Module description
Successful businesses require marketing intelligence that helps them both to understand the effectiveness of the current marketing mix – and how it may need to be reconfigured – and to explore and identify new opportunities in the marketplace, for example through segmentation and new product development. Marketing research fulfills both roles and is a critical input to the marketing system: for example, it was critical in the decision of Apple to develop the iPhone in the face of the maturing market for iPods.
Without doubt, at some point in your career, you will need to deal with marketing research, and it is thus an important, core module. The objective of this module is to enable you to conduct effective marketing research and to interpret and use the marketing research of others as decision tools. Towards this end, the module will examine the development of actionable marketing research through the definition of marketing research problems, information gathering, data analysis, report writing, and presentation. In addition to its focus on informed business decision-making, this module is intended to provide technical skills related to the design, implementation, interpretation and use of marketing research. Thus, we will spend some time on the mechanics of data coding and analysis, in addition to devoting attention to the design and interpretation of research that matches specific types of business decisions.
Assessment details
Individual Coursework (60%)
Group Work (40%)
Educational aims & objectives
The main aims of the module are to:
- Introduce the concepts and techniques used in marketing research.
- Enable you to appreciate how marketing research contributes to business decision making.
- Provide an opportunity for you to undertake marketing research which will include Defining the Research Problems, Information Gathering (primary and secondary), Data Analysis, Report writing and implementation i.e., practical application.
- Allow you to critique marketing research done by others.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module you should be able to:
- Understand and make a case for the role of marketing research as a critical business input.
- Evaluate the advantages and limitations of various marketing research approaches and techniques.
- Interpret marketing research findings and draw appropriate managerial implications and recommendations.
- Present marketing research findings effectively to a wide range of audiences.
Teaching pattern
Across the semester teaching is expected to comprise of:
- 30 hours combination of lectures, cases and in-class exercises.
Lectures will introduce the relevant marketing concepts and methods. Case studies, and group assignments will be used to supply a context in which to apply these concepts and methods.
You will also be expected to spend time preparing for classes and working on the assessment tasks each week. The combined hours of classes and independent learning should equate to at least 15 hours a week.
Please Note: The module assumes a working knowledge of basic statistics and attempts to build specific knowledge more relevant to marketing research. We will use Microsoft Excel and/or SPSS as our primary statistical software packages.
Suggested reading list
Essentials of Marketing Research. 5th Ed. New York, NY: Hair, J.F., Ortinau, D.J. and Harrison, D.E. (2021) McGraw-Hill Education Education, McGraw-Hill Education international editions