Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

This sounds like a homework assignment. Instead of us telling you what we think - why don't you share what you think, and perhaps we all can discuss it together online.

Yes it is part of an assignment question.

Sure, here is what I had to answer the question....
conducting research on consumer’s feelings and opinions towards a recent purchase. This could be performed by collecting primary data such as surveys. Interviews such as surveys could be performed on all customers in a certain period in the way of questionnaires. Questions about a latest product release could be the main focus, asking consumers to rate their feelings about the new product and how satisfied they feel with it and its ability to perform to their needs. Questions regarding an individual’s feelings in relation to the price of the product can also be included in the questionnaire E.g. did you feel the product was a fair and reasonable price for the quality of service of the product.

I am just not to sure if this is correct???

I know that this question would require me include something about setting up trials and just changing one element at a time.
But I don't understand it at all.

There are a number of different ways you can approach this. One is by looking for differences in the marketplace that effectively provide examples of different marketing mixes. For example, pricing may be higher in one area than in another. You can look at business results in two areas and see if pricing seems to be a major factor in determining success. Ditto with packaging, promotion, advertising, etc.

Fiona, are we looking at this from the right perspective?

There's a guy called Glenn Livingston. He makes his money turning businesses around. His methodology is quite simple - find better clients for that business.

And that's all he does.

It sounds easy, and for a guy like him, believe me it is. Only he's a master psychologist and he has a wife who was crossed with a demon somewhere down the line. Put together, they're trouble. My point is that they don't go around asking questions. They set up online tests to find out what people will do when faced with a given situation.

Will they choose this - or that? No questionnaires, no appealing to what they think they're doing. The CEO who likes watching his ads on TV won't be wanting to hear that they're ineffective. His teams go out to ask questions about how effective they are. They dutifully return with the data to reassure him.

The issue about questionnaires is subtle - it asks people what they did. They'll tell you what they think they did, because they bought something on impulse and justify their decision later. You're getting the justifications, not the impulse that drove them.

Which is why I asked about perspective. Don't expect useful answers by asking customers what they think. You get useful answers by finding out what customers (or prospects) will do. That's only difficult until you realize just how easy it is. The real problem is to organize a strategy, and that means focus. You need something to focus on - and this approach is usually lacking at university level. Because they don't get down to the nitty gritty.

I'll end this with a little tale I was told by someone who knows the business well. Because it'll illustrate the kind of thinking involved here. The company were testing new product lines. They did everything you were doing, they had people come in off the street and they'd get a little present for filling out a questionnaire. The CEOs were delighted by this approach, as they could all ask the questions they wanted answering. The morning came and all the products were lined up in the hall. People dutifully filed in, gave their opinions, got their goodie bag. There were a pile of filled in questionnaires by the end of the day.

"Isn't that what I was intending to do?" you say to me. And you'd be right.

The next morning the marketing team would return to the hall to pick up the various items on display. They'd pack the things in their boxes and take them home - but not all of them. One or two had been stolen by the cleaners. The cleaners hadn't been asked which ones they liked. The cleaners took the ones they desired. This was the real, essential data that the marketers wanted. The questionnaires meant nothing in comparison to what the cleaners DID.

That was what the marketers wanted ;-)

What don't you understand?