Answer to Question #159223 in Management for Kamal

Question

Give examples of different types of marketing research designs?(please answer in 150 to 200 words)

Answer 1

There are different types of marketing research designs that are tailored to suit a given research problem. Marketing research designs broadly fall under three categories: exploratory, descriptive and causal research designs. Exploratory research design applies to gain background information, to clarify hypotheses and to establish research priorities. It mainly relies on qualitative measures and secondary data. Examples include: analysis of secondary research materials, focus groups, observation, consumer and expert interviews and case analysis. A descriptive research design measures and reports marketing phenomena e.g. demographic information at a given point in time. It is quantitative by nature and collects information that can be statistically measured and analyzed to draw conclusion. Examples include: surveys, questionnaires, laboratory and field experiments as well as cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Causal research design establishes a cause and effect relationship among two or more variables. It is also quantifiable and relies on experiments and test marketing to identify causation e.g. if the company altered its way of advertising, it will increase sales. Researchers will manipulate the chosen variable hoping to draw a certain effect.