Reference no: EM132267949

1. While others may use different numbers of steps, we present the marketing research process as a(n)

a. 20-plus step process

b. integrated single step process

c. complex multiple stage process

d. 11-step process

e. 3-step process

2. For which of the following situations would marketing research likely not be needed?

a. Five years previously, one of the company's competitors had a similar marketing problem.

b. The marketing management is very knowledgeable about the industry.

c. Competitors have already conducted marketing research.

d. The costs outweigh the value of marketing research.

e. A company in another industry already solved a similar marketing problem.

3. During what stage of the product life cycle is marketing research not likely to be used?

a. New product development

b. maturity

c. introduction

d. decline

e. growth

4. Which of the following is not true of advertising?

a. If you get advertising "wrong," sales won't grow.

b. If you get advertising "wrong," the brand image will suffer.

c. Effective advertising can become a bargain regardless of its cost.

d. Market research always plays a very small role in maximizing the success of advertising investments and minimizing the chance of failure.

e. Like a lot of marketing components, the advertising process starts as a series of questions deep in the mind of a marketer.

5. What is a gap between what did happen and what COULD have happened?

a. failure to meet an objective

b. an opportunity

c. an accident

d. an error

e. a problem

6. A survey to determine the publics' level of awareness of advertising would be what kind of research design?

a. descriptive research

b. causal research

c. test marketing

d. questionnaire research

e. exploratory research

7. What kind of research design enables researchers to isolate cause and effect relationships via experiments?

a. exploratory research

b. questionnaire research

c. descriptive research

d. causal research

e. data analysis

8. Assume that marketing research was being conducted for an expanding supermarket chain. Which of the following would be considered to be PRIMARY information?

a. census records containing a prospective town's population

b. A real estate report on the housing market in a town being considered for expansion.

c. an Internet search of government filings made by supermarkets in a certain state

d. supermarket industry statistics concerning new store openings

e. conducting a survey of supermarket shoppers in a town that is being considered

9. ____________ describe how each sample element, or unit, is to be drawn from the total population.

a. Data analyses

b. Sample Diaries

c. Sample sizes

d. Sample plans

e. Sample Withdrawal Logs (SWLs)

10. Why is the last step of the marketing research process so important?

a. That is the step where the firm's problem finally get defined.

b. That is the step where implementation of the marketing research recommendations begins.

c. That is the step that confirms whether or not the decision to conduct marketing research was the right one.

d. That is the step that communicates the study results to the client.

e. That is the step where the market research firm gets compensated.

11. What are the earmarks of a maturing marketing research industry?

a. Most firms are profitable and have lobbying agents in Washington, D.C.

b. The top 50 market research organizations in the world have not changed in over a decade; it is a stable industry.

c. A distinct lack of globalization.

d. Over 500 of the firms in the industry have achieved revenues of at least $1 billion per year.

e. The growth of professional organizations, globalization, and a certification program.

12. According to The Honomichl Global Top 25, what is the largest marketing research firm in the world in terms of total revenues?

a. Dewey, Cheatum and Howe

b. The Marketing Research Association

c. The American Marketing Association

d. The Nielsen Company

e. CGS Research

13. Most of the research firms found in the Honomichl Global 25 and Honomichl Top 50 are __________ firms.

a. limited-service provider

b. local

c. new start-up

d. small, specialized firms

e. full-service supplier

14. Constructive criticism of the marketing research industry has focused on all of the following areas EXCEPT

a. marketing research used as a commodity.

b. a cavalier attitude regarding nonresponse error.

c. mistreatment of respondents.

d. marketing research is NOT focused enough on techniques.

e. questions about what constitutes marketing research

15. A marketing research firm that collects information and makes it available to multiple subscribers would be classified as a(n):

a. online research firm

b. market segment specialist

c. syndicated data services firm

d. field services firm

e. full service firm

16. A marketing research firm that specializes in the senior citizen market would be classified as a(n):

a. auditing firm

b. market segment specialists

c. sample design and distribution firm

d. certified firm

e. full service firm

17. Research firms have developed the ability to "listen" to the consumers discuss products, brands, stores, etc. in social media. Terms used to describe this "listening" are:

a. text analytics, buzz mining and sentiment.

b. WarcraftSounds, Twitter-Sync, Media Plants.

c. SecondLife-probes, Farmville Ears, and UTube Sounds

d. Listen-Probes, Twitter-Hacking, Facebook Ears.

e. eavesdropping, audio-mining, and hearing AIDES.

18. Which of the following refers to the unethical practice of selling under the guise of research?

a. sugging

b. frugging

c. spamming

d. bait-and-switch

e. price gouging

19. Which of the following best refers to conducting research that is not totally objective; information being withheld or altered to protect vested interests?

a. phony RFPs

b. deception of respondents

c. research integrity

d. failure to honor time and money agreements

e. confidentiality and anonymity

20. Which of the following is NOT an industry/firm initiative that has been undertaken to improve industry performance?

a. Maintaining Public Credibility of Research

b. Improving ethical conduct

c. Monitoring industry trends

d. New laws and federal regulations

e. Best practices

Question: 2. True (T)or False (F)

1. Opportunities are identified through good control systems.( )

2. To evaluate decision alternatives managers must speculate as to the consequences of selecting each alternative. ( )

3. When we speculate on consequences of a decision alternative we must make assumptions. When we are uncertain of our assumptions this signals the need for marketing research.( )

4. When we have a research objective we next move on to the information gap.( )

5. Research objectives should be very generally stated so as to include all unforeseen possibilities.( )

6. Research objectives should specify from whom we will gather information.( )

7. Action standards are used to assess the quality of management's actions prior to conducting research.( )

8. Marketing research proposals typically contain a "statement of deliverables. ( )

9. Marketing research proposals are straightforward and do not contain any issues thought to be ethically sensitive. ( )

10. IBM SPSS is a computerized program that assists with the data analysis step of the marketing research process. ( )

Question: 3. Read the following case and answer the questions mentioned at the end of case.

Tim Colley and John Williams had not been in business long. They started a small marketing research firm in their hometown and had barely made ends meet by taking on very small accounts working mainly with start-up retailers. Their marketing research experience was limited, but they knew the basics. Since they had not taken any specialized training beyond a college course in marketing research, they decided to join the Marketing Research Association. Tim explained their reasoning: “We can tell clients we have the necessary credentials to be members of the most no- table marketing research organization in North America.” The partners thought this was a good way to persuade clients they knew what they were doing. They added the MRA logo to their promotional materials along with the line: “Heritage is a Certified Member of the MRA.” They used their limited funds to promote Heritage Research Associates and even took out a quarter page ad in a national business magazine.

A phone call early one morning marked a real opportunity for Heritage. The potential client represented his organization as a “privately funded foundation that promoted business rights and the maintenance of a laissez faire pro- business environment.” They were interested in Heritage doing some research that would disprove some universitysponsored research whose findings had been in the news. The findings were unfavorable toward one of their prominent member industries. The caller stated: “Our patrons are upset that such erroneous information is being fed to the American people, and we are quite prepared to fund additional research to clarify the facts. In fact, we are willing to fund several studies if we get the results we are looking for. Are you up to it?” Tim and

John assured the caller that the foundation could be certain that Heritage Research Associates could deliver quality, objective research that would clear up any misconceptions in the minds of the public. The call ended with a promise to send the biased university research reports immediately. A second call was set up to follow in three days.

In the follow-up call the potential client got more specific. His foundation had hired some independent scientists who were willing to testify that certain environmental conditions were not being caused by the concerned industry group. “We have had little problem in getting three scientists, with doctoral degrees from well-known universities, to make statements affirming that firms in one of our major industry groups is not doing any significant harm to our environment.” The client went on to say: “What we want now is a study from an independent research firm, such as Heritage, to report attitudes of consumers in terms of whether they are in favor of more industry regulation. We are willing to fund a small pilot study and, if we find Heritage is capable of delivering objective data, we are ready to sign on for a series of perhaps a dozen studies.

Furthermore, we are well financed, and I am quite certain we can meet your bid to do this work.” The caller went on to ask for a proposal that would outline methods to select the survey sample, research questions, and a sample analysis, including how Heritage would word the report. “Remember, we want this to be an independently prepared project using all your abilities to craft an objective research study,” the client stated. Tim and John agreed to deliver a proposal within 10 working days.

Tim and John were thrilled that this opportunity had fallen to them. “Did you hear what he said in terms of ‘being certain to accept our bid’?” John exclaimed. “He’s telling us he is going to pay whatever we ask. This isn’t a penny-pinching client.”

Tim said, “Just a minute, though. He’s talking about the studies after the pilot study.

What if they don’t like the first study? We won’t ever get to the big accounts.”

John agreed. “We’ve got to design a study they will like so we can get the additional work at a premium. This could set our little firm off in a totally new direction!”

“This can make us the most talked-about research firm in the world” Tim said.

QUESTIONS

1. Do you think it is ethical to use membership in an association that doesn’t require any demonstration of expertise to lead customers into thinking the membership conveys some automatic claim of competency?

2. What problems do you see in the future for Tim and John and Heritage Research Associates? Do you think they are likely to become the “most talked-about research firm in the world”?