CH-15 Marketing Ethics and Social Responsibility – Consumer Behaviour : Chapter Notes

Chapter 15 Marketing Ethics and Social Responsibility LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading, studying and analyzing this chapter, students should be able to understand: 15.1The meaning and importance of marketing ethics and social responsibility. 15.2How marketers can exploit consumers by targeting children and encouraging overeating and other forms of irresponsible buying. 15.3Ethically questionable practices such as covert marketing, manipulative exposure to advertising, and truth-in-advertising issues. 15.4The nature and consequences of provocative advertisements. 15.5How marketers abuse consumers’ privacy and the measures that can stop such practices. 15.6How marketers can advance society’s interests by advocating socially beneficial conduct and discouraging adverse behavior. CHAPTER SUMMARY Learning Objective 15.1: To understand the meaning and importance of marketing ethics and social responsibility. The marketing concept is sometimes incompatible with society’s best interests. The societal marketing concept requires that all marketers adhere to principles of social responsibility in the marketing of their goods and services. Since all companies prosper when society prospers, companies must integrate social responsibility into all marketing decisions, and many have adopted the societal marketing concept. A serious deterrent to more widespread implementation of the societal marketing concept is the short-term orientation of most business executives and corporate boards in their drive to quickly increase market share and profits. Learning Objective 15.2: To understand how marketers can exploit consumers by targeting children and encouraging overeating and other forms of irresponsible buying. The study of consumer behavior allows marketers to understand why and how consumers make their purchase decisions, but it also enables unethical marketers to exploit human vulnerabilities in the marketplace and engage in other unethical marketing practices. Such practices include targeting vulnerable consumers such as children, teenagers, the elderly, and less-educated consumers, who may not have the knowledge or experience to evaluate the products or services being promoted and the potential negative consequences of using these offerings. Learning Objective 15.3: To understand ethically questionable practices such as covert marketing, manipulative exposure to advertising, and truth-in-advertising issues. Marketers can manipulate consumers’ interpretations of marketing stimuli through the context in which those stimuli are featured. Covert marketing consists of marketing messages and promotional materials that appear to come from independent parties but are, in fact, sent by marketers. Some maintain that covert marketing strategies often violate the FTC’s definition of deceptive advertising, endorsement guidelines, and other regulations of marketing, and believe that the FTC should establish clearer rules to reduce the use of masked advertising. The FTC has developed guidelines as to what constitutes deceptive advertising, and it holds marketers responsible for determining their ads’ potential to mislead consumers. Although the FTC is responsible for stopping false or misleading ads, and the agency encourages and investigates complaints by consumers and companies regarding false or misleading ads, it cannot locate and stop all misleading ads. The FTC can also require companies that have misled consumers through their advertising to run corrective advertising. Learning Objective 15.4: To understand the nature and consequences of provocative advertisements. Too many marketing messages convey socially undesirable stereotypes and images, some of which tend to encourage risky or illegal behavior or create unrealistic perceptions. Many studies have focused on the use of objectionable themes in advertising and discovered that negative portrayals of various groups affect consumers’ perceptions. Learning Objective 15.5: To understand how marketers abuse consumers’ privacy and the measures that can stop such practices. Consumers’ loss of privacy is an increasingly problematic ethical issue as marketers identify and reach out to increasingly smaller audiences through innovative media and more sophisticated tracking. The collection and dissemination of this information raises many privacy issues and various governmental bodies have proposed measures to ensure consumers’ privacy. “Do not track” and opt-out mechanisms, regulation of data brokers and harvesters, and increased consumer access to the information collected about them are other possible ways to combat the invisible tracking that is being done via Internet, cell phone, and coupon use. Learning Objective 15.6: To understand how marketers can advance society’s interests by advocating socially beneficial conduct and discouraging adverse behavior. Many not-for-profit organizations, including consumer advocacy groups, exist primarily to promote socially beneficial behaviors. Many companies try to increase their credibility by being “good corporate citizens” and integrating socially desirable practices into their operations. Some firms engage in cause-related marketing, where they contribute a portion of the revenues they receive from selling certain products to causes which are socially desirable and supported by the American public. A good fit between the company and the cause appears to be crucial to the effectiveness of these campaigns. CHAPTER OUTLINE INTRODUCTION 1.Marketing ethics are moral principles that govern marketers’ behavior. 2.Ethics express the differences between right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. 3.Not all that is allowed (by law) is in the best interest of society or marketers’ goals. 4.Marketing practices that overtly contradict societal interests end up in embarrassment, decreased profits, and diminished consumer confidence in promotional messages and products. *****Use Figure #15.1 Here; Use Key Term marketing ethics Here***** The Societal Marketing Concept: Utopia or Reality? 1.Fulfilling the needs of target consumer markets more effectively than competitors may be at odds with society’s best interests. 2.The cumulative persuasive impact of advertising may have negative implications for consumer behavior (e.g. materialism and unrealistic ideal body images). 3.The societal marketing concept calls upon all marketers to satisfy the needs and wants of their target markets in ways that preserve and enhance the well-being of consumers and society as a whole, while also fulfilling the profit objectives of their organizations. *****Use Learning Objective #15.1 Here***** 4.Many trade associations representing marketers of consumer goods have developed industry-wide codes of ethics. a.Industry-wide self-regulation deters governments from imposing its own regulations on industries. b.Companies recognize that socially responsible activities improve their image among consumers, stockholders, the financial community and relevant publics. c.Perceptions of a company’s lack of social responsibility or unethical marketing can negatively impact consumer purchase decisions. ***** Use Figure #15.2 Here ***** Exploitative Marketing 1.There are many targetable segments that can be exploited because they are more vulnerable than most other consumers (less educated, older, low income, no political power), but targeting children and encouraging overeating and irresponsible buying are the focus of this section. a.Consumer socialization is the processes by which young people acquire skills, knowledge and attitudes relevant to their functioning as consumers in the marketplace. The three stages are: i.The perceptual stage (3-7 years old) ii.The analytical stage (7-11 years old) iii.The reflective stage (11-16 years old) b.Children become brand aware as they age. c.Overall, the older the child, the more influence he or she has on a parent’s purchase behavior. d.Children are consuming more media, which increases opportunities to target children with marketing messages designed to influence their purchase behavior. e.There are many ethical concerns regarding advertising to children. f.Advertising to children is subject to self-regulation according to guidelines developed by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus g.The guidelines direct marketers to abandon product presentations or claims that: i.Mislead children about the product’s performance or benefits ii.Exploit the child’s imagination or create unrealistic expectations iii.Show products in unsafe situations iv.Encourage behavior that is inappropriate for children h.The guidelines also direct marketers to avoid ads that: i.Encourage children to pressure their parents to buy the products advertised. ii.Compel children to feel that ownership of a given product will make them more accepted by peers. iii.Make claims that mislead children, exploit their imagination or crate unrealistic expectation. i.A major concern regarding the impact of marketing on children’s behavior is whether food marketers “teach” children to eat more than they should and cause obesity and other health problems. j.It must be remembered that children are a vulnerable population. k.Regarding advertising to children, there is a consensus that even if children understand the purpose of promotional messages, marketers must take special care in advertising to them because of the amount of time they spend viewing TV and online. *****Use Learning Objective #15.2 Here; Use Key Term consumer socialization Here; Use Table #15.1 Here; Use Review and Discussion Questions #15.1 and #15.2 Here; Use Hands-on Assignments #15.7 and #15.10 Here***** 2.Marketers studied situational factors surrounding buying decisions to learn how to convince consumers to adopt a product or induce consumption. 3.Marketers sometimes encourage consumers to spend or eat more than they might want/need to. a.Cold grocery stores make consumers hungry/encourages overeating b.Moving displays to encourage wandering increases overspending c.Targeting online shoppers who have been drinking increases overspending d.Designing foods that encourage overeating encourages overeating e.Granting easy credit increases overspending 4.Packaging and presentation can also encourage overeating. a.Both children and adults consume more juice when the product is presented in short, wide glasses than in tall slender glasses. b.Candies placed in clear jars were eaten much quicker than those presented in opaque jars. c.Sandwiches in transparent wrap generated more consumption than those in opaque wraps. d.The visibility and aroma of tempting foods generated greater consumption. e.Presenting foods in an organized manner, such as mixed assortments in bowls (or “grab bags”), buffets, potlucks, or dinner-table settings leads to more eating. f.Assortment size or duplication, in forms such as multiple product tastings, multiple offerings of party snacks, duplicate buffet lines, and family dinners with multiple dishes, stimulate eating. g.Minimal variations in the size of serving bowls whenever multiple options and sizes are present lead to eating more. h.People generally do not keep track of how much food they consume. When told, they are often surprised at how much they have consumed. i.Large inventories of foods at home increase the quantity believed to be appropriate for a given meal. j.Small packages do not necessarily decrease consumption and can sometimes actually increase it. Responsible companies should sell small packages individually, rather than bundling them together in a larger container, because the availability of multiple small packages leads to overconsumption. 5.Sometimes nutritional labels are misleading (presenting information for a small serving size) or uninformative (using words like natural that do not mean anything. ***** Use Figures #15.4 and #15.5 Here***** 6.Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising has increased the consumption of numerous categories of medications. a.The pharmaceutical industry has developed voluntary restrictions regarding direct-to-consumer advertising because they recognized it was too aggressive. b.The Senate majority leader has called for a two-year moratorium on advertising new drugs to consumers c.One major pharmaceutical company has volunteered not to advertise new drugs to consumers during their first year on the market. d.Online search engines further complicate the direct selling of medications to consumers. i.The FDA urged pharmaceutical companies to include risk information about drugs in the companies’ search advertisements (the short text that appears besides the results of one’s Google search) ii.Because Google limits such ads to 95 characters, it is unclear how this can be done. e.Because they can market products directly to consumers, pharmaceutical companies are more eager than ever to “extend the life” of products that have become consumer favorites, as the dates for patent expiration and the availability of generic versions of these products near. *****Use Review and Discussion Question #15.4 Here ***** Crafty Promotional Messages and Techniques 1.Marketers can use the knowledge of perception and learning to manipulate consumer’s interpretations of marketing stimuli. 2.Because advertisers do not want to be associated with news broadcasts or programs that cover serious issues, media companies may choose to shorten coverage of serious or disagreeable topics. 3.Marketers may reduce the amount of products in packaging but leave prices unchanged. 4.Covert marketing (also known as masked or stealth marketing) consists of marketing messages and promotional materials that appear to come from independent parties, although, in fact, they are sent by marketers. a.Some maintain that covert marketing strategies often violate the FTC’s definition of deceptive advertising, endorsement guidelines, and other regulations pertaining to marketing, and believe the FTC should have clearer rules. b.Others argue that the widespread use of stealth marketing abuses consumers’ efforts to avoid advertising and will result in increased consumers’ distrust of product information *****Use Key Terms covert marketing and stealth marketing Here***** 5.Marketers increasingly use techniques that blur the distinctions between figure and ground and make it more difficult for consumers to distinguish advertising from entertainment content (e.g. product placements, positioning a TV commercial so close to the storyline of a program consumers are unaware they are watching an advertisement, advertorials, infomercials). 6.False or misleading advertising is also an issue. a.Regarding accuracy, a toothpaste ad stating that “brand A is the best” is considered an acceptable form of advertising “puffery” because consumers generally understand that there is no credible way to determine what “best” means. b.Truth-in-advertising laws protect consumers from false advertisements. c.Over time, the FTC has developed guidelines as to what constitutes deceptive advertising, and it holds marketers responsible for determining their ads’ potential to mislead consumers. d.The FTC encourages and investigates complaints by consumers and companies regarding false or misleading ads. The FTC can also require companies that have misled consumers through their advertising to run corrective advertising. e.In addition to the FTC, there is the National Advertising Review Council (NARC), a self-regulatory group that monitors complaints from companies and consumers regarding truth in advertising and often determines what ads can or cannot state. f.A large number of promotional violations occur in the marketing of drugs. One study identified the three major categories of such violations: i.Unsubstantiated effectiveness claims: Representing the drug as more effective than the evidence available suggests; representing the drug as useful in a broader scope than the research evidence indicates. ii.Omitted risk information: Failure to reveal risks resulting from using the drug correctly; failure to present information on side effects; stating the risks in unclear language. iii.Unsubstantiated superiority claims: Presenting the drug as more effective or safer than others in spite of the fact that there is no evidence supporting such a claim. *****Use Key Terms product placements, advertorials, infomercials, truth-in-advertising laws, deceptive advertising and corrective advertising Here; Use Table 15.2 Here; Use Review and Discussion Question #15.3 Here; Use Hands-on Assignment Question #15.8 Here***** Provocative Marketing 1.Many studies have focused on the use of objectionable themes in advertising, 2.Neuromarketing is being used to see how different parts of the brain react to commercials. 3.Although marketers continuously sponsor ads portraying values or behaviors that some (or many) consumers find distasteful or wrong, the importance of public scrutiny must not be underestimated. *****Use Learning Objective #15.4 Here; Use Key Term neuromarketing Here; Use Table 15.4 Here***** Abusing Consumers’ Privacy 1.Consumers’ loss of privacy is an increasingly problematic ethical issue, as marketers identify and reach out to increasingly smaller audiences through innovative media and more sophisticated tracking. a.Some retailers started testing new technology that allowed them to track customers’ movements by following the Wi-Fi signals from customers’ smartphones. i.The retailers gather data about in-store shoppers’ behavior and moods, using video surveillance and signals from their cellphones and apps to identify customers’ genders, how many minutes they spend in the candy aisle and how long they look at merchandise before buying it. ii.Retailers can also identify returning shoppers, because mobile devices send unique identification codes when they search for networks. Thus, stores can tell how repeat customers behave and the average time between visits. iii.When customers found out about being tracked, many complained and said that they felt “stalked” and “creepy” while shopping under surveillance. b.The e-score is a digital calculation that evaluates people’s buying power and value as consumers. i.These scores are largely invisible to the public. ii.Fueled by Google Analytics, this digital ranking of American society is unlike anything that came before it. iii.Unlike personal credit reports, consumers cannot find out what their e-scores are. c.Contextual advertising targets advertisements based on the Web page a consumer is viewing or a search query the consumer has made, but does not involve much data storage. *****Use Review and Discussion Question #15.6 Here ***** 2.The collection and dissemination of consumer information raises many privacy issues and various governmental bodies have proposed measures to ensure consumers’ privacy. a.The Federal Trade Commission recommended a “do not track” mechanism that is similar to the national “do not call” registry. b.It also proposed legislation regulating so-called data brokers, which compile and trade a wide range of personal and financial data about millions of consumers from online and offline sources. c.The suggested legislation would give consumers access to information collected about them and allow them to correct and update such data. Another proposal is to let consumers choose whether they want their Internet browsing and buying habits monitored. d.The Digital Advertising Alliance—a group of digital advertising trade organizations—designed a turquoise triangle in the upper right-hand corner of banner ads. The AdChoices icon allows users who click on the turquoise triangle to opt out of having their behavior tracked online. *****Use Learning Objective #15.5 Here; Use Key Terms escore and contextual advertising Here ***** Promoting Social Causes 1.Many not-for-profit organizations, including consumer advocacy groups, exist primarily to promote socially beneficial behaviors such as contributing to charity, using energy responsibly, and reducing such negative behaviors as using drugs, discrimination, and drunk driving. 2.Many companies try to increase their credibility by being “good corporate citizens” and integrating socially desirable practices into their operations. a.A societal marketing program can create positive consumer attitudes toward companies. b.Perceptual fit between the sponsoring organization and the promoted cause(s) enhances consumer involvement in the cause(s) and their purchase intentions. *****Use Learning Objective #15.6 Here; Use Table #15.4 Here***** 3.The primary objective of many not-for-profit organizations is to promote socially covetable behavior and discourage ones that produce negative outcomes. 4.Sometimes even government organizations try to induce public behavior that they see fit. *****Use Figures #15.6 - #15.9 Here ***** 5.Marketers who implement ethical strategies do so in order “to do the right thing,” to improve their image in the eyes of their constituencies, reduce scrutiny, and as an alternative to the likelihood of government regulation. 6.Buyer’s dishonest behavior is another ethical concern. a.Many stores have started charging restocking fees, limiting return policies, and tracking abnormal return patterns because of buyers who bought items, used them, and then returned them for a refund. b.Air travelers are being creative to avoid checked luggage fees, charge airlines hotel bills when they stayed with friends, claim expensive items were in the checked luggage that was lost, or claim wheelchairs were damaged in the cargo hold. *****Use Table #15.5 Here ***** Chapter 16 Consumer Research LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading, studying and analyzing this chapter, students should be able to understand: 16.1How to develop research objectives. 16.2How to collect secondary data. 16.3Qualitative and quantitative research methods. 16.4How to combine qualitative and quantitative research. 16.5How to analyze data and report research findings. CHAPTER SUMMARY Learning Objective 16.1: To understand how to develop research objectives. The first and most difficult step in the consumer research process is to accurately define the objectives of the research. Is it to segment the market for electronic readers? Is it to examine consumer attitudes about the experience of online shopping? What percentage of households shop for food online? Whatever the key research question, it is important for the marketing manager and the research manager to agree at the outset as to the specific purposes and objectives of the proposed consumer study. A clearly written statement of research objectives ensures that the information needed is indeed collected and costly errors are avoided. Learning Objective 16.2: To understand how to collect secondary data. Secondary data is existing information that was originally gathered for a research purpose other than the present research. The rationale for secondary data searches is simply that it makes good sense to investigate whether currently available information will answer—in part or even in full—the research question at hand. It seems unwise to expend the effort and money, and rush into collecting new information before determining if there is any available information that would provide at least a good starting point. The first source of secondary data is previously collected in house information that was originally used for some other purpose. It might have originally been gathered as part of a sales audit, or from past customer service calls, or letters of inquiry from customers, or collected via warranty cards. The second source of secondary data is information from sources outside of the firm or organization. They take many different forms. Some are free and can be found in a public library, other information is available for only a nominal fee, and still other data or information are quite expensive to secure. The major sources of external secondary data are: the government, articles from popular, professional, and academic publications, and syndicated commercial sources. Learning Objective 16.3: To understand qualitative and quantitative research methods. If the purpose of a study is to come up with new ideas for products or promotional themes, the researchers use qualitative research. Qualitative studies consist of focus groups, depth interviews, and projective techniques. If the purpose of the study is to find out how many consumers match the demographics or psychographics of the target market, or the characteristics of consumers who buy given brands and whether or not they are brand loyal, marketers conduct quantitative research. Quantitative research includes observation, experiments, and surveys. Learning Objective 16.4: To understand how to combine qualitative and quantitative research. Marketers frequently conduct research projects that combine both a qualitative component (often composed of focus groups and/or depth interviews) and a quantitative component (often consisting of a survey research). For example, they use qualitative research findings to discover new ideas and develop promotional strategies, and quantitative research findings to estimate the extent or amount of consumers who react in a particular way (i.e., positive or negative) to various promotional inputs. Frequently, ideas stemming from qualitative research are tested empirically through quantitative studies. The predictions made possible by quantitative research and the understanding provided by qualitative research together produce a richer and more robust profile of consumer behavior than either research approach used alone. Learning Objective 16.5: To understand how to analyze data and report research findings. In qualitative research, the moderator-researcher usually analyzes the responses received. In quantitative research, the responses are coded and analyzed statistically. In both qualitative and quantitative research, the research report includes an executive summary of the findings, description of the methodology used, and recommendations for marketing actions. CHAPTER OUTLINE INTRODUCTION 1.Disney’s Sofia the First, a modern princess which is an “anti-Cinderella,” was the product of consumer research including interviews, observations, and focus groups. The research included parents and children. 2.The preparation, use, and wide scale availability of large amounts of consumer research is a critical force in advancing the discipline of consumer behavior. 3.Research is used to develop marketing messages or to establish which product features are most important to consumers. 4.This chapter is dedicated to setting out the methodological research issues for planning and carrying out consumer research studies. *****Use Figure #16.1 Here ***** DEVELOPING RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 1.The first and most difficult step in the consumer research process is to accurately define the objectives of the research. 2.A carefully thought-out statement of research objectives helps to insure that the information needed is secured and costly errors are avoided. 3.Qualitative research (focus groups, depth interviews) is used if the purpose of a study is to come up with new ideas for product or promotional themes. 4.Qualitative research is also used before conducting large quantitative studies to help marketers more precisely define research objectives. *****Use Learning Objective #16.1 Here***** COLLECTING SECONDARY DATA 1.The second step in the consumer research process is to search for secondary data. 2.Secondary data is already existing information that was originally gathered for a research purpose other than the present research. 3.In secondary data can in part or full answer the question, primary research can either be cut back or avoided. *****Use Learning Objective #16.2 Here; Use Key Term secondary data Here***** Internal Secondary Data 1.Internal secondary could consist of previously collected in-house information that was originally used for some other purpose. 2.Increasingly, companies use internal secondary data to compute customer lifetime value profiles. These profiles include customer acquisition costs, the profits generated from individual sales to each customer, the costs of handling customers and their orders, and the expected duration of the relationship. *****Use Key Term customer lifetime value profiles Here***** External Secondary Data 1.External secondary data comes from sources outside of the firm or organization. 2.Following is a brief discussion of some specific types of consumer behavior secondary information available from outside of the firm: a)Government Secondary Data. i)This data is generally made available for a nominal cost. ii)The federal government publishes information collected by scores of government agencies about the economy, business, and demographics of the U.S. population. iii)Depositories include FedStats, U.S. Census Bureau, and the CIA’s World Factbook. iv)State and local government also provide consumer research. b)Periodicals and articles available from online search services: business-relevant secondary data from periodicals, newspapers, and books are readily accessible via a variety of online search engines such as ProQuest and LexisNexis. c)Syndicated commercial marketing and media research services: i)Marketing research companies sell data to subscribing marketers. ii)Secondary data is also provided by companies that routinely monitor a particular consumption-related behavior, and sell their data to marketing companies who use the insights to make more informed strategic decision. iii)New technologies provide opportunities for far more sophisticated monitoring techniques. iv)The influence of new technologies will increasingly enable marketers to study consumers’ media exposure much more precisely and collect data that will allow them to better customize or narrowcast their promotional messages, thus spending their advertising dollars more effectively. d)Consumer panels i)Secondary data providers collect consumer behavior data from household or family consumer panels, who record purchases/media viewing habits in diaries. ii)Data are combined with thousands of households and analyzed by the data providers. iii)Today, online technology enables panel research companies to increasingly collect sophisticated data from respondents. ***** Use Key Term consumer panels Here***** Advantages and Limitations of Secondary Information 1.Advantages a)May provide a solution to the research problem/eliminate the need for primary research. b)Can help clarify and redefine objectives of the primary study. c)Can be obtained quickly and more cheaply than primary data. 2.Limitations a)Information may be categorized in units that are different from those sought by the researcher. b)Information may be inaccurate (due to errors in data gathering, data analysis, and/or biases). c)Information may be out of date. ***** Use Review and Discussion Question 16.3 Here***** DESIGNING PRIMARY RESEARCH 1.If the purpose of research is to get new ideas, then a qualitative study is often undertaken. 2.If descriptive and quantitative information is sought, then some form of quantitative study is usually performed. 3.The approach for each differs in terms of methods of data collection, sample design, and type of data collection instruments. *****Use Learning Objective 16.3 Here; Use Figure 16.1 Here***** Qualitative Research 1.Current qualitative research grew out of the rejection of the belief that consumer marketing was simply applied economics, that consumers were rational decision makers. 2.Those rejecting this view included member of an early school of qualitative consumer researchers known as motivational researchers. 3.The central tenet of this orientation was that consumers were not always consciously aware of why they made decisions or weren’t willing to reveal the reasons to themselves or others. 4.Dr. Ernest Dichter was an early leader of this movement. *****Use Key Term motivational researchers Here***** 5.Sample sizes are necessarily often small, so findings cannot be generalized to larger populations. 6.Most forms of qualitative research questioning have their roots in open-ended and free-response types of questioning. 7.The key types of interviews conducted for qualitative studies are depth interviews and/or focus group sessions. a)Depth interviews i)A depth interview, also referred to as a “one-on-one” interview is a somewhat lengthy non-structured interview between a single respondent and a highly trained researcher. ii)The interviewer speaks little, giving the consumer time to express thoughts and behaviors and to respond to verbal and visual materials. iii)The research must establish an atmosphere to encourage the consumer to open up. iv)The researcher probes for responses. v)Depth interview studies provide marketers with ideas about product design or redesign, and provide insights for positioning or repositioning products. *****Use Key Term depth interview Here***** b)Focus groups. i)A “discussion group” or focus group often consists of 8 to 10 participants who meet with a moderator-researcher-analyst to explore a particular product or product category. ii)Participants are encouraged to discuss their reactions to product and service concepts, or new advertising or marketing communications campaigns. iii)Respondents are recruited on the basis of a carefully drawn consumer profile that is prepared in the form of a questionnaire called a screener questionnaire. iv)The purpose of the “screener” is to ensure that the appropriate individuals are invited to participate in the research study, and those who are not the target market are not invited. v)Some marketers prefer focus groups because they feel that the dynamic interaction between participants that takes place in focus groups tends to yield a greater number of new ideas and insights than depth interview. vi)It takes less time to complete a series of focus groups than a project of individual depth interviews. *****Use Review and Discussion Question #16.5 Here; Use Key Terms focus groups and screener questionnaire Here; Use Figure #16.3 Here***** c)Discussion guides i)A discussion guide is a step-by-step outline that sets out the line of questioning that the researcher needs to cover with the respondent in a depth interview, or a group of respondents in the case of a focus group session. ii)Some moderators prefer to closely follow the guide while others “go with the flow.” iii)Some researchers will finish with often more information that anticipated. ***** Use Key Term discussion guide Here; Use Figure 16.4 Here; Use Hands-on Assignment 16.9 Here ***** d)Projective techniques i)Projective techniques are a useful tool, adapted for studying the unconscious associations of consumers who may be concealing or suppressing some of their thoughts or reactions. ii)Projective exercises consist of a variety of disguised “tests.” iii)Some of the well established exercise used to “tease-out” true consumer-related feelings and reflections are: (1)Word associations. (2)Sentence completions. (3)Photo/visuals for storytelling. (4)Role playing. *****Use Table #16.1 Here; Use Key Term projective techniques Here***** e)Online focus groups i)Over the past 5 to 10 years, there has been a substantial amount of interest in, trial of, and acceptance of online focus groups and depth interviews. ii)What is being called an “online focus group,” can vary greatly. The Scope of Quantitative Research 1.The broad category of quantitative research includes experimentation, surveys and observational research. 2.The findings are descriptive, empirical, and, if collected randomly, can be generalized to larger populations. 3.Observational research is an important research tool because marketers recognize that often the best way to gain an in-depth understanding of the relationship between people and products is by watching them in the process of buying and/or using the products. It provides greater insight into the bond between people and products that is the essence of brand loyalty. i)It is also important in uncovering issues or problems with a product. ii)Consumers are generally either watched by researchers or mechanical or electronic devices such as counting or video recording devices are used to capture customers’ behaviors or responses to a particular marketing stimulus. iii)Marketers also use physiological observation devices that monitor respondents’ patterns of information processing. *****Use Discussion Question #16.7 Here; Use Key Terms observational research and physiological observation Here***** b)Experimentation i)There are a variety of different experimental designs that a researcher needs to select from in formulating a particular consumer-related experiment. ii)In the simplest form of experiments (causal research), only one variable is manipulated (called the independent variable) while all other elements are kept constant. iii)A controlled experiment of this type ensures that any difference in the outcome (the dependent variable) is due to different treatments of the variable under study and not to extraneous factors. iv)A major application of causal research is test marketing, a logical next step after conducting depth interviews, focus groups, and survey research and prior to committing to a full-scale marketing rollout. ***** Use Key Terms experiment, controlled experiment and test marketing Here***** c)Survey research i)Following is a list of types of survey research (Table 16.2 lists advantages and disadvantages of each): (1)Personal interview surveys (face-to-face) (2)Telephone interview surveys (3)Mail surveys (4)E-mail surveys (a)There has been a rapid increase in the number of consumers who are interested in participating in Internet surveys. *****Use Table #16.2 Here; Use Key Terms personal interview surveys, telephone interview surveys, mail surveys, e-mail surveys, Internet surveys Here***** Quantitative Research Data Collection Instruments 1.Data collection instruments systematize the collection of data and to ensure that all respondents are asked the same questions in the same order. 2.Data collection instruments include questionnaires, personal inventories, and attitude scales. 3.A study is said to have validity if it collects the appropriate data needed to answer the questions or objectives stated in the first stage of the research process. 4.A study is said to have reliability if the same questions, asked of a similar sample, produce the same findings. ***** Use Key Terms validity and reliability Here***** a)Questionnaires are the primary data collection instrument for quantitative research. i)The questionnaire can be sent through the mail or online to selected respondents for self-administration or can be administered by field interviewers in person or by telephone. ii)The questionnaire can be disguised or undisguised as to its true purpose. iii)Questions can be open-ended or closed-ended. iv)Wording the questions represents the biggest challenge in constructing questionnaires. Table 16.3 includes guidelines for writing clear and effective questions. v)One form of consumer survey is a magazine readership survey, which is used to develop a profile of a publication’s readers for potential advertisers. ***** Use Table 16.3 Here; Use Figure 16.5 Here; Use Key Terms open-ended question, closed-ended question, and magazine readership survey Here***** b)Attitude scales are often used to capture evaluative data. i)Researchers often present respondents with a list of products or product attributes for which they are asked to indicate their relative feelings or evaluations. ii)The most frequently used attitude scales are Likert scales, semantic differential scales, behavior intention scales, and rank-order scales. (1)The Likert scale is the most popular form of attitude scale because it is easy for researchers to prepare and interpret, and simple for consumers to answer. The scale consists of an equal number of agreement/disagreement choices on either side of a neutral choice. (2)The semantic differential scale consists of a series of bipolar adjectives anchored at the ends of an odd-numbered continuum. Respondents are asked to evaluate a concept on the basis of each attribute by checking the point on the continuum that best reflects their feelings or beliefs. (3)The behavior intention scale measures the likelihood that consumers will act in a certain way in the future. (4)With rank-order scales, subjects are asked to rank items such as products in order of preference in terms of some criterion. *****Use Exercises #16.10 and #16.11 Here; Use Figure #16.6 Here; Use Key Terms attitude scales, Likert scale, semantic differential scale, behavior intention scale, and rank-order scales Here***** c)Customer satisfaction measurement includes quantitative and qualitative measures as well as a variety of contact methods with customers. i)Customer satisfaction surveys measure how satisfied the customers are with relevant attributes of the product or service, and the relative importance of these attributes. (1)Customers who are very satisfied are much more profitable and loyal than customers who are satisfied. (2)Some marketers posit that customers’ satisfaction/dissatisfaction is a function of the difference between expected performance (adequate, desired) and actual performance. ii)Mystery shoppers are professional observers who pose as customers in order to interact with and provide unbiased evaluations of the company’s service personnel in order to identify opportunities for improving productivity and efficiency. iii)Analyzing customer complaints is crucial for improving products and customer service. A good complaint analysis system should: (1)encourage customers to complain about an unsatisfactory product or service (2)encourage customers to provide suggestions for improvements (3)establish “listening posts” such as hotlines where specially designated employees either listen to customers’ comments or actively solicit input from them. ***** Use Key Terms customer satisfaction surveys, mystery shoppers, and complaint analysis Here***** d)Sampling and data collection i)A sample is a subset of the population that researchers use to estimate the characteristics of the entire population because it is almost impossible to obtain information from every member of the population or universe. ii)The sample must be representative of the universe under study. iii)An integral component of a research design is the sampling plan, which includes: whom to survey (sampling unit), how many to survey (sample size) and how to select them (sampling procedure). iv)There are two types of samples. (1)In a probability sample, respondents are selected in such a way that every member of the population studies has a known, nonzero chance of being selected. (2)Ina a nonprobability sample, the population under study has been predetermined in a nonrandom fashion on the basis of the researcher’s judgment or decision to select a given number of respondents from a particular group. (3)Table 16.4 includes information about the types of samples that fall under each. v)Data collection follows sample selection. The process depends on the tactics. *****Use Review and Discussion Question #16.6 Here; Use Table #16.4 Here; Use Key Terms sample, probability sample and nonprobability sample Here***** Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Research Findings 1.Some marketers use a combination of quantitative and qualitative research. 2.They use qualitative research findings to discover new ideas and to develop promotional strategy, and quantitative research findings to estimate the extent or amount of consumers who react in a particular way. 3.Sometimes, ideas stemming from qualitative research are tested empirically through quantitative studies. ***** Use Learning Objective 16.4 Here; Use Table #16.5 Here ***** Data Analysis and Reporting Research Findings 1.In designing a research study, researchers adapt the research process to the special needs of the study. 2.In qualitative research, the moderator-researcher usually analyzes the responses received. 3.In quantitative research, the researcher supervises the analysis. 4.In both qualitative and quantitative research, the research report includes a brief executive summary of the findings and a full description of the methodology used. 5.The report may or may not include recommendations for marketing action. *****Use Learning Objective #16.5 Here***** Instructor Manual for Consumer Behaviour Leon G. Schiffman, Leslie Lozor Konuk, S. Ramesh Kumar 9789332555099, 9780134734828