The Drawbacks of the Digital Transition of Marketing Research: Implications for Decision Makers and the Industry

The primary aim of this paper is to draw practitioners’ attention to lesser-known risks of digital marketing research: while it enables quick and low-cost results, quality and reliability are not guaranteed. The paper also surfaces broader consequences of transitioning from traditional research, based on offline investigations and face-to-face interviews carried out by professionals, to digital research. The paper presents the results of a survey on a cohort of 200 freelance interviewers working for Italy’s main research institutions, conducted through a self-administered questionnaire. Recently online marketing research, especially through panels, has gained meaningful traction. As demand for traditional marketing research contracts, professional interviewers are experiencing a material drop in requests for their in-field services and a worsening working environment. In return, this affects the quality of on field research they can provide. This is the first study, to the best of the author’s knowledge, where issues and limitations of digital research are studied from the perspective of professional interviewers. This study enables managers and organisations that commission marketing research to make more informed decisions when facing the trade-offs between traditional and digital methods. Furthermore, it provides a view on how such choices may impact the future of professional interviewers and their services.  

Effectiveness of Online Marketing Tools: A Case Study

Offline marketing strategies are widely used; however, they are facing tough challenges from online marketing which has limitless options and proffers enormous amount of possibilities. With voluminous growth of Internet users and growing trend of online marketing, it seems indispensable to run a business without online presence. This is due to the fact that ‘consuming in shops’ is changing to ‘online consuming’. Companies are using different online marketing strategies to attract prospective buyers. Different tools and techniques are used to influence the purchasing decision of consumers. This case study on online marketing, research through survey and analysis of data received from respondents is still in its embryonic stage, and it is conducted to find the effectiveness of tools and techniques—online chat assistance, email advertisement, and word of mouth—causing opinion/decision change of prospective buyers. Marketers have to retain old loyal customers and evolve strategies to attract new prospective buyers.

Online Marketing Research - Roles in Generating Customer Insights

Companies cannot take decisions without the availability of proper information. So, marketers need to have the latest information about the target market. Marketers achieve this by collecting information based on traditional data collection methods and online marketing research. The study discusses the various aspects of conducting online marketing research, role of the internet in online marketing research, strategies followed by companies for online marketing research, the ways in which companies communicate and act on the information generated from the research, and the advantages and the disadvantages of conducting online marketing research. The study suggests that companies should conduct online marketing research not only to collect information about customers but also to utilize the insights generated to formulate better strategies and to develop better relationships with customers.

Teaching the Online Marketing Research Course for MBA Students

Learning in an online environment shares many aspects with the learning required in marketing research projects conducted by research agencies with client firms. However, learning-management-system platforms now provide powerful ways to enrich learning in the online environment through threaded discussions, access to video clips and lively interaction between students and instructors. In such ways, an asynchronous online marketing research course can allow the type of rich experience and reflection that are the hallmarks of valuable experiential-learning. The purpose of this article is to discuss the benefits and challenges of teaching a key course in the education of business students—the marketing research course—in an online environment. This article integrates theoretical frameworks of online education and discusses timely issues for those teaching an online marketing-research course to MBA students, such as the importance of imparting the scientific method, the role of the teacher as a facilitator, content for the course, and thoughts about future marketing research courses. Because most online MBA students are currently working in business, they have an opportunity for applying their learning at work in a very valuable way. Such opportunity can bring an energy and excitement for learning not matched in other contexts for the MBA.

Marketing as an economic science

The aim of the article. The purpose of the article is to form evidence that marketing is an economic science. The results of the analyses. Marketing is an economic science that studies the problem of sales in the capital cycle, ie the issue associated with the transformation of the commodity form of the value of capital into the monetary form of the value of capital. Marketing in terms of commodity production solves the problem of sales in the capital cycle. The reason for the emergence of marketing is the emergence of the buyer's market at the stage of mechanization of the industrial stage of commodity production. The subject of the study of marketing is the study of the problem of sales in the capital cycle. The essence of marketing is a support at the stage of sale of the continuity of the capital cycle. Marketing, like any economic sciense, is evolving, and the stages of evolution must be tied to the way goods are produced. Since the advent of classical marketing theory, the method of production has changed, so it is logical to assume that its periodization should change adequately. In the context of digitalization of the economy, the Internet and other digital channels are changing the forms and methods of marketing, the era of omnichannel marketing has come, the marketing of the XXI century. Conclusions and perspectives for further research. Marketing is the result of the development of four economic doctrines: mercantilism, classical and neoclassical political economy, marginalism, institutionalism. The genetic roots of marketing go back to the early stages of capitalism, and the evolution of marketing theory is intertwined with the evolution of economic theory. With the digitalization of the economy, the Internet and other digital channels are changing the forms and methods of marketing, the era of omnichannel marketing has come. Automation, targeting, personalization, video content, multimedia projects, online marketing research modernize marketing in form. But the mission of marketing remains the same as to solve the problem of sales in the capital cycle of enterprises. In the future it is necessary to study the evolution of the marketing paradigm taking into account the changes in technological systems during the XX-XXI centuries. Keywords: marketing, economics, mercantilism, political economy, marginalism, institutionalism, omnic marketing.

A Study of Online Co-Creation Strategies of Starbucks Using Netnography

Inbound marketing focuses on producing relevant, audience captivating, high quality content that attracts consumers towards the online presence of a specific organization, brand or product. This study has been conducted using the online marketing research technique called netnography – a qualitative and interpretive methodology for the study of users in the virtual space. As the virtual medium presents a good medium for organization-consumer, bi-directional dialogue, companies can use the online arena for soliciting consumer views for their products, promotion mechanisms etc., hence, making these ideal tools to enable consumer participation in the co-creation strategies of organizations. Co-creation involves the consumers' participation in the creation of the core offering itself. It can occur through shared inventiveness, co-design or shared production of related goods, and can occur with customers and any other partners in the value network (R. Bolton, & S. Saxena-Iyer, 2009). Co-creation occurs when the customer participates through spontaneous, discretionary behaviors that uniquely customize the service experience (beyond the selection of pre-determined options). This was done by exploratory research on consumers' behavior in the online community “My Starbucks Idea”, with respect to updates and responses from Starbucks and their behavior with respect to feedback and suggestions from consumers. Ideas include fresh ideas given by other consumers to Starbucks through posts and the ideas which have been implemented recently in the stores that are updated by Starbucks' employees. Starbucks behavior was seen in terms of the ratio of volume of suggestion posts by consumers and volume of ideas adopted by Starbucks. “My Starbucks Idea” involves the psychological aspects of consumer behavior which are utilized by Starbucks because the ratio of volume of suggestion posts by consumers and the volume of ideas adopted by Starbucks is remarkably high. Another reason of participation of the consumers is the social connection; it is supported by the higher volume of posts observed.