This document discusses marketing research and its importance for businesses. It defines marketing research as the systematic gathering and analysis of data related to marketing problems. Marketing research is important as it provides valuable customer behavior data, helps select promotional techniques, supplies market information, and evaluates marketing performance. The key stages of marketing research are defining the problem, developing a research plan, collecting information, analyzing the information, and presenting findings. A marketing information system is also described which continuously provides relevant data to aid marketing decisions. Finally, common areas studied in pharmaceutical market research are outlined.

1. MARKETING
RESEARCH
BY
S.N.TEJASRI
I M.PHARMACY

2. DEFINITION
 According to American Marketing Association
 “Marketing Research is the systematic gathering, recording
and analysing of data about problems relating to the marketing
of goods and services.”
 According to Philip Kotler
 “Marketing research is a systematic problem analysis, model
building and fact finding for the purpose of improved
decision-making and control in the marketing of goods and
services.”

3. IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING
RESEARCH
 A Business faces many types of marketing problems. It faces problems
about its product, price, place and promotion, product design, packaging,
branding, marketing channels, advertising etc..,
 The need and importance of marketing research are depicted below:
 1)PROVIDES VALUABLE DATA
 Marketing research provides valuable data to the decision makers. It
provides data about demand, supply, consumer behaviour, competition
etc.., This data is used for decision making. This data improves the quality
of decisions. It makes the decision successful.
 2)STUDIES CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
 It provides data about consumer behaviour. It provides data about age,
income, like, dislikes etc.., of the consumers. It also finds out the opinions
of the consumers about a company’s product. This data is used to
make production and marketing policies.

4. IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING RESEARCH
 3)SELECTS PROMOTIONAL TECHNIQUES
 It helps the company to select suitable sales promotion techniques. It helps
to select marketing techniques. It helps to select proper media for
advertising. It helps to solve the problems of after-sales service. It also
helps to prepare the budget for advertising and sales promotion.
 4)SUPPLIES MARKETING INFORMATION
 It supplies data about the market situation.
 The market related data is used to find out:
 a)The present future demand and supply position
 b)The level of competition and steps taken to control it
 c)Market opportunities
 d)The cause of fall in sales level

5. IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING RESEARCH
 5)EVALUATES MARKETING PERFORMANCE
 It helps the company to evaluate its marketing performance and to take
steps to improve it.
 It is used to find out the effect of price, package, brand name etc.., on
sales. It is used to find consumer’s reaction towards the company’s
product. It is used to evaluate the inventory and pricing policies. It is also
used to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising, sales promotion
techniques, channels of distribution etc..,
 6)MISCELLANEOUS NEEDS AND IMPORTANCE
 Miscellaneous needs and importance of marketing research as follows:
 It improves the efficiency of the marketing department. This creates
goodwill and good reputation.
 It helps the marketing manager to take the rational and effective
decisions.

6. IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING RESEARCH
 It helps to choose suitable staff for doing research.
 It is used to make growth and expansion programs.
 It benefits all i.e. it benefits the company, distributor, advertising agency,
consumer, government and the entire society.

7. STAGES IN MARKETING
RESEARCH PROCESS

8. STAGES IN MARKETING RESEARCH
PROCESS
 1) DEFINE THE PROBLEM & RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
 Problem definition in specific terms must precede the determination of the
purpose of the research.
 In order to define the problem more precisely, some sort of exploratory
research may also be undertaken. The methods popularly in use are survey
of secondary data or pilot studies.
 After clarifying and identifying the research problem with or without
exploratory research, the researcher must make a formal statement of
research objectives. Research objectives may be stated in qualitative or
quantitative terms and expressed as research question statements or
hypothesis.

9. STAGES IN MARKETING RESEARCH
PROCESS
 2) DEVELOP THE RESEARCH PLAN
 After defining the research problem and deciding the objectives, the
research plan must be developed. A research plan is a master plan
specifying the procedure for collecting and analysing the needed
information.
 A research plan for gathering needed information is chalked out at this
stage. It helps in estimating the time, cost and human resources required
for a research work. A research plan determines five vital aspects.
 1) Data sources
 2)Research aproaches
 3)Research instruments
 4)Sampling plan
 5)Contact method

10. STAGES IN MARKETING RESEARCH
PROCESS
 3) COLLECT THE INFORMATION
 This is the most expensive stage of research. Collecting primary data by
interviewing, observing, and/or experimenting can be done by people or
machines. Unfortunately, this step is the weakest link in the research
process. It is prone to errors. For example, some respondents may not be
available at home.
 They must be contacted again or replaced. Others may not cooperate. They
give biased or dishonest answers. It is equally difficult to motivate data
collectors. Largely, they are part-time workers doing a monotonous job.
They require proper training, incentives and supervision. Getting the right
data is critical.

11. STAGES IN MARKETING RESEARCH
PROCESS
 4) ANALYZE THE INFORMATION
 The value of research is determined by its results. Thus, data collected
have to be analysed and interpreted. The researcher tabulates the data.
Averages and measures of dispersion are calculated for major variables.
Advanced statistical techniques are also used for discovering additional
findings.
 Today, software tools are available for data entry, data management,
analysis and presentation. Analysis of data provides general estimates,
whereas interpretation draws a specific and precise conclusion. It helps in
preparing a final recommendation to the management.

12. STAGES IN MARKETING RESEARCH
PROCESS
 5) PRESENT THE FINDINGS
 The researcher should present findings that are relevant to research
objective. It has to help management in taking decisions. A research report
is an effective tool used to present research findings. It reflects the skills
and quality of the researches.
 It can be a written or an oral presentation, or both. Visual aids such as line
chart, pie chart, bar chart, pictographs, etc. can be used. A well-presented
report indicates the confidence levels of the researchers in presenting
strategies that helps in managerial decision-making.

13. MARKETING INFORMATION
SYSTEM (MIS)
 A marketing information system (MIS) is a continuing and interacting
structure of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analyze,
evaluate and distribute needed, timely and accurate information for use by
marketing decision makers to improve their marketing planning,
implementation, and control.
 It is a permanent arrangement (system or setup) for provision of regular
availability of relevant, reliable, adequate, and timely information for
making marketing decisions.

14. MARKETING INFORMATION
SYSTEM(MIS)
 FEATURES:
 Continuous system
 Permanent and continuous system of collecting information.
 Basic Objective
 To provide the right information at the right time to the right people to help
them take right decisions.
 Computer-Based System
 Uses computer, so is up-to-date and accurate.
 Future Oriented
 Provides information for solving future problems.
 Used by all levels
 Used by all three levels of management.

15. MARKETING INFORMATION
SYSTEM(MIS)
 Sources
 Collects information from both internal and external sources.
 Collects Marketing information
 Information about consumer competition, marketing environment etc..,
 Helps in Decision-making
 Supplies up-to-date and accurate information that helps to take quick and
right decisions.

16. MARKETING INFORMATION
SYSTEM(MIS)
 ROLE OF MIS IN DECISION MAKING
 To improve the efficiency of a company’s operations.
 To collect the information about the, needs of the consumers.
 To provide pertinent decision-making information to marketing managers
on regular basis.
 Helps recognize trends and changes.
 Analyzes marketing information and gathers it from sources inside and out
an organization.
 Facilitates marketing planning and control.
 Provides marketing intelligence for the organization.

17. MARKETING INFORMATION
SYSTEM(MIS)
 COMPONENTS OF MIS

18. MARKETING INFORMATION
SYSTEM(MIS)
 COMPONENTS OF MIS
 A. Internal Reporting System
 The internal reporting system enables a company to always be aware of
how they are performing as a team and what issues may need addressing.
 Marketing managers get lots of information from the internal-records of
the company. These records provide current information about sales, costs,
inventories, cash flows and accounts receivable and payable. Many
companies maintain their computerized internal records.
 The internal records that are of immediate value to marketing decisions
are: orders received, stockholdings and sales invoices.
 Most marketing managers use internal records and reports regularly,
especially for making day-to-day planning, implementation and control
decisions.

19. MARKETING INFORMATION
SYSTEM(MIS)
 Internal records information consists of information gathered from sources
within the company to evaluate marketing performance and to detect
marketing problems and opportunities.
 B. Marketing Intelligence System
 The marketing intelligence systems are used to deal with the costs of
running a marketing department and a business as a whole. It will process
all the facts and figures delivering what needs to be spent where and what
may be using too much money.
 It collects information from external sources. It provides information about
current marketing environment and changing conditions in the market.
 This information can be easily gathered from external sources like
magazines, trade journals, commercial press, trade press, census, so on.

20. MARKETING INFORMATION
SYSTEM(MIS)
 This information cannot be collected from the Annual Reports of the Trade
Association and Chambers of Commerce, Annual Report of Companies,
etc. The salesmen’s report also contains information about market trends. It
can also gather information from Sales Force, Dealers and Distributors,
and suppliers.
 The information which is collected from the external sources cannot be
used directly. It must be first evaluated and arranged in a proper order. It
can be then used by the marketing manager for taking decisions and
making policies about marketing.

21. PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET
RESEARCH AREA

22. PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET RESEARCH
AREA
 Retail Pharmacy Purchases:
 Measures the “inflow” of products from the manufacturer to the pharmacy
 OTC
 Prescription drugs
 Indirect (through wholesalers)
 Direct purchases from manufacturers
 Hospital Purchases:
Growth of pharmaceutical purchases by hospitals has greatly exceeded
purchases from pharmacies on a proportional basis. In many communities,
the hospital has become more important in routine care.
 Measures the “inflow” of products from the manufacturer to the hospital
 OTC

23. PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET RESEARCH
AREA
 Prescription drugs
 Indirect (through wholesalers)
 Direct purchases from manufacturers
 Warehouse Withdrawals:
Can be valuable in dealing with questions of individual territory
performance and potential or different selling techniques
 Measures the “outflow” of products from the warehouse to all purchasers
 – OTC
– Prescription drugs
 Does not reflect direct purchases from manufacturers.
 Provides ability to analyze small segments of the marketplace such as zip
code or territories.

24. PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET RESEARCH
AREA
 Retail Pharmacy Prescriptions:
 Measures the “outflow” of prescription drugs from the pharmacy to
consumers
 Most sensitive indicator of prescription product performance (factual)
 Reflects mindset of prescribers and consumer demand
 Best indicator of marketing or promotional effort effectiveness
 Data available at national and sub-national levels
 Physician Panels:
 Specialized research services to identify patient product usage along
specific variables:

25. PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET RESEARCH
AREA
– Diagnosis
– Patient characteristics
– Location of visit
– Drugs used
– Action desired from drugs used
 Tracking of new prescriptions over time and monitors changes in doctor
prescribing habits
 Retail Pharmacy Sales:
 Historically used for non-prescription pharmaceuticals
 Data typically collected for products of interest
 Collect unit and dollar information at the package size level
 Main use is to obtain prescription counts by product
 Used for pricing analysis and cross-tabulation analysis using data
warehouses

26. PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET RESEARCH
AREA
 Promotional Media:
 Monitoring of detailing visits to physicians by sales representatives
 Monitoring of journal advertising
 Monitoring of direct mail advertising
 Physician sampling