College of Business San Francisco State University
MKTG 632-02: Marketing Research Fall 2003
Instructor: Mahmood Hussain, PhD Office: SCI 341
Office Hours: TTh 1:00-2:30 pm, W 5:00-6:30pm and by appointment Phone: (415) 338-6290 E-mail: hussain@sfsu.edu Course homepage: http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~hussain/mktg632.html Time and classroom: TTh, 9:35-10:50am in BUS 113
Note
It is expected that each student will read and understand the materials contained in the course outline. It is your responsibility to follow the course as outlined here or as modified later during the semester. The materials in this outline will be explained in the first class meeting. If you miss the first class, you should examine this document thoroughly.
Course Objectives
This course is primarily aimed at students as users of marketing research. That is, it is an applied course. At the end of this course, I want you to be able to ask the right and intelligent questions of your research agent so that you can get the appropriate market research, evaluation, and analysis, and acquire the core decision knowledge to make smart, confident decisions. More specifically, this course is designed to:
• Provide a basic understanding of research methodology and its implementation in marketing. • Understand the role, scope, and process of marketing research.
• Enable the student to do real marketing research. Text
Naresh K. Malhotra, Basic Marketing Research: Applications to Contemporary Issues, 1st edition, Prentice Hall, 2002.
Throughout the semester, I may be assigning supplementary readings. These may take several forms: cases, book chapters, articles from magazines or newspapers, articles from journals, and articles from www sites.
Course Prerequisites
MKTG 431, BA 212, and ISYS 263. Students who have not completed the course prerequisites risk being administratively dropped from the course.
Contacting the Instructor
The best way to reach me is to come by my office during my posted office hours. The second best way is to email me. You can also reach me by telephone during my office hours only. If you cannot meet with me during the scheduled office hours, contact me (via email or phone) to schedule another time.
Administration
All University and College of Business rules, policies, and procedures will be followed in the course. A breach of academic honesty will result in a failing grade for the course.
Add, Drop, and Withdrawal Policy
Students not on the original class roster can add to the class only by obtaining a permit from me. Students should use the permit within three days of obtaining it from me. The Associate Dean will deny Add petitions submitted after September 24, 2003. It makes no difference whether or not the student was in class, completed all assignment, etc. Students can drop by GatorReg during the first 4 weeks (by Wednesday, September 24, 2003) without obtaining approval from anyone. Dropping is better than withdrawing. Official SFSU policy (page 113 of the current Bulletin) indicates that students can only withdraw during the fifth through twelfth weeks for “serious and compelling reasons.” Students can withdraw after the twelfth week only in cases of “verified accident or serious illness where circumstances are beyond the control of the student and where the assignment of an incomplete grade is
impractical.” In addition, College of Business policy prohibits students from withdrawing from the same course (e.g., FIN 350) more than once for any reason.
I reserve the right to drop any student who is absent in two consecutive classes, even if s/he attended all classes prior to absence, taken all exams, and otherwise completed all course requirements.
Course Format
This course will consist of lectures and class discussion covering topics introduced through course reading materials. The course materials consist of the text and handouts to be distributed in class or posted on the course homepage. In general, lectures will supplement the reading material, but to some extent, they will highlight information contained in the textbook.
It is a student’s responsibility to read the materials or chapters in advance of lecture. The lecture outline will be posted on the class homepage at least 24 hours prior to each meeting starting from week 2.
Exams
There will be two exams in the course. These exams will not be cumulative. The midterm will consist of multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, and/or short essay questions. The final exam will be made up of multiple-multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank, short essay questions, and/or statistical problems. All exams will be closed book and closed notes, however an equation sheet will be provided for them, if necessary. No make-up exams will be given unless approved by the instructor ahead of time or under extreme circumstances. Any unexcused absence will result in a grade of “zero” for that exam. The final exam cannot be replaced with any other exam under any circumstances. In order to receive a high score in the exam you should study (i) lectures notes, (ii) relevant chapters, and (iii) any additional materials handed out in the class.
Individual Problem Sets and In-class Exercises
There will be two individual problem sets and three in-class exercises (two individual and one group). Details on these assignments will be given in due course.
Class Participation
Absence, coming late to class and/or leaving class early in more than 3 classes will result in a significant reduction of your participation grade. Attendance, however, alone is not participation. The emphasis will be on both quality and quantity of participation. Additionally, I may offer some free points for active participation in the class. Grading
Grading Components pointsTotal Your score Grade Distribution Grade Point Letter Grade Individual:
Exam I 40 188 or higher 4.0 A
Final Exam 50 182-187 3.7 A-
In-class individual exercise 10 176-181 3.3 B+
Individual problem sets 15 168-175 3.0 B
Class participation 10 162-167 2.7 B-
Group: 156-161 2.3 C+
In-class group exercise 10 150-155 2.0 C
Group Project Report 40 144-149 1.7 C-
Group Project Presentation† 15 130-143 1.0 D
Peer Evaluation‡ 10 Below 130 0.0 F
Total Points: 200
† Individual score
‡ If there is any consensus within a group that a particular member did not contribute his/her share, his/her total score for group project will be adjusted accordingly.
Re-grading requests will be accepted in writing within 1 week of return of the grade. If requested to re-grade, I reserve the right to revise grades in either direction. I do not allow make-up of any sort to supplement your actual performance. Also, I will give no “incomplete” in this class.
Registration through E-mail
I will rely heavily on e-mail to communicate with you. Hence, I require that you register your e-mail address with me by sending me the following message.
Send to: hussain@sfsu.edu Subject: MKTG 632
Provide the following information in your email:
Your full name:_________________________________ You prefer to be called:______________ Phone:
Major: Your GPA: Career Goals:
Other interests/hobbies:
To earn full points in class participation, you must register by September 09, 2002.
Safe Classroom Policy
Make sure that your use of laptop computers is strictly restricted to matters being discussed in class. When using your computers take measures to avoid distraction for your fellow students. For example, turn off the sound. Make sure that cell phones are turned off throughout the entire class.
Tentative Course Schedule (Topics, assignments and references may change to better fit the need of the class. But exam and team presentation dates are firm)
Lec # Day Date Topics Assignments and references
1 Th 8/28 Welcome notes Introduction to Marketing Research Chapter 1 Individual problem set 1 assigned: Campbell Soup
2 T 9/02 Case Discussion Campbell Soup Individual problem set 1 due (5 points) – at the start of the lecture
3 Th 9/04 Defining the Marketing Research Problem Research Design Formulation Chapters 2 and 3
4 T 9/09 Secondary Data
In-class individual exercise 1 (5 points) on Chapter 2 materials (at the start of the lecture)
Chapters 4 and 5
Group formation
5 Th 9/11
Secondary Data Workshop
Class meets in library, Room 426A with Gina Castro
Chapters 4 and 5
6 T 9/16 Qualitative Research
Group Project: Preliminary proposal due by email (by the start of lecture)
Chapter 6 7 Th 9/18 Descriptive Research – Survey Research Chapter 7
8 T 9/23 Case Discussion Case 2.2. Kellogg’s: Dancing with the Mouse pp. 401-402 of your text In-class individual exercise 2 (5 points)
9 Th 9/25 Experimental Research Chapter 8
10 T 9/30 Measurement and Scaling: Comparative Techniques Chapter 9
11 Th 10/02 Midterm questions) a (Format: MCQ, T/F, and/or Short
Chapters 1 through 8*
Midterm Review Questions to be posted on the course homepage on 9/25
Lec # Day Date Topics Assignments and references 12 T 10/07
Group Project Workshop
Class meets in library, Room 426A with Gina Castro
13 Th 10/09
Measurement and Scaling: Non-comparative Techniques
Exam I Review
Group Project: Final proposal due by email (by the start of lecture)
Chapter 10
14 T 10/14 Questionnaire and Form Design Video Case Introduction: Lands’ End Chapter 11 pp. 416-417 of your text
15 Th 10/16 Case Discussion: Lands’ End Individual problem set 2 due (10 points) – at the start of lecture: pp. 416-417 of your text (answer questions # 5, 6, and 7)
16 T 10/21 Sampling I: Design and Procedure
Group Project: Preliminary Questionnaire due by email (by the start of lecture)
Chapter 12
17 Th 10/23 Sampling II: Size Determination
In-class group exercise (10 points) on Chapter 11 materials (at the start of the lecture)
Chapter 13
18 T 10/28 Data Preparation and Analysis
Group Project: Final Questionnaire due by email (by the start of lecture)
Chapter 15 19 Th 10/30 Data Analysis I: Frequency and Cross-tab –1 Chapter 16
20 T 11/04 Workshop: Statistics with Computer
Class meets in BUS 212C (Computer Lab) Handout (SPSS or Excel)
21 Th 11/06 Data Analysis II: Hypothesis Testing Chapter 17 In-class individual exercise 2 (5 points)
22 T 11/11 Correlation and Regression Chapter 18
23 Th 11/13
Workshop (if necessary): Statistics with Computer
Class meets in BUS 212C (Computer Lab)
Bring your handout (SPSS)
24 T 11/18 Correlation and Regression (Continued) Chapter 18 25 Th 11/20 Report Preparation and Presentation Chapter 19 26 T 11/25 Group Project Workshop and Group Meeting
27 T 12/02 Group Presentations b c – # 5, 1, and 8 Group Project: Final Report due 28 Th 12/04 Group Presentations b c – # 3, 7, and 6
29 T 12/09 Group Presentations b c – # 9, 4, and 2 30 Th 12/11 Final Exam Review
Tue 12/16 Final Exam a (at 8:00am) Chapters 9 through 17
* (Excluding Chapter 14) Final Exam Review Questions to be posted on the course homepage on 12/09
* Subject to change, if necessary. a Bring a calculator.
b Business attire required for presenting group.
MKTG 632-02: Marketing Research, Fall 2003 Group Project Outline
Objective
The primary purpose of the group project is to provide you with an opportunity to apply the critical information from the course to an area in the real world. Additionally, this project will also expose you to the real word business environment where skills such as dividing workload, accepting responsibilities, coordinating individual efforts, communicating effectively, effective conflict resolution, and written and oral presentation are immensely valuable. Each group is responsible for agreeing upon, establishing and abiding by its own work norms and expectations equitably. Normally I will assume that each team member has contributed a fair share to the project. If you feel these assumptions are breaking down in your group, you must first raise and discuss the problem with the group without a delay. If no quick solution is reached you must contact me ASAP and most definitely well in advance of the submission of the final report.
Group Formation
Each group will consist of three to four students (teams must self-form by September 09, 2003. If, however, you are still not in a group, I will step in and assign you to a group.
Grading
The grading for the group project will be made based on the quality of the report, the content and the organization of the presentation, and how well the group responded to the other groups’ questions. Grading for the group project may or may not be the same to all students in the same group. In addition, your contribution will also be evaluated by your peer at the end group presentations. The breakdown of the 65 points for group project is discussed below. Specific Tasks
Imagine yourself to be a marketing research expert. A company has approached you with a marketing problem or opportunity and has asked you to conduct some preliminary marketing research for them. Now your group will define the marketing research problem or opportunity, design a marketing research project, develop questionnaire, conduct field work, analyze findings, and develop a set of recommendations to address the marketing problem. A few examples are given below for illustrative purpose. Your group may, however, choose any marketing problem/opportunity you wish, based on personal experience or interest in a real world company.
1. You may choose a well-established product category (e.g. Ready-to-eat Cereals or Health-foods, or SUV’s), choose a well-established brand (e.g. Kellogg Raisin Bran or Campbell’s Hearty Country Vegetables, or PT Cruiser) and reposition it to meet the needs of a new target segment.
2. You may look at durable product category (TV, computer, or any product that we use over a period of time); think about the needs and wants of their current/potential consumers and suggest product reformulation or new product.
3. You could look at services (tourism, retailing, financial services, e-tailing, airlines, universities etc.) or industrial products (like tires, chemicals, transportation etc.) and address one of the above issues.
4. You may also consider a new online shopping outlet for a particular product category (e.g. health services which may be different from WebMD, or handcrafted art products etc.). You need to study literature to first briefly explain why dot.com’s failed and what your recommended site will learn from the past and serve consumers’ needs effectively and efficiently.
5. You may simply explore questions, such as,
a. Do younger consumers have different attitude toward computers than older consumers? b. Did boys exhibit a difference shopping behavior during this back-to-season than girls? Group Project Components and Dates
Preliminary Project Proposal (3 points): Each group must email to me a 2-page memo indicating its preliminary thoughts on two or three topic ideas by the start of lecture on September 16, 2003. The memo should briefly indicate what you are interested to do and why you think you have an interesting problem. Also, mention who will act as the contact person for the group. After reviewing the ideas and upon discussion with the group (if
necessary), I will select one idea and return the proposal to you by October 07, 2003. For a sample proposal see course homepage. I would give the sample proposal a score of 2 out of 3.
Any proposal turned in late will reduce final project score by 25%.
Final Project Proposal (7 points): Upon receipt of my response groups must turn in (by email) the complete title and description of their project topic by the start of lecture on September 25, 2003. Here, you should cite at least five secondary data sources to motivate the objective of your research.
For a sample proposal see course homepage. I would give the sample proposal a score of 5 out of 7. While their introduction and background were very good, their approach to the problem, (hypotheses and research component questions) and primary research section were not well thought out. Your score will depend on how well your proposal identifies the problem and subsequently addresses the issues you highlight in your problem identification section as well as clarity and appropriateness of the questions and the professionalism of the entire proposal. The format of the final proposal should be as follows:
• Introduction:
Not to exceed 1/3 (one-third) page. • Environmental Context/Background of the Problem:
Not to exceed 2/3 (two-third) page. Use at least five secondary data sources. • Problem/Opportunity Identification and Formulation:
Not to exceed ½ page.
Introduce management decision problem and marketing research problem. • Approach to the problem:
Not to exceed 1 page.
Introduce research component questions and hypotheses. • A list of secondary data sources:
Not to exceed ½ page.
Sources you have used and/or will be using to support/explain your findings from the primary research.
• Primary data collection:
Not to exceed 1 page.
Describe what data collection method you plan to use to get answers to research component questions and test the hypotheses (survey/focus group/experiment/ observation?).
Explain who your survey respondents or experimental subjects will be and why. • Breakdown of the responsibilities among group members (who will be in charge of what).
Review of data collection method (5 + 5 points): You need to turn in (by email) a draft of the questionnaire or an outline for focus group discussion by the start of lecture on October 21, 2003. Reading Chapter 11 from your text will be very helpful. Also, do individual problem set 2 and participate in the case discussion on October 16. Finally, you are most welcome to discuss the format and design of the questionnaire with me.I will approve the final questionnaire before you administer them. Prior to your field work, email me the final questionnaire by the start of lecture October 28, 2003.
Field work: Preferably between October 28 and November 06, 2003.
Data Analysis: Preferably between November 11 and 18, 2003. Be sure to attend November 04 and 13 computer lab sessions to learn more on data analysis with SPSS.
Final Report (20 points): All group project reports must be submitted at the start of lecture on December 04, 2003. Do not email me the final report. Turn in two hard copies of your report.
Your report should be at least 10 pages long (1.5 spaced, 12 point font, 1 inch margin, Times New Roman font) but not exceed 12 pages. FYI, the font size of this course outline is 10 point. This length does not include appendices. It should be spiral bound and contain everything described below in the format of the report.
For a sample report see course homepage. Remember, the sample report is for illustrative purpose only. Because of its special goals and focus on distributors (instead of end-consumers) its format is not necessarily completely
representative. Your report should contain relevant information to address the questions you have in mind. While the sample report was a very good one, I would give the report a maximum score of 16 out of 20. It was too long (single-spaced 16 pages!). You need to be concise!
The format of the report should be as follows: • Executive Summary
Not to exceed 1 page. • Table of Contents
• Environmental Context/Background of the Problem: Not to exceed ⅔ page.
Use at least five secondary data sources. • Problem/Opportunity Identification and Formulation:
Not to exceed ½ page.
Introduce management decision problem and marketing research problem. • Approach to the problem:
Not to exceed 1 page.
Introduce research component questions and hypotheses. • Choice of Method of research (Primary data collection: A Survey)
Not to exceed 1 page.
Describe what data collection method you used to get answers to research component questions and test the hypotheses (survey/focus group/experiment/ observation?). Explain who your survey respondents or experimental subjects were and why. Discuss what variables you will be using in your analysis and rationale for them. • Findings – Present and discuss your findings in three sub-sections:
Sub-section 1: Start with this. Include a brief introduction to your survey respondents (who they were, demographic distribution etc.)
Sub-section 2: Descriptive part of the findings. It should contain a few relevant tables and graphs to describe what you found.
Sub-section 3: Analytical part of the findings. It should contain statistical analyses of the data. It can include any or all of the following analyses:
o At least a couple of tests of means or proportions. o T-tests
o Correlation analyses and/or a regression analysis
• Implications and Recommendations for Management – this section must be based on your findings. • Conclusions – this section should end with a summary of findings, limitations of your research, and future
extensions and possibilities.
• Appendices – include the following in the order stated below:
Additional graphs and tables that you did not include in the main body of the report Handout size print (6 slides per page) of your PowerPoint presentation.
Final questionnaire (blank) Preliminary proposal Final proposal
Preliminary Questionnaire
All filed out questionnaires (unabridged)
Your score will depend on how well you address each of the issues above. Additionally, your writing style/clarity, effort, and creativity will also contribute to your score.
Group Presentation (20 points): On December 02, 04, and 09, 2003 groups will make presentations in the following order.
Date Groups Tue, 12/02 5, 1, and 8 Thu, 12/04 3, 7, and 6 Tue, 12/09 9, 4, and 2
Presentation length: Minimum 15 minutes, maximum 20 minutes per group Presentation tools:
9 Microsoft PowerPoint slides. (In case you decide to use overhead projector let me know at least a week prior to your presentation so I can arrange it for you.)
9 Number of slides: maximum 15 slides; preferably 12 slides (to be within time limit). 9 Follow the format of your report to structure your presentation with relatively more
emphasis on your primary data collection methods, findings, implications, and recommendation. For a sample presentation see course home page.
9 Business attire required for presenting group. 9 Attendance is mandatory regardless of presentation.
Also, each group will turn in a floppy diskette containing electronic copies of both the final report and the PowerPoint presentation.
Peer Evaluation (10 points): On December 09, 2003, after all group presentations are complete each team member will be responsible for evaluating the performance of other group members. These evaluations are not shared among any group members and will be held confidential. This is your opportunity to evaluate the contributions made by your team members.
Group Information at a Glance (Save this for your record) Group # __________________________
Members:
Last Name First Name Email Phone
1 2 3 4 • Group leader: __________________________________________ • Project Title:___________________________________________
