Marketing Research

Marketing Research

Market research is ÐŽ§the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant

to a specific marketing situation facing the companyЎЁ (Kotler, 2001, p.46). In order to carry out effective planning and control, managers must have relevant and accurate information on a continual basis. Market information can be verbal, visual, or written data that is relevant to the decision at hand. The market research process (Kotler, 2001, p.49), is comprised of the following steps:

1. Define the problem and research objectives

2. Develop the research plan

3. Collect the information

4. Analyze the information

5. Present the findings

This paper will concentrate on how the Allstate Life Company conducts market research and the impact of the Internet on market research.

Research within the Allstate Life Company

There are many different aspects of market research that are conducted at Allstate. Examples would be research on consumers for the Allstate Corporation as a whole, research on consumers for specific products, which would be a sub-set of the larger Allstate Corporation consumer group, and research on how we compare to our competitors. Lorraine Kern, Marketing Manager for Allstate Insurance Company recently explained to me how she conducts marketing research. Lorraine said, ÐŽ§I conduct research for a variety of issues that impact Life Insurance products. I recently conducted some research to determine if there is a significant opportunity for life insurance sales in the Hispanic Market. To compile my data I utilized a variety of sources including:ЎЁ

„X Interviews with management in the Ethnic Marketing department and Allstate Research and Planning Center.

„X Review of all internal presentations and studies conducted for ethnic marketing that mentioned the Hispanic Market.

„X Interview with an external consulting firm that prepared a presentation for Allstate regarding the opportunities in this market.

„X In depth review of all existing marketing materials targeted to this market.

„X Industry information from the following insurance organizations: LIMRA, LOMA, ACLI.

„X Statistical data from the Allstate Financial Database Marketing department

Lorrane then compiles all of this data, studies it and prepares an analysis of the opportunity areas. Lorraine says ÐŽ§This sounds real simple, but it takes lots of time to gather the information, then to determine what is really pertinent, and then pull it together to tell the story.ЎЁ (L. Kern, personal communication, April 30, 2003):

Internet Market Research

The potential of market research increased by the growing and widespread acceptance of the Internet. For the first time in history an almost unlimited amount of information is available at the click of a finger. According to a recent Best Practices article, ÐŽ§Gone are the days of traditional market research. To successfully and quickly conduct market research in today's hyper-competitive marketplace, leading companies use the Internet to capture customer characteristics. Collecting this information on customers regularly through the Internet also helps companies gain competitive advantage,ЎЁ( ) There are various types of Companies should also be aware of the possible bias when you using the Internet for market research. The advantages and disadvantages of using this information include the following,

Advantages of the Internet

„X Access

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