Marketing Research Methods

Marketing Research
Lecture 3
Marketing Management [722G86]
Hugo Guyader, PhD Candidate in Marketing
Department of Management & Engineering (IEI)
Division of Business Administration (FEK)
2016-11-05

Hugo Guyader — 722G86 Lecture 3
Hugo Guyader
๏ PhD student in Marketing since 2013.
๏ Multi-method approach to research:
experiments, surveys, interviews,
(n)etnography, etc.
๏ Research focus on collaborative
consumption and P2P exchanges
through online platforms.
๏ Teaching in Marketing, Consumer
Behavior, Service Marketing, Advanced
Consumer Marketing, Leadership &
Strategy.
@experienceetc
hugo.guyader@liu.se

Applied marketing research
The research process
Quantitative methods
Qualitative methods
Today

Why Marketing Research?
• All marketing strategy and tactic decisions require
information about customer, markets,
competitors, partners, technologies, etc.
• The primary goal of gathering, structuring and
analysing marketing information is to gain
customer insights and improve marketing
decisions.
• Understanding customers and the
marketplace becomes the basis for creating
customer value and relationships.

The Coca-Cola Company - Year 1985
• Taste was the most important cause of Coca Cola’s
decline in market share in the 70’s and early 80’s
• Research: blind product taste tests were conducted,
and more than 50% participants favoured “New Coke”
over both the original formula and Pepsi.
• In 1985, Coca Cola introduced “New Coke”:  
a sweeter beverage than the original-formula,
which was withdrawn from the market.

https://youtu.be/o4YvmN1hvNA

Pitfalls
Coca Cola lost many many consumers.
‣ First, they assumed that taste was the
deciding factor in consumer purchase
behavior. But study participants were not
told that only one product would be
marketed — not asked whether they would
give up “Coke Classic”.
‣ Second, they did not realise the symbolic
value and emotional involvement consumers
had with the original taste, which was
reintroduced immediately and boosted sales.
‣ “New Coke” is withdrawn in 2002.
Market share went up!

The Internet Age
Increased Internet access in the
last 20 years has made research
available at a much lower cost and,
therefore, more accessible to
organisations of all sizes.
As a result, the research field has
exploded with new opportunities
and methodologies, and
organisations have more
information at their disposal than
ever before.
• Social media yields unfiltered
feedback
• Data collection improvements
(e.g. better targeting,
engagement measures)
• Enhanced data analysis
• Creation of new research roles
• Big Data informs  
research

Marketing Information System
(MIS)
People and procedures for
- assessing information
needs,
- developing the needed
information, and
- helping decision makers
to use the information to
generate and validate
actionable customer and
market insights.
Course book - Figure 4.1

Customer Relationship Management
• CRM systems: capturing and using customer data from all sources
to manage customer interactions and build customer
relationships.  
e.g. identifying and managing customer touch points
• CRM builds on data from different sources.
For instance, ICA’s CRM system is based on information provided when
customers purchase and swipe their ICA cards. 
Through this method, loyal card customers get customised offers based on
purchase history.
• CRM alone can hardly create customer relationships – it’s just one
tool that must be integrated in the company’s overall marketing.

A man walked into a Target outside Minneapolis and demanded to
see the manager. He was clutching coupons that had been sent to
his daughter, and he was angry, according to an employee who
participated in the conversation.
“My daughter got this in the mail!” he said. “She’s still in high school,
and you’re sending her coupons for baby clothes and cribs? Are
you trying to encourage her to get pregnant?”
The manager didn’t have any idea what the man was talking about.
He looked at the mailer. Sure enough, it was addressed to the man’s
daughter and contained advertisements for maternity clothing,
nursery furniture and pictures of smiling infants. The manager
apologized and then called a few days later to apologize again.
On the phone, though, the father was somewhat abashed. “I had a
talk with my daughter,” he said. “It turns out there’s been some
activities in my house I haven’t been completely aware of. She’s due
in August. I owe you an apology.”

“How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was
Pregnant Before Her Father Did”
๏ Customer Guest ID number tied with a lot of
information
๏ Purchase data from ladies who signed-up to
Target baby registries (25 products)
๏ pregnant women on the registry buy more
unscented lotion around their second
trimester;
๏ hand sanitizers and washcloths when close to
their delivery date.
๏ Estimate due date to within a small window, and
send coupons timed to very specific stages of her
pregnancy. Forbes (2012)
The New York Times (2012)

Marketing Research in SMEs and NGOs
Need to understand what stakeholders need (i.e. external
as well as internal stakeholders, such as staff and
volunteers).
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and non-
government organisations (NGOs) can use marketing
research techniques in a less formal manner and at little
expense.
Conducting informal surveys using small convenience samples.
Students can be hired to keep costs down.
A lot of information might be collected on the internet at little
or low cost.

International Marketing Research
Sourcing secondary data may be difficult
Cultural differences: watch your language!
Varying attitudes towards marketing research
Despite the problems, global companies, which are
increasing in numbers and range, have little choice
but to conduct international marketing research
Coca Cola: do you prefer drinking ‘Diet Coke’ or ‘Coke Light’?

International marketing gone wrong
• "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux." (US)
• Proctor & Gamble - Pampers diapers (Japan) 
Image of a stork delivering a baby on the packaging.
Customers were concerned and confused by the image
of a stork on the packaging, since the stories of storks
bringing babies to parents isn't a part of Japanese
folklore. There, the story goes that giant floating
peaches bring babies to their parents.
• Coors beer slogan “Turn it loose” into Spanish was
read as “Suffer from diarrhea”.

FARTFULL - marketing coup?
- Not for sale.
- Going, Speed (“Fart”)
in Swedish.
- Travel (“Fährt”) in
German
- FARTFULL is being
used here to suggest
mobility, given the
desk's wheels and
design.
- Good press!

Research Ethics
• Consumer privacy issues
• Integrity issues
A substantial amount of consumers mistrust marketing research, such
as increasing consumer resentment has become a major problem.
➡
Lower survey response rates reduces the power of marketing research, in a
time when it’s more important than ever.
FOCAL POINTS (Hammersley & Atkinson, 2007):
• Informed consent or passive deception
• Privacy
• Do no harm
• Exploitation
• Consequences for future research
Vetenskapsrådet

Sources of Marketing Information
✓ Internal data: existing collections of consumer/market
information based on internal sources. Cheap, but often old,
incomplete, and collected for other purposes.
e.g. customer demographics, sales numbers, customer satisfaction
✓ Marketing intelligence: systematic collection and analysis
of publicly available information about consumers,
competitors and developments in the marketplace.
e.g. monitoring Internet buzz, snooping on competitors annual
reports or press releases, online databases/panels
✓ Marketing research: systematic design, collection, analysis
and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing
situation.

Pizza Hut - Very Into Pizza (V.I.P.)
Internal database on 40
million households
Customer retention
program
1 free pizza for every two
pizzas bought
Membership fee:  
$14.95
Personalised reminders
are sent to customers

Marketing Research Process
Define
problem
and
objectives
Develop
research
plan
Implement
research
plan
Interpret
and report
findings
‣ Exploratory
research
‣ Descriptive
research
‣ Causal
research
‣ Primary data
sources
‣ Secondary
data sources
‣ Sampling
‣ Data
collection
‣ Analysis

Exploratory Descriptive Causal
• Goal: gather preliminary
information, define
problem, suggest
hypotheses
• Usually based on
qualitative approach
• Example: what kind of
services could we provide
around our product?
• Goal: describing in detail
problems, situations,
markets, and customers
• Both qualitative and
quantitative approaches
can be used
• Example: what age group
buys our products?
• Goal: test hypotheses
about cause-and-effect
relationships
• Usually based
quantitative survey or
experimentation data
• Example: how do
customers react to
change in price?
Flexible design
Broad scope
Fuzzy results
Rigid design
Narrow scope
Clear results
Research Design
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Primary Data Secondary Data
• Information collected for a
specific purpose / research
question
• Information already available
internally or externally
• Collected for another purpose
• Costs less!
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Secondary Data
• Nielsen Company
• Qualtrics
• ClickZ
• Ipsos
• Forrester
• Experian
Consumer
Research
• Symphony IRI
Group
• IMS Health
• Arbitron Radio
and Television
Reports
• J.D. Power and
Associates
• Erdos & Morgan
• Standard Rate and
Data Service
(SRDS)
• Dun & Bradstreet
• comScore
• Thomson Dialog
• LexisNexis
• Mediamark
Research
• Factive
• Audit Bureau of
Circulations
• Hoover’s
• Federal Trade
Commission
• U.S. Census
• U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings
External sources

Secondary Data
Internal sources
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system
• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system
• PoS (Point of Sales) data
• Loyalty programs (e.g. ICA)
• Use data (e.g. mobile operators)
• Promotion campaign
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Secondary Information
✓ Relevant 
-> fits research project needs
✓ Accurate 
-> reliably collected and reported
✓ Current 
-> up-to-date for current decisions
✓ Impartial  
-> objectively collected and reported
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Primary Data Collection
• Different approaches
Observation
Survey
Experiment
• Different methods
Mail
Telephone
Personal
Online
• Different sampling
Sampling unit
Sample size
Sampling procedure
• Different instruments
Questionnaire
Mechanical Instruments
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Sampling
“a segment of the population selected for marketing  
research to represent the population as a whole”
¿ Who is to be surveyed? 
sampling unit
¿ How many people should be surveyed? 
sample size
¿ How should the people in the sample be chosen? 
sampling procedure
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Sampling
✴ Probability sampling
- Every member of the population has a known
nonzero probability of selection.  
- Random refers to the procedure for selecting the
sample; it does not describe the data in the sample.  
- Randomness characterises a procedure whose
outcome cannot be predicted because it depends
on chance.
✴ Non-Probability sampling
- Units of the sample are selected on the basis of
personal judgment or convenience 
- The probability of any particular member of the
population being chosen is unknown.
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Probability Sampling
• Simple random sampling: Every member of the population has a known
and equal chance of selection. Only one stage of selection.
• Systematic sampling: starting point selected by a random process and then
every nth
number on the list is selected. The problem of periodicity occurs if a
list has a systematic pattern (not random).
• Stratified sampling: simple random subsamples are drawn from within
each stratum of the population. First, a variable is identified for stratification
(e.g. age). Second, for each separate subgroup/stratum (e.g. 16-25, 26-40,
41-55), a list of population elements must be obtained.
• Cluster (area) sampling: the primary sampling unit is no longer the
individual element in the population (e.g. grocery store) but a larger cluster of
elements located in proximity to one another (e.g. cities).
• Multistage area sampling: a combination of two or more probability
sampling techniques. Progressively smaller areas/units are selected in each
stage (e.g. City -> Neighbourhood -> Age group -> occupation, …).
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Non-Probability Sampling
• Convenience sampling: people that are most conveniently
available (e.g. selecting all visitors to a website). Produces a large
number of responses quickly and at a low cost, but induces a
self-selection bias.
• Judgment (purposive) sampling: based on personal
judgment about some appropriate characteristic, to achieve
specific objective.
• Quote sampling: various population subgroups are
represented on pertinent characteristics to the extent that the
researcher desires.
• Snowball sampling: initial respondents are selected by
probability methods and additional respondents are obtained
from information provided by the initial respondents.
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Analyse and Report
Data seldom speaks for itself.
Proper data analysis is needed if a study is to have
any value.
Analysis techniques vary and their effectiveness
depends on the types of information you are
collecting, and the type of measurements you
are using.
Because they are dependent on the data
collection, analysis techniques should be
decided before this step.
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Analyse and Report
Communicate results effectively  
(in a way that they can be understood and used).
• Reports must tell the user what information is
relevant, and how it is relevant to the issues at
hand.
• The research process culminates with the
research report including an accurate description
of the research process, the results, conclusions,
and recommended courses of action.
Define
problem  
and  
objectives
Develop
research  
plan
Implement
research  
plan
Interpret  
and report
findings

Qualitative Quantitative
Methods
vs.

Qualitative Quantitative
• Depends on the research question…
– What do I want to know?
– When? In which historical context?
– Why is it important?
– Who needs this knowledge? - politicians, corporate
owners, managers, producers, sales persons, consumers,
old people, young women, foreign citizens...etc.  
• …and on the ontological and epistemological
perspectives of the researcher.

Qualitative Approach
Interpretativism
• Antipositivists hold that researchers should focus on
understanding the interpretations that social actions have for the
people being studied.
“Social reality has a specific meaning and relevance structure for
the beings living, acting, and thinking within it”
– Schutz, 1962, p.59
• The meaning of social action
• Weber’s Verstehen
• The actor’s perspective: subjective reality
• The social realm may not be subject to the same methods of
investigation as the natural world.

Quantitative Approach
Positivism
• Application of natural science methods to social
science research:
• Empiricist knowledge via the senses
• Deductivist theory testing
• Inductivist theory building
• Objective value-free researcher
• Scientific versus normative statements.
• There is a reality out there to be studied, captured,
and understood.

Qualitative Research Quantitative
• quality
• what, why, how
Focus
• quantify
• how many
• hermeneutics Philosophy • positivism
• field work
• interviews
• meaning
• subjectivity
Key words
• surveys
• facts
• statistics
• objectivity
• understanding or exploring
change
Aim
• explanation
• control
• prediction
• proof
• hypothesis
• intuitive 
(researcher as a traveller)
How
• structured, predetermined
(researcher as a miner)

Qualitative Research Quantitative
• Discover ideas
• Used in exploratory research
with general research objects
Purpose
• Test hypotheses or specific
research questions
• Observe & Interprete Approach • Measure & Test
• Unstructured
• Free-Form
Data collection
• Structured response categories
provided
• Intimately involved
• Subjective results
Researcher
independence
• Uninvolved
• Observer
• Objective results
• Small samples
• Natural settings
Samples
• Large samples to produce
generalisable results
• Exploratory research design Most often used
• Descriptive research design
• Causal research design

Exploratory
research
Confirmatory
research
Qualitative Data
❖ textual
❖ visual
❖ oral
➡ focus on stories, portrayals,
meaningful characterisations,
interpretations, expressive
descriptions
Quantitative Data
❖ numbers
➡ focus on assigning numbers
to represent phenomena in
an ordered manner

Marketing
Research
Methods

Observations
• Recorded notes describing observed events
• Search for variation & exceptions  
- What is regular and what is unusual activity?  
- What happens and why?
• Participant observations
• Provides — Many different types of, Naturally
occurring, In depth, Contextualised data
• Facilitates — Preparation of interview or survey
studies; Interpretation of results

Mystery Shopping
‣ Mystery shoppers are sent to make a purchase, and
then fill-out a detailed evaluation sheet.
‣ Often used to evaluate staff, in natural settings.
‣ Provides feedback to front-line employees.
‣ Visits can also be video-recorded and used
in training.
‣ Mystery shopping may raise ethical issues
(staff is unaware that they are being studied)

Ethnography
What is Ethnography? 
Researcher is part of social setting for a prolonged period  
Content = both method and written product of the
research
Method 
(participant) Observations, with other methods (Open or
Biographical or Focus group interviews, Document
analysis)
Objective 
Understanding a culture, norms and values, social
environment of a group

Ethnography
How meaning is created and ways thinking are
conducted
How symbols are working in the social and societal
context
How behaviors emanate and are appearing to be
While embarking on an ethnographic study the researcher
should be aware of pre-understanding (ontology, epistemology,
method, techniques and theory) and how it effects data
collection and analysis.

Ethnography
Information is gathered while embedded in the
context through observation, field notes, interviews,
audiovisual recordings, polls, surveys, tests,
experiments..
The ethnographer is a storyteller too — tales of others.
The closer, the better a reader of an ethnography
understands the “native’s” point of view, the better
the story and science can be said to be.

The Consumer Odyssey
• Founding from the Marketing Science Institute in 1986, to buy
for a large van in which The Consumer Odyssey could travel to
explore a wide variety of consumer venues from East to West
coast.
• Russell Belk, Melanie Wallendorf and other
social scientists stayed with the project for its
duration, whereas the other members joined for
different parts of the trip: swap meets, art shows,
private homes, hospitals, homeless shelters,
hotels, riverboat cruises, and many more.
• The researchers entered these environments with
open eyes, making the "familiar strange" and
employing methods that few researchers had
used previously in the discipline.

Netnography
1 Holistic marketplace descriptions
2 Communicative and cultural comprehension
3 Embedded understanding of consumer choice
4 Naturalistic views of brand meaning
5 Discovery of consumer innovation
6 Mappings of sociocultural online space

Netnography
➡ 6 steps (Kozinets 2015)
1 Research Planning
2 Entrée
3 Data Collection
4 Interpretation
5 Ensuring ethical standards
6 Research representation

Interviews
“A Conversation with a purpose”
Obtain as much, as specific, and as useful information as
possible.
• Forms of interview: individual, face-to-face, verbal
exchange; face-to-face group interchange; mailed questionnaires;
self-administered questionnaires; telephone surveys; …
‣ structured, semi-structured or unstructured
‣ a one-time brief event, or multiple lengthy
sessions at times spanning days

Interviews
• Interview as a tunnel: focus on events, facts, ideas,
emotions, experiences, attitudes, stories and the
world of the interviewee; in a way that is as direct,
as neutral, as reliable and as valid as possible.
• Interview as a topic: focus on observing the
interview. Data is used as an indirect source
(Interviewee’s talk is analysed as behaviour) and as
an interaction (The interview is analysed as a social
event).
• Active interview = Interview as a tunnel and topic:  
“Meaning is not constantly formulated anew, but
reflects relatively enduring local conditions.”

Structured Interviews
• Formal questionnaire
• Ordered questions, asked in a uniform manner
• Collect descriptive information
• Easy to use
• Questions need to be worded properly to get
unbiased and complete answers
• No room for variation (except if open-ended
questions are used, which is rare)
• Responses are recorded according to coding
scheme

Unstructured Interviews
• Open-ended, informal
• No a priori categorisation
• Interviewers only have general instructions  
(only what needs to be gathered, not how)
• Collects more exploratory data
• Vocabulary is adjusted during the interview
• But it needs to be “natural”, which influences the
quality (completeness, objectivity, bias) of the data
• Coding the transcripts might be challenging

Semi-structured Interviews
• Between structured and unstructured interviews
• Open interviews, but around a specific theme
• Discussion points/topics of interests are prepared to
keep the interview on track, but questions can be
different from one respondent to another
• List of questions can even be given to respondents
before interview

Amount of Control
Type A B C D
Interviews
Conver-
sations
Unstruc-
tured
Semi-
structured
Structured
Topic
Question
formulation
Question
Sequence
Interviewer
-behaviour
AMOUNT OF CONTROL
free fixed fixed fixed
free free free/fixed fixed

Focus Groups
Small group interviews/discussions led by a trained moderator,
who poses very specific questions about a topic (after having
already completed considerable research)
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• Can be done quickly
• Gain multiple perspectives
• Flexibility
• Rich, cumulative, and elaborative
data
• Stimulating respondents (aiding
recall)
• Results dependent on moderator
• No generalisation
• Difficult to use for sensitive topics
• Emerging group culture may
interfere with individual
expression, or the group may be
dominated by one person
• 'groupthink' is a possible outcome

ONLINE Focus Groups
Advantages
1. Groups can have tremendous geographic diversity.
2. Travel costs can be virtually eliminated.
3. Recruitment is easier because you do not ask a respondent to
spend an evening traveling to, sitting in, and returning from a facility.
4. Mixed groups (on any dimension) are not a problem.
5. Bad weather generally has no effect on a group session.
6. The information recorded is clean, concise, and to the point.
7. Overbearing respondents can be “handled” without
disrupting the rest of the group.
8. Concept testing is easy.

Case Studies
✓ Extensive and detailed examination of the unique features of a
case (organisation, location, person, event, phenomenon)
➡ idiographic approach
✓ A systematic process of collecting and analysing information
from a limited phenomenon
❖ Case studies deal with:
• Questions in contemporary settings, What, How and Why
• When the investigator has little control over events
• Both quantitative and qualitative methods can be used
✓ Qual. & Quant. methods can be combined.  
qualitative -> inductive approach 
quantitative -> deductive approach

Case Studies
Methods associated: participant observations,
unstructured interviews, document analysis, …
Generalisability claimed to a certain degree.
Types of case
• critical: a clearly specified hypothesis is tested
• unique and extreme
• revelatory: study of a phenomenon previously inaccessible to
research
• representative or typical
• longitudinal: over time changes
Multiple case study: extension of the case study design, allowing researchers to compare and
contrast the findings from each case. The emphasis is on the unique contexts of the cases.

Case Studies
‣ Not a methodological choice; but a choice
of what is to be studied (interests in
individual cases).
‣ Thick description.
‣ Case selection: better study an atypical
case for greater opportunities to learn.
‣ A case has a purpose, can be simple or
complex, and short or long.
‣ The case is singular, but it as
subsections (e.g. production,
marketing), groups (e.g. students,
parents), occasions (e.g. workdays,
holidays), …
‣ The case is a specific, unique "bounded
system”: a representation of
something.
‣ Both the process of inquiry about the
case (the case itself is of interest) and the
product of that inquiry (= "case
record").
‣ Issues are complex, situated,
problematic relationships.
‣ Storytelling: different presentation
styles (realistic, impressionistic,
confessional, critical, formal, literary or
jointly told). The whole story cannot be
told, it exceeds anyone's knowing,
anyone's telling.
‣ Triangulation reduces the likelihood of
misinterpretation: redundancy of data
gathering and challenges to explanations.

Surveys
➡ A method of collecting primary from a representative
sample of individuals.
Snapshot at a given point in time.
• Used to identify characteristics of target markets,
measure customer attitudes, describe consumer
purchase patterns, determine an organisation's
commitment to the environment, etc.
Descriptive research.
Quantitative findings.
Quick, inexpensive, accurate, flexible.

Survey examples • MARKET DESCRIPTION: Determine the size and relative market share of the market. Provide key
information about market growth, competitive positioning and share of market.
• MARKET PROFILING-SEGMENTATION: Identify customers and non-customers, and why they are
or are not your customers. Often a descriptive market segmentation and market share analysis.
• STAGE IN THE PURCHASE PROCESS / TRACKING: Where is the customer in the adoption process?
Shows market Awareness – Knowledge – Intention – Trial – Purchase – Repurchase of the product.
• CUSTOMER INTENTION - PURCHASE ANALYSIS: Customer motivation to move from interest in
the product to actual purchase. Key to understanding customer conversion, commitment and loyalty.
• CUSTOMER ATTITUDES AND EXPECTATIONS: Does the product meet customer expectations?
Attitudes formed about the product and/or company. Improve ads, customer conversion, commitment
and loyalty.
• CUSTOMER TRUST - LOYALTY – RETENTION ANALYSIS: Depth of consumer attitudes formed
about the product and/or company. Especially for high priced consumer goods with long decision and
purchase processes.
• NEW PRODUCT CONCEPT ANALYSIS: Appropriate in the initial screening of new product concepts.
Likes and dislikes, acceptability and likelihood of purchase are especially useful measures.
• NEW PRODUCT ACCEPTANCE AND DEMAND (CONJOINT ANALYSIS): Estimating demand for
new product descriptions, graphics, or prototypes. Yields market share estimates for alternative
concept configurations.
• HABITS AND USES: Understanding usage situations, including how, when and where the product is
used. May include a real or virtual pantry audit.
• PRODUCT FULFILMENT: Evaluation of promised attribute and feature benefits (both tangible and
intangible). Are expectations produced by advertising, packaging, and product appearance fulfilled?
• COMPETITIVE PRODUCT AND MARKET POSITIONING: “Best Practices” study of “How does the
market view us relative to the competition?” Compares attributes and benefits of the product.
Source: Qualtrics.com

• BRAND EQUITY: What is psychological value that a brand holds in the marketplace? A composite of
brand awareness, brand quality, brand associations and brand loyalty measures.
• ADVERTISING VALUE IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS: Mapping the hierarchical attributes,
benefits and values associated with and portrayed by an advertisement. Means-end analysis is often part
of this type of study.
• ADVERTISING MEDIA AND MESSAGE EFFECTIVENESS: Identifies the impressions, feelings, and
effectiveness in moving the respondent to a desired goal (increased awareness, product information, trial,
repeat purchase).
• SALES FORCE EFFECTIVENESS: Sales activities, performance and effectiveness in producing the
desired and measurable effect or goal. Often measured in a 360 degree survey completed by the sales
person, the client (evaluating the sales call) and the supervisor responsible for evaluating the sales person.
• SALES LEAD GENERATION: (1) Timely use and follow-up of sales leads, (2) Qualifying sales leads
(thereby saving valuable sales force time) and (3) Providing more effective tracking of sales leads.
• CUSTOMER SERVICE: Focus in detail on the actual customer service that was received, the process
involved in receiving that service and the evaluation of the participants in the service process.
• CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE (CSR) ATTITUDES: Customer Service Representatives hold
attitudes that reflect on their job related activities including (1) the allocation of time; (2) solutions to
customer needs; (3) how to improve their job; (4) best practices; (5) how well internal departments help
customers. Focuses on reducing costs and increasing the quality of customer relationships.
• SALES FORECASTING AND MARKET TRACKING: Expert estimates of the market, judgmental
bootstrapping (expert based rules describing how to use available secondary market information),
conjoint analysis (estimation of consumer choice preferences), and self-reported intentions to make
future purchases.
• PRICE SETTING AND ELASTICITY OF DEMAND ANALYSIS: Estimates of demand elasticity, optimal
price points, and prices too low or too high. Estimates for different product-service segments, or usage
situations.
Source: Qualtrics.com
Survey examples

Surveys
“Measure what is measurable,  
and make measurable what is not.” — Galileo
• Measurement: the process of describing some property or a
phenomenon of interest, usually by assigning numbers in a
reliable and valid way. The numbers convey information about
the property being measured. All measurements contain errors.
Researchers must make sure that the measures used, if not
perfect, are accurate enough to yield correct conclusions.
• Construct: term used to refer to concepts measured with
multiple variables.
• Scales: a device providing a range of values that correspond to
different values in a concept being measured.

Surveys
• Nominal scales: values are
assigned to an object for
identification or classification
purposes only (e.g. gender).
• Ordinal scales: rank order
allowing things to be arranged
based on how much of some
concept they possess (grade).
• Interval scales: capture info
about differences in quantities
of a concept form one
observation to the next (IQ).
• Ratio scales: represent
absolute quantities;
characterized by a meaningful
absolute zero (age).

Surveys
• Reliability: indicator of a measure's internal consistency. Different attempts
at measuring something should converge on the same result.
• Validity: the accuracy of a measure of the extent to which a score truthfully
represents a concept. Basically how a measure assesses the intended concept.
• Face validity: a scale's content logically appears to reflect what was
intended to be measured (according to 'experts').
• Content validity: a measure covers the breadth of the domain of interest.
• Criterion validity: the ability of a measure to correlate with other standard
measures of similar constructs or established criteria.
• Construct validity: exists when a measure truthfully represents a unique
concept.
• Convergent validity: concepts that should be related to one another are in fact
related.
• Discriminant validity: uniqueness or distinctiveness of a measure. A scale
should not correlate too highly with a measure of a different construct.

Surveys Reliability
Validity

Survey Errors
Random sampling error: statistical fluctuation that occurs because of chance
variation in the elements selected for a sample. Unavoidable without very large
population (> 400).
Non-sampling error or bias: caused by the research design, when the results of a
sample show a persistent tendency to deviate from the true value of the population
parameter.
A. Respondent error: sample bias resulting from some respondents’ action or
inaction.
• Nonresponse error: difference between a survey that includes only
those who responded, and a perfect survey that would also include those
who failed to respond; such as the self-selection bias (only people who are
interested by a subject will respond).
• Response bias: respondents (un)consciously answer questions with a
certain slant that misrepresents the truth.
- Acquiescence bias: (dis)agreeing with questions
- Extremity bias: choose only 1 or 10 on a 10-point scale
- Interviewer bias: respondents influenced by interviewer's presence
- Social desirability bias: caused by respondents' desire to gain
prestige or appear in a different social role

Survey Errors
B. Administrative error: error caused by the improper administration or
execution of the research task (e.g. confusion, carelessness, neglect,
omission).
• data-processing error: incorrect data entry or computer
programming, or other procedural errors during the data analysis.
• sample selection error: failure to select a representative sample
caused by improper sample design or sampling procedure execution.
• interview error: failures (by interviewers) to record responses
correctly.
• interviewer cheating (“curb-stoning"): falsification of
questionnaires.
❖ Mere-measurement effect: answering a question about intentions will
increase the likelihood of the underlying behavior—if the behavior is seen
as socially desirable (if not: answering the question will decrease the
likelihood of the behavior).

Survey studies
A cross-sectional study samples and collect data from various
segments of a population at a single moment in time. Allows
investigation of relationships among variables by cross-tabulation.
A longitudinal study surveys respondents at multiple points in time
to examine continuity of response and to observe changes that occur
over time (like a movie).
A tracking study uses successive samples to compare trends and
identify changes in variables (e.g. consumer satisfaction, brand image).
A consumer panel is a survey of the same sample of individuals to
record their attitudes, behavior of purchasing habits over time.
Total Quality Management (TQM): business philosophy that
emphasises market-driven quality as a top organisational priority.
Quality conforms to consumers' requirements (not the organisation's).

Door-to-Door &
Mall Intercept
Telephone Mail Internet
Speed Fast Very fast Slow Instantaneous
Data quantity Excellent Moderate Good Good
Flexibility Excellent Moderate Poor Good
Respondent
cooperation
Moderate to Excellent Good
Moderate  
(low if poor design)
High (for panels)
Length Long Moderate
Varies (depending on
incentive)
Moderate (customized
based on answers)
Non-response
rate
Low Medium High Can be none.
Possibility of
mis-
understanding
Low Average
High (no interviewer
present for
clarification)
High
Interviewer’s
influence
High Moderate None None
Anonymity Low Moderate High Either or
Follow-up Difficult Easy Easy (but timely)
Difficult (unless email
known)
Cost Highest Moderate Low Lowest
Special
features
Visual materials can be
shown or products
tested; extended
probing possible
Fieldwork simplified;
adaptable to computer
technology
Respondents answer at
own convenience  
( = time to reflect)
Possible to show
media; use of graphics
and animations

Facebook
• cheap!
• W.E.I.R.D.
• younger and more educated than general population
• snowball sampling can reach many respondents
• profile data can be captured

Experiments
๏ Natural: only intervene to measure results  
– keep it as organic as possible.
๏ Controlled: manipulate at least one causal variable, and randomly
assign subjects to control groups and experimental groups to measure
the effects of the manipulation.
– Laboratory experiment: greater influence over arrangements; more
straightforward to replicate (less difficult to reproduce specific
settings); but external and ecological validity are difficult to
establish.
– Quasi-experiments: certain characteristics of experimental designs
but do not fulfil all internal validity requirements; no control group;
no artificial interventions in social life; strong ecological validity.
Online
• Enhancing survey content: graphics, audio, video and interactive experiences
• Dynamic questions through “piping”, skip logic, branching, looping, control, etc.

Experiments
Research question: not exploratory. 
Clear, simple, few hypotheses. 
Few variables involved in each hypothesis.
• Independent Variables (or factors, conditions, treatments) 
Manipulated and administered to participants (categorical)
Measured (continuous)—correlational studies or quasi- experiments
• Dependent Variables (or response variables)  
Measure participants’ responses after the treatment administration
(categorical, continuous, thought-protocols, behavioural,
physiological)
• Extraneous Variables (or undesirable variables)  
Not manipulated in the study, but can still have an effect.

Experiments
- Internal validity: the control group eliminates threats of testing (the
'experimenter effect'), history (control of occurring events), maturation
(people's change), selection (random process: no difference between
groups), and ambiguity about the direction of causal influence.
- Threats to external validity are the interactions of selection (social
and psychological groups) and treatment (e.g. men and leadership);
setting and treatment (e.g. geographical settings); history and
treatment (past and future generalisation); interaction effects of pre-
testing (sensitiveness to the exp. treatment); and reactive effects of
experimental arrangements (awareness of being part of an
experiment).
- Environmental validity is better ensured when conducting field
experiments (compared with lab. exp.).
- Replicability threats lay in the data collection procedure and the
methods of analysis.

You can't buy what you can't see: Retailer practices to increase the
green premium
Hugo Guyader n
, Mikael Ottosson, Lars Witell
Division of Business Administration, Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping University, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 16 November 2014
Received in revised form
16 October 2015
Accepted 10 May 2016
Keywords:
Eye-tracking
Green marketing
In-store marketing
Shopping behavior
Visual attention
a b s t r a c t
Retailers are the gatekeepers between consumers and eco-friendly products. As such, they can influence
green shopping behavior. The results of an eye-tracking experiment show that retailers can attract
consumers’ visual attention and increase the green premium through various practices such as providing
relevant information, orienting consumers inside the store, and offering an eco-friendly product as-
sortment. Managerial implications are to use green-colored price tags to signal eco-friendly products,
while avoiding greenwashing practices that can distract consumers from finding the eco-friendly pro-
ducts they look for.
& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Today, a growing share of consumers wish to reward businesses
that are sustainable (Goldstein et al., 2008; Griskevicius et al.,
2010; Tsarenko et al., 2013). These consumers are conscious of the
consequences of their consumption, and if they can, they will buy
eco-friendly or fair-trade groceries. That is, consumers signal and
demonstrate green attitudes through their shopping behavior:
They are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products (Kotler,
2011; Laroche et al., 2001; Nielsen, 2011). These eco-friendly
products may be organic or manufactured from fewer natural re-
sources and with social and ethical respect towards the labor force,
requiring less energy during usage, and may be recycled. As a re-
sult, eco-friendly products are often more expensive for con-
sumers. But from a value-based pricing perspective, such products
also can be premium-priced “[…] because they have added value
by being green, that is, it is not simply the added costs” (Simms,
1992, p. 39).
The “green premium,” the price difference between classic and
eco-friendly products, represents potential revenue for retailers
(Luehr, 1992), and 77 percent of consumers state they are willing
to pay such a premium (European Commission, 2013). However,
eco-friendly products account for less than 4 percent of market
share worldwide, especially in food retailing (Chkanikova et al.,
2013). Indeed, consumers perceive eco-friendly products as
ineffective (Luchs et al., 2010), judge the environmental attributes
as not central to the product function (Gershoff and Frels, 2015), or
simply place a stronger emphasis on the product price than on
sustainability (Meise et al., 2014). Some consumers also do not
trust these environmental attributes to be true (Gleim et al., 2013).
Retailers play a key role in sustainability initiatives because of
their proximity to the consumers, who make 82 percent of their
purchase decisions inside the store (POPAI, 2014). Retailers act as
gatekeepers who have power to introduce sustainability into the
value chain (Chkanikova et al., 2013). Since Walmart introduced its
sustainability index throughout its supply chain in 2008, other
retailers have adopted some of its best practices. For instance,
retailers can add brands that are eco-friendly to the product as-
sortment. By increasing the market share of eco-friendly products,
retailers can achieve significant economies of scale and leverage
incremental profits (RILA, 2012). Consumers generally trust the
performance of well-known brands, which is why such brands can
be used to successfully introduce eco-friendly products (Pickett-
Baker and Ozaki, 2008). Research also has shown that retailers can
influence consumers' green shopping behavior by informing con-
sumers inside the store through point-of-purchase (PoP) in-
formation displays and other components in the physical store
environment (Gleim et al., 2013; Laroche et al., 2001; Lin and
Huang, 2012; Litvine and Wüstenhagen, 2011; Mejri et al., 2012;
Meise et al., 2014; Tsarenko et al., 2013). In this paper, we argue
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jretconser
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services ∎ (∎∎∎∎) ∎∎∎–∎∎∎
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.jretconser.2016.07.008
Guyader,
Ottosson, 
& Witell  
(JRCS 2016)

Eye Tracking Experiment
Convenience supermarket mock-up.
5 shelves: tomato sauce, kidney beans, coffee and
softeners.
3 product alternatives: classic, ecological, or fair-trade.
Different variables: brand, price, packaging colors,
labels, information displays, décor, etc.

Purpose
Study the impact of in-store information, green price tags and
greenwashing product assortment on the shopping behaviour
of supermarket customers.
Objective: offer a normal shopping experience, but with a
green servicescape (= items evoking countryside/agriculture
were displayed around the shelves).
2 experimental conditions:  
- control group (46%) 
- treatment group (54%) — “The person you do the shopping
for is actually sustainable-oriented and prefer to eat organic
food” (= representative of “deep green” consumers who
genuinely search for green products).

http://youtu.be/Mm0g8mVHffE

control group primed group
Fixation Time Average [ms]
0 20001000
Heat Maps
Results - Green Price Tags

control group primed group
Fixation Time Average [ms]
0 20001000
Results - Greenwashing
Heat Maps

Findings
✓ Retailers are the gatekeepers between consumers and eco-
friendly products. They can influence green consumer
behavior.
➡ Retailers can attract consumers’ visual attention and increase
the sales of eco-friendly products through various practices:
✤ influencing consumers’ intentions to make green purchases,
✤ providing relevant information,
✤ orienting consumers inside the store, and
✤ offering an eco-friendly product assortment.
Managerial implications:
✤ use green price tags to signal eco-friendly products to consumers,
✤ avoid greenwashing practices (such as display of products with
misleading packaging) that can distract consumers from finding
the eco-friendly products they look for.

References
‣ Belk: Handbook of Qualitative
Research Methods in Marketing —
2007
‣ Bryman & Bell: Business Research
Methods — 2015
‣ Dillman, Smyth & Christian: The
Tailored Design Method — 2014
‣ Hair, Anderson, & Black:
Multivariate Data Analysis —
2013
‣ Huberman & Miles: Qualitative Data
Analysis — 1994
‣ Huberman & Miles: The Qualitative
Researcher's Companion — 2002
‣ Kotler, Armstrong, & Parment:
Principles of Marketing
(Scandinavian Edition) — 2016
‣ Kozinets: Nenography Redefined —
2015
‣ Rubin & Rubin: Qualitative
Interviewing. The Art of Hearing
Data — 2005
‣ Van Maanen: Tales of the Field: On
Writing Ethnography — 2011
‣ Yin: Case Study Research Design and
Methods — 2013
‣ Zikmund, Babin, Carr & Griffin:
Business Research Methods —
2013

Email me your questions about the lecture!
Hugo Guyader 
hugo.guyader@liu.se
Credit images:  
The Noun Project

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