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Market Research II Essay

Hello everyone, I have an Assignment for you today. This assignment must be DONE by Friday, February 26, 2021, no later than 10 pm. By the way, I need this assignment to be PLAGIARISM FREE & a Spell Check when completed. Make sure you READ the instructions CAREFULLY. Now without further ado, the instructions to the assignments are below:

Instructions

The purpose of this essay is for you to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the marketing research process. Having a clear understanding of the marketing research process can lead to more accurate results when presenting to your clients.

For this assignment, compose an essay that examines this topic. Your essay should contain a brief introductory and conclusion section. Your essay should also do the components below:

– Describe the basic types of research design.

– Explain the differences between quantitative and qualitative research.

– Elaborate on how the types of research design contribute to the marketing research process.

– Describe each step of the marketing research process, and provide examples on how each step helps the researcher find solutions to the marketing research problem.

– Discuss the activities and tasks performed by those in the marketing research industry.

You essay must be a minimum of two, double-spaced pages (APA Format). At least one academic reference is required. Any information used must be cited and referenced in accordance to APA guidelines, and your paper must be formatted in APA style to include a title and reference page.

By the way, I have a attachment below which is a study guide. And lastly, below are several CSU articles from the study guide for this assignment. Any additional information must be cited & referenced. You are welcome to using other educational sites as long it’s pertaining to the topic. Be sure to use the resources below & be sure utilize the “Required Unit Resources” from the study guide for further information on this assignment. Remember NO PLAGIARISM & I need will need a PLAGIARISM REPORT upon completion.

MAR 3231, Marketing Research 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II

Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Discuss marketing research’s primary business functions.
1.1 Discuss the activities and tasks performed by those in the marketing research industry.

2. Discuss basic research designs as applied to research in marketing.

2.1 Describe the basic types of research design.
2.2 Explain how the types of research design contribute to the marketing research process.

8. Examine the marketing research process as an information-gathering process.

8.1 Explain the differences between quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes

Learning Activity

1.1
Unit Lesson Presentation; “How to Conduct Marketing Research;” “Sources for
Market Research Reports;” Essay

2.1
Unit Lesson Presentation; “An Overview of Major Market Research
Databases;” “How to Do Market Research – the Basics;” “Research Design
Classification;” Essay

2.2 Unit Lesson Presentation; “9 Stages to Marketing Research Success;” Essay

8.1
Unit Lesson Presentation; “Quantitative Versus Qualitative Methods in Social
Sciences: Bridging the Gap;” Essay

Required Unit Resources

In order to access the following resources, click the links below:

Carner, W. J. (2011). How to conduct marketing research. Community Bank Marketing Manual, 25(7), 7.1–

7.47. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=66558406&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Diamond, W., & Oppenheim, M. R. (2004). Sources for market research reports. Journal of Business &

Finance Librarianship, 9(2/3), 91–108. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bsu&AN=13878321&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Martin, J. A. (2009). An overview of major market research databases. Journal of Business & Finance

Leadership, 14(4), 360–365. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bsu&AN=45222314&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Pyle, L. S. (2010). How to do market research – The basics. Retrieved from

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217345

Research design method. (2013). Research design classification. Retrieved from

http://researchdesignmethod.com/research-design/research-design-classification/

UNIT II STUDY GUIDE

The Marketing Research Process

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=66558406&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=13878321&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsu&AN=45222314&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217345

http://researchdesignmethod.com/research-design/research-design-classification/

MAR 3231, Marketing Research 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

Title

Smith, S. (2012). 9 stages to marketing research success. Retrieved from
https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/marketing-research-process/

Zawawi, D. (2007, September). Quantitative versus qualitative methods in social sciences: Bridging the gap.

Integration & Dissemination, 1, 3–4. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=32766343&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Unit Lesson

The unit lessons for this course are presented through interactive presentations.

Unit II lesson

Unit II lesson PDF

Suggested Unit Resources

In order to access the following resources, click the links below:

In a global society, it is important to be aware of cultural differences when devising marketing plans. The
article below focuses on this topic.

Nevid, J. S., & Sta. Maria, N. L. (1999). Multicultural issues in qualitative research. Psychology & Marketing,

16(4), 305-325. Retrieved from
https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=11580161&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Marketing research needs to be strategic to be successful. Also, the benefits of the marketing campaign
should be explored before launching the campaign. This article further explores these topics.

Vriens, M. (2003). Strategic research design. Marketing Research, 15(4), 21–25. Retrieved from

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direc
t=true&db=bth&AN=12249147&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/marketing-research-process/

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=32766343&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/Courses/Business/MAR/MAR3231/17G/Captivate%20Presentations/Unit_II/multiscreen.html

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/Courses/Business/MAR/MAR3231/17G/Captivate%20Presentations/Unit_II/MAR_3231_Unit_II

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=11580161&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=12249147&site=ehost-live&scope=site

https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/CSU_Content/Courses/Business/MAR/MAR3231/17G/Captivate%20Presentations/Unit_II/multiscreen.html

9/07 7-1

Chapter 7
How to Conduct Marketing Research

INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY BANK MARKETING RESEARCH

Need for Marketing Research

There are two ways a bank can make its marketing decisions: based on its best guesses or based
on research data. For example, data from the bank’s systems might show that the bank is
attracting about 200 new customers a month, while it is losing about 200 customers per month;
for a zero net gain. Management can guess where the 200 new customers are coming from, or it
can use a simple new customer questionnaire. Similarly, management can guess why 200
customers leave the bank each month or it can collect a closed account survey and ask them why
they left the bank and where they are going. One way management is guessing, the other way
management is sponsoring marketing research. While banks have more information on their
customers than any other business, they need an organized approach to using that information and
marketing research is the preferred approach.

Our experience with community banks suggests that there is way too much guessing and far too
little marketing research. There are two major reasons for this. First, experienced community
bankers believe they understand their customers and their markets, and that marketing research
will merely confirm what they already know. Therefore, why do the research? In this, community
bankers are badly mistaken. Quite often they are surprised by research results. They cannot
believe that there are 842 affluent people in their county. They are surprised that customers do not
perceive the bank to be as friendly as management thought — often what bankers believe is
friendly is perceived to be faked friendliness by customers, and is resented. Research will show
this, guessing will not. Seldom will a bank president accurately know details of how the citizens
of a community perceive a bank — it takes solid marketing research to find this out.

The second reason why community banks do too much guessing and too little research is that
they do not know how to conduct marketing research efficiently. There is a tremendous need for
community bank marketing research, and for guidance on how to conduct it. Marketing research
is not nearly as difficult, or as expensive, as most bankers think it is.

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Two Types of Marketing Research

There are two fundamentally different kinds of marketing research: (1) secondary research and
(2) primary research. Secondary research uses data already collected to answer questions that
come up from time to time. While the fit is not perfect, secondary research is far cheaper and
easier to collect. Government data for market share information, data mining customer records for
determining success of cross-selling efforts, and profitability studies all rely on secondary
research data. The data already exist, and therefore, a simple secondary research project will
generate the data.

Primary research is research collecting new data specifically designed to answer the question at
hand. Why are customers leaving? What is our image in the community? What do customers
expect in an Internet banking product? Primary research is collected several different ways —
observation, experiment, and survey. Observation would be the traffic studies a bank undertakes
to analyze the potential success of a new branch or ATM location. Experiments include any test
markets a bank may conduct. As an example, many banks offer certain new products in only one
part of the community to test demand. An ATM near the local college campus or a boat loan
promotion near the lake branch.

Surveys or questionnaire research are what many people consider “true” market research. These
include focus groups, mail surveys, telephone surveys, and person-to-person interviews. Each has
its advantages and disadvantages.

Focus groups consist of a group of 10 to 15 people chosen specifically for their similarities.
Unlike other types of survey research, you don’t want a random sample for a focus group. You
are trying to get insight for future surveys from the group that understands the product or service
best. For example, to learn more about Internet banking and what people expect, your focus
should include heavy Internet users who already use Internet banking. From the focus group, you
will find the issues that will become questions on the mass surveys.

Mail surveys are the cheapest and the slowest to administer of all the questionnaire formats. You
can ask in depth questions and lots of them, but 90 days is a quick time to collect a mail survey.
Another problem is response. If the survey is done by people outside the bank, they may only
generate a 2 to 5 percent response at best. One way to avoid low response is to have the survey
mailed directly to the bank, even if the tabulation will be done elsewhere. It can increase response
to as high as 50 percent. This can reduce the cost of collecting the data needed for a viable
sample. Closed account and customer satisfaction surveys are best done by mail.

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Telephone surveys are more expensive to administer and offer less data, but can be accomplished
overnight if necessary. While response rates are down, a viable sample can be collected much
easier than by mail. If you are calling customers, phone numbers are not a problem, but non-
customers response can be skewed if a large portion of the community has unlisted numbers.
(Community banks in large metropolitan areas beware — some cities have over 60 percent of
their phones unlisted. This can adversely affect your survey.) You do collect less information
with a phone survey because twenty questions is about all people will stay on the phone for. It is
also harder to get qualitative information over the phone. Advertising awareness, community
image, and branch location analysis are easy telephone survey topics.

Person-to-person surveys are the most expensive, take the most time, and give the most complete
information. You can chose who you will talk to and interview them in depth. Qualitative and
quantitative questions are both easy to deal with. New product, customer attitude, and service
quality surveys are best done by personal interviews.

As a general rule, secondary research is relatively inexpensive and easy to accomplish, while
primary research is more difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative Research

Similarly, research can be categorized as qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative research arrives
at subjective statements, informed opinions, good ideas, and new thoughts; quantitative research
develops numbers. A bank poll of the economists at the local university might result in a valuable
insight as to what drives the local economy and how it will perform over the next few years. This
poll results in primary, qualitative research. A close study of U.S. Census Bureau data, on the
other hand, might develop some very specific numerical data on the local economy. This is
secondary, quantitative research. If the bank asks a marketing research specialist to interview
selected groups of bank customers, the bank is sponsoring primary research that will result in
qualitative data. If the bank mails a questionnaire to 300 of its customers and the customers score
a series of questions from one to 10, this is primary research that will result in quantitative data. If
designed properly, research questionnaires can contain and collect both qualitative and
quantitative research data. There will be times when qualitative data are called for and there will
be times when quantitative data are called for, but many times the bank will need both.

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Clarify Research Objectives

Here is a cardinal rule of community bank marketing research: Each research project must have
clearly defined objectives. Ask yourself specifically: What questions need to be answered and
what information is needed to answer those questions? What is the best way to access that data
information? The answers to these questions clarify the objective of a research effort. The first
step in any marketing research effort is to make absolutely sure the person responsible for the
research clearly understands what the objectives of the research are. If this is not done, the wrong
question might be researched and the results might be meaningless. In addition, you will find that
most of the time, the data needed to answer the question is available through secondary research
sources and therefore cheaper and easier to obtain. The importance of clearly defining research
objectives will be emphasized over and over in this manual.

Research Population, Sample Size, and Research Precision

The term “research population” refers to the total number of people that could potentially be
included in the research. If, for example, the bank is doing countywide research on consumer
attitudes toward local banks, and the county is made up of 14,942 family units, then the
population for the research is 14,942 families. If the bank decides to use a sample size of 1
percent, then it will survey 149 families, but this would be an insufficient sample size for the
research to produce meaningful results. The larger the sample size the more precision there is in
the research and the more confidence you can have in research results. In most research projects,
a sample size of 400 to 450 will usually give significant results.

Data Collection Methodology

At the beginning of a research project the first question asked is: What population should you
work with? In effect you are determining whether you should research (1) only customers of your
bank, (2) only people who bank with competitors, or (3) all the people in the market area,
regardless of their banking preferences. Your selection depends on whether your information
needs are to determine satisfaction (customers only), reputation (both customers and competitor’s
customers), or new products (community at large). The research objectives should indicate who
the survey population will include.

After the population to be researched has been determined, you need to determine whether the
research can be conducted by observing the population, or by communicating with a sample of

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the population. For example, drive-up banking patterns can be determined by counting cars or by
asking people about their drive-up preferences — one is research by observation, the other is
research by communication. In most bank research situations, communication is needed, but often
the data can be collected through observation, thereby negating needs for direct communication.
When this is the case, the research will be more objective, simpler, and less expensive.

More often than not, however, the bank will need to use a questionnaire so that answers can be
obtained from a selected group of people. When a questionnaire is the appropriate method of
collecting data, you must then determine if the questionnaire should be administered through
personal interviews, telephone interviews, or by mail. If you are looking for qualitative answers,
personal interviews will probably work best. But if you are seeking quantitative data, telephone or
mailed questionnaires will probably be needed.

It is an open question whether people should know that a survey comes from the bank. If the bank
mails a survey to its customers asking them to rate the bank on a variety of issues, this is
perceived as concern about service quality and tends to build the bank’s image with customers.
On the other hand, if customers know the survey is from the bank, this knowledge invariably will
influence responses, depending on what message each customer wants to send to the bank. Also,
since noncustomers are not a part of such a survey, there is a built-in bias in favor of the bank. If
the data need is serious, and important decisions will be made based on survey results, then it is
better for a third party (such as a university marketing department) to conduct the survey, thereby
keeping the bank’s sponsorship a secret.

Collecting and Processing the Data

As a part of a research design, you must determine who will be responsible for data collection,
who will be responsible for editing and coding the data, who will be responsible for the software
that will be used to generate the output, who will enter the data into the computer, and who will
design the formats of the reports.

If the bank is conducting the research without the use of marketing research specialists, then we
recommend that the bank sign a small contract with a local computer specialist. Often there is a
knowledgeable computer hobbyist, student, or professional who will do the computer support for
a nominal fee. Almost without exception, this is preferred to having someone in the bank do the
work. Several of our client banks have open contracts with local computer specialists to support
their marketing research efforts, and their experience suggests this is the best way to go. If you

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use this approach, we suggest the computer person help design the questionnaire; otherwise, the
design could significantly complicate subsequent data analysis.

Probably the best and cheapest way for a community bank to administer a survey is to utilize the
local college business or psychology classes. A student project led by the professor will, in many
ways, give the bank a superior survey to what some marketing research firms will deliver. The
students are going for a good grade (usually the best students are chosen to participate), and the
professor doesn’t want to be embarrassed by putting out an inferior product. Remember, most
college professors are trained researchers with great experience in statistics and the computer
facilities to make tabulation easy. The bank gets the best of both worlds.

Cost and Time Budget

As a part of the initial research design, you should closely estimate how much the research
project is going to cost, and you should establish a schedule for the project. This, of course,
sounds routine, but if it isn’t done, the research is left open-ended and it will likely cost too much
and not get done by the time the data are needed. It is much better that everyone involved know
what the budget is and when the data must be available. This way misunderstandings are avoided.

Using a Research Proposal Form

Each bank marketing research effort should be based on a research proposal form. Exhibit 7.1
shows a form that can be used for this purpose. We recommend that as soon as the bank starts
considering a marketing research project, the marketing officer complete a copy of this form. We
also recommend that the form be used in the bank’s marketing plan.

CUSTOMER RESEARCH

Exhibit 7.5 at the end of this chapter is an overview of how to use your bank’s computer data to
do customer research. In the remaining paragraphs of this section, we develop several other
approaches to customer research. A major area of marketing research is concerned with a better
understanding of the bank’s customer base, from the point of view of both existing customers and
potential customers. The most basic concern about a customer base is its size. We recommend
that the bank do whatever research is necessary to come up with a good estimate of the size of the
market it serves. In estimating the size of the consumer market, the bank should use as its unit of

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measurement households or families. The information will be available through secondary
research. Usually, it comes from U.S. Census Bureau data and is obtained by contacting someone
involved in community planning. This might be someone with the chamber of commerce, a city
planning commission, a county planning commission, or a regional economic development office.
Once you locate a source for the data, get all the local numeric, economic, and demographic data
that the source has. This will usually be a lot of raw data, some of which will be immediately
relevant, but most of which should be saved to fill needs that have not yet been clearly defined.

You will be interested in the degree of homogeneity or heterogeneity of the market. A
homogeneous market is one in which all the potential customers have the same banking needs. A
heterogeneous market is made up of potential customers with major differences in their financial
services needs. We recommend that you segregate the data on your market area as much as you
can until you have exhausted your sources of secondary research data. You are interested in what
percentage of the market has household incomes of more than $100,000, $60,000, $30,000,
$15,000, etc. You are also interested in the age and education level of the principal income
provider in each household, and you would like these data broken out for each income category.

You want to know how much money comes into the local economy from manufacturing, services,
agriculture, etc. The better you understand the economics of your local market, the better you
understand the market’s financial services needs. This is basic to a marketing program. It is
imperative that sources for the data be located, the data be collected, and the data be analyzed.

Perceptions of Community Financial Services

After you have gathered and analyzed the available data on the customer base you serve, it is time
to find out what these people know and what these people think about local financial institutions.

Study 1

One of our client banks decided it needed to know a lot more about its potential customer base
than could be determined through secondary sources, so it contracted with a local university
marketing professor. The professor, and a group of students, conducted a study on consumer
perceptions of community financial services.

The specific objectives the bank established for the study were as follows:

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• To identify motives of customers for selecting specific financial institutions.

• To evaluate the perceived images of the banks serving the local market.

• To assess levels of awareness of, and recall of, advertising by specific financial
institutions.

• To gather other correlating data about the household units being surveyed.

The study became a research project for a senior-level undergraduate class studying marketing
research techniques. Working with the bank, a questionnaire was developed and tested. Then the
class determined that 300 was an appropriate sample size and that a telephone survey conducted
by the students was the best way to collect the data. The students used a random digit telephoning
technique and continued to make calls until 300 households had participated in the survey.

The results were enlightening and resulted in major changes in the bank’s marketing program. If
you want to conduct a similar survey, a sample questionnaire is in Exhibit 7.2 at the end of this
chapter.

Study 2

One bank keeps some questions constant from survey to survey so that it can study data trends,
but other questions are added to the standard questions to collect data on today’s hot topics. In
their most recent survey, the objectives were as follows:

• Determine the market share of Example Bank and its major competitors.

• Determine to which financial institution customers would change if they were to leave their
current one.

• Determine if customers consider Example Bank to be their primary or secondary financial
institution.

• Measure community perceptions of Example Bank as compared to its competition.

• Determine if Example Bank is perceived as being stagnant in providing products and
services.

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• Ascertain the importance of Saturday banking, and the preferred Saturday banking hours.

• Ascertain advertising awareness and recall.

• Determine the importance of knowing specific people at the bank.

• Determine the importance of out-of-town ownership to the bank’s customers.

Exhibit 7.3 at the end of this chapter contains a questionnaire similar to the one used by Example
Bank.

Service Quality Survey

Chapter 1 of this manual emphasizes the importance of quality customer service in a community
bank. In that chapter, we make the point that a bank does not know how its service is perceived
until it surveys its customer base. One of our client banks recently did exactly that. The
questionnaire it used is similar to one in Exhibit 7.4 at the end of this chapter.

Financial Services Needs and Wants

Another area of potential customer research is financial services needs and wants. A bank exists
only to service the financial needs and wants of customers, and unless a bank does sufficient
marketing research to develop an understanding of these needs and wants, it cannot be sure it is
offering its customers the appropriate mix of products and services. From time to time banks must
survey their customers to determine their financial services needs and wants.

Needs differ from wants. Needs are basic and are the underlying customer concern. Wants, on the
other hand, are needs that have been transformed, often through marketing efforts of a bank. Most
bank customers have needs for credit services. It is a feat of bank marketing that this need has
been transformed into wants for home equity lines of credit.

Current Product Usage Among Customers

Current financial product usage among customer households and businesses is information that
can be useful to a marketing officer. This information helps define current profitability by market
segment and helps create an effective product line. It also helps in putting together bank

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advertising programs, particularly when trying to promote multiproduct relationships. A marketer
knowing what products are likely to be used together helps in the design of cross-selling
programs.

This information already exists on the mainframe computer; it is only a matter of collecting and
collating the data. This is a perfect example of in-house secondary research that can be performed
at little cost and little trouble. More than anything else, it requires ingenuity.

BANK RESEARCH

Another line of marketing research can be performed that is best classified as in-house research
regarding the bank’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, capabilities, etc. For the most part this
will be research done in-house by the bank’s staff, but on occasion it is worthwhile to ask an
outside consultant to do a study of the bank and make appropriate recommendations. Here are
areas of marketing-related research often included in a bank’s marketing plan:

Data Mining

Data mining is using data a company already has to add insight to its customers and its products.
For many people, data mining is just an extension of the old practice of cross-tabulation (i.e., how
many people with checking accounts also have savings accounts). But it also helps a bank
understand relationships between customers, products, and when they will use or need them. One
New England community bank noticed that most of its car loans were paid off about six to nine
months before maturity. Looking deeper, they found that many of these people had purchased
new cars. Secondary data showed that most people trade before the old car is paid off. Rather
than lose these customers to the car finance companies of GM and Ford, this bank offered to
finance the customer’s new car at a discounted rate. The mailing of this offer went out to all of
the bank’s qualified customers in the last year of their car loan. Result — car loans increased 75
percent.

In collecting customer data to be mined, keep in mind you are basically segmenting your
customers by their characteristics (occupation, education, marital status, sex, etc.) or by their
buying characteristics (what they use, when and how, and how much as well as where they buy it)
or a combination of the several sub-level characteristics. For example, you may find a college-
educated person between the ages of 25-35 uses debit cards, Internet banking, and credit cards but
hasn’t written over 2 checks a month in the 5 years he has been a customer. Further mining

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would show that he has no teller transactions in the last six months (using direct deposit etc.) and
his bill-pay statistics show payments to Ford Motor Credit. You may want to design an account
for this profile of a customer emphasizing electronic access as well as a pre-approved consumer
loan because he is probably not going to see the banners in the branch.

Data mining can also help you become more efficient by revealing what transactions occur when
and where and who makes them. Finding that most ATM withdrawals took place on Friday near
the edge of town lead one Ohio bank to locate ATMs at or near gas stations and convenience
stores on the way to recreational areas.

Data mining is not rocket science but it is learning about your customer base, who they are, what
they need and when, and the utilizing that information to serve them better and offer more and
better products to keep them with your bank.

Much of the data mining techniques and software is very sophisticated, but again, using the local
college business school would be very easy and inexpensive. In addition, data mining lends itself
very easily to privacy concerns, as identities are not necessary for relationship analysis and only
the bank sees the final results.

Bank’s Financial Position

The bank’s current financial condition is a major factor that gets built into its marketing plans. A
bank financial analysis will identify the bank’s financial strengths and weaknesses. Its strengths
often translate into marketing opportunities, and its weaknesses translate into areas where the
bank is vulnerable to others and promotional efforts may be needed to mitigate financial
weaknesses. This is secondary research in that the data are readily available, they merely need to
be collected, analyzed, and put into an appropriate format.

Most often this is a financial analysis of the bank’s historical performance as well as an analysis
of how the bank is doing when compared to its local competition.

Bank’s Market Share

When we think of market share, we tend to think of the share the bank has of its local market.
This is important, especially for specific products, but even more so to pinpoint growth

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opportunities. Growth analysis on a branch by branch basis of both the bank’s branches and the
competition’s can identify growing areas of the market.

Data regarding household usage of bank products is not included on the call report. A bank can
have 60 percent of the transaction account balances in the market, but only 30 percent of the
households. Such a bank has the affluent market and has relinquished the low-balance accounts to
other banks. Data regarding which bank has which strata of local business requires primary
research and must be collected through some form of survey.

Profitability of Various Bank Products

Determining the profitability of the various products a bank offers the public is never easy and in
a community bank it is so difficult that it may not be worth doing. Only banks that have cost
accounting systems can collect the data, and even here the validity of the data depends on the
sophistication of the cost accounting system.

This is not to say that studies on the profitability of bank products are impossible, because such
studies are often done — but with secondary data instead of primary data. That is, Federal
Reserve Board functional cost data are used as a stand-in for the bank’s data, and then the
profitability of products and services is determined using costs from this source. This subject is
addressed in some detail in the chapter on pricing bank products.

Bank Employees

Seldom does a bank’s marketing plan include research on employees, but this kind of research is
often needed. The role of employees in the quality of service being rendered is obvious, and
shortcomings in this area can seriously effect the overall results of a bank’s marketing program.
Generally, problems with employees fall into two broad areas — capability and motivation.

Banks need to pay a lot more attention to the quality of people they hire. Emphasis must be
placed on hiring employees who genuinely like people and have a natural knack for rendering
quality service. Then, after people are hired they must be taught how to render quality service and
they must be taught how to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. It is imperative that the bank
develop in its employees the capability of doing the jobs they were hired to do. Problems of
morale and motivation are more difficult to overcome, but it is impossible to implement the kind
of marketing program needed if the bank has employee morale and motivation problems.

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Research in the area of employee capabilities should concentrate on the degree to which the staff
has been trained and has the ability to implement the bank’s programs. Research might also be
needed to determine the degree to which morale and motivation are problems.

Effectiveness of Promotional Efforts

Measuring the effectiveness of promotional efforts is extremely common in most industries, but is
seldom practiced by community banks. Mainly this is due to the perceived cost being too high,
but it is also due to doubts about the need for the research. Once a promotional effort has been
completed, its costs are sunk costs, and there appears to be little value in research to determine
the effectiveness of the effort. This is, of course, shortsighted — only when you know how
effective a campaign was can you put together the next campaign and make it more effective.

Effectiveness of the Bank’s Distribution System

While this subject borders on being an executive function, it still remains an issue of marketing
research. Marketing research can determine the most effective location for branches, the potential
for growth of a branch, the most appropriate design for a branch, the most appropriate staffing for
a branch, etc. Another distributional topic that can be addressed by marketing research is the use
of, and location of, ATMs.

Using the Web for Research

For research projects like closed account surveys, customer satisfaction, advertising recall, etc.,
that just need a short closed end questionnaire, there is a free tool on the Internet called Survey
Monkey. You can find it at surveymonkey.com. This allows you to quickly survey those
customers using the Internet and have the statistics developed for you as the questionnaires come
in. By allowing you to design the questions, you can find out exactly what is important to you.

A second way of using the Internet for research involves what is commonly known as Web 2.0.
This includes “social networking” sites such as MySpace, YouTube, etc. This is the future of
advertising and communication as more than 52 million people visited MySpace in June, 2006
alone. Major companies (and a few banks) are building profiles on MySpace (currently free) and
generating discussions with their customers. From a research standpoint, what you are creating is
a perpetual focus group that will give you honest feedback on your products and service. It serves

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to help you find out quickly what problems you may have while allowing your bank to
communicate with your public.

RESEARCH ON THE COMPETITION

A third area where additional research will likely be needed is research regarding the competition.
Just who is the competition for financial services in your market? Obviously, the answer will
include banks and thrifts; but also, it includes credit unions, brokerage houses, insurance
companies, and anyone else who competes with you for either savings or investments. Note that a
physical presence is not always required to be a competitor, especially with Internet banking.
Other examples include mutual funds and annuities for consumer savings, and those companies
sponsoring them seldom have a local presence. As we consider the competition, we will likely
conduct a limited amount of research in the following areas:

Financial Strength, Capabilities, and Market Shares

Earlier we discussed the need for an understanding of the bank’s financial strength and
capabilities and for research to determine the bank’s market shares. Both of these are topics that
relate directly to the competition. It goes without saying that we need to understand the financial
strengths, capabilities, and market share of the competition as badly as we need to know these
things about ourselves. Appropriate marketing strategies can be determined only from an
understanding of the financial strengths and capabilities of all the financial institutions operating
in the market area.

This is information that is quite easy to determine. You can get it directly from the competing
institutions, since they are legally required to make it available. Also, now you can get it from the
federal supervisory agencies directly through the Internet.

Pricing Strategies

Most banks do a reasonably good job of determining prices charged by their competitors. It is
what they do with the data that is often wrong. There is a lot of information about the price
sensitivity of the market that is buried in pricing information, but it must be dug out before it can
be used.

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We suggest that you keep a permanent record of the prices your bank charges and the prices
charged by the competition. After you have accumulated about three years of data, you will have
enough data to do in-depth analyses. We suggest you compare these prices with the financial
reports used in the preceding study of competitive strengths, weaknesses, and market share. How
many of the changes in market share appear to be due to pricing and how many appear to be due
to other factors? The answer often leads to insights regarding the pricing philosophies and the
strategic plans of competitors.

In addition, an on-going pricing survey of competitors is necessary to keep up with the
marketplace. This survey should also include Internet companies that your other research shows
as being active in your market.

Strategic Plans of the Competition

On the surface it would seem to be impossible to determine the strategic plans of a competitor,
but this is not true. Think about your own strategic plans, and how easy it would be for a
competitor to determine them. Strategic plans are revealed to too many employees and are often
leaked to the competition. An analysis of a competitor’s allocation of resources and promotional
efforts will yield insights into its plans. Analyze each competitor by asking these questions: (1) Is
this a low cost competitor? (2) Is this a competitor who is trying to differentiate his products and
services? (3) Is the competitor growth-oriented? (4) Does the competitor appear to be focused on
certain aspects of financial services?

In community banking, many competitors lack a focused strategic plan, but when a competitor
has one, in time it will not be difficult to ascertain what the competitor is about. As you figure it
out, you need to document your findings and build it into your planning accordingly.

WHO CONDUCTS THE RESEARCH?

To a surprising degree, a significant amount of the research discussed in this chapter can be
conducted by the bank. Seldom does the bank require the services of a consultant to conduct
secondary research, and there are various forms of primary research that can also be conducted
in-house. You can routinely ask people opening a new account to complete a new accounts
survey. Similarly, you can routinely contact people who have closed accounts and ask them why.
While talking to them you can also get feedback on their perceptions of the bank. After all, these
are people who know the bank quite well, but for one reason or another, they no longer bank with

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you — they are an outstanding source of data and no outside consultant is needed to tap the data
source.

When conducting a serious survey of bank customers, or of families who live in the market area,
we tend to use an outside consultant. Sometimes we do most of the work and use a consultant,
such as a marketing professor, to keep us from making foolish errors. Other times we contract
with an outsider to do most of the work. Marketing surveys are more sophisticated and
complicated than their simple sounding questions imply. There are people who spend years
learning how to do marketing surveys, and they still are prone to making fundamental errors.

When we contract with an outside firm to do marketing research, however, we do not relinquish
control of the effort. We fill out a form, like the one shown earlier, and we make absolutely sure
there is no misunderstanding about research objectives. Similarly, we make sure there are no
misunderstandings regarding when the project will be complete and how much it will cost. Just
before the survey work starts, we go over the entire project with the contractor, and we pay
particular attention to the questionnaire and how meaningful data will be pulled from the answers
obtained. We also question how the sample will be taken, who will be contacting the respondents,
whether they will know of the bank’s involvement, and whether there is a chance the bank’s
image will be damaged in the process. Also, marketing research is research, not a promotional
effort, and we do not want promotion mixed in with the research. These things are made clear to
the consultant before the survey work begins.

SAMPLE SURVEYS

Earlier, in the chapter on cross-selling, we developed sample survey forms that can be used to
survey new accounts, closed accounts, and existing commercial customers. These are obvious
sample marketing research survey forms. In addition, Exhibits 7.2 through 7.4 in this chapter
contain sample survey forms that existing banks have used.

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Exhibit 7.1
Research Proposal Form

Research Objectives:

Research Design: This will be (primary research) (secondary research) (or both). This project
will result in (quantitative data) (qualitative data) (or both) that will be collected from (internal)
(external) sources.

Data Collection Methodology:

1. The population being studied is: _____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

2. The sample size will be: _________ The sample will be selected using the following
methodology: ___________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

3. Data will be collected by (observation) (interviews) (questionnaire). It will be a
(telephone) (mail) survey.

Collecting and Processing the Data:

1. Responsible for Questionnaire Design: _______________________________________

2. Responsible for Conducting the Survey: ______________________________________

3. Responsible for Computer Data Entry: _______________________________________

4. Responsible for Design of Data Output Format: ________________________________

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Exhibit 7.1
Research Proposal Form (cont.)

5. Responsible for Writing the Research Report: __________________________________

This research project will cost (use reverse side of form to show detailed cost data): $ _________

The time budget for the project is (if needed use reverse side of the form to show a detailed
schedule):
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

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Exhibit 7.2
A Survey of Consumer Perceptions of Financial Services

BACKGROUND

This exhibit is a generic version of an original survey conducted by a university marketing class
in a senior-level undergraduate course in marketing research techniques. The research was
commissioned by a community bank that paid a fee to the university for the results. The survey
should not be used “as is,” because it should be tailored to fit your market. If you are interested in
commissioning a similar research project, we suggest you negotiate with a local marketing
professor for support. With this material, and with a limited amount of professional support, you
will likely produce a better research project than the original one. This is often how successful
bank marketing research projects come into being.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The impetus for the research was the desire of a community bank to better serve its customers.
The intent of the study was to assess the bank in terms of how well the financial needs of its
customers were being met. The specific objectives of the study were:

• To identify motives of customers for selecting a financial institution

• To evaluate the perceived images of the banks serving the market area

• To assess the level of customer awareness and recall of banks’ advertising programs

METHODOLOGY

A telephone survey was conducted using random digit dialing. A sample of 300 households in the
market area was taken, and interviews were conducted during the third week of March.

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Exhibit 7.2
A Survey of Consumer Perceptions of Financial Services (cont.)

QUESTIONS ASKED

The students did the telephoning, asked the questions, and recorded the answers. The students had
previously studied techniques for conducting such research and had discussed how to get people
to agree to participate in the survey and give objective, honest answers. The questions the
students asked each of the 300 people surveyed follow.

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Which financial institution do you currently have a checking account with?

2. Do you consider this institution to be your primary bank? If not, which one is?

3. How did you first hear about the institution that is your primary source of banking?

4. What was your most important reason for selecting it?

5. Which financial institutions do you currently have a savings, money market account, or CD
with?

6. Do you conduct most of your banking through the main lobby, a branch, a drive-through
facility, an ATM, or the Internet?

7. How many times per month do you typically go to a banking institution?

8. Are you aware of any bank in the area that is associated with the Example Bank Holding
Company?

9. Are you aware of any bank in the area that is associated with the Second Example Bank
Holding Company?

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Exhibit 7.2
A Survey of Consumer Perceptions of Financial Services (cont.)

10. When evaluating a financial institution, rate the following features from 1 to 5, with a 5
meaning very important and a 1 meaning not at all important:

□ Friendly service
□ Internet banking
□ Convenient location
□ CD and money market rates
□ Free or low-cost checking
□ Interest charged on loans
□ Accurate records
□ Investment Counseling

11. In the next six months are you planning to:

□ Purchase a vehicle?
□ Purchase a home?
□ Make home improvements?
□ Open an IRA?
□ Open a money market account?
□ Purchase a CD?
□ Purchase stocks or bonds?

12. Which newspaper do you read most frequently?

□ Newspaper A
□ Newspaper B
□ Newspaper C
□ Newspaper D

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Exhibit 7.2
A Survey of Consumer Perceptions of Financial Services (cont.)

13. Which financial institution’s ads can you recall from a newspaper?

□ Institution A
□ Institution B
□ Institution C
□ Institution D

14. Which radio station do you listen to most frequently?

□ Station WXYA
□ Station WXYB
□ Station WXYC
□ Station WXYD

15. Which financial institution’s ads can you recall from a radio station?

□ Institution A
□ Institution B
□ Institution C
□ Institution D

16. What is the most important information you want to learn from an advertisement about a
financial institution?

□ Interest on money markets/CDs
□ Interest rates on loans
□ Service/financial charges
□ Do not know
□ Other __________

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Exhibit 7.2
A Survey of Consumer Perceptions of Financial Services (cont.)

17. How long have you lived in the local area?

□ Less than one year
□ 1 to 3 years
□ 4 to 6 years
□ 7 to 10 years
□ More than 10 years
□ Other ________

18. How many wage earners are there in your family?

□ One
□ Two
□ Three
□ More than three

19. Are you presently:

□ Married
□ Single
□ Divorced
□ Widowed

20. Are you between the ages of:

□ 18 – 25?
□ 24 – 35?
□ 34 – 45?
□ 44 – 55?
□ 54 – 65?
□ Over 65?

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Exhibit 7.2
A Survey of Consumer Perceptions of Financial Services (cont.)

21. In which of the following categories does your total household income for 200X fall into:

□ Less than $25,000?
□ Between $25,000 and $50,000?
□ Between $50,000 and $75,000?
□ Between $75,000 and $100,000?
□ Over $100,000

22. (This question was not asked, but was marked based on the sound of the respondent’s
voice.)

□ Male
□ Female

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study

BACKGROUND

Similar to Exhibit 7.2, this exhibit is a generic version of an original survey conducted by a
professional group under contract with a community bank. The research report says that the
contractor was “to complete a marketing research project to test community perceptions and
knowledge of financial institutions in the _____ area.” This was a follow-up to a similar survey
by the same contractor about three years earlier, with common questions serving to track changes
in public opinion on issues of importance to the bank.

The survey should not be used “as is,” but should be tailored to meet your needs.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The goal of the research was to determine ____________ area resident’s perceptions of and
knowledge of financial institutions in the ___________ area, with particular emphasis on the
bank commissioning the study. The specific objectives of the study were:

• To determine the current market share of Example State Bank.

• To determine which institution customers would change to if they were to leave their
current bank.

• To ascertain if customers consider Example State Bank to be their primary or secondary
bank.

• To measure community perceptions of competing banks in the __________ area.

• To assess and rate the products and services customers would like for Example State Bank
to offer.

• To ascertain the importance of Saturday hours and the importance of the number of
locations with Saturday hours.

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study (cont.)

• To assess advertising awareness and recall.

• To determine the importance of knowing the bank’s management staff, and the importance
of out-of-town ownership.

METHODOLOGY

A telephone survey was conducted using random digit dialing. A sample of 300 households in the
marketing area of Example State Bank was called. Interviews were conducted with the household
member responsible for the majority of the family’s banking decisions.

QUESTIONS ASKED

Since this study was by a professional marketing research firm, trained telephone surveyors did
the telephoning, asked the questions, and recorded the answers. Following is a list of the
questions asked of each of the 300 people surveyed.

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Name the financial institution at which you currently have your primary checking account.

2. At which institution do you currently have your primary savings account?

3. Which institution is currently your primary source for mortgage loans?

4. Which institution is currently your primary source for installment loans?

5. If you were to change, which financial institution would you move to?

6. Rate the service you receive from your primary financial institution:

□ Very satisfactory
□ Satisfactory
□ Adequate
□ Unsatisfactory

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study (cont.)

7. Is there a financial institution currently serving as a secondary source for you?

8. Are you aware of financial institutions in the ________ area that have Saturday banking
hours? If so, name them.

9. If you were choosing a financial institution, how important would Saturday banking be to
you?

□ Very important
□ Important
□ Not very important
□ Not at all important

10. How important to you is the number of locations that an institution has open on Saturday?

□ Very important
□ Important
□ Not very important
□ Not at all important

11. I am going to read a list of products and services that some banks offer and some banks do
not offer. Please tell me by a 1, 2, or 3, which you are most likely to look for in 200X:

□ IRA account
□ Consumer installment loan
□ Direct deposit services
□ Home mortgage loan
□ Early morning banking hours
□ Home equity line of credit
□ Stock market/discount brokerage service

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study (cont.)

□ ATM
□ Trust services
□ Financial counseling
□ After-work banking hours
□ Mutual funds investing
□ Internet banking

12. With regard to the preceding question, are any of the services listed there ones you will be
looking for that are not presently offered by your primary financial institution?

□ Yes
□ No

□ Do not know

13. Have you encountered any difficulties or problems at your primary financial institution?

□ Yes
□ No

14. What kinds of difficulties or problems have you encountered?

□ Statement errors
□ ATM service
□ Securing a loan
□ Other (please specify)

15. Thinking now specifically about the advertising of financial institutions, which one
financial institution comes to your mind?

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study (cont.)

16. Have you seen or heard any advertisements for Second Bank within the last three months
in the following media?

□ Radio
□ Newspaper
□ Outdoor sign
□ TV and newspaper
□ Television
□ Magazine
□ Radio and newspaper
□ Other combinations
□ Cannot remember specifics
□ Cannot recall any of First Bank’s ads

17. Have you seen or heard any advertisements for First Bank within the last three months in
the following media?

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study (cont.)

18. Which one financial institution in your community would you consider the most innovative
and progressive in the products and services it offers?

□ Bank A
□ Bank B
□ Bank C
□ Thrift A
□ Thrift B
□ Credit Union__________

19. Which one financial institution in your community would you consider stagnant and
behind the times in the products and services it offers?

□ Bank A
□ Bank B
□ Bank C
□ Thrift A
□ Thrift B
□ Credit Union__________

20. Do you know any of the members of the board of directors at your primary financial
institution?

21. How important is it for you to know the local management of your primary financial
institution?

□ Very important
□ Important
□ Not very important
□ Not at all important

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study (cont.)

22. Would you prefer that your primary financial institution be locally owned or a part of a
larger statewide or regional banking system?

□ Locally owned
□ Part of larger system

23. If you answered locally owned, how important is it that your primary financial institutions
be locally owned rather than a part of a larger statewide or regional banking system?

□ Very important
□ Important
□ Not very important
□ Not at all important

24. Are you aware of any local financial institutions that are associated with First Example
Multibank Holding Company? If so, which ones?

25. Are you aware of any local financial institutions that are associated with Second Example
Multibank Holding Company? If so, which ones?

26. How long have you lived in the ____________ area?

□ Less than one year
□ 1 to 3 years
□ 4 to 6 years
□ 7 to 10 years
□ More than 10 years
□ Other ______

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study (cont.)

27. How many wage earners are there in your family?

□ One
□ Two
□ Three
□ More than three

28. Are you presently:

□ Married?
□ Single?

29. Are you between the ages of:

□ 18 – 25
□ 24 – 35
□ 34 – 45
□ 44 – 55
□ 54 – 65
□ Over 65

30. To help us with our statistics, please indicate in which of the following categories your
total household income for 200X falls:

□ Less than $25,000
□ Between $25,000 and $50,000
□ Between $50,000 and $75,000
□ Between $75,000 and $100,000
□ Over $100,000

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Exhibit 7.3
Community Perceptions Study (cont.)

31. (This question was not asked, but was marked based on the sound of the respondent’s
voice.)

□ Male
□ Female

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Exhibit 7.4
Customer Perceptions of Service Quality

BACKGROUND

This exhibit is a generic version of a survey originally conducted by a professional group under
contract with a community bank. The research was done for the purpose of determining customer
perceptions of the quality of service being rendered by Example State Bank. Like the two
previous exhibits, the survey should not be used “as is,” but should be tailored to fit your needs.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The goal of the research was to determine customer perceptions of the quality of service being
rendered by Example State Bank. The specific objectives of the study were to:

• Determine which of several items are the most important and which are the least important
in customers’ perceptions of service quality.

• Determine, using exactly the same factors, how the customers of Example State Bank rank
the quality of service being rendered by the bank.

METHODOLOGY

The survey was given under anonymous conditions to the bank’s directors, its officers, and its
employees. This established a baseline of data regarding how each of these groups felt about the
importance of quality and the degree to which the bank was delivering quality service. Then the
survey was mailed to 1,000 randomly selected customers of Example State Bank. Four hundred
fifty responses were received and processed. These were then compared to the responses of
directors, officers, and employees. Each question was scored individually for director responses,
officer responses, employee responses, these three combined, and customer responses.

Low scores in the left column indicated lesser importance, while high scores indicated higher
importance. In the right column, low scores meant poor service and high scores indicated
excellent service. Thus, priorities for corrective actions could be established. The bank intends to
repeat the survey at regular intervals to see what trends are occurring in the quality of service
being rendered to customers.

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Exhibit 7.4
Customer Perceptions of Service Quality (cont.)

QUESTIONS ASKED

The questions contained on the questionnaire and the possible responses to each question follow.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Score each question twice,
once in each column.

The extent to which I
personally think this is
important.
(1 = unimportant;
7 = extremely important)

The extent to which this is
currently happening at
Example State Bank.
(1 = doesn’t occur;
7 = always occurs)

1. A bank should have visually appealing
physical facilities.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. The employees of a bank should be neat in
appearance.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. When a bank promises something by a
certain time, that time should be met.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4. At a bank, the service should be right the first
time and each time thereafter.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5. When a customer has a problem, a bank
should sincerely try to solve it.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. A bank should keep and deliver error-free
records.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. Employees of a bank should give prompt
service to customers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8. Employees of a bank should always be
willing to help customers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. The correct behavior of employees in a bank
will instill confidence in its customers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10. Customers of a bank should feel safe with
their money and their transactions at the bank.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

11. Employees of a bank should consistently be
courteous to the bank’s customers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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Exhibit 7.4
Customer Perceptions of Service Quality (cont.)
Score each question twice,
once in each column.

The extent to which I
personally think this is
important.
(1 = unimportant
7 = extremely important)

The extent to which this is
currently happening at
Example State Bank.
(1 = doesn’t occur,
7 = always occurs)

12. The employees of a bank should have
knowledge sufficient to answer customer
questions.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

13. Customers should get individual attention at
a bank.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

14. A bank should have operating hours that are
convenient to its customers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

15. The employees of a bank should give
customers personal attention.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

16. A bank should have its customers’ best
interests at heart.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

17. The employees of a bank should understand
the specific needs of their customers.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

A marketing customer information file (MCIF) is a comprehensive marketing database file. The
file is generated each month by a software program that pulls customer account information from
the mainframe computer. This data file goes to a vendor. The vendor uses a proprietary MCIF
software package to turn these data into a new database file that is compatible with the bank’s
microcomputers. Thereafter, the bank’s microcomputers sort the data in several meaningful ways,
generating information about the bank’s customers. This is an extremely useful marketing
research data sorting system.

A client bank recently did a cost/use study and decided to develop an MCIF system. This chapter
is based on this bank’s study. Why did our client bank decide to spend the money, time, and
effort required to bring an MCIF file online? Here is a list of the objectives this bank wanted to
accomplish through an MCIF:

1. Develop a better understanding of the bank’s customer base.

2. Generate periodic sales effort support reports.

3. Provide customer retention tracking.

4. Use the data to improve cross-sales ratios, customer profitability, and customer retention.

5. Assist the bank with its strategic planning. (The need for the MCIF was identified because
of a lack of strategic planning support data last year.)

6. Provide product profitability analysis.

7. Support the bank’s private banking initiative.

8. Support the bank’s Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) analysis and reporting.

9/07 Community Bank Marketing Manual

7-38

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

GETTING THE EFFORT UNDER WAY

The effort began when the bank pulled an extract tape from its mainframe database following
vendor instructions. This tape was processed by the vendor and a first ever MCIF data file was
returned to the bank. Bank personnel then did extensive tests on this data file to determine the
quality and integrity of the data. This testing identified several problems and it gave bank
personnel a much better understanding of how their MCIF system was going to work in practice.
Thus, changes were generated that were designed to correct the errors and problems detected by
testing, and to improve the system prior to its going online.

About two months into the effort, a second extract tape was pulled and sent to the vendor. This
tape was processed and a second-generation MCIF data file was generated. This file was loaded
and tested and was found to be acceptable. The bank then generated its first round of MCIF
reports.

The first reports generated were designed to establish baseline data on households* and cross-
sells. In other words, these reports established what the bank’s customer base looked like on the
first day it had a usable MCIF up and running. From that day forward, the bank could determine
whether it was making progress or losing ground. For example, the bank went into the MCIF
project knowing full well that it was going to use the program to track cross-sell ratios for the
overall bank, for its main office, and for each of its branches. Therefore, as soon as the bank
could, it ran data on base cross-sell levels. This was before it began any training or any emphasis
on cross-selling. Thereafter, the degree of success of the bank’s cross-selling efforts could be
measured against baseline data.

Similarly, baseline data established detailed information on each household doing business with
the bank. Thereafter, the bank’s efforts to increase the numbers of households, or changing the
mixture of services used by households, can be measured against baseline data.

* A “household” is a listing of all accounts that can be assigned to one customer entity. Accounts are assigned to a

“household” based on names, addresses, and social security (or tax ID) numbers. The age of a household account
is determined by the oldest account within the household. For MCIF purposes there are business as well as
consumer “households.”

How to Conduct Marketing Research 9/07

7-39

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

The baseline data is chock full of useful information regarding the bank’s customer base. To this
information, the bank added a microcomputer file containing census bureau data for its county.
This means of course that next year the bank will have the strategic planning data it wished for
this year but did not have.

Immediately after the baseline and census data became available, the bank started doing a
complete branch-by-branch trade area penetration analysis. It also used the data to develop CRA
reports that could be used to study the adequacy and effectiveness of the bank’s CRA compliance
program.

Prior to its MCIF initiative, the bank had already established a private banking department
designed to attract affluent customers to the bank. As soon as the baseline data became available,
the bank started identifying current customers who should be banking through the private banking
department but were not. These customers were immediately targeted for special marketing
efforts.

MONTHLY MCIF REPORTS

Each month the bank delivers extract database tapes to the vendor and receives an MCIF data file
for use by the bank in return. Each month, before the tape is put into use, a series of tests are run
on MCIF tape data against mainframe data to test tape accuracy. After these tests are successfully
passed, the tape is loaded into the MCIF system and is processed; a final round of checks are run
to verify that bank processing has not contaminated the data. As soon as the data processing
department has determined that the bank is working from reliable MCIF data, the system is used
to generate the following monthly reports:

• For each branch (the main office is considered a branch for MCIF reporting purposes) the
system is used to generate the following reports: (1) A cross-sales ratio report; (2) the
number of consumer households doing business with the branch; (3) the number of
commercial households doing business with the branch; (4) data on accounts that were
closed during the month; and (5) data on accounts that were opened during the month.

9/07 Community Bank Marketing Manual

7-40

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

• Each branch also gets a report that details the number of retail and commercial households
by category that do business with each branch (plus a total column for the bank). This
report instantly shows by branch location the number of, and the mixture of, the bank’s
households.

• There is a separate report for branches that details the sources of each branch’s deposits
and loans. At the end of this report there are summary data that shows where the bank’s
deposits and loans are being generated.

• Bank management receives reports that do not go to the bank’s branches. Among these are
the following:

⎯ Combination of services report. This report contains data for the president and the
marketing officer on the most common product/service combinations in bank
customers’ households. It is used to determine the effectiveness of past cross-selling
efforts. It is also used as a guidance tool for future cross-selling initiatives.

⎯ A combination deposit and loan report. This report gives detailed data on the
households that have both deposit accounts and loan accounts with the bank. The
report is in descending order from the largest to the smallest dollar figures.

⎯ Tracking reports. There are two primary tracking reports: (1) new households and
(2) households lost during the month. There are also tracking reports that track
specific groups of customers based on balance, cross-sales, etc. If there is a
particular group of customers the president or the marketing officer is interested in
following, a form is completed telling the data processing department how to slice
the data, and right away a new tracking report comes into being. The new report will
continue monthly until the data processing officer is told that it is no longer needed.

How to Conduct Marketing Research 9/07

7-41

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

MAILING AND DIRECT MARKETING LISTS

The MCIF is often used to generate a list of people who meet specific criteria. These people are
then mailed marketing pieces that do not go to other bank customers. Sometimes the people on a
list will be the target group for telemarketing efforts. Each time a person’s name appears on one
of these specialized lists, it is noted in the computer. This way, the bank can keep customers from
being bombarded with too many marketing pieces or telephone calls.

COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION

Through marketing research, this bank has determined that it has the best image in its market with
commercial customers. Because of this, senior management has decided to focus the bank’s
marketing efforts on the growth of commercial customer accounts. The MCIF is being used in
support of this effort. Segmentation codes are being built into the commercial customer database.
Later, specific marketing pieces are going to be designed for the commercial customers in each
segmentation group. Similarly, the database is also going to be used for directed officer call
programs. Based on MCIF data, officers will make calls on specific customers. The type of call
will be based on MCIF data. And of course, the officer will have the latest customer household
data on the call target before the call is made.

PRIVATE BANKING SEGMENTATION

By combining census data and MCIF data the bank has developed reports on potential private
banking customers based on home values, ages, household incomes, deposit balances, and loan
balances. Using these reports, the bank determined that 2 percent of existing customers were
potential private banking customers. These customers control a whopping 30 percent of the
bank’s retail deposit balances. In the future, every customer printout generated by bank will have
an asterisk by the names of these high-balance customers. Bank employees will be trained in how
to give these customers the special deference they deserve.

9/07 Community Bank Marketing Manual

7-42

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

The people whose names appear with an asterisk are also being targeted for direct telephone
solicitations aimed at making them customers of the private banking department. Similarly,
commercial “households” are being screened for candidates for private banking attention. It is the
bank’s intention to get as many affluent customers as possible to do their banking through the
private banking department. The bank first wants to get all of its existing customers that deserve
this attention into this department. But almost as high a priority is to get affluent customers that
bank elsewhere to move their relationships into this bank’s private banking department.

The following questionnaire, which was included in the earlier chapter on cross-selling can also
be used to collect and append data to an MCIF and enrich the data mining effort.

How to Conduct Marketing Research 9/07

7-43

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

YOUR LETTERHEAD

October XX, 200X

Mr. James E. Smith
1234 W. Elm St.
Anytown, MO 63119

Dear Mr. Smith,

At First National Bank we are committed to giving you the best possible service. To help us meet
that commitment we need your help in discovering the services that good customers like you
desire.

Enclosed is a questionnaire which is designed to let us know more about you, what services you
need and what kind of job you think First National is doing for you. We would appreciate you
completing and returning this questionnaire in the enclosed postage paid envelope. Be assured
that all of your responses will remain completely confidential.

Thank you for your time and your business. We at First National appreciate your business and
look forward to serving you even better in the future.

Sincerely,

John C. Wilson
President

9/07 Community Bank Marketing Manual

7-44

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

1. Where do you do the majority of your banking transactions?

□ Main Office Lobby
□ Main Office Drive-In
□ Fifth Street Branch Drive-In

□ Clayton Hills Branch Lobby
□ Clayton Hills Branch Drive-In

2. Which of the following services do you use at First National or at other financial
institutions? (Check all that are applicable.)

First National Second National First FSLA Acme C.U. Stock Broker
Checking Account □ □ □ □ □
Interest Checking □ □ □ □ □
Passbook Savings □ □ □ □ □
Money Market Acct □ □ □ □ □
CD’s:
• less than 1 year □ □ □ □ □
• more than 1 year □ □ □ □ □
IRA or Keogh □ □ □ □ □
Treasury Securities □ □ □ □ □
Annuities □ □ □ □ □
Mutual Funds □ □ □ □ □
ATM Card □ □ □ □ □
Overdraft Protection □ □ □ □ □
Auto Loan □ □ □ □ □
Home Loan:
• Conventional □ □ □ □ □
• Adjustable Rate □ □ □ □ □
• Rate over 10% □ □ □ □ □
Other Loans □ □ □ □ □
Visa or MasterCard □ □ □ □ □
Commercial Loan □ □ □ □ □

How to Conduct Marketing Research 9/07

7-45

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

3. Please rate the service you receive at First National.

Excellent Superior Good Fair Poor

Lobby Tellers □ □ □ □ □
Drive-in Tellers □ □ □ □ □
New Accounts □ □ □ □ □
Bookkeeping □ □ □ □ □
Safe Deposit □ □ □ □ □
Consumer Loans □ □ □ □ □
Real Estate Loans □ □ □ □ □
Commercial Loans □ □ □ □ □
Telephone Calls □ □ □ □ □

4. Which of the following financial services would you use if they were offered by First
National?

□ Discount brokerage
□ Annuities
□ Bank by phone
□ Internet banking

□ Other: (please specify)

5. Of the savings accounts you use (passbook, CDs, IRAs), please indicate your most
important reasons for saving. (1 for most important, 2 for next most important, etc.):

□ Retirement
□ Education
□ Income
□ Security
□ Specific goal: (house, boat)

9/07 Community Bank Marketing Manual

7-46

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)
□ Other: (please specify)

6. Do you have an account at a brokerage firm?

□ Yes □ No

7. Do you have an American Express card?

□ Yes □ No

8. Do you:

□ own your home?
□ rent?

Tell us more about yourself:

9. Date of Birth: Month ____ Day ____ Year ____

10. Occupation: (check all that apply)

□ Full-time
□ Part-time
□ Technical
□ Management
□ Professional
□ Self-employed
□ Retired

11. Do you have any children living at home?

□ Yes □ No

How to Conduct Marketing Research 9/07

7-47

Exhibit 7.5
MCIF: A Marketing Research Tool (cont.)

If yes, please indicate the age ranges:

□ 0-6 years
□ 7-12 years
□ 13-18 years
□ 18 or older

12. Education: (please indicate highest level completed)

□ Grade School
□ High School
□ Jr. College
□ Technical College
□ Some College
□ College Graduate
□ Post Graduate

13. Home Telephone: (___) ___ – ____

Work Telephone: (___) ___ – ____

14. Please indicate your family’s approximate income.

□ under $25,000
□ $25 – 50,000
□ $50 – 75,000
□ $75 – 100,000
□ over $100,000

Thank you again for your time and business!

content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder’s

express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

Chapter 4

Sources for Market Research Reports

Topics

About Market Research Reports
Primary and Secondary Research
Selecting a Market Research Report
Role of the Web in Market Research
Print Directories
Free Web Aggregators
Subscription Web Aggregators
Investment Research Reports
Customized Research on the Web
Directories of Market Research Firms
Using the Web for Primary Research

Sources

Findex
Research Alert Yearbook
MarketResearch.com
ECNext Knowledge Center
Mindbranch.com
Profound
MarketResearch.com Academic
GreenBook: Worldwide Directory of Market Research Companies

and Services
Worldwide Directory of Focus Group Companies and Services

[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: “Sources for Market Research Reports.” Diamond, Wendy, and Mi-
chael R. Oppenheim. Co-published simultaneously in Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship (The
Haworth Information Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 9, No. 2/3, 2004, pp. 91-106; and:
Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries (Wendy Diamond, and Mi-
chael R. Oppenheim) The Haworth Information Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 2004, pp.
91-106. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery
Service [1-800-HAWORTH, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (EST). E-mail address: docdelivery@haworthpress.com].

Digital Object Identifier: 10.1300/J109v09n02_04 91

http://www.haworthpress.com/web/JBFL

Quirks.com
QuickTake.com

Marketing involves decisions; decisions require information; infor-
mation is generated by research and analysis. The “market research re-
port” is a unique form of documentation that is extensive, detailed, and
intended to yield data and insight to address a particular marketing
question, such as the effect of a new brand name, or an advertising slo-
gan, or new packaging, or some variable about a specific product, ser-
vice, advertising campaign, or packaging decision.

ABOUT MARKET RESEARCH REPORTS

Marketers have two options when it comes to market research re-
ports: (1) locating and utilizing completed reports published by others;
or (2) generating new, custom reports to meet the specific needs. The
bulk of this chapter focuses on understanding the purposes and content
of published reports, and how best to find, evaluate, and utilize them.
The marketer may need to determine whether an individualized, custom
report would be preferable. The chapter closes with a discussion of Web
options for conducting customized research and directories for locating
market research firms for hire.

Let’s suppose you are selling cookies and want to know how your
caramel cream will sell with a new packaging design in upscale food
stores. Industry analysis and demographic research will give you the
general trends in baked goods, but they will not answer specific ques-
tions about the most popular flavors and successful package designs in
the cookie segment. A market research report on “Cookies,” might con-
tain charts, tables, graphs and narrative on such topics as “Retail Cookie
Sales and Demographics,” “Industry Pricing and Profit Situation,” and
“Purchaser Demographics for Major Branded Cookie Products.”

At one time, market research was considered an “extra step,” re-
served for the most sophisticated, elaborate marketing plans. However,
that is no longer the case; searching out published market research re-
ports is now a relatively routine step in the marketing planning process,
and fortunately, they have also become easier to obtain. The reports
themselves are still quite expensive, but some of the upfront costs, such
as subscription fees, have dropped. In addition, because “off the shelf ”
market research reports are now more accessible than ever before, many
marketers rarely find it necessary to hire consultants to develop an ex-
pensive, customized market research project from scratch. However, a
published market research report will not give you the actual responses

92 Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries

of real people to the taste of your cookie and the look of the package. For
that kind of response measurement, it will still be necessary to hire a
market research firm to carry out primary research using a taste-panel,
focus group, survey, or interviews to assess response to your own prod-
uct and its package.

The term market research can refer to several different types of stud-
ies. The reported data may be quantitative (numerical and statistical), or
it may be qualitative (subjective and emotional). Reports may cover an
entire industry, a specific segment of an industry, an individual product,
or a series of related products. They are usually highly detailed, spe-
cific, and full of quantitative data in the form of charts, tables, and
graphs, along with expert, in-depth analysis. Narrative sections may
include discussions of “nitty-gritty” aspects of the marketing process,
including competitor strengths and weaknesses, market share, sales
volume, pricing issues, distributors, suppliers, and customer segments.
Published market research reports cover consumer or industrial studies,
syndicated and multi-client studies (e.g., Nielsen ratings for television),
circulation audits, or subscription research services. In some cases,
market research is the only source of information for some types of in-
dustrial, technological, and international products or services. The wide
range of topics covered by market research reports is indicated by this
group of sample titles:

• Commercial Refrigeration Equipment
• Golf Equipment and Accessories
• World Markets for WINTEL and RISC/UNIX Workstations
• Cookies

TIP: Dictionaries and Glossaries of Market Research Terminology

• Glossary of Market Research Terms. Contact: http://www.
imriresearch.com/www/gloss-en.htm.

• Koschnick, Wolfgang J. 1996. Dictionary of Social and Mar-
keting Research. Brookfield, VT: Gower.

• Van Minden, Jack J. R. 1987. Dictionary of Marketing Re-
search. Chicago: St. James Press.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY RESEARCH

The terms primary and secondary research are essential concepts in
market research. Robert Irving Berkman and Arthur Hammond-Tooke

Sources for Market Research Reports 93

http://www

provide an excellent definition of primary and secondary research in
their book Finding Market Research on the Web (1999, 20-22). Primary
research refers to information which is gathered “first-hand,” that is,
data from direct sampling of individual consumers through a survey,
questionnaire, focus group, telephone interview, taste panel, or shop-
ping observation. Designing and carrying out such a project can be time
and labor intensive, and therefore very costly, especially if large sam-
ples and statistical expertise is needed. On the other hand, a simple pri-
mary research project might consist of a short questionnaire enclosed
with a customer’s billing statement. Though time and labor intensive,
direct, customized, primary research is invaluable in its ability to pre-
vent a costly marketing mistake. Primary research is particularly useful
when trying to measure potential customer response to a discrete event,
such as a new product, a new technology, new packaging, or an adver-
tising campaign. It may be qualitative, such as when focus groups or in-
terviews are used to measure the subjective responses to a new brand
name or advertising slogan or flavor. In other instances, hard, quantitative
data are needed, and a large, statistically valid sample may be desired.

Because primary research is expensive, it is practical to begin a project
by exploring existing secondary research sources. Secondary research
refers to data that are available “second-hand,” that is, information that
has already been reported elsewhere. It was probably collected and ana-
lyzed for a different reason or for a different “client,” but now it may be
beneficially applied to a new purpose. Sometimes known as “desk re-
search,” it consists largely of ferreting out and synthesizing published
information from articles, databases, statistical tables, government re-
ports, company annual reports, etc. As an example, the sources for in-
dustry and customer research discussed in Chapters 2 and 5 of this book
consist wholly of “secondary” research.

In fact, the best market research reports combine primary and sec-
ondary research. By purchasing an existing report, marketers can take
advantage of primary research gathered by market research firms in the
course of other projects. These published reports are expensive, espe-
cially when compared to regular trade books and magazines, but not
nearly as costly as contracting for a primary research project or as mak-
ing a bad marketing decision due to not having the right information.

SELECTING A MARKET RESEARCH REPORT

The selection of the best report is a critical step. Consider the busi-
ness objective and specific questions about competitors, groups of con-

94 Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries

sumers, emerging technologies, geographical areas, and the utility of
small versus large samples. Look for reports that combine primary re-
search (found in questionnaires and surveys) with extensive secondary
research (using trade associations, articles, government sources, etc.).
Select the most specific report you can, but remember that even broad
coverage may yield excellent information. If the search service provides
a listing of companies mentioned in the report, this can be an important
clue. When selecting among a group of reports, compare other reports
written by the market research firm to see which specialize in your in-
dustry.

ROLE OF THE WEB IN MARKET RESEARCH

Since the advent of the Web, there has been an explosion of market
research sites, resulting in significant improvements in the availability
of reports on the secondary market, as well as a significant reduction in
the cost when compared to contracting for primary research. There are
now a number of free Web databases (discussed below) that aggregate
reports from hundreds of different publishers. Although the reports
themselves are anything but free (ranging from a few hundred to several
thousand dollars), the researcher can now readily locate a current report
and order it instantly. Furthermore, these sites offer such service im-
provements as the ability to preview the table of contents or sample
pages, thus minimizing costly mistakes in ordering an inadequate re-
port. Improving cost effectiveness further, many also offer “slice and
dice” pricing, so that it is possible to purchase just the relevant pages out
of a lengthy report.

In addition to free aggregator sites, there are also a number of
Web-based subscription services which compile reports from numerous
publishers. Although these sites require a fee in order to search them,
they are still an improvement in currency and turnaround time over a
print directory. Subscription services offer decided advantages, such as
the ability to set up a custom profile and receive notification of new re-
ports.

Despite the increased availability of published market research re-
ports, many projects will still require primary, customized research. The
Web has also made it easier to locate a marketing research firm and even
to perform a “do-it-yourself ” project. There are Web-based directories
of market research firms, and the Web also offers additional ways to
sample a customer base and distribute questionnaires and surveys.

Sources for Market Research Reports 95

TIP: Finding Market Research on the Web by Robert Irving
Berkman and Arthur Hammond Tooke.

The ideas and concepts used in the previous discussion are based
on the book entitled Finding Market Research on the Web, by Rob-
ert Irving Berkman and Arthur Hammond-Tooke (New York: Kalo-
rama Information LLC, 1999). The authors provide many excellent
tips for evaluating and selecting market research reports. A 2001
update is available from MarketResearch.com.

PRINT DIRECTORIES FOR MARKET RESEARCH REPORTS

Although traditional, print tools for locating market research are not
thought of as “aggregators,” this is essentially what they do.

FINDEX. Rockville, MD: MarketResearch.com. 2002. Print $399.
Online $399. 500+ pages. Contact: http://marketresearch.com.

FINDEX 2002 is the 23rd edition of this longstanding reference tool
which was formerly entitled FINDEX: The Worldwide Directory of
Market Research Reports, Studies and Surveys. It is now part of the
MarketResearch.com product line. This version, available in both print
and online, contains descriptions of 8,000 reports, surveys, and studies
from 350 publishers. Reports are listed by category and by publisher.
There are 20 subject categories, in which the entry for each report in-
cludes publisher, date, purchase options, and subject category cross-ref-
erences. The section of “reports by publisher” includes all publishers in
the MarketResearch.com collection. There is also a directory of pub-
lishers with contact information. There are two indexes: an alphabetical
list of reports for each category, and a listing of reports by country.

Research Alert Yearbook. New York: EPM Communications. An-
nual. Print $295. Contact: http://www.epmcom.com.

Research Alert Yearbook is published by EPM Communications, a
publisher specializing in target marketing. In one handy volume, it com-
piles data from over 1,000 studies, reports, polls, and focus groups.
Unlike Findex and most of the Web-based aggregators, it does not
cover industrial, technology, or international markets. Organized into
40 subject categories, it provides an annual update of published market

96 Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries

http://marketresearch.com

http://www.epmcom.com

research on consumer products and demographic segments. Just as re-
searchers use the source notes in tables in the Statistical Abstract of the
United States, they can use the abstracted data in this compendium to
provide leads to worthwhile “off-the-shelf” reports.

FREE WEB AGGREGATORS

The proliferation of market research sites on the Web provides the
opportunity to survey hundreds of current reports at no cost, and then
purchase individual reports as needed. No subscription fees are in-
volved, though sometimes registration is required. Most services pro-
vide various payment and delivery options, including instant online
delivery.

Some of the best-known free Web aggregator services are MarketResearch.
com and Mindbranch.com. Most share similar, though not identical,
search functionality and customer service features, so it is worthwhile
to explore a few possibilities. Even within one site, reports from various
producers may vary; in some cases, the report may reside on the site’s
own server; in others it will arrive from the report producer’s own data-
base. When reviewing a site, look for options that help in report selec-
tion: viewing sample pages, tables of contents, or contact with a sales
representative who will tell you if the report in question contains the in-
formation you need. Those that offer “slice-and-dice” pricing for pur-
chase of selected pages or chapters help reduce the cost considerably.

MarketResearch.com. Rockville, MD. 2002. Online (free). Con-
tact: http://www.MarketResearch.com.

Initially formed in 1998 as Kalorama Information LLC, MarketResearch.
com claims to be the leading provider of market research products, in-
cluding over 40,000 publications from more than 350 originators. In its
relatively short history, it has acquired numerous market research firms,
including the published products division of FIND/SVP and Findex:
The Worldwide Directory of Market Research Reports, Studies and
Surveys. It has also entered partnerships with other information provid-
ers like ProQuest (for exclusive distribution of MarketResearch.com
Academic), Simmons Market Research Bureau, and Hoover’s Inc.

Updated daily, MarketResearch.com serves as a gateway for locating
reports from all major producers. No fees or registration are required to
search the site. MarketResearch.com offers options for purchasing just

Sources for Market Research Reports 97

http://www.MarketResearch.com

one chapter, or section, or sub-section of a very expensive report, so that
costs can be controlled. However, these segments are sometimes priced
in such a way that it soon becomes more cost effective to purchase the
whole report. Many reports are available immediately online, though a
few are available only in hardcopy and must be faxed or shipped.

The search engine is one of the most flexible. There are options for
browsing within categories for industries and topics, as well as search-
ing with keywords, Boolean operators, proximity operators, and word
stemming (truncation). A search may be further refined by focusing
within a set of results, or filtering by geography, and then sorted by rele-
vancy, title, date, or price. The MarketResearch.com results screen also
provides a great many options to help with selecting the best report.
There is a full abstract and, in most cases, a table of contents, as well as a
handy link to a question form where more information about any spe-
cific report can be requested.

Especially worth noting is the unique STAT (“search-term-and-text”)
feature, which enables a preview of a report by displaying how many
times and on what page a particular search term appears. Further, each
term is hyperlinked to a window of text which reveals the exact context.
For example, a search on “caramel cream” reveals four reports contain-
ing that term. Selecting the STAT feature on each report makes it easy
to choose those that offer the most relevant discussion. The site also has
a “Fast Find” feature with direct links to over 5,000 country reports and
2,000 company reports.

ECNext Knowledge Center. ECNext Inc. Powell, OH. 2002. Online
(free). Contact: http://www.ecnext.com/commercial/knowledgecenter.
shtml.

ECNext Knowledge Center is the current permutation of IMRMall.com
which started as a market research search site in 1997. It is similar in
scope to the other aggregators and similarly provides access to market
research reports from a number of different originators. Unlike the oth-
ers, this Web site contains more than market research reports, as it also
includes commercial newsletters, country profiles, financial reports, in-
vestment research, tables, and trade journals. Its periodical content is
derived from a set of Gale Group databases, including TableBase, Busi-
ness & Industry, and Business Management Practices. Market research
suppliers include such major names as Euromonitor, Roper ASW, and
Freedonia. Searching is free and full citations are provided as the result.

98 Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries

http://www.ecnext.com/commercial/knowledgecenter

“Slice-and-dice” pricing is a primary feature, and purchases can be
made at the chapter or article level. The reports are all delivered in elec-
tronic format.

As noted in a 2002 review in the Information Advisor, ECNext
Knowledge Center has a number of advantages. “In addition to its su-
perb interface, excellent help tutorials and customer service, the data-
base offers high quality sourcing, powerful search capabilities, and
subject indexing.” The major drawbacks noted were the lack of an op-
tion to sort results and the ability to view introductory matter for free
(Berkman 2002, 2).

Users can search by subject, publication type categories (e.g., market
research, investment reports, tables, trade journals), industry categories,
countries, publishers, and titles. Advanced techniques using Boolean
connectors, word expansion (stemming), and field searching are avail-
able. The results list provides full citations but not access to tables of
contents or sample pages.

Mindbranch.com. MindBranch, Inc. Williamstown, MA. 2002.
Online (free). Contact: http://mindbranch.com.

Mindbranch.com provides many of the same search features as
ECNext Knowledge Center and MarketResearch.com. It offers custom
research services as well as access to market research reports and news-
letters from other originators. Searching and viewing report descrip-
tions are free; registering allows you to set up a user profile, but is not
required in order to use the site. A “Personal Research Assistant” is
available, free-of-charge, to help clients find research. Another distin-
guishing feature is the access to real-time, live help using chat room
technology. While online, customer support experts will describe a re-
port and its contents, making it more likely that you will be able to select
the best report for your purposes.

Although the scope and content of Mindbranch.com is not as exten-
sive as the previous services discussed, it provides several useful fea-
tures. Searches can be done within a single industry category or refined
and sorted by date, price, product, and region. Results are provided in
categorized levels which indicate the focus of the particular report. For
example, a search on “juice drinks” provides a result of 148 reports in
the Consumer Products category, further broken down into 20 sub-cate-
gories such as demographics or product specific. Selection is made eas-
ier by an enhanced results display that features a healthy amount of
description and tables of contents.

Sources for Market Research Reports 99

http://mindbranch.com

TIP: Some Well-Known Market Research Firms

• Burke Inc. http://www.burke.com/bmr/
• DataMonitor http://www.datamonitor.com
• Euromonitor http://www.euromonitor.com
• FIND/SVP http://www.findsvp.com
• Freedonia (Packaging research specialists) http://www.freedoniagroup.

com
• Frost & Sullivan (Manufactured goods) http://www.frost.com
• Gartner Group (Information Technology) http://www4.gartner.com
• Insight Research Corporation (Telecommunications) http://www.

insight-corp.com/
• Jupiter Communications (Emerging technology) http://www.

jup.com
• Forrester http://www.forrester.com
• Synovate http://www.marketfacts.com
• USDATA.com (Brand names and geographic research)

http://www.usdata.com

SUBSCRIPTION WEB AGGREGATORS

This section discusses a few of the Web-based services that require a
monthly or annual fee in order to search their databases of market re-
search reports. With the number of free search engines available, why
would someone select this option? The advantage is the extra services
provided and the availability of more current material. Sometimes sub-
scribers are eligible for automatic updates to reports they have pur-
chased, or access to reports three to six months before they are offered
for sale on the open market. Many services provide access to the content
of reports for the cost of the subscription fee.

Examples of subscription based search services include Investext’s Re-
search Bank Web, Profound’s ResearchLine, and Dialog’s MARKETFULL.
Two will be discussed here; one is used heavily by major corporations
and professionals, and the other is geared to the academic market.

Profound. Cary, NC: The Dialog Corporation. Online. Subscrip-
tion (price varies). Contact: http://www.profound.com.

The Profound service has long been highly valued among profes-
sional information and marketing specialists. A subscription fee is re-

100 Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries

http://www.burke.com/bmr/

http://www.datamonitor.com

http://www.euromonitor.com

Home

http://www.freedoniagroup

http://www.frost.com

http://www4.gartner.com

http://www

Forrester

http://www.marketfacts.com

http://www.usdata.com

http://www.profound.com

quired to access the database, but in return it offers streamlined and
sophisticated features designed for executives and experienced ana-
lysts. Along with being a source for market research reports, it also
includes update and alert services as well as other types of informa-
tion: these include BrandLine for trademark and brand information,
BrokerLine for investment research reports (from the Investext data-
base), NewsLine for newspaper articles, WireLine for wire service sto-
ries, CountryLine for global economic data, and CompanyLine for
private and public company accounts information.

The market research component is called ResearchLine, which is a
comprehensive offering of over 130,000 full-text market research re-
ports from 100 originators. Profound has structured its database to al-
low for precision retrieval, with proximity and keyword-in-context
features. Every item of data is indexed according to an established, so-
phisticated thesaurus of terminology and scope terms. This is a true sub-
ject taxonomy, with broader, narrower, and related terms defined. This
feature facilitates speedy and accurate retrieval because the user can set
the criteria used for indexing and searching. Profound’s Market Brief-
ings offer a snapshot overview of markets from which you can also ac-
cess news and research. These overviews are graphically-rich with
numerous tables, charts and “bullet-points.” They allow the user to drill
down to specific discussions, such as market size, market sectors, mar-
ket share, or consumer profile. Reports are displayed in PDF, making
them easy to read and print.

In summary, Profound is an excellent search tool for corporate mar-
keting departments or information consultants, but the annual subscrip-
tion fee probably puts it out of reach for the occasional research project.

MarketResearch.com Academic. MarketResearch.com. Rockville,
MD. 2000. Online. Subscription (price varies). Contact: http://
academic.marketresearch.com.

Formerly Kalorama Academic, this database is a subset of
MarketResearch.com’s full commercial catalog of market research which
is available exclusively through ProQuest, a major database vendor
(http://www.proquest.com). Designed and priced for academic libraries
and business schools, the database is not comprehensive and contains a
substantial number of somewhat older reports. Starting in 2002, the
“currency” of the content increased dramatically. The reports are all
full-text and they cover such categories as demographics, consumer

Sources for Market Research Reports 101

http://

http://www.proquest.com

products, telecommunications, financial services, transportation and
shipping, and more.

MarketResearch.com Academic can be searched by keyword or browsed
within categories. Most reports are full-text in PDF format, some are in
PowerPoint, and all contain the desirable but elusive features unique to
market research, such as major industry competitors, sales figures, and
market share. The reports in PowerPoint belong to the MarketLooks se-
ries, which consists of concise, graphics-rich, 15-30 page summaries of
full-length market research reports. Reports that cover more than one
market segment are split into individual MarketLooks; their PowerPoint
format facilitates easy extraction of text, charts, and tables for use in
presentations.

INVESTMENT RESEARCH REPORTS

The primary purpose of investment research, also known as broker-
age house or investment analyst reports, is to provide stock market and
financial advice to investors. When analysts evaluate the investment po-
tential and market performance of companies, they often discuss a com-
pany’s marketing strategy and decisions because investment potential is
inextricably related to a company’s industry and marketing environ-
ment. Thus, many stock analysts and brokerage houses produce reports
that are an outstanding source of market research.

The best source for locating these reports is Thomson’s Investext da-
tabase, which aggregates reports from many different firms, such as
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch,
and hundreds of others. Investext is available both from its own Web
site called Research Bank Web (http://www.investext.com), and from
a number of subscription-based online vendors, such as LexisNexis,
Factiva, and others. Sometimes a business library affiliated with a large
university or major city provides access to the Investext database. Re-
ports are available for search and retrieval on a one-time transactional
basis, making Investext a good option for the occasional user who may
not want to subscribe to an online service. Nevertheless, the reports can
be quite expensive, varying from several hundred to over a thousand
dollars.

Multex (http://www.multex.com) is another search option that pro-
vides access to a database of investment research reports from many
brokerage houses and analysts. It is also a subscription service with ex-
cellent search functionality and deep content, and it is becoming in-

102 Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries

http://www.investext.com

http://www.multex.com

creasingly available in university libraries serving advanced degree
programs in business and finance.

CUSTOMIZED RESEARCH ON THE WEB

Despite the thousands of reports from hundreds of publishers that are
available through free and subscription Web sites, they represent only a
relatively small percentage of all market research. Sometimes market-
ing demands a custom-designed, primary research project targeted to a
specific need. There are hundreds of market research firms that may be
retained to perform custom research. Many of these firms specialize in a
niche industry (“high tech”), or function (“packaging”), or area of busi-
ness (“international”). In fact, for some industrial research projects,
these specialists may be the only ones who retain staff with experience
and expertise in a particular business segment.

This section describes sources for identifying market research firms
and also discusses the use of the Web itself for certain types of primary
research, especially direct polling of consumers.

DIRECTORIES OF MARKET RESEARCH FIRMS

Directories identify sources for locating market research firms when
you have a specialized need or wish to find a firm to convene a focus
group, distribute a questionnaire, or observe shoppers.

GreenBook: The Worldwide Directory of Market Research Compa-
nies and Services (Volume 1) and Worldwide Directory of Focus Group
Companies and Services (Volume 2). Bradenton, FL: New York AMA
Communications Services Inc. 2002. Print (Volume 1 $250; Volume
2 $100). Online (free). Contact: http://www.greenbook.org.

For 30 years, people have turned to the GreenBook to locate market
research firms. Currently available as two volumes in print and as a free
online database, it offers specialized categories to help the user pinpoint
the precise type of firm needed. Market research firms pay for their ba-
sic listing and definition of their own specialties. Users should note that
the “Top 3” firms listed in each category represent firms that have paid
for a “premium listing.”

Sources for Market Research Reports 103

http://www.greenbook.org

The Worldwide Directory of Marketing Research Companies and
Services (Volume 1) is arranged alphabetically by company name. En-
tries include services offered, audiences covered, and markets served.
There are eight indexes, including research specialties, computer pro-
grams utilized, audiences services, online research tools, etc. The
Worldwide Directory of Focus Group Companies and Services (Vol-
ume II) is arranged geographically. Its category indexes include video-
conferencing, Internet broadcasting, usability testing, recruiting, and
moderating. Together the two print volumes list more than 2,000 firms
and over 400 types of services.

On the Web, the GreenBook is especially flexible because it is
searchable using multiple criteria. These include detailed specialties in
research services, audience and markets served, computer programs,
geographic locations, and more. It is also possible to browse within cer-
tain categories. For instance, you might select the Audiences/Indus-
tries/Market Specialties listing. More than 180 categories are available,
ranging from acquisitions to yellow pages; geographical and lifestyle
segments are also included. Searching is simple and the results are orga-
nized by the stipulated criteria, though the “Top 3” are always listed
first.

Quirks.com. Quirk’s Marketing Research Review. Minneapolis,
MN. 2002. Online (free) or print ($35/year). Contact: http://www.
quirks.com.

The Quirks.com site provides free online access to the publisher’s an-
nual Research Sourcebook, a directory of market research providers.
The database of 7,300 firms is provided on the Web site and is search-
able by company name, by geography, or by industry or research spe-
cialization, such as “mystery shopper,” “focus group facilities,” “ethnic
research,” and others. Quirks.com also provides access to a searchable
archive of articles published in the journal, Quirk’s Marketing Research
Review, between 1986-2001. More than 1,000 full-text articles are
available, with added options to facilitate printing or e-mailing. The site
also features a Glossary which lists “over 650 common and uncommon
marketing research words and phrases.”

An alternative market research directory is located at ResearchInfo.
com (http://www.researchinfo.com). It is also a free site. The listings
can be browsed alphabetically or searched using four categories: Full
Service (industry sectors, social policy, political/election), Qualitative

104 Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries

http://www

http://www.researchinfo.com

Field Service (geographic), Quantitative Data Collection (phone, mail,
online), and Other (suppliers, associations).

A print directory called Little Black Book of Research Resources
(EPM Communications. New York, NY. 2001. $80) contains nearly
500 alphabetically-arranged company listings. Each listing includes
brief descriptive blurbs and full contact information for each company;
the directory is indexed by subject.

Web search engines are another good means of identifying market research
firms. For example, Google Directory (http://directory.google.com)
provides an extensive listing in the Business/Marketing/Market Re-
search Suppliers category.

USING THE WEB FOR PRIMARY RESEARCH

As discussed earlier, primary research refers to the “first-hand” in-
vestigation of a market research question, usually by direct contact
with customers. The interactive, discursive nature of bulletin boards,
listservs, and other Web activities has great potential for assembling a
focus group or posting a questionnaire. In most cases, it is preferable to
hire professionals because primary research usually involves decisions
about sampling methodologies and statistical analysis. However, the
quick turn-around and straightforward logistics of carrying out polls us-
ing Web-based forms or “live chat” technology means that it can be
done less expensively than ever before. In addition, sites such as
Quicktake.com have introduced a new way of doing primary market re-
search.

QuickTake.com. Greenfield Online Inc. Wilton, CT. 2001. Online
(fee varies). Contact: http://quicktake.com.

QuickTake.com is a service and software provider that carries out on-
line polling, sampling, and surveying of consumers who use the Internet.
It provides “real-time feedback” for marketing and public policy deci-
sion-makers about ideas, products, concepts, packaging, and anything
else. For marketers, its primary use is to gather data directly for a market
research project, but it offers some other useful features. Data can be
cross tabulated, and results displayed in colorful charts and graphs. Sur-
vey groups can be selected by gender and age, geographical location,
occupation, and special interests. Pricing is based on the number of re-

Sources for Market Research Reports 105

http://directory.google.com

http://quicktake.com

spondents, but the cost may be less than hiring a market research con-
sultant.

Despite the obvious attraction of direct, low cost access to consum-
ers, combined with speedy results, it is important to be cautious. People
responding to Quicktake.com are a self-selected group, with all the vari-
ables attached to unseen, unverified, and possibly unreliable Internet
users. Whether they are truly representative of desired statistical charac-
teristics cannot be determined. So, in the long run, it may be best to re-
turn to the tried and true, if expensive, solution of purchasing an existing
market research report or retaining a professional market research firm.

TIP: Quicktake.com’s Guides and Templates

At Quicktake.com, there are two helpful handbooks: “Survey
Writing Tips Guide” and a set of “Survey Templates.” Composed
by market research professionals, these are helpful tools for the de-
sign of any survey or questionnaire.

REFERENCES

Berkman, Robert I. and Arthur Hammond-Tooke. 1999. Finding Market Research on
the Web. New York: Kalorama Information LLC.

Berkman, Robert I. 2002. “ECNext’s Knowledge Center: New and–Yes–Improved!”
Information Advisor 14: 4 (April).

106 Marketing Information: A Strategic Guide for Business and Finance Libraries

An Overview

Most studies in social sciences are conducted on the basis of
certain ideas and then finding ways to understand those ideas. In
the course of doing this, social scientists use approaches termed
as quantitative method and qualitative method. However, there
has been a long-standing debate in the social sciences about the
most appropriate philosophical position from which methods
should be derived (Smith et al., 1991). One of them is the idea
of ‘positivism’. Positivists look at the social world as something
external and believe that its properties should be measured
through objective rather than subjective methods. Objective
research is usually associated with quantitative methods although
the division is not a clear cut (Crotty, 1998). An early and influential
proponent of this philosophy is the French philosopher, Auguste
Comte. Basically, there are two assumptions of positivism (Smith
et al., 1991). The first one is that reality is external. Following
this, it is further assumed that knowledge is only of significance
if it is based on observations of this external reality. For an
example, a positivist might do research based on the idea that
job performance is important. In this case, job performance might
be measured through the managers’ performance appraisals or
the number of achievement awards that they receive for a certain
period of time while at the same time relating job performance to
a number of external factors such as work values and managerial
competencies.

Research adopting the quantitative approach is said to be mostly
numerical and is designed to ensure objectivity, generalizability
and reliability. One important feature of quantitative techniques
is that the process of data collection is distinct from analysis.
Some techniques such as interviews or observations can be
interpreted either quantitatively or qualitatively. However,
techniques like psychological tests and activity sampling are
usually used predominantly in quantitative ways. Examples of
quantitative researcher includes D.S Pugh who focused hard on
data rather than opinions, looking for regularities in the data
obtained and then attempting to generalize the data towards a
wider population, and also Geert Hofstede who looked at the
effects of national cultures on social and work behaviour drawn
from 116,000 questionnaires distributed to employees of a large

American multi-national. Hofstede’s data was totally quantitative
and was also run purely by computer.

Although the positivism paradigm and quantitative methodology
are focused by many, there are still others who favoured another
paradigm in reaction to positivism. This new paradigm is called
‘phenomenology’ and it has emerged over the last half century
(Smith et al., 1991). This philosophy of research stems from the
view that ‘the world and reality are not objective and exterior,
but that they are socially constructed and given meaning by
people’ (Husserl, 1946). In other words, the phenomenological
approach deals with the way people experience phenomena in
the world and define its meaning. Edmund Husserl was a German
that led the phenomenological movement. According to him,
the true meaning of a phenomenon can only be apprehended
subjectively. The phenomenological paradigm uses somewhat
different methodological approach compared to positivism.
Among the many different variants that are associated with
phenomenology is qualitative methodology (Taylor and Bogdan,
1984). Going back to the previous example of research done on
job performance, a phenomenologist might be interested in the
criteria contributing to each individual’s performance. Therefore,
the researcher will probably arrange to interview several managers
about their perceptions of their jobs, the aspects they find more
or less difficult and so forth.

Qualitative studies involve data consisting of various forms of
words. Van Maanen (1983) defines qualitative methods as ‘an
array of interpretive techniques which seek to describe, decode,
translate and otherwise come to terms with the meaning, not the
frequency, of certain more or less naturally occurring phenomena
in the social world.’ They are less structured, longer and have a
more flexible relationship with the respondents so the resulting
data have more depth and greater richness of context (Aaker et
al., 2001). It also means that the potential for new insights and
perspectives is greater. Primary techniques of qualitative methods
include in-depth interviews and observations (Smith et al., 1991).
One pure example of the qualitative approach is conducted
by M. Dalton. From the beginning, Dalton rejected the idea of
proposing hypotheses, testing the hypotheses and confirming or
refuting them. Instead, he conducted an in-depth observation of

QUANTITATIVE VERSUS QUALITATIVE METHODS IN
SOCIAL SCIENCES: BRIDGING THE GAP

Dahlia Zawawi
Department of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Economics and
Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
E-mail: dahlia@econ.upm.edu.my

INTEGRATION & DISSEMINATION �

the behaviour of the managers by working as a manager himself
within an organization. He gathered the data through his own
observations and those of his informants.

The Strengths and Weaknesses

There are many types of quantitative and qualitative techniques
available. Both approaches have their own strengths and
weaknesses. One of the advantages of quantitative methods is
that they can provide a wide coverage of the range of situations. In
addition, quantitative approach is fast and economical as a whole.
This method is suitable when time and resources are limited. It is
also better to use quantitative approach when statistics results
are being stressed. However, among the disadvantages of this
approach is that it is somewhat inflexible and artificial. It provides
very little understanding towards the actions demonstrated by
people and as a result, make it difficult to predict any changes
in the future. To illustrate, a quantitative research may be able
to give a general idea on the relationship of job performance
and managerial competencies but, it may fail in providing the
details on how the relationship differs for every individuals and
why. Thus, it might not be very helpful in generating theories or
understanding the issues thoroughly.

The weaknesses that arise from quantitative approach are most
of the times the strengths of the qualitative approach. The latter
has the ability to look at the change processes over time. By
interviewing and observing people, the methods provide a better
understanding on people’s meanings. With a good amount of
valuable information, the data, ideas and issues can be adjusted
as they emerge. Due to this, it is a better instrument used by
researchers who want to be able to generate theories at the end
of their studies. Moreover, by talking to and observing people, the
process seems to happen naturally in its own environment rather
than in an artificially created surrounding. However, qualitative
method is by no means without its disadvantages. Because
the process most of the time involves in-depth interviews and
observations, data collection can take up a great deal of time and
resources. It is then not suitable for studies that require limited
time such as a simple project paper. The data compiled by this
approach may also look very untidy because of the researcher’s
lack of control on them. For instance, it is impossible for a
researcher to maintain the same discussion when interviewing
various individuals. This is due to the fact that humans are often
encouraged to talk about unrelated things from time to time. As
a result, the analysis and interpretation of the data may be very
difficult.

The Mixed Method

There are times that one style of approach is probably the only
appropriate manner to study the proposed ideas. To illustrate, a
research focusing on the differences of the number of sales of
a particular product within a 5-year range will generally adopt
quantitative technique while a research focusing on the reasons
behind those differences in sales within a 5-year range will probably
use a qualitative technique. But when social scientists are faced
with the problem of generalising and understanding ideas, they
are better off incorporating both approaches whenever possible. In
most cases, a research can start with a quantitative approach first
in order to gather appropriate facts to gain general understanding
on the matter discussed. Following that, a qualitative approach
can be carried out so that there will be an in-depth understanding
over the generalised facts. However, there are several instances
where the reverse can be applied. For research relating to new
ideas, it is sometimes appropriate to use a qualitative approach
first such as a case study or an observation in order to narrow
down the focus of the study. The results from the qualitative
study can then be the basis for the questionnaire’s development
that leads to the quantitative study. The understanding of both
paradigms helps identify the ways these divergent approaches
complement each other. A good social science researcher should
then recognize the benefits of gaining the best of both research
worlds through the combination of quantitative and qualitative
techniques. Simultaneously, efforts in improving various methods
to ensure quality research should be welcomed.

References

Aaker, D. A., Kumar, V. and Day, G. S. (2001) Marketing Research,
John Wiley and Sons, Inc, New York.

Crotty, M. (1998) The Foundations of Social Research, Sage
Publications, London.

Husserl, E. (1946) Encyclopedia Britannica, 17, 699-702.

Smith, M. E., Thorpe, R. and Lowe, A. (1991) Management
Research: An Introduction, Sage Publications, London.

Taylor, S. J. and Bogdan, R. (1984) Introduction to Qualitative
Research Methods, Wiley-Interscience, New York.

Van Maanen, J. (1983) Qualitative Methodology, Sage, London.

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