬ Bartlett’s test of sphericity is a test statistic used to examine the hypothesis that the variables are uncorrelated in the population. In other words, the population correlation matrix is an identity matrix; each variable correlates perfectly with itself (r 5 1) but has no correlation with the other variables (r 5 0).

buyer behavior | ‫سلوك المشتري‬ A body of knowledge that tries to understand and predict consumers’ reactions based on a variety of factors including human nature and an individual’s specific characteristics.

Bayesian approach | ‫نهج بايسن‬ A selection method in which the elements are selected sequentially. The Bayesian approach explicitly incorporates prior information about population parameters as well as the costs and probabilities associated with making wrong decisions. bibliographic databases | ‫قواعد البيانات الببليوغرافية‬ Databases composed of citations to articles in journals, magazines, newspapers, marketing research studies, technical reports, government documents, and the like. They often provide summaries or abstracts of the material cited. binary logit model | ‫نموذج التطابق الثنائي‬ The binary logit model commonly deals with the likelihood for an observation to belong to each group. It estimates the probability of an observation belonging to a particular group. binomial test | ‫اختبار مع توزيع ذي حدين‬ A goodness-of-fit statistical test for dichotomous variables. It tests the goodness of fit of the observed number of observations in each category to the number expected under a specified binomial distribution. bivariate regression | ‫االنحدار ثنائي التباين‬ A procedure for deriving a mathematical relationship, in the form of an equation, between a single metric dependent variable and a single metric independent variable. bivariate regression model | ‫نموذج االنحدار ثنائي التباين‬ The basic regression equation is Yi 5 b0 1 b1Xi1 ei, where Y 5 dependent or criterion variable, X 5 independent or predictor variable, b0 5 intercept of the line, b1 5 slope of the line, and ei is the error term associated with the ith observation. branching questions | ‫أسئلة متف ّرعة‬ Questions used to guide an interviewer through a survey by directing the interviewer to different spots on the questionnaire depending on the answers given.

canonical correlation | ‫االرتباط القويم‬ Canonical correlation measures the extent of association between the discriminant scores and the groups. It is a measure of association between the single discriminant function and the set of dummy variables that define the group membership. cartoon tests | ‫اختبارات الرسوم‬ Cartoon characters are shown in a specific situation related to the problem. The respondents are asked to indicate the dialogue that one cartoon character might make in response to the comments of another character. case studies | ‫دراسات حالة‬ Case studies involve an intensive examination of a few selected cases of the phenomenon of interest. Cases could be customers, stores, or other units. casewise deletion | ‫الحذف باتجاه الحالة‬ A method for handling missing responses in which cases or respondents with any missing responses are discarded from the analysis. category equivalence | ‫تكافؤ الفئات‬ Category equivalence deals specifically with whether the categories in which brands, products, and behaviors are grouped are the same in different countries. causal research | ‫بحث سببي‬ A type of conclusive research where the major objective is to obtain evidence regarding cause-and-effect (causal) relationships. causality | ‫السببية‬ When the occurrence of X increases the probability of the occurrence of Y. census | ‫التعداد‬ A complete enumeration of the elements of a population or study objects. centroid | ‫القيمة الوسطى‬ The centroid is the mean values for the discriminant scores for a particular group. There are as many centroids as there are groups, because there is one for each group. The means for a group on all the functions are the group centroids.

892    GLOSSARY

centroid methods | ‫طرق القيمة الوسطى‬ A method of hierarchical clustering in which clusters are generated so as to maximize the distances between the centers or centroids of clusters. characteristic profile | ‫ملف مميز‬ An aid to interpreting discriminant analysis results by describing each group in terms of the group means for the predictor variables. cheating error | ‫خطأ خادع‬ When the interviewer fabricates answers to a part or all of the interview. chi-square difference statistic (∆2) |  )2∆(‫إحصاء الفرق بين مربع كاي‬ A statistic used to compare two competing, nested SEM models. It is calculated as the difference between the models’ chi-square values. Its degrees of freedom equal the difference in the models’ degrees of freedom. chi-square distribution | ‫توزيع كاي مربع‬ A skewed distribution whose shape depends solely on the number of degrees of freedom. As the number of degrees of freedom increases, the chi-square distribution becomes more symmetrical. chi-square statistic | ‫قيمة كاي مربع‬ The statistic used to test the statistical significance of the observed association in a cross-tabulation. It assists us in determining whether a systematic association exists between the two variables. classification information | ‫معلومات للتصنيف‬ Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics used to classify respondents. classification matrix | ‫مصفوفة التصنيف‬ Sometimes also called confusion or prediction matrix, the classification matrix contains the number of correctly classified and misclassified cases. The correctly classified cases appear on the diagonal, because the predicted and actual groups are the same. The off-diagonal elements represent cases that have been incorrectly classified. The sum of the diagonal elements divided by the total number of cases represents the hit ratio. cluster centers | ‫مراكز عنقودية‬ The cluster centers are the initial starting points in nonhierarchical clustering. Clusters are built around these centers or seeds.

cluster sampling | ‫أخذ العيّنات بطريقة عنقودية‬ First, the target population is divided into mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive subpopulations called clusters. Then, a random sample of clusters is selected based on a probability sampling technique such as simple random sampling. For each selected cluster, either all the elements are included in the sample or a sample of elements is drawn probabilistically. codebook | ‫كتاب الترميزات‬ A book containing coding instructions and the necessary information about variables in the data set. coding | ‫الترميز‬ The assignment of a code to represent a specific response to a specific question along with the data record and column position that code will occupy. coefficient alpha | ‫معامل ألفا‬ A measure of internal consistency reliability that is the average of all possible split-half coefficients resulting from different splittings of the scale items. coefficient of determination | ‫معامل التحديد‬ The strength of association is measured by the coefficient of determination, r2. It varies between 0 and 1 and signifies the proportion of the total variation in Y that is accounted for by the variation in X. coefficient of multiple determination | ‫معامل التحديد المتعدد‬ The strength of association in multiple regression is measured by the square of the multiple correlation coefficient, R2, which is also called the coefficient of multiple determination. coefficient of variation | ‫معامل التفاوت‬ A useful expression in sampling theory for the standard deviation as a percentage of the mean. cohort analysis | ‫تحليل الفوج‬ A multiple cross-sectional design consisting of a series of surveys conducted at appropriate time intervals. The cohort refers to the group of respondents who experience the same event within the same time interval. common factor analysis | ‫تحليل العامل المشترك‬ An approach to factor analysis that estimates the factors based only on the common variance.

cluster centroid | ‫القيمة الوسطى العنقودية‬ The cluster centroid is the mean values of the variables for all the cases or objects in a particular cluster.

communality (Chapter 19)  |  )19 ‫العموم (الفصل‬ Communality is the amount of variance a variable shares with all the other variables being considered. This is also the proportion of variance explained by the common factors.

cluster membership | ‫عضوية عنقودية‬ Cluster membership indicates the cluster to which each object or case belongs.

communality (Chapter 22)  |  )22 ‫العموم (الفصل‬ Communality is the variance of a measured variable that is explained by the construct on which it loads.

GLOSSARY   893

comparative scales | ‫المقاييس المقا ِرنَة‬ One of two types of scaling techniques in which there is direct comparison of stimulus objects with one another.

confidence level | ‫مستوى الثقة‬ The probability that a confidence interval will include the population parameter.

competitive intelligence (CI)  |  ‫االستخبارات التنافسية‬ The process of enhancing marketplace competitiveness through a greater understanding of a firm’s competitors and the competitive environment.

configural equivalence | ‫التكافؤ التصويري‬ Configural equivalence concerns the relationships of measured items to the latent constructs and implies that the patterns of factor loadings should be the same across countries or cultural units.

complete linkage | ‫إتمام الربط‬ Linkage method that is based on maximum distance or the furthest neighbor approach. completion rate | ‫معدل اإلتمام‬ The percentage of qualified respondents who complete the interview. It enables researchers to take into account anticipated refusals by people who qualify. completion technique | ‫أساليب اإلتمام‬ A projective technique that requires the respondent to complete an incomplete stimulus situation. composite reliability (CR)  |  ‫مصداقية المركب‬ It is defined as the total amount of true score variance in relation to the total score variance. Thus, composite reliability corresponds to the conventional notion of reliability in classical test theory. computer mapping | ‫تحديد الرسم بالكمبيوتر‬ Maps that solve marketing problems are called thematic maps. They combine geography with demographic information and a company’s sales data or other proprietary information and are generated by a computer. conceptual equivalence | ‫التكافؤ المفاهيمي‬ Conceptual equivalence deals specifically with whether the interpretation of brands, products, consumer behavior, and the marketing effort is the same in different countries. conceptual map | ‫خريطة مفاهيمية‬ A way to link the broad statement of the marketing research problem to the management decision problem. conclusive research | ‫بحوث قاطعة‬ Research designed to assist the decision maker in determining, evaluating, and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation. concomitant variation | ‫التباين المصاحب‬ A condition for inferring causality that requires that a cause, X, and an effect, Y, occur together or vary together as predicted by the hypothesis under consideration. confidence interval | ‫فاصل الثقة‬ The range into which the true population parameter will fall.

confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)  |  ‫تحليل عامل التأكيد‬ A technique used to estimate the measurement model. It seeks to confirm if the number of factors (or constructs) and the loadings of observed (indicator) variables on them conform to what is expected on the basis of theory. Indicator variables are selected on the basis of theory, and CFA is used to see if they load as predicted on the expected number of factors. confounding variables | ‫متغيرات ملتبسة‬ Synonymous with extraneous variables, used to illustrate that extraneous variables can confound the results by influencing the dependent variable. conjoint analysis | ‫تحليل موحد‬ A technique that attempts to determine the relative importance consumers attach to salient attributes and the utilities they attach to the levels of attributes. conjoint analysis model | ‫نموذج التحليل الموحد‬ The mathematical model expressing the fundamental relationship between attributes and utility in conjoint analysis. consistency checks | ‫التحقق من التوافق‬ A part of the data-cleaning process that identifies data that are out of range, logically inconsistent, or have extreme values. Data with values not defined by the coding scheme are inadmissible. constant sum scaling | ‫مقياس المجموع الثابت‬ A comparative scaling technique in which respondents are required to allocate a constant sum of units such as points, dollars, chits, stickers, or chips among a set of stimulus objects with respect to some criterion. construct (Chapter 9)  |  )9 ‫مفهوم تجريدي (الفصل‬ A specific type of concept that exists at a higher level of abstraction than do everyday concepts. construct (Chapter 22)  |  )22 ‫مفهوم تجريدي (الفصل‬ In SEM, a construct is a latent or unobservable concept that can be defined conceptually but cannot be measured directly or without error. Also called a factor, a construct is measured by multiple indicators or observed variables.

Arab World Edition

Arab World Editions Pearson’s innovative Arab World Editions have been developed specifically for students studying in the Arab world. Regional cases and examples make the book more relevant to students, while international examples provide a comparative perspective. Engaging pedagogical features, local photographs, and accompanying resources also support students and educators across the region.

Marketing Research

While there are numerous textbooks available on marketing research, none consider the topic from an Arab perspective. Until now.The adapting authors have created a series of practical examples and case studies from the Arab region to complement the global perspective of the original edition. The book contains coverage of Arab-specific environmental factors that affect the conduct of marketing research in the region, including legal, political, economic, cultural, and social. Coverage of macro and micro local environments is included to enhance readers’ appreciation of marketing practices in the Middle East and to demonstrate to students the need for multinational, regional, and local companies to understand the importance of their markets to achieve success.This is essential reading for any student of marketing trying to understand the dynamics of marketing research in the Arab region.

Malhotra Baalbaki Bechwati

CVR_MARE_SB_ARW_2367_CVR1.indd 1

Marketing Research Naresh K. Malhotra

Imad B. Baalbaki Nada Nasr Bechwati

11/12/2012 14:09