PCM Marketing Research & Analysis 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A marketer wants to determine whether a new ad campaign caused an increase in sales. Which research design is most appropriate?
- Descriptive research
- Exploratory research
- Causal (experimental) research (Correct answer)
- Cross-sectional research
Correct answer: Causal (experimental) research
Causal research uses experimental designs to establish cause-and-effect relationships by manipulating one variable while controlling others.
Question 2: What is the main advantage of using an online survey over a mail survey in marketing research?
- Higher response rates from older demographics
- Faster data collection and lower cost (Correct answer)
- Greater depth of qualitative responses
- Better control over sample representativeness
Correct answer: Faster data collection and lower cost
Online surveys provide speed of deployment and data collection along with significantly lower costs compared to mail surveys, though both have sampling limitations.
Question 3: Which type of research design surveys the same respondents at multiple points in time to track changes?
- Cross-sectional study
- Longitudinal (panel) study (Correct answer)
- Ethnographic study
- Cohort analysis
Correct answer: Longitudinal (panel) study
A longitudinal or panel study follows the same group of respondents over time, enabling researchers to track attitude or behavior changes.
Question 4: A researcher notices that respondents tend to give more favorable answers when they know they are being observed. This is known as:
- Non-response bias
- Social desirability bias (Correct answer)
- Sampling error
- Question order bias
Correct answer: Social desirability bias
Social desirability bias occurs when respondents answer in ways they believe are more socially acceptable or favorable rather than truthfully.
Question 5: In conjoint analysis, what are respondents typically asked to do?
- Rank or rate product profiles that vary on multiple attributes simultaneously (Correct answer)
- Recall unaided brand names from memory
- Describe their ideal product in their own words
- Compare two brands on a single attribute at a time
Correct answer: Rank or rate product profiles that vary on multiple attributes simultaneously
Conjoint analysis presents respondents with product profiles combining multiple attributes and asks them to rank or rate these profiles to determine attribute importance and trade-offs.
Question 6: What is syndicated research in marketing?
- Research conducted exclusively for one client company
- Standardized research sold to multiple clients by a research firm (Correct answer)
- Research using only syndicated media channels
- Internal research shared across departments
Correct answer: Standardized research sold to multiple clients by a research firm
Syndicated research is collected and sold by research firms (like Nielsen or IRI) to multiple clients, making it cost-efficient but not customized to one buyer.
Question 7: Which statistical technique is most appropriate for identifying underlying dimensions that explain correlations among a large set of survey variables?
- Regression analysis
- Factor analysis (Correct answer)
- Cluster analysis
- Discriminant analysis
Correct answer: Factor analysis
Factor analysis reduces a large number of correlated variables into a smaller set of underlying factors or dimensions that explain the observed patterns.
PCM Marketing Research & Analysis 2
A marketer wants to determine whether a new ad campaign caused an increase in sales.
Which research design is most appropriate?