Market Research Information Research Articles

Tackling the social marketing formative research bottleneck: comparative analysis of the complementary nature of community-generated personas and focus groups

Purpose This study aims to understand the utility of personas and illustrate, through a case study, how a persona-building exercise in a Community Based Prevention Marketing (CBPM) training of community leaders elicited important insights that complemented findings from ongoing formative research on vaccine hesitancy in the Hispanic/Latino population in the USA during COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory concurrent parallel qualitative study design compared three personas created by community-based organization members (n = 37) to transcripts from five formative research focus groups (n = 30) from the same project. All participants in this study were recruited by the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network as part of their capacity-building and formative research activities. Grounded theory guided the content analysis. Findings This study found personas and focus groups to be complementary. A high degree of co-occurrence was observed when investigating the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine under the categories of barriers, culture and communication. Between the two methods, the authors found strong associations between fear, disruption to the value system, work-related barriers, inaccessibility to health care and information sources and misinformation. Areas of divergence were negligible. Research limitations/implications While personas provided background information about the population and sharing “how” to reach the priority population, focus groups provided the “why” behind the behavior, followed by “how”. Practical implications A community-driven persona-building process built on cultural community knowledge and existing data can build community capacity, provide rich information to assist in the creation of tailored messages, strategies and overall interventions during a public health crisis and provide user-centered, evidence-based information about a priority population while researchers and practitioners wait on the results from formative research. Originality/value This case study provided a unique opportunity to analyze the complementary effectiveness of two methods acting in tandem to understand the priority population: stakeholder-informed persona-building and participant-informed focus group interviews. Understanding their complementary nature addresses a time gap that often exists between researchers and practitioners during times of crises and builds on recommendations associated with bringing rigor into practice, promoting academic contribution to real-world issues and building collaborative partnerships. Finally, it supports the utility of a nimble tool that improves social marketers’ ability to know more about their audience for intervention design when time is of the essence and formative research is ongoing.

Marketing Research Skills: Managers Versus Workers in Micro Business in Ondo State

The major purpose of this study is to compare the Marketing Research skills needed managers and workers in micro business.As firms grow more and more in global markets, the role of reliable, verifiable, timely and high quality marketing research information to support decision-making becomes increasingly indispensable. The effectiveness and usefulness of decision-making is directly connected to the broad condition of the preferred sector(s) of the global market. To obtain complete information regarding the market entails designing and completing a significant number of activities arranged in logical sequence. Marketing research is the principal means by which firms comprehend existing and potential customers. Relevant literature were reviewed with respect to general and marketing research skills. The study employed a survey research design and it was conducted in the three senatorial zone in Ondo State. The entire population comprised 739 respondents made up of 283 managers and 456 employees. The sample was made up of 400 respondents and hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. A Likert scale made of 11 structured questionnaire items were used for data analysis. The reliability co-efficient of the instrument for the study was 0.75 which was calculated by using Guttman split-half. It was found out that there was no significant difference between the general research skill possessed by both managers and workers but the marketing research skill possessed by the managers are significantly different from that of other workers. Possession of general research skill was recommended for all (managers and workers). Marketing research skill was recommended for all managers in the micro business within Ondo State.

Insights for speed management among Iranian drivers: a social marketing formative research study.

Road traffic crashes are among the leading causes of death and disability in the world, particularly in low and middle-income countries. This study aimed at to conduct a social marketing formative research to inform the development of a campaign to manage driving speed on the intercity roads of Iran. To carry out the social marketing formative research, a qualitative and quantitative study were conducted. Also, a literature review of the speed management strategies was carried out and an analysis of traffic accident data and speeding violations was performed in selected provinces during 2019 and 2020. Based on the findings of the qualitative study, perceived sense of lack of speed control, poor monitoring system, and law enforcement are the main reasons drivers exceed the speed limit. They mostly suggest using punitive levers and more stringent law enforcement practices for speed management. Literature reviews also confirm that to successfully develop an effective speed management plan a set of measures should be implemented together, including road safety engineering, raising awareness, social marketing strategies, and finally strict law enforcement. The overriding findings of the formative research revealed that to persuade Iranian drivers to respect the speed limit, the messages of the campaign should focus on strict law enforcement in the selected corridors. In the minds of the Iranian audience, strict law enforcement is of paramount importance for a speed management strategy to work; hence it should be taken into consideration when tailoring the campaign messages. From the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that to manage speed on intercity routes in Iran, a social marketing campaign is needed to encourage compliance with speed limits.

ФАКТОРИ ВПЛИВУ НА РОЗВИТОК БУДІВЕЛЬНОГО СЕКТОРУ ЕКОНОМІКИ ТА РИНКУ НЕРУХОМОСТІ УКРАЇНИ

The factors of external and internal influence on the development of the construction sector of the economy and the real estate market of Ukraine were studied. The components of real estate statistics and the components of information and statistical support for real estate market research in the system of state statistics of Ukraine are defined. An analysis of housing construction in Ukraine by region was carried out, and on its basis key factors affecting the number of built housing were identified, the following can be distinguished: the level of investment in housing construction; income of the population and share of the population; the possibility of obtaining and paying loans for the purchase of housing. It has been established that the construction industry and the residential real estate market function under the influence of a number of interrelated factors of the internal and external environment, and even at the construction stage, it is worth considering the determination of the market value of the object based on a systematic analysis of the internal and external environment of the construction sector of the residential real estate industry. Internal factors of the industry are market, political, economic, social, demographic, natural-geographic and scientific-technical factors, and external factors include factors that influence regional markets and trends in the development of global real estate markets, scientific progress, global banking and financial systems It was determined that the influence factors can be divided into three groups according to the period of validity: long-term (total volumes of construction in the city/region; demand/supply of apartments in the segment; dynamics of average prices in the segment; average in the location; installment terms of competitors, terms of loans; indicators object, location; infrastructure of the object; quality of processing, building materials, technologies; functionality, additional services; legal status); medium-term (inflation; dollar exchange rate; average wage; minimum wage; consumer basket; NBU discount rate; weighted average interest rate on deposits of individuals; transaction costs; cost of commercial services; cost of materials; cost of energy carriers; taxation of legal entities; average interest rate on mortgages, lending volume, availability of loans); short-term (planned yield of 1 sq.m.; number of construction sites; timeliness of delivery of objects, lagging behind construction schedules).

Organisational learning antecedents and open innovation: Differences in internationalisation level

The aim of this study is to inspect differences in internationalisation level of firms from a transitional economy based on their innovation outcomes, open innovation and organisational learning practices. Results indicate that firms with lower internationalisation level owe their innovation success to coupled and outbound open innovation practices that originate from market research, competitor tracking and public information. Mediating effect of outbound innovation is present in the relationship between market research and innovation success. Firms with higher internationalisation level do not exhibit significant effect of open innovation on innovation success, but their organisational learning antecedents such as market research and research and development negatively affect innovation success, while public information and forecasting have a significant positive effect on innovation success. The major contribution of this study is the understanding of how organisational learning antecedents and open innovation practices interact in firms with different internationalisation levels, whereby firms with higher internationalisation level already have competitive advantage that lower internationalisation firms need to achieve.

Librarians in the LaunchPad: Building partnerships for entrepreneurial information literacy

This case-study describes the development of cross-disciplinary instruction for entrepreneurial information literacy. Growing out of a developing relationship between an academic library and Blackstone LaunchPad, this program addressed specific needs related to undergraduate international student participation in an inclusive entrepreneurship micro-credential program. A collaborative team of librarians developed a three-part workshop series to provide students with the necessary resources to navigate market research, patents and standards information, and the process of data visualization. Outcomes included successful student engagement, increased student awareness of significant library resources for entrepreneurship, and a stronger partnership between the library and Blackstone LaunchPad.

Predicted preference conjoint analysis.

In this paper we propose a new method of eliciting market research information. Instead of asking respondents for their personal choices and preferences, we ask respondents to predict the choices of other respondents to the survey. Such predictions tap respondents’ knowledge of peers, whether based on direct social contacts or on more general cultural information. The effectiveness of this approach has already been demonstrated in the context of political polling. Here we extend it to market research, specifically, to conjoint analysis. An advantage of the new approach is that it can elicit reliable responses in situations where people are not comfortable with disclosing their true preferences, but may be willing to give information about people around them. A theoretical argument demonstrates that predictions should yield utility estimates that are more accurate. These theoretical results are confirmed in four online experiments.

The Importance of Marketing Research Practices on the Performance of Tanzanian Manufacturing SMEs.

Despite increased competition across the globe, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are generally said to be behindhand in the execution of formal marketing research. This study, investigated the importance of marketing research practices on the performance of manufacturing SMEs in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Within quantitative method, an analyticalsurvey design was adopted and data was randomly collected from 200 SMEs using semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, T-test, and regression analyses through SPSS software: 21 Findings confirm that the majority of manufacturing SMEs in Dar es Salaam do implement marketing research activities in unstructured way. However, an independent t-test reveal that a significant difference exists at 5% level with SMEs which adopts formal marketing research being more likely to grow (p-value = 0.009). Further, the majority of SMEs utilises marketing research information generated by external agents based on personal networks due to pressure from competitive environment and resource constraints. This way, there are no statistical and significant relationships between SMEs performance and the extent of utilising marketing research data generated by external agents at 5% level of chi-square statistics (Χ2 = 14.975; 4 d.f.). Consequently, the regression analysis indicates a significant value less than 0.05 with an adjusted R-square of 0.029. In lieu of this, the extent of executing marketing research activities are on average associated with the performance of SMEs. This is similar to the work of others (Ghouri, Khan, Malik, and Razzaq, 2011; McLarty, Pichanic, and Srpova, 2012) and the underlying theories of marketing by SMEs. The paper proposes a model that can be used to explain the influence of marketing research practices on the performance of SMEs. Also, some recommendations to policy design and marketing practioners including areas for further research are proposed.

Investigation of British Columbia Entrepreneurs' Secondary Market Research Habits and Information Needs

Investigation of British Columbia Entrepreneurs' Secondary Market Research Habits and Information Needs

Not just another internal service provider: how a firm’s marketing research function influences uses of market research information

PurposeThis paper aims to better understand a firm’s market research function’s (MRF) roles and influences on the different uses of market research information (MRI) (instrumental, conceptual and symbolic) in the firm.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a mixed-methods design: In a qualitative study among marketing managers (n = 9) and market researchers (n = 10); different roles of a firm’s MRF are scrutinized. The quantitative study among corporate users of MRI (n = 235) tests a conceptual model on the MRF-related determinants of MRI uses, using structural equation modeling.FindingsWhen the MRF exhibits methodological, market and business expertise and interacts with market research users, these features indirectly influence instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic uses, through MRI quality perceived by the users. The users’ knowledge of market research methods, the function’s integrity, top management support, and decentralized decision-making have various beneficial influences on the three uses of MRI.Research limitations/implicationsBroadly speaking, this research expands the theoretical understanding of marketing-related organizational learning processes. It considers message, source, recipient, and context variables to explain changes in attitude and behavior, related to MRI uses.Practical implicationsOverall, corporations should use MRI more thoroughly. Treating the MRF as a strategic asset rather than just another internal service provider increases its value to the firm. Firms should thus bolster the MRF’s different roles, namely, internal colleague, service provider, customer representative, quality assurance, and knowledge broker.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to comprehensively analyze the MRF’s role in MRI generation and various uses. It identifies three expertise dimensions of the MRF to fully leverage the MRF’s value to the organization and empirically underscores theoretical writings on the MRF’s roles in the firm.

Using Twitter® as source of information for dietary market research: a study on veganism and plant‐based diets

SummarySocial media has experienced rapid growth in recent years and has been subjected of discussions on a wide range of topics including new lifestyles and eating habits, providing a great opportunity to obtain spontaneous consumer information. In this sense, the present work aimed to understand the perception of Twitter® users about themes of veganism and plant‐based diets. The social networking data mining methodology was applied to measure the relationship between both terms. The significant differences found were analysed using the global chi‐square (χ2) test, and their sources of variation were investigated by the chi‐square per cell. The results indicate that the vegan group's posts are more related to the categories of recipes, trends, criticism and negative comments about veganism, being more often citing sources when compared to the other group. The results of the plant‐based diet group are more significantly related to the impacts of nutrition, physical activity and consumer health. In conclusion, Twitter® has proved to be an interesting tool for obtaining data on (re) produced food publications on social media and their results can guide the market and the academic environment in creating new products, services and marketing strategies to answer the needs of specific consumers.

Methodical approaches to the assessment of the reproduction of the agricultural enterprises material and technical base

The signifcance of the evaluation of the logistical base of agricultural enterprises in the accounting system is revealed in the article. Research methods have been described and alternative approaches to inventory valuation by national and international accounting standards have been investigated, and it has been identifed that there are some inconsistencies in the formation of inventory values at the date of receipt, disposal and balance sheet date. The main features of organization of accounting of land plots in agricultural enterprises are established. To determine the value of the land previously used by the enterprise (for example, on certifcates of ownership and use), we propose to use in the current accounting the estimated value of the land, which is based on the regulatory monetary valuation, determined by differential rental income. It has been found that an integral part of a biological transformation is the assessment of changes in a biological asset, which includes measuring and controlling changes in quality (fat content, protein, fber strength, etc.) or quantity (breeding, weight, etc.). In the course of the research it is determined that the process of accounting and valuation of biological assets at fair value should include such steps as: defning biological assets as an object of accounting according to their classifcation; specifcation of biological assets by species, cultures, rocks and other defning features; active market research and price information and technical and economic information collection; selection of biological asset valuation methodology; the calculation of the fair value of biological assets in accordance with the methodology adopted. An examination of the IFRS 13 "Fair Value Measurement for the measurement of biological assets at fair value" has shown that it should be made from the perspective of all market participants and the market environment should be assigned to the entities themselves. This will take into account the differences that exist between them, as they differ not only in terms of quality but also in the types of economic activity. In order to improve the investment attractiveness of enterprises, it is advisable to evaluate agricultural organizations' land resources according to International Accounting Standards, which provide for fair value. Valuation of assets and liabilities at this cost will increase the transparency of the fnancial statements and the reliability of the information on the fnancial and economic activities of the entity. In addition, in the analysis of fnancial and economic activity of enterprises of the corporate sector of the agrarian economy, a real assessment of land resources will have a positive impact on the normative indicators of liquidity and fnancial stability, which is especially important in the conditions of fnancial crisis and growing need for investment. Key words: material base, resources, inventories, fxed assets, reproduction process, market value, fair price, land valuation, accounting efciency.

Taking a wider view

PurposeResponding to the call for an extension of social marketing scope and application, this paper aims to outline implementation of a multi-stream, multi-method formative research approach to understanding human trafficking in the global South context of Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachData were collected using a multi-method, multi-stream research design. The study used alternative methods allowing a critical perspective to be taken.FindingsContradictions between upstream discourses and the lived experiences of trafficked individuals emerged. Specifically, moral and rational agency ideology, which conflates human trafficking with prostitution, unintentionally promotes human trafficking and underrepresents other forms of trafficking was evident. Experiences of socioeconomic oppression, traditional practices and an aspirational culture fuels positive attitudes towards human trafficking. The lived experience of human trafficking survivors while varied was underpinned by the common theme of job seeking. Participants perceived human traffickers as benevolent users rather than oppressors, and their rescue as oppressive and disempowering.Research limitations/implicationsApplication of a multi-stream approach is limited by research context, sample size, time and cost constraints. Future research extending the multi-stream research approach to other research contexts and groups is recommended.Practical implicationsMulti-stream formative research design assisted to yield wider insights, which informed the design of a multilevel pilot intervention to combat human trafficking in Nigeria.Originality/valueExtending understanding beyond individual, myopic approaches that have dominated social marketing formative research.

Generating new directions for reducing dog and koala interactions: a social marketing formative research study

ABSTRACTKoala populations are declining. Conservation of this Australian icon requires a whole of community approach. To effect change, researchers and practitioners must effectively engage the target community, be open to different ways of thinking, and be receptive to new ideas and directions that match the times. This article reports the application of social marketing to decrease dog and koala interactions. A comprehensive program of formative research including a systematic literature review, expert interviews, online surveys and co-design sessions were employed to identify novel ideas and audience-focused strategies that can be applied to reduce dog and koala interactions. Results indicate that dog owners seek a non-koala focussed, dog training program that shows them what to do and a targeted approach alerting them to koala presence in addition to education and awareness efforts favoured by experts. This study indicates the need for more human centred research, which has been absent to date, given identified incongruence between expert and community views. We propose that audience-focused behaviour management strategies will, in turn, increase target audience adoption, campaign reach and promote effective community engagement with programs.

Managers’ cognitive capabilities and perception of market research usefulness

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between three theoretical constructs developed in the course of the study measuring: (a) managers' memory capacity, (b) information processing, as a part of general system of cognitive capabilities, and (c) their perception of market research usefulness. In particular, we diagnose managers' natural limitations associated with cognition which determine their capabilities to deal with the market research information storage and retrieval as well as research information processing. With this intention and theoretical assumption, we designed and implemented a two-phase process of research. In the first phase, based on the literature review; face-to-face in-depth interviews and a pilot study (a pretest) we developed measurement models for the proposed theoretical constructs. Next, we conducted quantitative research among 213 highly experienced managers working in multinational companies in a European country (Poland), where the sample included individuals who were responsible for planning strategic and tactical marketing activities. Based on the structural equation modeling as the analytical strategy, the empirical research results revealed that managers in business organizations due to limited cognitive capabilities such as lower-than-average memory capacity and poor information processing, develop wrong perceptions of the usefulness of market research. Managers, when faced with difficulties regarding information storage and retrieval, as well as information processing, react negatively towards that research. Finally, we explained the reasons as to why managers in companies perceive market research in a negative light, as well as presented the most important theoretical and managerial implications.

Peculiarities of commercial activity of bakery enterprises

The article is devoted to the study of commercial activity peculiarities of domestic baking enterprises. The author establishes the current state of development of the baking industry and bakery enterprises of Ukraine. It has been determined that the domestic bakery industry is characterized by the reduction of production volumes and the rise in prices for bread products, as well as by a decrease in the number of producing enterprises, and a decrease in the level of profitability. In the course of the research it has been established that the peculiarities of the commercial activity of bakery enterprises in the market conditions of management are: obligatory consideration of the needs of bread products consumers; establishing trade in places of customers confluence in the absence of own sales networks; establishing partnerships with retailers. It has been established that the commercial activity of baking enterprises is accompanied by the emergence of commercial risk associated with: the use of inaccurate marketing research information; the emergence of unpredictable situations at the stage of product sales; a significant competitive struggle between specialized producers and small bakeries, which leads to a redistribution of the market and the loss of the target consumer. It is noted that the key direction of activity development of the enterprises that sell their products is its compliance with international standards of quality and safety. Modern state regulation of food producers is aimed at identifying and preventing the emergence of potentially dangerous factors in the production process. Therefore, food industry companies are obliged to introduce a HACCP system. In the absence of certification, the company may be fined on the results of the audit, and specialized trading enterprises are not allowed to accept the product for further sale.

Theoretical bases of project management in conditions of innovative economy based on fuzzy modeling

In recent years, more and more Russian enterprises (both private and public) are trying to organize their activities on the basis of modern scientific research in order to improve the management of economic processes. Business planning, financial and investment analysis, modern software products based on the latest scientific developments are introduced everywhere. At the same time, there is a growing demand for market research (both at the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels), for financial and general economic information.

Developing the Tourism Management Information System and Decision Support Framework for Selection Trip in Kayah State

Tourism Management Information System is the electronic delivery of market research information and decision support tools for the tourism management. It is a platform for tourism associations to exchange data/ information/ knowledge. The decision makers or travelers have to face and take attention with a lot of criteria; such as cost, place type, time taken, transportation type and star rate while choosing the best successful trip in their vacations. Tourism in Myanmar is a slowly developing sector. Although Myanmar possesses great tourist potential and attractions in many fields, much of the industry remains to be developed. The first step of this research is developing the tourism management system and then selection of trip based on decision support framework for desire state or country by using AHP method(case study is Kayah State in Myanmar). The objective of this research is to test the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) applicability with the process for decision making in the selection of trip program. AHP helps to figure out the best outcome which features that the travelers need and how to select the successful trip that really want.

Success factors for teams in business game Dynama

The current article is based on data from Dynama business games conducted in two Estonian institutions of higher education (Estonian Business School (EBS) and Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applies Sciences) between years 2012 and 2016. The research questions that this paper attempts to explore look at the relationship between the results obtained by different teams in business game Dynama and their teams’ characteristics. The paper also shows how the volume of market research information used affects the results obtained by different teams in the business game. This research of implementational nature primarily helps to develop the teaching methods and basis for team composition in business game Dynama with the purpose of sup¬porting the course and achieving the learning outcomes in a more effective way. The research results may also be of interest to those who use and research business games as a teaching tool. The variables employed in this study enabled us to compare our research with that conducted by A.-E. Lerviks and M. Paltschik at Hanken School of Economics and Business Administration in 1982.

IMPLEMENTASI SISTEM PENDUKUNG KEPUTUSAN DENGAN METODE AHP DALAM MENENTUKAN TINGKAT KEPUASAN PELANGGAN (STUDI KASUS DINAS KOPERASI, USAHA KECIL DAN MENENGAH KABUPATEN DELI SERDANG)

In order to increase customer satisfaction at Deli Serdang SME Corner, a study was conducted on the level of customer satisfaction in Deli Serdang SME Corner. To find out the extent to which UKM UKM's capabilities provide satisfaction through product, service, financial, shipping, and company conditions, marketing research information from the results of marketing research is needed to find out the attitudes and behavior of customers towards what is most influential in making decisions at SME Corner customers Office of Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises in Deli Serdang Regency. This research starts from the stage of analyzing existing systems that are obtained from direct interviews with related parties and observations. While the design method uses the Unified Modeling language (UML) to describe system design. In this case, to calculate the level of customer satisfaction, the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) method is used. Using a decision-making system can provide convenience for Deli Serdang's UKM Corner to determine customer satisfaction in improving the quality to determine the level of customer satisfaction that is applied using PHP and MySQL Database programming .. The system was developed using a software engineering approach, including analysis, design and implementation . At the analysis stage, process analysis, input analysis, output analysis, ongoing system weakness analysis and needs analysis are carried out.