• THE MANAGER’S FOCUS DISCUSSIONS HIGHLIGHT ONE OF THE KEY DISTINCTIONS OF THIS BOOK. The authors emphasize managerial usefulness and understanding, rather than technical depth, when discussing "big data" integration and analysis, sampling, and sophisticated statistical analysis. This level is ideal for introducing the basics of exploratory research, "big data" analytics, behavioral customer insights, primary data collection, and statistical analysis. Content focuses on the uses of marketing research, key decisions, when and why to apply certain analysis techniques, and how to interpret results.
• BOOK PRESENTS ETHICS AS A FOUNDATIONAL DISCUSSION. Because "bad" research can violate participant trust, the authors show how sugging (using research as a sales tactic) harbors mistrust between participants and the researcher. They also demonstrate how advocacy research, or advocating for a particular position or point-of-view at the expense of seeking honest insights, is beyond what research should accomplish. The authors discuss these topics and ethical reasoning early and frequently, emphasizing that the purpose of marketing research is research, not sales or promotion.
• RESEARCH WINDOWS PROVIDE A VIEW OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN TODAY'S WORLD OF MARKETING RESEARCH. These features describe what is happening in specific companies and offer how-to tips. They prompt interest in the chapter topic and provide further depth. Examples include marketing research jobs and compensation, how online focus groups and webcam interviews explore decision making, Target's "big data", how Key Ingredient used A/B tests to design an effective web site, and "driving" golfer insights at PING.

Part 1 Introduction to Marketing Research and Problem Definition

Chapter 1 The Role of Marketing Research

1.1 The Problem: Marketers Need Information

1.2 Who Does Marketing Research?

1.3 Job Opportunities in Marketing Research

1.4 Why Study Marketing Research?

Summary

Key Term

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 2 The Research Process and Ethical Concerns

2.1 The Marketing Research Process

2.2 Marketing Research Ethics

2.3 Three Methods of Ethical Reasoning

2.4 Research to Avoid

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 3 Problem Formulation

3.1 Problems Versus Opportunities

3.2 The Problem Formulation Process 

3.3 The Research Proposal

3.4 Choosing a Research Supplier

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 4 Exploratory Research

4.1 Literature Search

4.2 Depth Interviews

4.3 Focus Groups

4.4 Data Mining

4.5 Case Analyses

4.6 Projective Methods

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Part 2 Working with Existing Information to Solve Problems

Chapter 5 Decision Support Systems: Introduction

5.1 Secondary Data

5.2 The Systems Approach

5.3 Components of Decision

5.4 Support Systems

5.5 Knowledge Management

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 6 Decision Support Systems: Working With “Big Data”

6.1 The Four Vs: Volume, Velocity, Variety, and Veracity

6.2 The Fifth V: Value

6.3 Marketplace Sources of “Big Data”

6.4 Big Data Analysis

6.5 Key Challenges of “Big Data” Integration

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 7 Using External Secondary Data

7.1 External Secondary Data from Published Sources

7.2 Standardized Marketing Information—Profiling Customers

7.3 Standardized Marketing Information—Measuring Product Sales and Market Share

7.4 Standardized Marketing Information—Measuring

7.5 Advertising

7.6 Exposure and Effectiveness

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Part 3 Collecting Primary Data to Solve Problems

Chapter 8 Conducting Causal Research

8.1 Three Approaches to Generating New Data

8.2 Causal Research

8.3 Field Experiments in Marketing: A/B Testing

8.4 Field Experiments in Marketing: Market Testing

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 9 Collecting Descriptive Primary Data

9.1 Descriptive Research Designs

9.2 Types of Primary Data

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnote

Chapter 10 Collecting Data by Observation

10.1 Observation Research

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 11 Collecting Data by Communication

11.1 Structured Versus Unstructured Communication

11.2 Disguised Versus Undisguised Communication

11.3 Methods of Administering Questionnaires

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 12 Asking Good Questions

12.1 Scales of Measurement

12.2 Measuring Attitudes and Other Unobservable Concepts

12.3 Other Considerations in Designing Scales

12.4 Establishing the Validity and Reliability of Measures

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnote

Chapter 13 Designing the Data Collection Form for Communication Data

13.1 Specify What Information Will Be Sought

13.2 Determine the Method of Administration

13.3 Determine Content of Individual Questions

13.4 Determine the Form of Response to Each Question

13.5 Determine the Wording of Each Question

13.6: Prepare Dummy Tables

13.7: Determine Question Sequence

13.8: Determine Appearance of the Questionnaire

13.9: Develop a Recruiting Message or Script

13.10: Reexamine Steps 1 through 9, Pretest Questionnaire, and Revise if Necessary

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 14 Developing the Sampling Plan

14.1 Defining the Target Population

14.2 Identifying the Sampling Frame

14.3 Selecting a Sampling Procedure

14.4 Determining How Big a Sample You Need

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnote

Chapter 15 Data Collection: Types of Error and Response Rate Calculation

15.1 Types of Error

15.2 Calculating Response Rates

15.3 Improving Response Rates

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Part 4 Analyzing Data

Chapter 16 Data Preparation for Analysis

16.1 Editing Data

16.2 Coding Data

16.3 Aggregating Data

16.4 Cleaning the Data

16.5 Handling Missing Data

16.6 Avery Fitness Center Project

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnote

Chapter 17 Analysis and Interpretation: Individual Variables Independently

17.1 Basic Univariate Statistics: Categorical Measures

17.2 Basic Univariate Statistics: Continuous Measures

17.3 Hypothesis Testing

17.4 Testing Hypotheses About Individual Variables

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Chapter 18 Analysis and Interpretation: Multiple Variables Simultaneously

18.1 Cross Tabulation

18.2 Independent Samples T-Test for Means

18.3 Paired Sample T-Test for Means

18.4 Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient

18.5 Regression Analysis

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnote

Part 5 Reporting the Results

Chapter 19 The Oral Research Presentation

19.1 The Oral Research Presentation

19.2 Graphic Presentation of Results

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnote

Chapter 20 The Written Research Report

20.1 The Written Research Report

Summary

Key Terms

Review Questions

Endnotes

Tom J. Brown, Oklahoma State University

Tom J. Brown is Noble Foundation Chair in Marketing Strategy and Professor of Marketing in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. In addition, he serves as Director of the Center for Customer Interface Excellence in the Spears School. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Brown teaches marketing research and has supervised hundreds of student research projects for industry clients ranging from not-for-profit service organizations to Fortune 500 companies. Dr. Brown is a past recipient of the Sheth Foundation Best Paper Award in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. In addition, he received a Richard D. Irwin Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship while at the University of Wisconsin, the Kenneth D. and Leitner Greiner Teaching Award, and the Regents Distinguished Research Award, both at Oklahoma State University. In addition, he was recognized as an International Research Fellow at the University of Oxford for his work on corporate reputation. Dr. Brown's articles have appeared in the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Retailing, and Journal of Service Research. His current research interests include organizational frontline research (e.g., customer orientation of frontline employees; customer influences on frontline employees) and causes and effects of corporate associations (e.g., reputation, identity). He is cofounder of the Corporate Associations/Identity Research Group as well as the Organizational Frontlines Research Symposia series. He is active in the American Marketing Association, having co-chaired multiple national conferences, co-hosted the AMA/Sheth Doctoral Consortium, and served as president of the Academic Council. In addition, he serves in a leadership roleat Sunnybrook Christian Church.

Tracy A. Suter, Oklahoma State University

Tracy A. Suter received his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. Prior to joining the management and marketing faculty at The University of Tulsa, he served as a faculty member in the Department of Marketing and School of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University and as a marketing faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Suter teaches a wide range of courses with emphasis on marketing research and applied creativity. Each semester undergraduate marketing research students complete real-world research projects for area for-profit and not-for-profit firms under his guidance. These service-learning projects now number in the hundreds completed. Dr. Suter’s research interests include public policy, the use of new, innovative technologies in marketing and entrepreneurship, and consumer-to-consumer communities. He has published in journals such as the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, and Journal of Retailing among many others. He also served on two editorial review boards of academic journals and is a frequent reviewer for other journals and conferences. Dr. Suter is currently the first holder of the David and Leslie Lawson Chair at Tulsa and is the former Daniel White Jordan Chair at Oklahoma State. He has received numerous awards for both research and teaching activities including the University of Arkansas Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Sherwin-Williams Distinguished Teaching Competition Award given by the Society for Marketing Advances, and the Kenneth D. and Leitner Greiner Outstanding Teaching, Regents Distinguished Teaching, and President’s Outstanding Faculty Awards all at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Suter is frequently asked to speak to doctoral students and other academic groups about teaching excellence.

Gilbert A. Churchill, University of Wisconsin

A recognized leader in the field of marketing research, Gilbert A. Churchill, Jr., joined the University of Wisconsin faculty after receiving his D.B.A. from Indiana University in 1966. Dr. Churchill was named Distinguished Marketing Educator by the American Marketing Association in 1986, the second individual so honored. This lifetime achievement award recognizes and honors a living marketing educator for distinguished service and outstanding contributions in the field of marketing education. Dr. Churchill was also awarded the Academy of Marketing Science's lifetime achievement award in 1993 for his significant scholarly contributions. In 1996, he received a Paul D. Converse Award, which is given to the most influential marketing scholars, as judged by a national jury drawn from universities, businesses, and government. Also in 1996, the Marketing Research Group of the American Marketing Association established the Gilbert A. Churchill, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award, which is awardedeach year to an individual who has made significant contributions to marketing research. Dr. Churchill is a past recipient of the yearly William O'Dell Award for an outstanding article in the Journal of Marketing Research. He has also been a finalist for the award five additional times. He is a co-author of the most and third-most influential articles of the past century in sales management, as judged by a panel of experts in the field. His articles have appeared in such publications as the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Business Research, Decision Sciences, Technometrics, and Organizational Behavior and Human Performance.