Primary data are obtained through the use of phone and mail surveys as well as seminars and focus groups. Phone surveys have been used to define customer needs better and to direct products to the customers better. Mail surveys have been used to study customer purchasing habits as well as future purchasing plans. Seminars are held to gain feedback on the long-term production plans at DEC. Finally, focus groups are used to determine whether the chosen strategy is good and one that will effectively manage and use the market’s potential. Without CMS and marketing research, DEC would be facing the unknowns of their technology as well as the market. This combination of obstacles would have made the transition from a product-focused to a market- and consumer-focused company an impossibility.

Classification of Survey Methods

-Telephone

--Traditional Telephone

--Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviewing

-Personal

--In-Home

--Mall Intercept

--Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing

-Mail

--Mail Interview

--Mail Panel

-Electronic

--E-mail

--Internet

Some Decisions Related to the Mail Interview Package

Outgoing Envelope

Outgoing envelope: size, color, return address

Postage Method of addressing

Cover Letter

Sponsorship Type of appeal Postscript

Personalization Signature

Questionnaire

Length Size Layout Format

Content Reproduction Color Respondent anonymity

Return Envelope

Type of envelope Postage

Incentives

Monetary versus non-monetary. Prepaid versus promised amount.

Comparative Evaluation of Survey Methods

Criteria Phone In-home Mall- CAPI Mail Mail E-mail Internet

CATI Interview Intercept surveys panels

Random Digit Directory Designs

Adding a Constant to the Last Digit

An integer between 1 and 9 is added to the telephone number selected from the directory. In plus-one sampling the number added to the last digit is 1.Number selected from directory: 237-12-03 (exchange-block). Add one to the last digit to form 237-12-04. This is the number to be included in the sample.

Randomizing the r Last Digits

Replace the r (r = 2, 3, or 4) last digits with an equal number of randomly selected digits. Number selected from directory: 237-10-23. Replace the last four digits of the block with randomly selected numbers 5, 2, 8, and 6 to form 237-15-31.

Two-Stage Procedure

The first stage consists of selecting an exchange and telephone number from the directory. In the second stage, the last three digits of the selected number are replaced with a three-digit random number between 000 and 999.

Cluster 1

Selected exchange: 636

Selected number: 636-3230

Replace the last three digits (230) with randomly selected 389 to form 636-3389. Repeat this process until the desired number of telephone numbers from this cluster is obtained.

Non-response errors

Contacting Respondents (call-backs)

Motivating respondents:

-Prenotification (by letter is a cost effective method of increasing response rate)

-Type of postage

-The length of questionnaire

-Promised monetary incentives

-Promises of anonymity

Classification of Observation Methods

-Personal Observation

-Mechanical Observation

-Audit

-Content Analysis

-Trace Analysis

Observation – a data collection technique in which the situation of interest is watched according to prespecified rules based on a stated objective

Building Accord According to Personal Observation

Honda Motor Co. had a lot of complaints on their sporty, restyled Accord (not big enough for U.S. drivers, not stylish enough for the Japanese drivers). Being afraid to lose its market, Honda sent teams to visit U.S. families and observe how the Americans used their Honda Accords. By personal observation, the teams found out that the Americans like lots of compartments for storing maps and change. The teams also actually took U.S. road trips in Accord and in Ford Taurus and Toyota Camry as its rivals in midsize cars. The results of this observation study were used to design a new 1998 Accord for U.S. drivers which has 101.7 cubic feet for passenger space compared to 101.5 cubic feet for Ford Taurus and 97.9 cubic feet for Toyota Camry. Moreover, Accord also delivered higher customer value by cutting the price. With these changes, Honda executives are expecting to increase U.S. sales to a total of 1 million units by the year 2000.

Using the results of personal observation studies, Honda customizes the Accord to world markets. U.S. Accord is designed as a family car by providing extra headroom and a roomy interior to keep up with the demands of its aging baby-boomers customers, while Japanese Accord is designed as a compact, sporty car loaded with high-tech gizmos aimed at young professionals. It is also smaller to adjust to narrower roads in Japan. Honda also paid attention to its European market. The 1998 Accord for European version was a short, narrow body customized to tiny streets in Europe but not losing its stiff and sporty ride aimed at the Old World drivers.

Comparative Evaluation of Observation Methods

Comparative Evaluation of Survey Methods for International Marketing Research