Chapter 4 Summary

Understand how secondary data fit into the marketing research process.

The task of any competent marketing researcher is to solve the problem in which the marketing research task was undertaken in the shortest time, at the least cost, and with the highest level of accuracy. Therefore, before any marketing research project is conducted, it is the obligation of the researcher to seek out existing information that may facilitate a decision or outcome for a company. Existing data are commonly called secondary data.

Understand how secondary data fit into the customer relationship management (CRM) process.

Secondary data frequently are considered the nucleus of the CRM process because of the vast amount of customer data that must be collected and stored on a historical basis. Customer knowledge data, or information volunteered by consumers, are normally collected on an ongoing basis and consistently stored and monitored within the CRM structure.

Demonstrate how secondary data can be used in problem solving.

If secondary data are to be used to assist the decision-making process or problem-solving ability of the manager, they need to be evaluated on six fundamental principles: (1) purpose (how relevant are the data to achieving the specific research objective at hand?); (2) accuracy (are the data collected, measured, and reported in a manner consistent with quality research practices?); (3) consistency (do multiple sources of the data exist?); (4) credibility (how ere the data obtained? what is the source of the data?); (5) methodology (are the methodological procedures used to collect the data proper in that the quality of the data is high?); and (6) biases (was the data-reporting procedure tainted by some hidden agenda or underlying motivation to advance some public or private concern?).

List sources of traditional internal secondary data.

Secondary data are usually sorted into three categories. First are the internal accounting or financial records of the company. These normally consist of sales invoices, accounts receivable reports, and quarterly sales reports. Other forms of internal data include past marketing research studies, customer credit applications, warranty cards, and employee exit interviews.

Demonstrate how to obtain external sources of secondary data.

Because of the volume of external data available, researchers need to plan the steps of ensuring that the right data are located and extracted. A simple guideline to follow is called the GO-CART approach: define goals that the secondary data need to achieve; specify objectives behind the secondary search process; define specific characteristics of data that are to be extracted; document all activities necessary to find, locate, and extract the data sources; focus on reliable sources of data; and tabulate all the data that were extracted.

List sources of external secondary data.

Secondary data exist in a wide variety of sources. The most common forms of external data are standard industrial classification codes (SIC) codes, government documents (which include census reports), business directories, trade journals, statistical sources, commercial publications, and newspapers.

Understand the availability and use of syndicated sources of secondary data.

Syndicated (or commercial) data sources consist of data that have been systematically collected and compiled according to some standardized procedure. Suppliers of syndicated data have traditionally employed one of two approaches in collecting data: consumer panels and store audits. (A third approach, optical scanner technology, will be discussed in a later chapter.) With most syndicated data sources, the objective is quite clear: to measure point-of-sale purchase behaviors or to measure media habits.

Understand the changing focus of secondary data usage.

The computerization of secondary data is revolutionizing the marketing research industry. Online services are making available more data that are more applicable to business needs than ever before. In addition, databases and information systems are bringing the use of secondary data to monumental proportions. Technology will make secondary data more customized and applicable for may businesses; therefore, the next chapter will focus on this new aspect of secondary data.