The document outlines the 11 steps of the marketing research process: 1) establishing the need for research, 2) defining the problem, 3) establishing research objectives, 4) determining research design, 5) identifying information sources, 6) determining data collection methods, 7) designing collection forms, 8) determining sample size, 9) collecting data, 10) analyzing data, and 11) preparing and presenting the final report. Each step is briefly described in the document.

1. The Marketing
Research Process

2. The Marketing Research Process: 11 Steps
Step One: Establishing the Need for Marketing Research
Step Two: Defining the Problem
Step Three: Establishing Research Objectives
Step Four: Determining Research Design
Step Five: Identifying Information Types and Sources
Step Six: Determining Methods of Accessing Data
Step Seven: Designing Data Collection Forms
Step Eight: Determining Sample Plan and Size
Step Nine: Collecting Data
Step Ten: Analyzing Data
Step Eleven: Preparing and Presenting the Final Research Report

3. The Marketing Research Process
Step One: Establish the Need for Marketing Research
When Marketing Research is not needed
• The information is already available
• Decisions need to be made now
• You can’t afford research
• Costs outweigh the value of the research

4. The Marketing Research Process
Step Two: Define the Problem
• The most important step in the marketing research
process is defining the problem.
• What is your team’s problem?

5. The Marketing Research Process
Step Three: Establish Research Objectives
• What information is needed in order to solve the
problem?
• Primary
• Secondary
• Both

6. The Marketing Research Process
Step Four: Determine Research Design
• Exploratory Research: collecting information in an
unstructured and informal manner
• Descriptive Research: refers to a set of methods and
procedures describing marketing variables
• Causal Research (experiments and other approaches):
allows isolation of causes and effects via use of
experiment or surveys.

7. The Marketing Research Process
Step Five: Identify Information Types and Sources
• Secondary Data: information that has been collected for
some other purpose other than the research at hand
• Primary Data: information that has been gathered
specifically for the research objectives at hand

8. The Marketing Research Process
Step Six: Determine Methods of Accessing Data
• Secondary Data: accessing data through sources such
as the Internet and library
• Primary Data: collecting data through methods such
as telephone, mail, online, and face-to-face
(quantitative) and observation studies and focus
groups (qualitative)
• Both are excellent! Use both in your projects!

9. The Marketing Research Process
Step Seven: Design Data Collection Forms
• The design of the data collection form that is used to
ask or observe and record information in marketing
research projects is critical to the success of the project.
It is easy to write a set of questions but very difficult to
construct a questionnaire.
• Questionnaires
• Observation Studies

10. The Marketing Research Process
Step Eight: Determine Sample Plan and Size
• Sample plan: refers to the process used to select units from
the population to be included in the sample
• Sample size: refers to determining how many elements of
the population should be included in the sample

11. The Marketing Research Process
Step Nine: Collect Data
• Data collection is very important because, regardless of
the data analysis methods used, data analysis cannot
“fix” bad data.
Non sampling errors may occur during data collection.
These are related to poor design and/or execution of the
data gathering.
• Sampling errors may occur based purely on chance
• Trying to make a decision on a population from a
sample

12. The Marketing Research Process
Step Ten: Analyze Data
• Data analysis: involves entering data into computer files,
inspecting data for errors, and running tabulations and
various statistical tests
• Data cleaning: process by which raw data are checked to
verify that the data have been correctly input from the data
collection form to the computer software program

13. The Marketing Research Process
Step Eleven: Prepare and Present the Final
Research Report
• The last step is one of the most important phases of
marketing research.
• Its importance cannot be overstated because it is the
report, or its presentation, that properly communicates
the results to the client.