bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Friction Ridge Examination (Fingerprints): Evaluating the Extent and Scope of “Verification” in Analysis Comparison Evaluation and Verification (ACE‐V)
Authors: Black John P.
Published: December 2010

Preliminary research has shown that nearly every agency is performing verifications on 100% of reported fingerprint identifications. However, exclusion, inconclusive, and no value decisions are not being verified as a matter of course. Surprisingly perhaps, it is not erroneous identifications that comprise the bulk of errors, but rather erroneous exclusions as well as incorrect “inconclusive” and “no value” decisions. Therefore, it is appropriate to examine both the extent and scope of the “verification” phase of the analysis, comparison, evaluation, and verification (ACE‐V) methodology as utilized by fingerprint examiners.
The Forensic Investigation of Sexual Assault: AnAmerican Perspective
Authors: Smith Ann C.
Published: December 2010

This article describes the process and issues involved in the forensic investigation of sexual assault. Many changes have occurred in the past 20 years in this area because of increased sensitivity to the victim, continual advances in technology, and the growth of specialized professional expertise. Legislation at the federal level and in many of the states has greatly affected the collection of evidence, particularly from the person of the victim. The forensic investigation at the scene of the alleged assault, forensic examination of the person of the victim and that of the alleged perpetrator, the process conducted in the forensic laboratory, and the federal database of DNA profiles are discussed herein. The use of “sexual assault evidence kits” for both the victim and the alleged perpetrator is detailed, as is the aspect of drug‐ and alcohol‐facilitated sexual assault. The existence of ano‐genital injuries on the victim's person is a subject that needs more research to serve as more effective evidence for eventual prosecution, but the lack of any such observable injury is not a reliable indicator that no forced or coerced sexual act occurred. The expansion of the FBI (Combined DNA Index System) CODIS database versus individual rights is another subject at issue.
Brand Growth Strategy
Authors: Crittenden Victoria L.
Published: December 2010

Brands have long been considered one of the most important intangible assets owned by companies. Driven by competitor innovations, changes in customer wants and needs, and brand atrophy, corporations should plan strategically for brand growth. Companies must understand the various brand growth strategies so as to create brand value/equity and customer equity. While there are no hard and fast rules as to when one brand growth strategy takes precedence over another, the five major strategies for brand growth are line extension strategy, brand extension strategy, cobranding strategy, flanker strategy, and new brand strategy.
Brand Strategy
Authors: Jevons Colin
Published: December 2010

Brands have been around for hundreds of years, but sophisticated brand strategies (beyond mere identification) are a more recent phenomenon. Business, communication, and society generally are changing and any understanding of brand strategy must be highly contextualized. Managers must understand the drivers of brand positioning both within their businesses and from the customer point of view, which is increasingly important as consumer cocreation of brand meaning develops. Particular short and medium term challenges for strategic brand managers are outlined.
Bundling
Authors: Sarin Shikhar
Published: December 2010

Bundling is the practice of marketing two or more products and/or services in a single package. Buyers are thought to evaluate bundles using an anchoring and adjustment heuristic. That is, buyers make an initial evaluation of the bundle based on the component perceived to be most important; this initial evaluation is then adjusted up or down by evaluating the remaining items in the bundle in decreasing order of perceived importance. Bundle evaluations obtained using the anchoring and adjustment approach are similar to those obtained using a weighted average evaluation of the bundle components. Research on valuation of a bundle seems to offer inconsistent guidelines, indicating a need for further exploration of this topic. Recent work suggests that research needs to look beyond the issue of price bundling to the larger strategic implications of bundling.
Communications Budgeting
Authors: Beltramini Richard F.
Published: December 2010

Communications budgeting refers to appropriating the human, financial, and physical resources needed to support the integrated marketing communications (IMC) activities of an organization, and then allocating these resources among the various IMC components (e.g., advertising, public relations, sales promotion, etc.). While a somewhat complicated and inexact process, a number of commonly accepted budgeting methods are typically used today, including the percentage of sales method, the share of market methods, and the objective method. While none of the communications budgeting method is appropriate in all instances, several issues are discussed which impact the method to be used.
Cannibalism
Authors: Merunka Dwight R.
Published: December 2010

In a sales context, cannibalism refers to the extent to which sales of one product occur at the expense of other products from the same brand or sold by the same company. Sales or margins generated through new‐product introductions may not result in increased overall sales or profit improvements if these new products cannibalize existing products. Yet the concept of cannibalism should be extended to firm's current investments and capabilities, including their willingness to cannibalize, which refers to the firm's disposition to cannibalize its prior investments and current organizational know‐how beyond the sales of its current products. Willingness to cannibalize drives radical product innovation, which implies that the cannibalization of current products and technologies may be a desirable strategy that favors radical innovations and new‐product introductions and determines firm's long‐term success in the marketplace. The concept of cannibalism thus is important for brand management and innovation management, as well as for channel management.
Competitive Advantage: Its Sources and the Search for Value
Authors: Caruana Albert
Published: December 2010

This article highlights the salient role played by value and how it underpins the identification of viable sources of competitive advantage. It commences by taking into account the centrality of cost leadership and differentiation as two important sources of competitive advantage. These interact with particular target markets to provide three main generic strategies. Marketing advantage is then considered as a further basis of competitive advantage and while discussing cost leadership and differentiation advantage, a typology is investigated that explicates major sources that sustain each of these advantages. This is followed by consideration of how the value chain enables the identification of activities that underline a particular value offering that underpins the different types of competitive advantage that the firm can provide. Finally, the main generic strategies are discussed while attention is also drawn to other perspectives on competitive advantage. In conclusion, the point is made that the various frameworks available are best viewed as aids and not as substitutes for management thinking on competitive advantage.
E‐Commerce and Internet Marketing
Authors: El‐Ansary Adel I.
Published: December 2010

The advent of the Internet created a new forum for consumers and companies to interact and transformed traditional, localized “market places” into vast contemporary global “market spaces.” The transition has been enabled by features that characterize the Internet such as digitization, interconnectivity, interactivity, global reach, time‐free and location‐free access, personalization and customization, and market deconstruction. While e‐commerce, that is, enabling buying and selling transaction via the Internet, rendered business more competitive, economic, and widespread, e‐marketing, that is, marketing on the Internet, enabled marketers to create, communicate, and deliver the value to intended target markets more effectively, efficiently, and equitably.
First‐Mover (Pioneer) Advantage
Authors: Golder Peter N.
Published: December 2010

First‐mover (or pioneer) advantage is the long‐term reward that may accrue to the first company to enter a new market. Five key theories underlie a potential first‐mover advantage: ease of recall, brand loyalty, technological leadership, economies of scale and experience, and resource capture. Many empirical studies report results that support a first‐mover advantage. However, subsequent research has found that correcting for important limitations results in first movers having substantially lower rewards than found previously. These diminished rewards have led to a reconsideration of first movers' theoretical advantages. All such theories rely on the presumption that first movers are successful on one or more important dimensions. While some first movers are successful, most are not. Companies seeking to establish a first‐mover advantage would be wise to regard the situation as a first‐mover opportunity instead.
Go‐To‐Market Strategy
Authors: Srinivasan Raji
Published: December 2010

The firm's go‐to‐market strategy is the delivery mechanism to market the selected product. It involves the development of a marketing program to create, capture, and sustain value with the firm's offering for the firm's customers, given that the firm has identified a product to market. Typically, the firm's go‐to‐market strategy can be conceptualized into two stages: (i) market segmentation, target market selection and positioning, given the product's (good or service) unique selling proposition, (ii) the marketing mix for the product, given the market segment the firm seeks to target for the product. An effective go‐to‐market strategy will ensure that there is a match between the firm's target market and the marketing mix developed for the product so that both consumer needs and the firm's performance objectives are met.
Internal Marketing
Authors: Prasad Ashutosh
Published: December 2010

The concept of internal marketing suggests that marketing‐like activities can be directed toward the employees of the firm to motivate them to provide better customer service. We discuss the analogy between “external” and internal marketing. A few definitions as well as the domain of applicability of internal marketing are discussed. We conclude with some examples of internal marketing in practice.
Market Definition
Authors: Voss Glenn
Published: December 2010

A product market is an exchange system defined by sellers, offerings, and customers. In its simplest form, a product market is a single seller providing a single offering to a single customer. At its most complex, a product market is synonymous with industry, with multiple competitors offering diverse portfolios of offerings that satisfy the diverse needs of a multisegment market. Meaningful product market analysis requires careful delineation of the target market and competitive offerings. Target market definition identifies the package of benefits customers are willing to purchase and includes an assessment of relative preferences for variations in benefit dimensions. This process may yield multiple segments within the product market or segments seeking sufficiently divergent benefits that warrant creation of separate product markets. It is often useful to define the product market differently for different levels of strategic decision‐making. Common distinctions include direct versus indirect competitors, business versus consumer markets, different geographic markets, customer needs or product uses, and types of channels.
Market Evolution
Authors: Voss Glenn
Published: December 2010

A product market is a dynamic exchange system that evolves over time. The number of competitors, the diversity of product offerings, and the needs of the customer market are in continuous flux. As dynamic systems, product markets exist along a continuum ranging from relatively stable, incremental evolution to frequent and radical change. Market dynamism is driven by interactions between sellers who experiment with products and prices to increase market share and customers who have heterogeneous, changing preferences. Innovation, imitation, economies of scale and scope, and customer preferences play key roles in product market evolution. If innovation is easy to imitate and economies of scale and scope are modest, both innovation and imitation can be profitable and product markets can remain fragmented indefinitely (e.g., restaurants and hair stylists). If innovation is easy to imitate and economies of scale and scope are significant, imitative firms can build scale and scope advantages into dominant positions (e.g., Walmart). However, when entry barriers are low and customers are heterogeneous and variety‐seeking, small innovators can enter stable markets with new offerings (e.g., craft beer breweries). The product life cycle concept is one of the best‐known frameworks for considering product market evolution.
Market Segmentation and Targeting
Authors: Sarin Shikhar
Published: December 2010

Segmentation is the process of dividing heterogeneous markets into homogeneous subgroups which display similarities in needs, preferences, and/or behaviors. Effectiveness of the segmentation process is evaluated on the basis of measurability, accessibility, substantiality, and responsiveness of the segments identified. Owing to resource constraints, firms are often unable to pursue all the segments they identify and have to concentrate on selected segment(s). This is known as targeting. The discussion here briefly outlines the bases commonly used to segment consumer and business markets. Consumer segmentation based on geographic, demographic, psychographic, and product‐related approaches is discussed. Macrolevel bases (i.e., characteristics of the buying organization and purchase situation, product/service application) and microlevel bases (i.e., key criteria, purchasing strategies, structure of decision‐making units) of segmenting business markets are also discussed. The discussion concludes by describing popular strategies for targeting market segments (i.e., undifferentiated marketing, differentiated marketing, macromarketing, and micromarketing).
Market/Industry Structure
Authors: Cote Joseph A.
Published: December 2010

Economics broadly categorizes markets as perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, or monopoly – with a focus on policy implications. Marketing differs, emphasizing the managerial implications of market structure. They define market/industry structure as the characteristics of a competitive space that affect organizational strategy and tactics. The effects of market/industry structure can be examined using a wide variety of frameworks including Porter's model, the marketing environment, critical success factors, the resource‐based view, stakeholder relationships, network effects, value chain analysis, growth/life cycle, and prototypical business models. The more prominent market structure frameworks are summarized in the article.
Marketing Audit
Authors: Clark Bruce H.
Published: December 2010

A marketing audit is a comprehensive, systematic, independent, and periodic examination of a company's or a business unit's marketing. It is designed to evaluate marketing assets and activities in the context of market conditions, and use the resulting analysis to aid the firm in planning. An audit should cover both an analysis of the external situation facing the firm and a thorough review of internal marketing goals, strategies, capabilities, processes, and systems, and should result in actionable recommendations for the firm. Auditors use an audit framework to conduct a structured consulting project that identifies ways in which the audited firm can improve its marketing. A key benefit of the audit process is the deep, objective (and iterative) learning and planning process it can generate. Despite the compelling logic of the audit process, it is difficult to tell how widespread marketing audits are in practice, partly because many firms may engage in elements of an audit (e.g., situation analysis) without calling the process an “audit.” While empirical evidence is limited, it suggests that firms can benefit from the auditing process in terms of both planning and performance.
Marketing Costs
Authors: Bhargava Mukesh
Published: December 2010

Recently, there has been an increasing pressure on marketers to rein in costs. Marketing costs are budgeted as the cost of “selling” the goods, but include decisions that impact all the other marketing mix elements. Discussion of marketing costs includes estimating the levels and amounts (in a business plan) as well as appropriate cost analysis for setting prices, channel decisions, and so on. Strategically, cost advantages can lead to a viable competitive advantage, and is one of the more common strategies. It is a common misperception that the marketing costs are too high and often not justified. Marketing costs are treated as an expense and not as an investment. Tracing productivity of these expenses to financial outcomes continues because marketing costs produce both short and long term, direct as well as indirect benefits. What compounds the problem is that reliable cost data is not available for research. On the positive side, more fine‐grained data and the ability to set up experiments will allow managers to develop their own guidelines for the best returns on their investments.
Marketing Metrics
Authors: Lehmann Donald R. , Hanssens Dominique M.
Published: December 2010

This article organizes and summarizes key metrics for assessing marketing capabilities, marketing inputs, and marketing outputs. It also discusses the linkages between marketing activities and product‐market metrics.
Marketing Planning
Authors: Piercy Nigel F.
Published: December 2010

Marketing planning is the organizational process that produces strategic and annual marketing plans. Strategic marketing planning can cover a three‐ to five‐year period, in contrast to an annual marketing plan more directly linked to operating budgets. The marketing plan indicates marketing objectives and strategy, and tactics for achieving objectives, providing executives with a written statement of strategy and programs for each target market. While plan formats vary, a marketing plan would normally include a strategic situation summary, market target description, objectives for each market target, marketing program positioning strategy, coordination priorities with other functions, performance metrics, and forecasts and budgets. Marketing plans are closely linked to obtaining financial budgets and other resources required for strategy implementation. Considerable emphasis in the marketing planning process is placed on effective coordination with other functions, such as R&D and operations. Managing marketing planning process effectively requires addressing issues of process design, gaining executive support for the process, and clear links to strategy implementation.
Multichannel Marketing
Authors: El‐Ansary Adel I.
Published: December 2010

Once considered a risky strategy, multichannel marketing has now become the norm, not the exception, in the business arena. Innovative multichannel strategies such as text messaging and Internet stores have allowed companies to more effectively and efficiently segment and reach target markets. In the meantime, target customers evolved into multichannel users desiring to be more active in the buying experience. This combination of suppliers and customers alike desiring to connect with each other propelled the deployment of multiple channel marketing strategy to new heights. The numerous benefits of multichannel marketing to suppliers leading to increased revenue and reduced transaction costs leads one to conclude that the marketer's future viability depends, more than ever before, on the adoption and effective implementation of multichannel strategy.
Point of Difference and Product Differentiation
Authors: Sisodia Rajendra
Published: December 2010

Product differentiation refers to distinguishing what might be a homogeneous product from other competing products by adding meaningful points of difference. These points of difference may include price, quality, additional features, or even image enhancements that appeal to certain groups of customers. Product differentiation is a core concept of marketing and often serves as the basis of a marketing strategy.
Pricing Strategy
Authors: Venkatesh R.
Published: December 2010

Pricing is that element of a firm's marketing mix focused on generating value to the firm in the form of revenues. This article takes a broad yet introductory look at pricing strategy. Starting with guidelines on how to set the initial price of a product, the article moves on to the discussion of (i) how the price should be varied over the product's life cycle, (ii) why and how prices should be varied across segments of the market, (iii) how to understand, preempt, or respond to competitors' price changes, and (iv) how to price a portfolio of complements or substitutes. The pricing opportunities and challenges arising out of the Internet are briefly discussed. Pricing illustrations and strategic implications are provided throughout. The article concludes with a possible road map for exploring the domain of pricing in greater depth.
Sales Force Strategy
Authors: Cron William L. , Cravens David W.
Published: December 2010

Sales force strategy is defined as the set of strategic decisions that determine where the sales force will focus its attention and the role of the sales force in creating customer value that is consistent with the overall strategy of the firm. The sales force's ability to create superior customer value is based on its ability to perform a set of fundamental customer‐focused capabilities: new customer acquisition, customer relationship development, customer trust building, and customer retention. To create a competitive advantage, the nature of these capabilities will depend on the types of customer relationships a firm has with its customer base, for example, transactional, consultative, and enterprise customer relationships. Likewise, sales force capabilities performance will be influenced by a firm's sales force support system which includes its sales force structure, management control processes, performance metrics, and motivation and talent development systems.
Marketing Warfare Strategies
Authors: Laufer Daniel
Published: December 2010

Marketing warfare strategies are competitor‐centered strategies borrowed from the field of military science and applied in a marketing context. According to Rindfleisch, advocates of this approach suggest that both marketing and the military are very similar, and both fields share “(i) two or more opposing forces; (ii) competition for a limited and valuable resource; (iii) a zero‐sum orientation in which gains come at the expense of competitor losses; and (iv) defined rules of engagement in which one competitor attacks while the opposing defends.” This approach was popular in the 1980s, whereas in the current era of relationship marketing this approach has become less relevant. Also, an increased awareness of differences between business and military organizational cultures raises questions of the applicability of military strategies in a business context.
Descriptive Research
Authors: Mittal Vikas
Published: December 2010

Descriptive research
is a term used to describe many types of survey research that are undertaken by marketing researchers to understand customer perceptions, judgments, and intentions. Common types of descriptive research studies include buyer‐behavior studies, brand perception studies, customer segmentation studies, customer satisfaction studies, lost‐customer studies, advertising evaluation studies, and employee attitude and satisfaction studies. We describe the key considerations that guide the design of a descriptive study such as survey method (e.g., phone versus mail versus email), cost, and data analysis technique. We also provide a brief overview of key analyses that can be undertaken to gain insights from survey research.
Ethics in Marketing Research
Authors: Schmidt Marcus J.
Published: December 2010

The article discusses ethical issues and dilemmas that may arise during the marketing research process. Topics discussed involve deceitful interviewers, use of leading questions, employing a sampling frame that overrepresents subjects with supportive responses, and deliberately misinterpreting results such that a company's product, an organization's mission, and so on, appear more favorable than an objective analysis of the results would justify. In many cases, such behavior must be regarded unethical. Several forms of unethical behavior are well known: The market research agency may disguise errors in the survey or in statistical computations. Sometimes, clients have a hidden agenda and try pressurizing agencies to make them come up with certain prespecified findings. Clients may misuse a methodological framework developed by an agency and agencies may inappropriately reuse a research design worked out exclusively for a specific client. A client may be persuaded by an agency to purchase a market research study that is too expensive compared to what the client really needs. Relations between agencies and clients may be so close that the agency's competitors are not even asked to give a bid. The article discusses these and other ethical dilemmas by way of case examples. Finally, some minimum standards are suggested and the ethical codes provided by three market research associations are presented.
Marketing Research Process
Authors: Bhalla Gaurav
Published: December 2010

Marketing research (MR) is widely used by a large number of companies to provide relevant and timely information to business and marketing decision‐makers. To conduct a quality MR project, the individual or the agency conducting the research needs to make several coordinated decisions that build on each other and fit with each other. The marketing research process (MRP) represents the sequence and nature of all major decisions and activities that need to be undertaken to plan, design, and implement an MR project. This article discusses the three macrophases of the MRP and the key decisions within each phase. Since companies do not always function as linear, sequential, and rational entities, the article also discusses factors that cause marketing researchers to compress, modify, and adapt the MRP. No discussion of the MRP would be complete without looking ahead and taking into account the changing information and decision‐making landscape of modern organizations. In that spirit, the article also proposes a forward‐looking information system for influencing business outcomes; and it also suggests that the traditional MRP is one specific example of this forward‐looking comprehensive information system.
Motivation Research
Authors: Kozinets Robert V.
Published: December 2010

Motivation research
is a term used to refer to a selection of qualitative research methods that were designed to probe consumers' minds in order to discover the subconscious or latent reasons and goals underlying everyday consumption and purchasing behaviors. Motivation research was derived from an application of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic personality theories and became the premier consumer research method in the 1950s. It has had a lasting influence on the areas of advertising and consumer research, as well as advertising practice. Dr. Ernest Dichter, a trained psychoanalyst, was the first and foremost practitioner of motivation research. Critics of motivation research disliked its small sample sizes, its subjective interpretations, its basis in clinical methods, and its exotic explanations. Despite its controversial past, motivation research is still regarded as an important technique by marketers who want to gain a deeper understanding into consumer motivations. Current techniques in wide use derive directly from motivation research. These methods include projective tests, metaphor analysis, storytelling, word‐association tasks, sentence‐completion tasks, picture generation, and also photo sorts. Some of the most prominent contemporary marketing researchers such as Gerald Zaltman and Clotaire Rapaille use techniques that are recognizably affiliated with motivation research.
Research Reliability and Validity
Authors: Du Rex Yuxing
Published: December 2010

This article discusses two important and interrelated concepts in marketing research: reliability and validity. A reliable research instrument should demonstrate consistency, that is, leading to the same observation/conclusion each time it is used with the same subjects under the same condition. There are many operational approaches to assess reliability, including internal consistency (e.g., average interitem correlation, average item‐total correlation, split‐half, Cronbach's alpha), parallel‐forms, test–retest, and interrater, all of which involve some sort of repetition. A valid research instrument should capture what it is supposed to examine. Major types of validity include face, content, criterion (concurrent and predictive), and construct (convergent, discriminant and nomological). Assessing reliability is essentially about gauging the size of random error. Assessing validity is essentially about gauging the existence of systematic error. Perfect reliability is achieved when there is no random error. Perfect validity is achieved when there is neither random nor systematic error. In practice, it is often easier to establish reliability than validity. However, it is important to keep in mind that reliability is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for validity.
Itemized Rating Scales (Likert, Semantic Differential, and Stapel)
Authors: Russell Gary J.
Published: December 2010

Itemized rating scales are ordinal scales used to measure consumer attitudes such as attribute perceptions, product preferences, purchase intentions, and service satisfaction. Three types of scales are commonly used in marketing research: Likert, semantic differential, and Stapel. Likert scales ask consumers to agree or disagree to declarative statements. Semantic differential and Stapel scales ask consumers to rate entities along an ordered continuum. Attitude scales in marketing research are usually created as multiitem scales, which are analyzed using regression and factor analytic methodologies to examine reliability and validity. Newer analysis methods based upon latent variable models assume that itemized rating scales only have ordinal measurement properties, but allow the development of continuous measures of consumer attitude.
Observation Methods
Authors: Kozinets Robert V.
Published: December 2010

Observation methods are qualitative marketing research methods in which researchers view, record, and then analyze the manifest actions of consumers as they engage in some market‐related activity. Observation methods include mass observations and measurements of large groups of anonymous people, placement of cameras, and direct observations that researchers conduct in consumers' homes. Observation methods originated in the anthropological techniques of ethnography. A key characteristic of observation methods is that they reveal what consumers actually do, rather than what they say or remember that they have done. Videographic techniques, involving the use of video cameras to record naturalistic observations for later analysis and presentation, are increasing in popularity. Observation methods have been found to be particularly useful for strengthening brand differentiation, for identifying areas of untapped opportunity for new‐product development, and for revealing opportunities for improving consumers' retail experiences. Technological developments in this area have included new recording devices such as TiVo, methods of technologically mediated trend spotting, online behavior measurement and monitoring, as well as netnography, the practice of online ethnography. The limitations of observation methods tend to arise from their small sample sizes, their time‐intensive nature, their intrusiveness, and the significant researcher skill that is required.
Statistical Approaches to Determining Sample Sizes
Authors: Kamakura Wagner A.
Published: December 2010

Researchers who plan to draw inferences about the population from a random sample, must first determine how many members of the population should be sampled. To determine this, the researcher must specify the desired precision of the sample estimate, and confidence level associated with this estimate. If the purpose of the random sample is to test a hypothesis, the researcher must specify the desired statistical power for the test, as well as the acceptable risk of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true (type I error). This essay explains how to determine the sample size for these two types of study.
Analysis of Variance and Covariance
Authors: Moon Sangkil
Published: December 2010

This article is aimed at providing some basics of analysis of variance (ANOVA) for MBA and undergraduate students, particularly those interested in marketing research. ANOVA is used to determine the probability that differences in means across multiple categories are due solely to sampling error. ANOVA must be composed of at least one metric‐dependent variable and one or more nonmetric independent variables. In this article, ANOVA is introduced with the experimental design. Then, several types of ANOVA are discussed such as one‐way ANOVA,
N
‐way ANOVA, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Furthermore, ANOVA is compared with multiple regression, another common statistical technique in marketing research. The last section shows some ANOVA examples applied in marketing research.
Cluster Analysis
Authors: Wedel Michel , Shi (Savannah) Wei
Published: December 2010

Cluster analysis is used to categorize consumers into clusters that are homogeneous along a range of variables. In marketing, it is most often applied for purposes of market segmentation, product perceptual mapping, and data mining. We discuss two important clustering methods here: hierarchical clustering as a “bottom‐up” procedure, and nonhierarchical clustering as a “top‐down” procedure. Hierarchical clustering begins with each consumer in a cluster by itself. Then, with a (dis)similarity metric, subjects that are similar are taken into the same cluster. We provide an introduction to popular (dis)similarity metrics for continuous and discrete variables, as well as main hierarchical clustering algorithms. The result of hierarchical classification is a
dendrogram
: a tree structure that represents the hierarchical relations among all subjects being clustered. The nonhierarchical clustering methods, instead, partition the data into a predetermined number of segments and try to minimize some criterion of interest. K‐means clustering, partitioning around mediods (PAM), and fuzzy clustering are some of the most popular nonhierarchical algorithms. We also touch upon the issue regarding performance of different clustering algorithms, decision on the number of clusters, clustering validation, and software available for the clustering algorithms.
Exploratory Factor Analysis
Authors: Wedel Michel , Shi (Savannah) Wei
Published: December 2010

Factor analysis is a group of methods that enjoys high popularity in marketing research. We either use it as a data‐reduction tool in the domain of data mining, or as a latent structures detection tool based on subjective judgments, and in perceptual mapping. In this article, we introduce two basic factor analysis methods: principle component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis in the strict sense, using satisfaction survey data of an administrative computer system as an example. Specifically, PCA is a formative approach that “forms” the components from the observed variable. It is a data analysis or data‐mining tool that reduces the number of variables and explores meaningful patterns. We discuss “loadings,” “eigenvalues,” “communality,” “component score,” and “biplot” in the output of PCA, and also provide some guidelines to determine the number of principal components. Factor analysis, as a reflective approach, assumes that the unobserved factors are reflected in the observed variables. It differs from PCA in that it is not a data‐reduction tool, but a statistical model. It identifies latent factors under observed variables, and specifies a relationship between them with error terms. We briefly introduce the estimation and rotation methods of factor analysis. Software available for PCA and factor analysis is also discussed at the end of this article.
Discriminant Analysis for Marketing Research Applications
Authors: Feinberg Fred M.
Published: December 2010

Among marketers' main tasks is
segmentation
: breaking consumers, products, and firms into meaningful groupings. Marketing data often appear in discrete buckets, like “light,” “medium,” and “heavy” users, and marketers need to understand and predict which consumers (or products, or firms, etc.) fit into which group. That is, they would like to use available information (predictor variables) help explain how, and perhaps why, these groupings come out the way they do. Common examples include distinguishing new versus returning customers, explaining which stores different consumers chose to shop at, using demographics to predict various kinds of shopping behavior, or how to entice “loyal” versus “switcher” customer groups. Multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) allows marketers to do several important things:
distinguish
among two or more known groups, using available predictor variables;
classify
new items into those known groups;
verify
whether there actually are significant differences across the groups; and
test
for which specific predictor variables best account for between‐group differences. We illustrate the meaning and use of the
linear discriminant function
in marketing applications, as well as how managers can interpret DA output to make better segmentation decisions. Connections to other methods included in this volume are highlighted throughout.
Multiple Regression
Authors: Moon Sangkil
Published: December 2010

The objective of multiple regression is to use the independent variables to explain or predict the dependent variable. From a marketing practitioner's perspective, it would be much more effective to develop actionable marketing strategies based on an understanding of the relationships identified from this analysis than to simply examine multiple individual variables separately. This article first introduces the basics of the technique, following which it specifically discusses such issues as interpreting parameter estimates, dummy variables, and choosing relevant independent variables. It also gives several application examples of multiple regression in marketing research. Lastly, several common caveats in using the technique are discussed.
Univariate Techniques
Authors: Du Rex Yuxing
Published: December 2010

Univariate techniques are used for analyzing data when there is a single measurement concerning each element in the sample or when there are several measurements on each element but each measurement is analyzed independently or in isolation. This article provides a survey of a few of these techniques that are most commonly encountered in marketing research. Depending on the type of the focal variable (interval, ratio, nominal, or ordinal), different techniques are needed. When the focal variable is interval or ratio,t‐tests are often used to compare the sample mean against a known or a given standard, or compare one sample against another, which can be independent or paired. When the focal variable is nominal, chi‐square tests can be applied. When the focal variable is an ordinal, Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) tests are preferred. All these techniques are concerned with the levels and distributions of each individual variable, and they all involve first calculating some sort of test statistics, and then comparing the test statistics against some critical values in determining whether the null hypothesis should or should not be rejected with a certain level of confidence.
Criteria for Evaluating Secondary Data
Authors: Mulhern Frank J.
Published: December 2010

Secondary data are market research data collected for a purpose other than the one on hand. The data have the advantage of being much less expensive and more quickly available than primary data. However, because secondary data are collected for a different purpose, one must carefully evaluate their appropriateness for a given market research situation. Secondary data should be evaluated with respect to several important criteria. The data should be accurate, that is, without errors. The data should be relevant to the particular research need on hand. Relevance is a function of the level of aggregation of the data, as well as the units and time increments in which the data are reported. The data should also come in a format that can be utilized easily. In addition, secondary data should not be out of date. Consideration should also be given to the format of the data and any restrictions on their use. When secondary data are evaluated carefully with these criteria, they can be an excellent source of inexpensive yet valuable information.
Ethnograpic Research
Authors: Price Linda L.
Published: December 2010

Ethnography is a practice that allows researchers to directly interact, participate, and become intimately involved in their individual subjects of study, particularly in the study of culture and social behavior. Ethnography here refers both to fieldwork itself and its representation, and draws from a broad range of source data. This includes participant and nonparticipant observation, interviews, conversations, and informant diaries, which are the most common sources of ethnographic data. Ethnography is useful for a wide range of problems including understanding disjunctures between what people say and do, identifying “taken for granted” practices and linking them to shared cultural templates and meanings, and uncovering complex interplays of marketing phenomena and people in social systems. Ethnographic data collection is largely unstructured, and gaining access to data can be problematic since researchers often operate in settings where they have little power or control. New tools such as “netnography” and consumer‐generated videos have helped expand, access, and correct this issue. Data analysis is open‐ended, flexible, adaptive, and involves interpreting meanings, functions, and consequences of actions and practices of people and institutions.
Validity in Experimentation
Authors: Oppewal Harmen
Published: December 2010

Four types of validity are to be considered when evaluating whether research findings can be interpreted as a legitimate test of a hypothesized relationship between an independent and a dependent variable. They are construct validity, statistical conclusion validity, external validity, and the one at which experiments excel: internal validity. This article focuses on validity in experimentation.
Web Surveys
Authors: Wang Tuo
Published: December 2010

Web survey is a method of collecting survey data electronically using the Internet. As the percentage of households having access to the Internet rapidly increased, web surveys are becoming a popular method of collecting survey data. Not only is it the cheapest method of collecting survey data, it is also the fastest in response time. Unlike other methods such as mail or telephone surveys, it also allows the incorporation of audiovisual stimuli in the survey. The presence of many commercial companies providing easy‐to‐use software to design the survey and manage data collection has further increased popularity of web survey. A significant advantage of using the web survey is that the technology allows the generation of tables of data without going through the task of coding and typing responses from each survey. There are, however, still concerns regarding representativeness of sample since certain segments of the population may not have access to the Internet. Another concern is the potential to compromise security. Nonresponse bias is also an issue due to a low response rate resulting from misuse of the survey.
Personal Observation
Authors: Price Linda L.
Published: December 2010

Observation methods include all data collection in which participants are monitored, rather than being asked to give experimenters data directly. Observation can be quantitative (e.g., head counts) or qualitative (e.g., netnography). Personal observation is a subset category, in which the researcher is the primary instrument for monitoring and data collection, and is widely used with ethnography. Collection can be covert or overt, participatory or not, and can vary in degree of invasiveness to the participants' lives.
Participant observation
is a systemic recording and analysis of information gained while engaged in and observing activities, rituals, interactions, and events in order to uncover explicit and tacit aspects of the field of study. Personal observation raises many important ethical issues for researchers, including establishing limits to participation, finding the proper mix of observation and participation, and maintaining the anonymity of informants' studied.
Pretesting a Questionnaire
Authors: Grimm Pamela
Published: December 2010

Pretesting is a very important step in survey research. It is an absolutely necessary step to ensure all kinds of errors that are associated with survey research are reduced. It helps to improve the quality of data significantly. Pretesting is done on a small sample of respondents from the target population. After the pilot test, both the interviewer(s) and respondents are asked a series of questions regarding the survey as well as the process of data collection during the debriefing session. Such debriefing sessions can help detect any problem with the questionnaire design leading to ambiguity of words, misinterpretation of questions, inability to answer a question, sensitive questions, and many other problems associated with the questionnaire as well as the process of administering the survey. It also provides an opportunity to give feedback to the interviewer to ensure that she/he follows the proper protocol of data collection procedures to ensure objectivity in data collection.
Primary Scales of Measurement
Authors: Winter Frederick
Published: December 2010

Knowing scales and their capabilities is important in marketing research since they dictate the measures of centrality (e.g., mode vs. median vs. mean) or subsequent analyses that can be used. The simplest scale is a nominal scale and it indicates a name or a label. The next level of scale is ordinal and some form of rank order is generally associated with this type of scale. At the high end, interval and ratio scales are such that the differences in value apply no matter where they are on the overall scale. Clearly, some scales contain more data – for example, interval scales contain more data than nominal scales – but some scales are naturally suited to measure certain attributes. When the researcher chooses a scale to employ, he/she is not only choosing a scale that best reflects what he/she is measuring but also preselecting the possible analyses that can be used later at the time of data analysis.