Chapter 1

E-Marketing Research

Instructor: Hanniya AbidAssistant ProfessorCOMSATS Institute of Information TechnologyLecture 8E-MarketingObjectivesAfter this lecture, you will be able to:Identify the three main sources of data that e-marketers use to address research problems.Discuss how and why e-marketers need to check the quality of research data gathered online.Explain why the Internet is used as a contact method for primary research and describe the main Internet-based approaches to primary research.

Objectives, cont.Describe several ways to monitor the web for gathering desired information.Contrast client-side, server-side, and real-space approaches to data collection.Highlight four important methods of analysis that e-marketers can apply to data warehouse information.

The Purina StoryNestle Purina PetCare wanted to know whether their websites and online advertising increased off-line behavior.Nestle Purina developed 3 research questions:Are our buyers using our branded websites?Should we invest in other websites?If so, where should we place the advertising?

The Purina Story, cont.Combined online and off-line shopping panel data revealed:Banner click-through rate was low (0.06%).31% of subjects exposed to both online and off-line advertising mentioned Purina.The high exposure group mentioned Purina more than the low exposure group.Home/health and living sites received the most visits from their customers.Which websites besides petsmart.com and about.com would be appropriate for their ads?Data Drive StrategyInformation overload is a reality for consumers and marketers alike. E-marketers must determine how to glean insights from billions of bytes of data.Data require insight or application to inform marketing strategy.Purina, for example, sorts through hundreds of millions of pieces of data about 21.5 million consumers to make decisions.From Data to Decision: Purina

Marketing Knowledge ManagementKnowledge management is the process of managing the creation, use, and dissemination of knowledge.Data, information, and knowledge are shared with internal decision makers, partners, channel members, and sometimes customers.A marketing knowledge database includes data about customers, prospects and competitors.The Electronic Marketing Information SystemA marketing information system (MIS) is the process by which marketers manage knowledge.Many firms store data in databases and data warehouses.The Internet and other technologies facilitate data collection.Secondary data provide information about competitors, consumers, the economic environment, etc.Marketers use the Net and other technologies to collect primary data about consumers.Most Common Data Collection Methods

Some Typical e-Marketing research problems

Source 1: Internal RecordsAccounting, finance, production, and marketing personnel collect and analyze data for marketing planning.Sales dataCustomer characteristics and behaviorUniversal product codesTracking of user movements through web pages

Source 2: Secondary DataCan be collected more quickly and less expensively than primary data.Secondary data may not meet e-marketers information needs.Data was gathered for a different purpose.Quality of secondary data may be unknown.Data may be old.Marketers continually scan the macroenvironment for threats and opportunities, a procedure commonly called business intelligence.Public & Private Data SourcesPublicly generated dataInternational Monetary FundCIA World FactbookAmerican Marketing AssociationWikipedia

Privately generated datacomScoreForrester ResearchNielsen/NetRatingsCommercial online databases

Source 3: Primary DataWhen secondary data are not available, marketers may collect their own information. Primary data are information gathered for the first time to solve a particular problem.Primary data collection enhanced by the Internet:Online experimentsOnline focus groupsOnline observationOnline survey research

Primary Research Steps

Advantages & Disadvantages of Online Research

Ethics of Online Research Companies conducting research on the web often give respondents a gift or fee for participating. Other ethical concerns include: Respondents are increasingly upset at getting unsolicited e-mail requests for survey participation. Harvesting of e-mail addresses from newsgroups without permission. Surveys used to build a database. Privacy of user data.Monitoring the Social Media Companies must now monitor numerous web pages, blogs, and photo sites in order to learn what is being said about their brands or executives. Companies can hire PR firms or online reputation management firms to help. They can also set up automated monitoring systems using e-mail, RSS feeds, or special software. Google offers e-mail alerts for selected keywords.Google Alert for the Authors Name

Other Technology-Enabled ApproachesClient-side Data CollectionCookiesPC meter with panel of users to track the user clickstream.Server-side Data CollectionSite log software can generate reports on number of users who view each page, location of prior site visited, etc.Real-time profiling tracks users movements through a website.Following the clickstream at FTC.gov

Real-Space ApproachesData collection occurs at off-line points of purchase.Real-space techniques include bar code scanners and credit card terminals.Catalina Marketing uses the UPC for promotional purposes at grocery stores.Real-Space Data Collection & Storage Example

Marketing Databases & Data WarehousesProduct databases hold information about product features, prices, and inventory levels; customer databases hold information about customer characteristics.Data warehouses are repositories for the entire organizations historical data, not just for marketing data.Software vendors are attempting to solve the website maintenance problem with content management systems.Data Analysis and DistributionFour important types of analysis for marketing decision making include:Data miningCustomer profilingRFM (recency, frequency, monetary value) analysisReport generatingKnowledge Management MetricsTwo metrics are currently in widespread use for online data storage:ROI: total cost savings divided by total cost of the installation.Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): includes cost of hardware, software, labor, and cost savings.SummaryE-Marketers need data to guide decisions about e-MarketingKnowledge Management, MIS Research techniques for e-MarketingResources of collecting marketing knowledgeOther ways to collect data

Oh! One more thingWhat online research methods would you use to test the brand image of an existing brand? Why? Look for the cookies files on your hard drive, (use find file function). Find out which of the sites have you visited recently have placed cookies on your computer.If you want to test the effectiveness of a new banner ad using four primary research techniques. How would you design those?