Will new on-line media - particularly Internet-based ones - forever change the way we communicate? Will they forever change commercial communications such as advertising? Who will benefit, who will loose? How may marketing and research be affected? This paper attempts to shed some light on these questions. First, by reviewing the present state of the debate as it appears in the literature. Second by proposing a key assumption: traditional institutions - corporations, marketers, advertisers, even the press- will no longer be able to control New Media. Third, based on this assumption, by suggesting prospective scenario for the communications and research industries.
Since the late 1970s, there has been a growing interest in using value dimensions for the explanation of consumer behaviour. The present paper discusses these applications. The communication of findings and problems of maintaining stability in the dimensions over time and across countries has led to simplifications. The main tendency has been to develop a two-dimensional space in which consumption, respondents and values are placed. In the present paper, the dimensions used in different value systems are compared. Basically, the conclusion that emerges is that when one forces a value system into a two-dimensional solution, almost regardless of the questions asked one ends up with two quite similar dimensions, the one ranging from modern to traditional, the other relating to individualism versus valuing social factors, i.e., egoism versus hedonism. The paper describes how the two-dimensional solution defines nine segments. The paper concludes with a discussion of the need for the development of a standardised two-dimensional system, much like the standardised measurements of sex, age, head of household, etc., developed by ESOMAR earlier.
On the fast developing "Information Highway" market testing methods for the acceptance of Online Services will gain an increasing importance. While all services are using a graphic user interface (Windows) a real acceptance test can only be realized with a system that fulfils the same demands. The survey, presented to you on a later stage, is an example for the use of CAPI Multimedia and illustrates new interviewing possibilities, as well as showing the higher quality of data won by this new method. With CAPI Multimedia technology it is now possible to test a TV-spot or printed advertisement as well as services presented in Online Services as T-ONLINE or Internet/WWW. This paper also illustrates the decisions - hardware and software - that had to be taken on the way to a CAPI Multimedia system.
This paper introduces and explains a process for analyzing and understanding promotion effectiveness and profitability combining the use of information sources, state-of-the-art modeling techniques and procedures. The problems of simply managing large-scale databases and the challenges facing managers, marketing scientists, econometricians and statisticians attempting to extract relevant business facts and test critical hypotheses have been discussed in the literature. This paper goes beyond reviewing the knowledge base to discuss an approach to managing large amounts of data when the objective is flexibility in the application of quantitative tools and procedures providing output for understanding the current business environment and leading to the development of a more efficient (or optimal) promotion plan. Each element of the marketing mix - and the components of both maximizing incremental sales and marketing return on investment are discussed with empirical examples, using both new software and systems.
Many consumer and marketing research techniques have been adopted from other disciplines ranging from statistics to demography, from social sciences to studies in communication theories and economics. Yet a holistic approach, like ethnography, has not been widely used by the practicing researchers, at least not in India. The authors adopted the enthnographic methodology widely used in anthropology and cultural studies but adapted it to suit the requirements of consumer research. This paper presents the general conceptual framework of the ethnographic method as well as the modifications made by them. Finally the paper aims to demonstrate through illustrations from an ethnographic study conducted by the authors, how judicious application of this method can enrich in-depth understanding of socio- cultural frame-work of the consumer which, in the final analysis, affects the consumption pattern.
Category Management is essentially a partnership between retailers and suppliers, leading to the manufacturer driving a category through the retailer's stores rather than an individual brand. Manufacturers share information with retailers to help identify target consumers for their category, understand these consumers needs, and develop strategies to drive the category. Drawing on information from interviews with key players engaged in Category Management, this paper identifies the issues and information requirements relating to the partnership. It then goes on to illustrate two research techniques used by manufacturers to support Category Management and facilitate a profitable business partnership with the retailer.
To be under stress, to be short of time, to be late - these are all typical expressions in modern society. We envy - and despise - those who live on Indian time, who have not any time concept, who do not know what punctuality means, and so on. Forecasts concerning a leisure-time paradise have failed. Although the weekly hours of work were reduced in the last 30 years, the time available for oneself did not increase very much. The reasons for this typical process are discussed. Time is not only an important factor for subjective quality of life but also, which is very often overlooked as the consumption factor. The paper shows the results of an empirical study which includes: relative importance of leisure time for "personal happiness" subjective amount of leisure/stress, time versus money preference, activities for which more time would be wanted, activities done under stress (usually), activities where one would like to save time, activities where products could help to save time.
This paper describes a new approach to data warehousing, in focusing the data warehousing solutions on the every day needs of data end- users. This new approach is called User Information System to show the difference with other Data Warehouse Solutions. In the first part, this paper analyzes the usual data warehouse solutions mostly oriented towards data management. In the second part, this paper presents the User Information System Solution, oriented end-user, and designed by end-users of data warehouse. The specifications of this solution were from the experience of France Telecom Information System. In the last part, we describe the data usersâ satisfaction problems.
In the ever changing business environment of emerging markets such as China, the advantages of being a first mover are immense. While the importance of market research in new product development is unquestioned, all too often it is resisted for being an extremely time consuming exercise which can delay the launch of new brands. This paper will illustrate - using a case study based on the framework of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - how market research played an instrumental role in the successful launch, by Pepsi, of a new brand targeted at children in China.
This paper describes a new method for investigating consumer preferences for product design, the Interactive Concept Test. In this test, respondents specify their own, preferred design by interactively adjusting the attribute levels of a randomly chosen product design. The Interactive Concept Test gives insight into the formation of consumer preferences for products, in addition to how preferences are structured. Furthermore, the test is an example of the application of multimedia technologies in consumer research. In this paper, it is shown how the method works. Furthermore, some results of an illustrative study are discussed.
The Iguassu Project is a market research study which faces a unique situation: the strategic repositioning of a tourist region very important to three countries - Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay - seeking to construct a new and international brand for an attractive and all- encompassing region which can provide tourist attractions, leisure, shopping, business, culture and sports. The combination of secondary information, together with qualitative and quantitative studies, involving various segments of the public in the three countries, treats with the complexities and vicissitudes of a brand in a marketing ambience characterized by profound economic and social changes. The project utilizes the various aspects of the three-country border market as a model of analysis for the discussion of limits and contingencies of the processes necessary for brand building, and the role of the market research process as a catalyst for the forces behind the building of a brand. One of the results was the contribution for the implementation of "The Iguassu International Tourist Center".
This paper presents two case histories showing how world-wide segmentation of consumers aids in new product development. The segmentation approach was originally used with sensory analysis of products, but has been expanded to concepts on a transnational basis. These segments transcend countries - viz., the same segment exists in different countries, but in varying proportions. The interview uses multimedia concepts, designed by experiment. The analysis uses modelling and segmentation to create individual concept response models. The result is a database which can be used to understand the segments and to create new concepts in a rapid fashion.