Prezentace předmětu:
Marketing of services
Vyučující:
Ing. Michal Stoklasa, Ph.D.
Ing. Martin Klepek, Ph.D.
Název
prezentace
Název projektu
Rozvoj vzdělávání na Slezské univerzitě v Opavě
Registrační číslo projektu
CZ.02.2.69/0.0./0.0/16_015/0002400
Logolink_OP_VVV_hor_barva_cz

QUALITY AND SERVICE INNOVATION
THROUGH RESEARCH
.
The aim of this presentation is to explore possibilities of marketing research in order to improve
service quality
Martin Klepek
Garant předmětu
Michal Stoklasa
Přednášející

QUALITY AND SERVICE INNOVATION
THROUGH RESEARCH
.
Feedback in services
Marketing research
Secondary data
Primary data
Lecture structure

•In  order
•
Introduction
4

Types of information available
5
Quantitative
Source: Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Secondary data – second-hand data that some other organization has gathered at some other time,
for some other purpose but yours.
•Primary data – information gathered direct from the market, either via a research agency, or by
your organization.
Types of information available
6

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Qualitative data – unstructured data, often for initial exploratory purposes  because  we  don’t
know  what  the  issues  are  with  our customers. We may think we know, but we are not our own
typical customers.
Types of information available
7

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Quantitative data – the information has numbers and proportions associated with them and with the
right size and type of sample will also have confidence levels and statistical significance to the
point that we can make management decisions based on this information, with confidence.
Types of information available
8

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•The major benefit of secondary data is that it can be accessed at a very modest cost compared to
the cost of primary research, another is the speed with which the data can be obtained. However,
direct access to a ‘host’ database is usually restricted to people or firms who are members, i.e.
they have an existing account and can be billed for the time used and the per page cost of the data
accessed.
Secondary data via desk research
9

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Throughout the world there are many bureau providers of secondary data search,  amongst  other
services,  they  provide  indirect  access  to  on-line databases,  both  host  and  otherwise.
Secondary data via desk research
10

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Governments  throughout  the  world  are  major  sources  of  secondary information, some better
than the United Kingdom (where there is no Freedom of Information Act), but many far less organized
and fruitful.
•Several major countries also publish guides to what previous research is for sale, as in the UK.
Secondary data via desk research
11

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Secondary data will be used to bring the business manager up to speed with the main issues in the
market, and to identify those areas where information gaps exist.
•These gaps, if material to the objectives of the research, will now need to be filled via primary
research.
Secondary data via desk research
12

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•However, it is dangerous to accept any secondary data at its face value. The researcher should
never forget that it is ‘second-hand’, i.e. obtained by someone else,  at  some  other  time,  for
some  other  purpose  than  the  researcher’s objectives. It should therefore always be tested for
impartiality, validity, currency, and reliability.
Secondary data via desk research
13

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•‘Partial data’ is produced when there is a ‘hidden agenda’ to the research.
•Often research is carried out to ‘prove a point’, or the data has been edited with such a motive.
•Trade associations, and industry groups are notorious for slanting the data they present to the
outside world.
•The ‘sharp’ manager must ensure that he/she is satisfied that whatever bias exists, (some bias will
always be present) it does not put his/her research objectives in jeopardy.
Secondary data - IMPARTIALITY
14

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•That is to say that the research measures what it purports to measure.
•A notable example to illustrate are the ‘Hawthorn Studies’ where the initial research was  to
measure  assembly  shop  productivity  as  a  function  of  working conditions. The hypothesis
being that, ‘The better the conditions, the higher the workforce productivity’. A specific variable
under investigation was lighting as an aspect of the working conditions.
Secondary data - VALIDITY
15

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Better lighting did seem to result in higher productivity, but when the quality of lighting was
reduced, productivity did not decline apace. Later research was able to show that assembly shop
workers were responding to heightened levels of management attention, they had never seen managers
on the shop floor before, let alone so many.
Secondary data - VALIDITY
16

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•How up-to-date is the information? The more current, then the more relevant and useful the data
is. The older the data the less reliable it will probably be.
Secondary data - CURRENCY
17

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•This  topic  asks  whether  the  research  methodology  is  up  to  the  job?
•A simple test is: would the marketer be satisfied with the way this research were carried out if
he/she were to commission it, and to pay out of their own budget?
Secondary data - RELIABILITY
18

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Primary research is conducted to fill information gaps that the secondary data has not been able to
satisfy.
•Primary data can be obtained via a matrix of research approaches.
Primary information via Field research
19

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Ad Hoc Studies:
•The research is normally commissioned direct by the business managers responsible.
•It is usually conducted on his/her behalf, this is most frequently known as ‘ad hoc’ (some refer
to it as ‘tailor made’).
Primary information via Field research
20

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Ad Hoc Studies benefits:
•the data obtained is the copyright of the client commissioning the research,
•the  fact  of  the  research  being  conducted  and  for  whom  can  be confidential,
•the client has full control of the process,
Primary information via Field research
21

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Ad Hoc Studies benefits:
•the client has full control of the process,
•the research focuses entirely on what the client requires, and
•the timing of the research will be to suit the client.
Primary information via Field research
22

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Ad Hoc Studies trade-offs:
•the research will be more expensive, and
•in many cases it will take much longer.
Primary information via Field research
23

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Multi client:
•These fall into three distinct categories:
•i) Syndicated studies instigated by a group of firms in an industry. This study is then farmed out
to be conducted by a research agency,
•ii)  Industry studies originated by the research agency, and
•iii) Omnibus studies – where the client buys one or more questions on a study that will be
conducted as a regular event.
Primary information via Field research
24

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Multi client:
•In the latter two types of study, it is not clear who has ownership of the copyright to the data
obtained, though it is general opinion that the agency conducting owns the copyright in item (ii);
and the individual clients only own the copyright to the results from their questions in item
(iii).
Primary information via Field research
25

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Multi client:
•The main benefits of a multi-client approach are primarily cost. The costs of this  type  of
research  are  shared  by  a  group  of  firms;  to  the  extent  that, particularly for (i) and
(ii), firms would otherwise not be able to afford, and therefore may not do, the research.
Primary information via Field research
26

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Perhaps the largest source of error in any data collection of primary data is the assumption that
‘we know what is important to the customer’ when in fact ‘we’ often do not.
•Issues that are important to the customer are referred to as being ‘salient’ and when we combine
this with the degree of importance – i.e. how much are they important to the customer, it is
referred to as saliency.
Qualitative research
27

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•The only reliable way to obtain insights into this area of customer motivation is to create the
circumstances whereby they can tell us about what motivates them without the researcher prompting
them in any way.
•This  so-called  ‘unstructured  research’  is  often  exploratory  by  nature.
Qualitative research
28

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•There are many ways of conducting qualitative research, ranging from in-depth interviews to focus
group discussions.
•Qualitative data is obtained using so called ‘unstructured research’ techniques.
•There  will  usually  not  be  a  questionnaire,  rather  a  so-called  ‘topics  list’.
•Questions are nearly all in ‘open’ format, employing the classic ‘six honest serving men’ of
Kipling fame, (i.e. what, why, when, where, how, and who).
Qualitative research
29

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•These research methods all require a high level of interviewing skills during the data capture,
and interpretive skills during data analysis.
•The implications are that the business manager should treat the findings of such research with
caution.
Qualitative research
30

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•The  methodologies  employed  in  quantitative  research  techniques  are frequently referred to
as ‘structured’.
•The quantitative data is captured via the use of an ‘instrument’ such as a questionnaire, diary or
audit most of which can either be self administered, (such as by postal or e-mail questionnaire) or
response can be obtained via a personal interview conducted face to face or by telephone.
Quantitative research
31

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•The quantitative data is captured from a controlled sample of respondents.
•This sample may be designed either to represent the target group, or to ensure that all elements
of the target group are adequately represented in the datao btained.
Quantitative research
32

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Customer complaint analysis
•The aim is to encourage customer complaints via the use of freephone numbers and some form of
incentive to make contact.
•This active side consists of such practices as (so called) mystery shopping (see below), as well
as customer surveys, and internal staff attitude surveys.
•If service is used to add value to the product, the management of moments of truth, (i.e. when
one’s own people are delivering the service), particularly requires that the morale, attitudes and
opinions of the people delivering the service be kept under surveillance.
Research examples
33

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Mystery shopping
•This is a double-sided coin. One side consists of monitoring the competition. We can always learn
things from the competition even if it’s only from their mistakes. (As they are still in existence
so they must be doing something right.)
•The second side of the mystery shopping coin is the constant surveillance of how well the
marketer’s own firm delivers service.
•This requires that there be some well defined ‘action standards’ to provide yardsticks against
which the delivery of the service can be monitored.
Research examples
34

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•Customer surveys
•If these are held on a frequent basis, they can be expensive.
•The main source of cost will derive from the difficulty of obtaining a consistent sample, be that a
representative sample, or one where each of the sub groups of customers are adequately represented
(there is a difference).
Research examples
35

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

•A panel
•This is a standing sample of business customers, very similar to a user group. The panel is so
designed as to be representative of the market. Each and every member of the panel (respondent)
will be surveyed every time data is captured.
•This requires skilful management to make sure that people on the panel do not turn into
professional respondents (that is to say behave abnormally and therefore cease to be
representative).
Research examples
36

Ruskin-Brown (2005)

Summary
•We have leadned what is the purpose of research in service marketing.
•What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative data.
•What is the difference between primary and secondary data.
•Primary research is conducted to fill information gaps that the secondary data has not been able to
satisfy.
•The major benefit of secondary data is that it can be accessed at a very modest cost compared to
the cost of primary research, another is the speed with which the data can be obtained.
•
•
•