Marketing research. Main types of marketing information

The need for marketing information

In the nineteenth century, most firms were small and their employees knew customers personally. Managers collected marketing information by talking to people, observing them, asking questions.

The need to obtain more extensive and more benign marketing information is due to 3 trends.

1. Transition from local marketing to community marketing.

The firm is constantly expanding its market territory, and its managers no longer know all the clients directly. You need to find some other way to collect marketing information.

2. Transition from customer needs to customer needs.

As their incomes rise, shoppers become more selective in their choice of products. It is becoming increasingly difficult for sellers to predict how buyers will respond to various product styles and other properties, and they are turning to market research.

3. Transition from price competition to non-price competition.

Retailers are increasingly using non-price marketing tools, such as branding, product customization, advertising and sales promotion, and they need information about how the market reacts to certain marketing activities.

Marketing Information- these are facts, information, figures and other data used in the analysis and forecasting of marketing activities.

Marketing information differs in scope, method of receipt, frequency of occurrence, purpose and presentation forms.

A. By scope marketing information is:

• external- provides an opportunity to study data on the development of the external environment of the enterprise, organization, the behavior of intermediaries, suppliers, sellers, the actions of competitors, events state regulation market relations. Based on published statistical data, scientific reports, specialized literature, business negotiations, exhibitions, fairs, etc.;
• internal- reveals the internal state of the enterprise, organization, contains data on material and financial reserves, labor productivity, investments, expenses, incomes, etc. It is based on accounting, statistical, operational, technological reporting of market entities.

B. According to the method of obtaining information can be secondary and primary:

• secondary information - previously collected data from various sources;
• primary information - collected directly by the marketer. To obtain it, they resort to observation, a survey, an experiment, a panel.

B. According to the frequency of occurrence:

• constant information - reflects constant, long-term unchanged values ​​of marketing variables;
• variable information - contains actual quantitative and quality characteristics functioning of market entities;
• episodic information - is defined, formed and presented as needed.

G. By appointment:

• reference information - is needed for fact-finding, auxiliary use, reflects relatively stable features;
• advisory information - contains forecasts for the sale of marketable products, priorities for choosing target markets, suppliers, intermediaries, traders. Based on the results of special studies or analysis of data given in printed publications and commercial databases of the market situation;
• normative information - includes regulatory legislative acts, norms and standards of elements of production, circulation, etc.;
• signal information - appears in the course of occurrence of deviations of the actual state of objects of marketing activity from the planned one.

D. According to the forms of presentation:

• textual information;
• tabular information;
• matrix information;
• graphic information;
• numerical information.

Depending on the sources, information is divided into:

a) primary data, which contain information obtained from oral conversations during business contacts and personal meetings, written, official information.

b) secondary data - mainly information of a statistical, reference, review, analytical and prognostic nature. These are various publications.

Primary information: concept, sources,

advantages and disadvantages

Primary data is information that has just been obtained to solve a specific problem or issue under investigation. They are necessary in cases where a thorough analysis of secondary information does not provide the necessary information.

Prior to the actual collection of primary data, it is necessary to develop a research framework or plan to be used as a guide for data collection and analysis.

The structure of the study includes the following solutions:

• who or what should be investigated, i.e. define an object;
• what information should be collected, i.e. the types and volumes of the necessary information, which is determined by the objectives of the study;
• who will collect the data: the company itself or an external research firm;
• what data methods should be used: survey, observation, experiment and simulation - they are the sources of primary information.

Comparative value of primary information

Secondary information: concept, sources,

advantages and disadvantages

Secondary information is data collected previously for purposes other than and unrelated to solving the problem under investigation.

Sources: internal- plans and financial plans, sales data, profit and loss data, customer accounts, inventory data, previous research results; in external– periodicals, books, monographs and other periodical publications.

Comparative value of secondary information

Marketing Information System- a permanent system of interconnection of people, equipment and methodological techniques, designed to collect, classify, analyze, evaluate and disseminate relevant, timely and accurate information for use by marketing managers in order to improve the planning, implementation and control of marketing activities.

The concept of a marketing information system can be represented as the following diagram:

Marketing Marketing

information system information

marketing information

Marketing system Manager system

Internal marketing environment for marketing

Target Markets Reporting Research Analysis

Channels brand- Planning

Thinga Transfiguration

Competitors collection system system to life

Contact Current Analysis Control

audience external brand-marketing-performing

Factors of macro- ting information

— internal reporting system- reflects the indicators of current sales, the amount of costs, the volume of inventories, cash flow, data on receivables and payables;

— system for collecting external current information- a set of sources and methodological techniques through which managers receive daily information about events occurring in the commercial environment.

Firstly, external information can be collected by reading books, newspapers, special editions, talking with customers, suppliers.

Second, the firm encourages distributors, retailers, and other allies to share important information with it.

Third, the firm purchases information from third party providers of external current information.

Fourth, a number of firms have special departments for the collection and dissemination of current marketing information.

— marketing research system- is a systematic determination of the range of data required in connection with the marketing situation facing the company, their collection, analysis and reporting on the results;

— marketing information analysis system- a set of perfect methods for analyzing marketing data and marketing problems.

The basis of any marketing information system is a statistical bank and a bank of models.

Statistical bank - a set of modern methods of statistical processing of information, allowing the most complete disclosure of interdependencies within the data collection and establishing the degree of their statistical reliability.

Bank of models - a set of mathematical models that contribute to the adoption of more optimal marketing decisions by market actors.

Experienced marketers know that the path to the right decisions and outstanding results lies through data analysis. However, it is not at all easy to blaze this path: first of all, it is necessary to organize the collection and systematization of information.

The main difficulties of 2016

Seventy percent of marketers named improving campaign performance, optimizing their marketing budget, or growing revenue as their top goal in 2016 2 . However, achieving these goals proved to be difficult: the main obstacle was the difficulty of obtaining or integrating data (61% of respondents) 3 . This problem will continue to be relevant, because the volume of data continues to grow. To solve it, marketers need to gain leadership support and attract the right people: 26% of those surveyed noted that their team did not have or did not have enough analysts with the necessary skills 4 , and about the same number complained of a lack of understanding from top management 5 .

"61% of CMOs in 2016 had difficulty getting or integrating data."

The future is in customer experience

Despite the fact that many of last year's problems have not lost their relevance, marketers look to the future with confidence. Speaking about the challenges they face in 2017, only 22% of marketers mentioned the lack of the right tools and technology (15% less than last year 6). It looks like more difficult problem it will not be the acquisition of tools, but the use of their full potential for data analysis.

According to a recent study by The Economist, 86% of CMOs and CMOs believe they will be able to take care of their customers every step of the way by 2020. life cycle 7. This is an ambitious goal. However, marketers who regularly analyze data and conduct experiments will be able to achieve it.

Marketing analytics contributes to increasing the value of products and services for customers, and consequently, the growth of the company's revenue. This is especially important when you consider that for about a third of marketers, revenue growth will be a top priority in 2017 (their share grew by 28% in year 8).

What has been or will be your main goal of marketing data analysis?

Source: Google Surveys, 2016-2017 Marketing Analytics Challenges and Goals ("Marketing Analytics Challenges and Goals 2016-2017"); data-driven CMO survey, n=203, USA, December 2016

To evaluate their work, marketers are increasingly choosing key indicators that reflect the global goals of the company. demonstrated: 95% of top marketers agree that meaningful marketing performance metrics should be tied to business objectives 9 .

Three success factors in 2017

Analytical tools. Make sure your company knows what data you have, what it's for, and how to access it. Then focus on marketing analytics to help you improve your key metrics.

Systematization of data. Integrate data from multiple sources to form a single picture of your customer behavior. After analyzing it, you can open up new possibilities.

Understanding common goals. Make sure that the leaders of the company know what conclusions you come to and how they can contribute to the achievement of business goals. With the support of leadership, you will be able to put the lessons learned into practice and achieve visible results.

Learn more about how to set up effective analysis data in your company, you can learn from the report ("How data analytics and machine learning create a competitive advantage for business").

The successful functioning of any firm in a market environment can only be ensured if there is accurate, complete and reliable information.

Marketing Information - milestone marketing research, which allows the company in the market to gain advantages in competition, reduce the degree of risk, timely identify changes in the marketing environment, coordinate actions in the market strategy. Marketing information is objective (statistical data, marketing research results, etc.) and subjective (assessments, feelings, thoughts, rumors) information necessary for making marketing decisions. Marketing research is the main source of marketing information.

Information used for marketing research must be:

o high quality;

o probable (minimum error);

o accurate (correspondence with the real value of the state of affairs);

o up-to-date (fresh information, not outdated);

o valuable and useful (compliance with goals, market situation).

It is this information that helps firms to determine the attitude of consumers to the product and the firm, to constantly monitor external environment, coordinate strategy and evaluate activities, improve the level of advertising work, receive support in decisions taken, confirm their own commercial intuition, improve performance.

The importance of information and the need to obtain it is evidenced by the fact that it is the driving force in the decision to purchase goods. After all, recognizing the need to satisfy their own needs, buyers search for information, evaluate it, make a purchase decision and react informatively to the purchase. Having received the necessary information, the firm, through strong informative stimuli, can influence marketing incentives, and those, in turn, on the volume of revenue, profits, etc.

Continuous information support is of particular importance. First of all, this is due to a change in the situation on the market, primarily the external marketing environment. Information not received on time, or its absence, can become the basis for the collapse of not only planned events, but even the company, the consequences of this can be catastrophic. In the process of analysis, planning and management, marketing control, information about customers, competitors, dealers and other market participants is constantly needed. Information can be confidently called the basis of marketing activities.

The need to obtain more extensive and more benign information is due to a combination of trends, among which F. Kopter draws attention to the following:

1. Transition from local marketing to nationwide marketing.

2. Transition from customer needs to customer needs.

3. Transition from price competition to uninteresting competition.

In the concept of marketing) "priority belongs to the buyer (consumer), and information, first of all, is needed about the consumer and for the consumer. To obtain information, buyers use its various sources and types (Table 9.3).

Table 9.3 -

The firm's mission is to make customer information accessible and simple. To do this, the company:

o selects those sources that are more accessible;

o spreads the information distribution network in convenient public places;

o provides specific features and benefits of selected sources.

Evaluation of information by the buyer and user of goods occurs through consideration of ways to analyze various alternatives to goods. Analysis of the results of evaluation by the buyer of goods enables the company to develop various options marketing behavior. In some cases, the company improves the product for most of its features and features, in others it tries to change the negative attitude and indifference of consumers, proving the advantages of these goods or services over similar ones.

Search for information- this is a kind of process of receiving and transmitting informative data about the need and need for a product, its quality, specifics and methods of application, the advantages of new products, etc.

The whole complex of continuous transmission and receipt of complete, reliable and up-to-date information of the company is considered in the appropriate marketing system. This system is called the marketing information system.

The marketing information system is a structure within which it is possible to:

o establish what information is needed to make decisions;

o accumulate information;

o transform (process) data (using quantitative methods);

o store and reuse information.

A marketing information system is a set of personnel, information and methods (procedures) designed to regularly collect, process, analyze and prepare for making marketing decisions.

The MISS consists of three main elements:

o personnel, specialists from the collection, processing, analysis of information;

o directly information that functions within the MES;

o methods and procedures for collecting information, its processing, analysis, preparation for decision-making.

The marketing information system includes:

o internal reporting system;

o marketing research system;

o external current information system;

o information analysis system.

The internal reporting system enables the company to obtain data that reflects the level of current sales, costs, inventory, cash flow, the state of receivables and payables, the level of advertising costs, their effectiveness and place in a set of sales promotion measures, customer accounts, suppliers, dealers and distributors, inventory data from intermediaries, storage, etc.

The system for collecting external current information is a special set of methods and methodological techniques that help the company's management to receive timely and stable information about events taking place in the market environment.

The external ones include: various statistical reference books, catalogs, periodicals (newspapers, magazines), general economic and specialized books, articles, monographs, commercial and scientific collections.

In the field of competition, it is very important for a firm to obtain information about the main competitors in the market for similar products. Therefore, the system of external current information plays an extremely important role in this. Information about competitors can be obtained, in addition to the above, from the following sources:

o press release;

o analysis of information from specialized consulting firms;

o empirical experience with competing products;

o exhibitions, fairs, exchanges;

o interviews with specialists, agents and neutral experts;

o attending meetings, "open houses".

Good organized firms try to organize the collection of high-quality and timely information as best as possible. In order to obtain timely and objective information, the activity of sales agents, who are considered "the eyes and ears of the company", is especially stimulated. In "successful" firms, they appoint a person responsible for collecting external information.

With sufficient financial resources, services are created to collect marketing information, which can significantly expand the volume of information and improve its quality.

Sources of internal and external information have their advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include: low costs, efficiency of obtaining, reliability, availability of several sources for comparison and selection, personal acquaintance. The disadvantages include: the lack of full-fledged guarantees, the reliability of certain very important data, the presence of sometimes conflicting information and reviews, the need for additional knowledge or information to assess the reliability of the considered data.

Depending on the availability and method of data collection, they are divided into primary and secondary.

Primary data is information that is collected for the first time for a specific purpose. Secondary data is information that already exists somewhere, that is, previously collected for certain purposes.

The most valuable for establishing a marketing research system is primary information. Despite the complexity and duration of its collection, the need for the training and use of highly qualified specialists, rather large monetary costs, it gives a specific focus on solving marketing problems, ensuring the reliability and reliability of the research.

The main methods of collecting primary information are:

o observations;

o experiment.

The survey is the most important method of collecting, grouping and delimiting an informative data bank. The survey is carried out in three ways: interviewing.

Telephone and fax, "Internet" - communications and postal and telegraph communications. The survey has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages include: direct contact with clients, flexibility of the communication system and influence on the communicator, the possibility of variation, adjustment of depth and significance individual elements survey, low cost. Disadvantages include: large time and money spent on training questionnaires for personnel, limited amount of information transfer (mail, telephone, Internet), lack of influence on the reaction (electronic computer network), relatively low efficiency of measures.

Monitoring is carried out for detailed description filming of goods, methods of their use, operation and disposal. The researcher conducts direct observation of people and the situation. At the same time, it is important to meet people, hear their comments, evaluate the product and its properties.

The experiment is one of the most important ways obtaining information from the practical testing of goods in a market environment among potential buyers. To do this, a socially homogeneous group is selectively selected, which models a certain segment of the market, changes are monitored, and the degree of significance of the observed differences is established. The purpose of the experiment is to reveal causal relationships by sifting out conflicting explanations of the observational results. With proper control, this method gives the most reliable results.

One of the varieties of the experiment is imitation - a special method of collecting information using a computer, in which a simulator model is formed and subjected to various factors impact not in real market conditions, but in the electronic "brain" memory of the machine.

For exploratory research, observation is best suited, for identifying causal relationships - experiment and simulation, for descriptive research - a survey.

The most common instrument during the collection of primary data is the questionnaire. In a broad sense, a questionnaire (from the French L "enquête - investigation) is a list of questions ordered in content and form that the respondent must answer. The questionnaire is enough flexible tool data collection, as questions can be asked in a variety of ways and require careful design. During the development of the questionnaire, the researcher selects the questions to be asked, chooses the form of these questions, their wording and sequence. The construction of questions and their types are widely covered in the literature both on statistics and marketing [10,16,24]. Questions in the form can be, first of all, open and closed. Open-ended questions are especially valuable when they are exploratory in nature. Closed questions provide answers that are easier to interpret and tabulate. Closed questions highlight alternative ones, with a selective answer, on a Likert scale, evaluated by a semantic differential, importance, rating scale. Open-ended questions do not require pre-set answers. They can be built in the form of questions without a given structure, word associations, thematic apperceptive texts, may require an end.

When developing questionnaires, the following conditions must be observed:

2. The logical sequence of questions should be such that the first questions arouse the interest of the respondent. Difficult or personal questions should be asked at the end of the questionnaire, before the respondents have time to withdraw into themselves. Questions that allow you to classify respondents into groups are also asked at the end, because they do not require much effort by the interviewees.

3. The language of the questionnaire should be free from the spread of clichés, newspaper clichés and stereotypes. It is necessary to operate with situations that are close and understandable to the respondents. Questions should be built in such a sequence that the respondent remains interested in its final completion.

4. When selecting questionnaires, it is necessary to avoid psychological pressure on the respondent, not to limit him in the choice of answers to questions. Alternate positive and negative judgments and responses.

5. The respondent should not, while filling out the questionnaires, decide challenging tasks, which take a lot of time and reduce the desire of the respondent to continue filling out the questionnaire.

6. Questionnaires should be formatted neatly, using different fonts, separating the question from the expected answers.

The use of a questionnaire survey provides for the organization of a sample of respondents. It is quite obvious that it is not realistic and unnecessary to conduct a survey of the entire population of consumers. The application of the sampling method involves the selection of a segment of the population that represents the entire population as a whole. This allows you to save money and labor and get operational results. The representativeness of the sample can be achieved under the following conditions:

o correctly selected group of respondents, which represents the required segment;

o correctly selected number of respondents. At the same time, it must be remembered that large samples are more reliable than smaller ones, but to obtain reliable data it is not necessary to interview a significant part of the population;

o choose The right way selection of respondents. For this can be used various methods random selection, sequential, multi-stage or others, sometimes by the intuition of the researcher.

The required sample size is determined by: when re-selecting:

with irrevocable selection:

where*. / - coefficient of confidence, according to a certain level of probability; N is the volume of the general population; Ax is the maximum allowable sampling error (defined as the product of the average sampling error and the confidence coefficient); 8 - the value of the variance (this value can be borrowed from previous similar studies, and if not, then it is necessary to conduct a special survey of a small number of population units).

It is important to note that once the required sample size has been determined, it must be aligned with the available financial and labor resources. If resources are insufficient, then it is necessary to reduce the sample size and thereby reduce the accuracy of the results, or to postpone such a study until the availability of resources.

In statistics, there are different ways collecting data using a questionnaire (they are defined as ways to contact the audience).

Telephone survey (interview phone) - one of the fastest ways to collect information Among the shortcomings, it is especially worth noting: lack of objectivity, limited number of respondents due to the lack of a telephone.

Mail survey (questionnaire by mail) is a little-spread method of self-registration of data, designed to replace the usual interview. This method is low-cost due to the low percentage and duration of the return of questionnaires.

Personal interview- the most versatile, reliable and expensive way to collect data. Requires appropriate training of interviewers, detailed planning and control. The value is that additional questions may be asked that may be of particular value not expected or intended by the data collection program. A personal interview can be individual (visiting people at home, at work, on the street) and group (inviting a certain number of people and having a conversation, taking notes, writing down the answers, which they then study and on the basis of which they make certain decisions).

The starting point of the study is secondary data. They start collecting data. They are more accessible, and their collection is much cheaper. However, it should be borne in mind that they may be inaccurate, outdated, incomplete and unreliable.

Secondary data sources can be external or internal. To internal sources includes company records, sales figures, salesman reports, invoices, inventory records, sales documents, sales correspondence, employee notes, previous research reports. Accounting reports are of particular value.

The types, volumes and quality of external information depend on the level of development of the institutions that form the information infrastructure. The most important among them are:

o state statistical bodies;

o economic self-government bodies (departments, trusts, etc. in relation to

o state and local authorities;

o publications public institutions, statistical reports;

o periodicals, books.

Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the person - the client, which can be the object of evaluation, is shown in Fig. 9.4.

Marketing research includes the collection, processing, storage of information about phenomena and processes of interest to marketing, analysis of the collected information, and obtaining theoretically substantiated conclusions. Thus, the purpose of marketing research is to create an information and analytical base for making marketing decisions.

Marketing research is integral part marketing information system, which includes subsystems of intra-company reporting, marketing intelligence, information analysis and marketing research. When conducting marketing research, the following principles must be observed:

Scientific character - explanation and prediction of the studied market phenomena and processes on the basis of scientific provisions and objective data, identification of patterns in the development of these phenomena and processes;

Consistency - the allocation of individual structural elements that make up the phenomenon, the discovery of hierarchical relationships and mutual subordination;

Complexity - the study of phenomena and processes in their entirety, interconnection and development;

Reliability - obtaining adequate data by ensuring the scientific principles of their collection and processing;

Objectivity - taking into account the possible errors of the meter of a particular phenomenon;

Efficiency - achievement of the set goals, commensuration of results with costs.

Marketing research is a complex, hierarchically structured process that unfolds sequentially in time, and includes the main stages: general concept research; concretization and development of research methodology; collection, processing and storage of information; analysis, modeling and forecasting of the studied processes; assessment of the effectiveness of marketing research.

Marketing research is divided into several types:

• exploratory (exploratory) research, which precedes the development of the main research program and is undertaken to collect preliminary information that illuminates the problem and makes it possible to put forward a hypothesis and select an appropriate analysis technique;
• descriptive (descriptive) research aimed at ascertaining real facts, events, indicators obtained as a result of collecting information;
• experimental study, which is carried out in order to test the hypothesis put forward, for example, about the presence of causal relationships between indicators;
• casual (analytical) research conducted to identify and model the links between the company's activities and environmental factors.

As part of marketing research, the following main tasks are solved:

• analysis of the impact of microenvironment factors on the performance of the company;
• assessment and analysis of market conditions, market capacity, demand forecasting;
• assessment of the capabilities and behavior of competitors;
• studying the reaction of consumers to a new product;
• study of the commodity nomenclature and assortment, shifts in their structure;
• cost analysis for production and marketing of products;
• analysis of pricing and price regulation;
• analysis of turnover, commodity stocks, distribution costs and profits by stages of the product life cycle;
• evaluation of the effectiveness of the company's marketing activities, etc.

Marketing Information

Marketing information is figures, facts, information, rumors, estimates and other data necessary for the analysis and forecasting of marketing activities. At the same time, figures are understood as a form of displaying quantitative information, facts are simplest form information (directly observed event), information is a kind of facts presented in a systematic form, rumors are unconfirmed (unverified) facts, and estimates are information based on inferences and statistical calculations.

Marketing information can be divided into primary and secondary. Primary information includes information specially collected for solving a specific marketing problem based on observations, surveys, questionnaires, and experiments. Secondary information is information available to researchers that has been collected previously. Secondary information is divided into internal (statistical reporting, accounting, planning and economic calculations) and external (publications in the media, scientific information, materials of official departments, advertising materials, information from the Internet).

Any research begins, as a rule, with the collection of secondary information. However, secondary information can be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated and therefore used for early stages marketing research for a preliminary analysis of the tasks. In addition, secondary data is characterized by the property of information overflow. A lot of information is not always good for a researcher, since an excess of information can not so much clarify the situation as cloud it.

In most cases, researchers are faced with the problem of collecting primary information. At the same time, questions need to be addressed regarding the method of collecting information, the tools for collecting information, the design of the sample, and how to communicate with the audience. When collecting primary data, methods such as observation, experiment and survey are used. In the case of observation, direct monitoring of the marketing situation is carried out, for example, the researcher observes and fixes the characteristics of the trading process among competitors, identifies market conditions, evaluates the quality of services provided, while taking a passive position.

The experiment requires the selection of comparable groups of subjects, the creation of different environments for these groups, control over the variable components and the establishment of the degree of significance of the observed differences. In this case, the goal is to identify causal relationships by screening out conflicting explanations for the results of the experiment. This way of collecting primary data often provides the most compelling information. The survey occupies an intermediate position between observation and experiment. Firms conduct surveys to obtain information about the preferences of consumers, the degree of their satisfaction with the services provided. If observation is best suited for exploratory research, experiment for identifying causal relationships, then a survey is most convenient for descriptive research.

The main tool for collecting primary data is a questionnaire. The questionnaire contains a number of questions of interest to the researcher. In this case, questions can be both closed, i.e. suggesting fixed answers, and open.

Sometimes various mechanical (galvanometers, tachistoscopes) and electronic (audimeters) devices are used as data collection tools. Galvanometers record the slightest perspiration that accompanies emotional arousal, for example, from advertising. Tachistoscopes make it possible to expose an advertisement to a respondent in exposure intervals from 0.01 to several seconds. After that, the respondent explains the effect of exposure to advertising. Audimeters are connected to the TVs in the respondents' apartments and record the time spent watching different channels, which makes it possible to determine the rating of various TV programs.

A sample is a segment of consumers designed to represent the population as a whole. The sampling plan should meet the objectives of the study. To do this, it is necessary to answer three questions: whom to interview, how many consumers to interview, how to choose respondents? Any consumer can be included in the number of respondents. However, sometimes a confidential (non-random) sample is appropriate, involving the inclusion of respondents from whom information is easier to obtain, conditionally random, providing reliable results, or proportional sampling, providing for a certain number of respondents from each group. In order for the sample to be representative (representative), it is necessary to survey at least 1% of potential consumers of this product.

Question 3.2. fashion firm women's clothing collects primary information. The population of the city is 500,000 people. How many respondents should be surveyed to make the sample representative? To ensure objectivity, it is necessary that the selection of respondents is carried out randomly.

Exist various ways communication with the audience: telephone interviews; mailing list; interviewing (individual, group); Internet.

Marketing Analysis

Marketing analysis is an assessment, explanation, modeling and forecasting of the processes and phenomena of the commodity market and the company's own innovative and sales activities using statistical, econometric and other research methods. In marketing analysis, there are two areas: operational (operational) and strategic analysis.

On the operational level The analysis begins with assessments of market conditions:

• balance;
• proportional development;
• development trends;
• development sustainability;
• cyclical development.

At the strategic level, a deeper analysis of the market is carried out:

• analysis of the company's macro environment;
• customer demand forecast;
• analysis and modeling of consumer behavior;
• competitive analysis.

Strategic analysis of the company's product market reveals a set of relationships between the company and environment, in particular, gives an assessment of the market reaction to marketing activities.

The subject of marketing analysis is the activities of the company, the processes and phenomena that take place in the market, and the object is individual firms, consumers and industries as a whole. The goals of marketing analysis are:

• market development forecasting;
• analysis of the competitiveness of goods;
• forecasting the actions of competitors;
• forecasting consumer preferences;
• analysis of commercial risks.

The implementation of marketing analysis involves the use of a voluminous methodological apparatus. There are the following quantitative methods:

Multivariate methods (factorial and cluster analysis) are used to examine marketing decisions based on numerous interrelated variables;

The method of statistical decision theory (queuing theory, game theory) is used to probabilistically describe the reaction of consumers to a change in the market situation;

Deterministic methods of operations research (linear and non-linear programming) are used to make the optimal decision in the presence of many interrelated variables;

Simulation methods are used when the elements that determine the marketing situation are not amenable to analytical solutions;

Regression and correlation methods are used to determine the relationships between variables that describe marketing activities;

Network planning and management models are used to determine the sequence of work in solving various marketing tasks.

Source - Marketing / N.A. Semenov: tutorial. 1st ed. Tver: TSTU, 2007. 100 p.

The role and types of information. Information is the most important basis for any marketing action and even more research. According to many marketers, information work accounts for one-third to one-half of the total volume. According to some Western experts, the absence of an appropriate system of information communications in our country annually costs society a colossal amount - 80-90 billion rubles. losses.

There are primary and secondary. Primary information is most often obtained as a result of special field (market) research and modeling, carried out in any case with the specific purpose of solving this particular marketing problem. Secondary information is either data obtained from other (usually external) sources, or own information obtained earlier on a different occasion, for other purposes. Secondary information can be obtained cheaper and faster, it is easy to use, you can always refer to authoritative sources for greater reliability, and it also allows you to check the received primary data and increase the efficiency of their use. In general, according to some experts, in 17 out of 20 cases, secondary information is enough to make responsible decisions. But the fact is that in the sea of ​​information about Russia there is still little professional marketing data, and official statistics, including departmental and regional statistics, have not yet earned the respect of serious specialists. In addition, secondary information, unfortunately, is fragmented, rarely presented systematically, and most importantly, does not always reflect the goals of the upcoming marketing activities, their specific objects and the conditions for their existence and development. Therefore, in serious marketing activities, one has to operate with both secondary and primary marketing information.

Sources of information. Since primary marketing information is a product of special research, which will be discussed later, here we will consider the main sources of secondary information. The main part of its array is data on firms. The analysis of these data allows us to solve the following tasks:
choose the best product or service;
identify competing firms, their strategies and tactics;
identify neutral firms;
select potential counterparties;
develop the optimal strategy.

Sources of international marketing information are data from international organizations (International Monetary Fund, European Organization for Cooperation and Development, UN); laws, decrees, resolutions of state bodies of various countries; speeches of state, political and public figures; data of official statistics, periodicals, results of scientific research, etc. A special type of information sources are international specialized classifications (for example, the SPK Standard Product Classification and the SIK Standard Industry Classification), other information products of standardization bodies, both international and national. Enough full information about firms contain publications of the United Nations Center for TNCs, as well as yearbooks published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. However, in general, publications about firms prepared by economic