marketing research process essay

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10.2 Steps in the Marketing Research Process

Learning objective.

• Describe the basic steps in the marketing research process and the purpose of each step.

The basic steps used to conduct marketing research are shown in Figure 10.6 “Steps in the Marketing Research Process” . Next, we discuss each step.

Figure 10.6 Steps in the Marketing Research Process

Step 1: Define the Problem (or Opportunity)

There’s a saying in marketing research that a problem half defined is a problem half solved. Defining the “problem” of the research sounds simple, doesn’t it? Suppose your product is tutoring other students in a subject you’re a whiz at. You have been tutoring for a while, and people have begun to realize you’re darned good at it. Then, suddenly, your business drops off. Or it explodes, and you can’t cope with the number of students you’re being asked help. If the business has exploded, should you try to expand your services? Perhaps you should subcontract with some other “whiz” students. You would send them students to be tutored, and they would give you a cut of their pay for each student you referred to them.

Both of these scenarios would be a problem for you, wouldn’t they? They are problems insofar as they cause you headaches. But are they really the problem? Or are they the symptoms of something bigger? For example, maybe your business has dropped off because your school is experiencing financial trouble and has lowered the number of scholarships given to incoming freshmen. Consequently, there are fewer total students on campus who need your services. Conversely, if you’re swamped with people who want you to tutor them, perhaps your school awarded more scholarships than usual, so there are a greater number of students who need your services. Alternately, perhaps you ran an ad in your school’s college newspaper, and that led to the influx of students wanting you to tutor them.

Businesses are in the same boat you are as a tutor. They take a look at symptoms and try to drill down to the potential causes. If you approach a marketing research company with either scenario—either too much or too little business—the firm will seek more information from you such as the following:

• In what semester(s) did your tutoring revenues fall (or rise)?
• In what subject areas did your tutoring revenues fall (or rise)?
• In what sales channels did revenues fall (or rise): Were there fewer (or more) referrals from professors or other students? Did the ad you ran result in fewer (or more) referrals this month than in the past months?
• Among what demographic groups did your revenues fall (or rise)—women or men, people with certain majors, or first-year, second-, third-, or fourth-year students?

The key is to look at all potential causes so as to narrow the parameters of the study to the information you actually need to make a good decision about how to fix your business if revenues have dropped or whether or not to expand it if your revenues have exploded.

The next task for the researcher is to put into writing the research objective. The research objective is the goal(s) the research is supposed to accomplish. The marketing research objective for your tutoring business might read as follows:

To survey college professors who teach 100- and 200-level math courses to determine why the number of students referred for tutoring dropped in the second semester.

This is admittedly a simple example designed to help you understand the basic concept. If you take a marketing research course, you will learn that research objectives get a lot more complicated than this. The following is an example:

“To gather information from a sample representative of the U.S. population among those who are ‘very likely’ to purchase an automobile within the next 6 months, which assesses preferences (measured on a 1–5 scale ranging from ‘very likely to buy’ to ‘not likely at all to buy’) for the model diesel at three different price levels. Such data would serve as input into a forecasting model that would forecast unit sales, by geographic regions of the country, for each combination of the model’s different prices and fuel configurations (Burns & Bush, 2010).”

Now do you understand why defining the problem is complicated and half the battle? Many a marketing research effort is doomed from the start because the problem was improperly defined. Coke’s ill-fated decision to change the formula of Coca-Cola in 1985 is a case in point: Pepsi had been creeping up on Coke in terms of market share over the years as well as running a successful promotional campaign called the “Pepsi Challenge,” in which consumers were encouraged to do a blind taste test to see if they agreed that Pepsi was better. Coke spent four years researching “the problem.” Indeed, people seemed to like the taste of Pepsi better in blind taste tests. Thus, the formula for Coke was changed. But the outcry among the public was so great that the new formula didn’t last long—a matter of months—before the old formula was reinstated. Some marketing experts believe Coke incorrectly defined the problem as “How can we beat Pepsi in taste tests?” instead of “How can we gain market share against Pepsi?” (Burns & Bush, 2010)

New Coke Is It! 1985

(click to see video)

This video documents the Coca-Cola Company’s ill-fated launch of New Coke in 1985.

1985 Pepsi Commercial—“They Changed My Coke”

This video shows how Pepsi tried to capitalize on the blunder.

Step 2: Design the Research

The next step in the marketing research process is to do a research design. The research design is your “plan of attack.” It outlines what data you are going to gather and from whom, how and when you will collect the data, and how you will analyze it once it’s been obtained. Let’s look at the data you’re going to gather first.

There are two basic types of data you can gather. The first is primary data. Primary data is information you collect yourself, using hands-on tools such as interviews or surveys, specifically for the research project you’re conducting. Secondary data is data that has already been collected by someone else, or data you have already collected for another purpose. Collecting primary data is more time consuming, work intensive, and expensive than collecting secondary data. Consequently, you should always try to collect secondary data first to solve your research problem, if you can. A great deal of research on a wide variety of topics already exists. If this research contains the answer to your question, there is no need for you to replicate it. Why reinvent the wheel?

Sources of Secondary Data

Your company’s internal records are a source of secondary data. So are any data you collect as part of your marketing intelligence gathering efforts. You can also purchase syndicated research. Syndicated research is primary data that marketing research firms collect on a regular basis and sell to other companies. J.D. Power & Associates is a provider of syndicated research. The company conducts independent, unbiased surveys of customer satisfaction, product quality, and buyer behavior for various industries. The company is best known for its research in the automobile sector. One of the best-known sellers of syndicated research is the Nielsen Company, which produces the Nielsen ratings. The Nielsen ratings measure the size of television, radio, and newspaper audiences in various markets. You have probably read or heard about TV shows that get the highest (Nielsen) ratings. (Arbitron does the same thing for radio ratings.) Nielsen, along with its main competitor, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), also sells businesses scanner-based research . Scanner-based research is information collected by scanners at checkout stands in stores. Each week Nielsen and IRI collect information on the millions of purchases made at stores. The companies then compile the information and sell it to firms in various industries that subscribe to their services. The Nielsen Company has also recently teamed up with Facebook to collect marketing research information. Via Facebook, users will see surveys in some of the spaces in which they used to see online ads (Rappeport, Gelles, 2009).

By contrast, MarketResearch.com is an example of a marketing research aggregator. A marketing research aggregator is a marketing research company that doesn’t conduct its own research and sell it. Instead, it buys research reports from other marketing research companies and then sells the reports in their entirety or in pieces to other firms. Check out MarketResearch.com’s Web site. As you will see there are a huge number of studies in every category imaginable that you can buy for relatively small amounts of money.

Figure 10.7

Market research aggregators buy research reports from other marketing research companies and then resell them in part or in whole to other companies so they don’t have to gather primary data.

Source: http://www.marketresearch.com .

Your local library is a good place to gather free secondary data. It has searchable databases as well as handbooks, dictionaries, and books, some of which you can access online. Government agencies also collect and report information on demographics, economic and employment data, health information, and balance-of-trade statistics, among a lot of other information. The U.S. Census Bureau collects census data every ten years to gather information about who lives where. Basic demographic information about sex, age, race, and types of housing in which people live in each U.S. state, metropolitan area, and rural area is gathered so that population shifts can be tracked for various purposes, including determining the number of legislators each state should have in the U.S. House of Representatives. For the U.S. government, this is primary data. For marketing managers it is an important source of secondary data.

The Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan also conducts periodic surveys and publishes information about trends in the United States. One research study the center continually conducts is called the “Changing Lives of American Families” ( http://www.isr.umich.edu/home/news/research-update/2007-01.pdf ). This is important research data for marketing managers monitoring consumer trends in the marketplace. The World Bank and the United Nations are two international organizations that collect a great deal of information. Their Web sites contain many free research studies and data related to global markets. Table 10.1 “Examples of Primary Data Sources versus Secondary Data Sources” shows some examples of primary versus secondary data sources.

Table 10.1 Examples of Primary Data Sources versus Secondary Data Sources

Gauging the Quality of Secondary Data

When you are gathering secondary information, it’s always good to be a little skeptical of it. Sometimes studies are commissioned to produce the result a client wants to hear—or wants the public to hear. For example, throughout the twentieth century, numerous studies found that smoking was good for people’s health. The problem was the studies were commissioned by the tobacco industry. Web research can also pose certain hazards. There are many biased sites that try to fool people that they are providing good data. Often the data is favorable to the products they are trying to sell. Beware of product reviews as well. Unscrupulous sellers sometimes get online and create bogus ratings for products. See below for questions you can ask to help gauge the credibility of secondary information.

Gauging the Credibility of Secondary Data: Questions to Ask

• Who gathered this information?
• For what purpose?
• What does the person or organization that gathered the information have to gain by doing so?
• Was the information gathered and reported in a systematic manner?
• Is the source of the information accepted as an authority by other experts in the field?
• Does the article provide objective evidence to support the position presented?

Types of Research Design

Now let’s look specifically at the types of research designs that are utilized. By understanding different types of research designs, a researcher can solve a client’s problems more quickly and efficiently without jumping through more hoops than necessary. Research designs fall into one of the following three categories:

• Exploratory research design
• Descriptive research design
• Causal research design (experiments)

An exploratory research design is useful when you are initially investigating a problem but you haven’t defined it well enough to do an in-depth study of it. Perhaps via your regular market intelligence, you have spotted what appears to be a new opportunity in the marketplace. You would then do exploratory research to investigate it further and “get your feet wet,” as the saying goes. Exploratory research is less structured than other types of research, and secondary data is often utilized.

One form of exploratory research is qualitative research. Qualitative research is any form of research that includes gathering data that is not quantitative, and often involves exploring questions such as why as much as what or how much . Different forms, such as depth interviews and focus group interviews, are common in marketing research.

The depth interview —engaging in detailed, one-on-one, question-and-answer sessions with potential buyers—is an exploratory research technique. However, unlike surveys, the people being interviewed aren’t asked a series of standard questions. Instead the interviewer is armed with some general topics and asks questions that are open ended, meaning that they allow the interviewee to elaborate. “How did you feel about the product after you purchased it?” is an example of a question that might be asked. A depth interview also allows a researcher to ask logical follow-up questions such as “Can you tell me what you mean when you say you felt uncomfortable using the service?” or “Can you give me some examples?” to help dig further and shed additional light on the research problem. Depth interviews can be conducted in person or over the phone. The interviewer either takes notes or records the interview.

Focus groups and case studies are often utilized for exploratory research as well. A focus group is a group of potential buyers who are brought together to discuss a marketing research topic with one another. A moderator is used to focus the discussion, the sessions are recorded, and the main points of consensus are later summarized by the market researcher. Textbook publishers often gather groups of professors at educational conferences to participate in focus groups. However, focus groups can also be conducted on the telephone, in online chat rooms, or both, using meeting software like WebEx. The basic steps of conducting a focus group are outlined below.

The Basic Steps of Conducting a Focus Group

• Establish the objectives of the focus group. What is its purpose?
• Identify the people who will participate in the focus group. What makes them qualified to participate? How many of them will you need and what they will be paid?
• Obtain contact information for the participants and send out invitations (usually e-mails are most efficient).
• Develop a list of questions.
• Choose a facilitator.
• Choose a location in which to hold the focus group and the method by which it will be recorded.
• Conduct the focus group. If the focus group is not conducted electronically, include name tags for the participants, pens and notepads, any materials the participants need to see, and refreshments. Record participants’ responses.
• Summarize the notes from the focus group and write a report for management.

A case study looks at how another company solved the problem that’s being researched. Sometimes multiple cases, or companies, are used in a study. Case studies nonetheless have a mixed reputation. Some researchers believe it’s hard to generalize, or apply, the results of a case study to other companies. Nonetheless, collecting information about companies that encountered the same problems your firm is facing can give you a certain amount of insight about what direction you should take. In fact, one way to begin a research project is to carefully study a successful product or service.

Two other types of qualitative data used for exploratory research are ethnographies and projective techniques. In an ethnography , researchers interview, observe, and often videotape people while they work, live, shop, and play. The Walt Disney Company has recently begun using ethnographers to uncover the likes and dislikes of boys aged six to fourteen, a financially attractive market segment for Disney, but one in which the company has been losing market share. The ethnographers visit the homes of boys, observe the things they have in their rooms to get a sense of their hobbies, and accompany them and their mothers when they shop to see where they go, what the boys are interested in, and what they ultimately buy. (The children get seventy-five dollars out of the deal, incidentally.) (Barnes, 2009)

Projective techniques are used to reveal information research respondents might not reveal by being asked directly. Asking a person to complete sentences such as the following is one technique:

People who buy Coach handbags __________.

(Will he or she reply with “are cool,” “are affluent,” or “are pretentious,” for example?)

KFC’s grilled chicken is ______.

Or the person might be asked to finish a story that presents a certain scenario. Word associations are also used to discern people’s underlying attitudes toward goods and services. Using a word-association technique, a market researcher asks a person to say or write the first word that comes to his or her mind in response to another word. If the initial word is “fast food,” what word does the person associate it with or respond with? Is it “McDonald’s”? If many people reply that way, and you’re conducting research for Burger King, that could indicate Burger King has a problem. However, if the research is being conducted for Wendy’s, which recently began running an advertising campaign to the effect that Wendy’s offerings are “better than fast food,” it could indicate that the campaign is working.

Completing cartoons is yet another type of projective technique. It’s similar to finishing a sentence or story, only with the pictures. People are asked to look at a cartoon such as the one shown in Figure 10.8 “Example of a Cartoon-Completion Projective Technique” . One of the characters in the picture will have made a statement, and the person is asked to fill in the empty cartoon “bubble” with how they think the second character will respond.

Figure 10.8 Example of a Cartoon-Completion Projective Technique

In some cases, your research might end with exploratory research. Perhaps you have discovered your organization lacks the resources needed to produce the product. In other cases, you might decide you need more in-depth, quantitative research such as descriptive research or causal research, which are discussed next. Most marketing research professionals advise using both types of research, if it’s feasible. On the one hand, the qualitative-type research used in exploratory research is often considered too “lightweight.” Remember earlier in the chapter when we discussed telephone answering machines and the hit TV sitcom Seinfeld ? Both product ideas were initially rejected by focus groups. On the other hand, relying solely on quantitative information often results in market research that lacks ideas.

The Stone Wheel—What One Focus Group Said

Watch the video to see a funny spoof on the usefulness—or lack of usefulness—of focus groups.

Descriptive Research

Anything that can be observed and counted falls into the category of descriptive research design. A study using a descriptive research design involves gathering hard numbers, often via surveys, to describe or measure a phenomenon so as to answer the questions of who , what , where , when , and how . “On a scale of 1–5, how satisfied were you with your service?” is a question that illustrates the information a descriptive research design is supposed to capture.

Physiological measurements also fall into the category of descriptive design. Physiological measurements measure people’s involuntary physical responses to marketing stimuli, such as an advertisement. Elsewhere, we explained that researchers have gone so far as to scan the brains of consumers to see what they really think about products versus what they say about them. Eye tracking is another cutting-edge type of physiological measurement. It involves recording the movements of a person’s eyes when they look at some sort of stimulus, such as a banner ad or a Web page. The Walt Disney Company has a research facility in Austin, Texas, that it uses to take physical measurements of viewers when they see Disney programs and advertisements. The facility measures three types of responses: people’s heart rates, skin changes, and eye movements (eye tracking) (Spangler, 2009).

Figure 10.9

A woman shows off her headgear for an eye-tracking study. The gear’s not exactly a fashion statement but . . .

lawrencegs – Google Glass – CC BY 2.0.

A strictly descriptive research design instrument—a survey, for example—can tell you how satisfied your customers are. It can’t, however, tell you why. Nor can an eye-tracking study tell you why people’s eyes tend to dwell on certain types of banner ads—only that they do. To answer “why” questions an exploratory research design or causal research design is needed (Wagner, 2007).

Causal Research

Causal research design examines cause-and-effect relationships. Using a causal research design allows researchers to answer “what if” types of questions. In other words, if a firm changes X (say, a product’s price, design, placement, or advertising), what will happen to Y (say, sales or customer loyalty)? To conduct causal research, the researcher designs an experiment that “controls,” or holds constant, all of a product’s marketing elements except one (or using advanced techniques of research, a few elements can be studied at the same time). The one variable is changed, and the effect is then measured. Sometimes the experiments are conducted in a laboratory using a simulated setting designed to replicate the conditions buyers would experience. Or the experiments may be conducted in a virtual computer setting.

You might think setting up an experiment in a virtual world such as the online game Second Life would be a viable way to conduct controlled marketing research. Some companies have tried to use Second Life for this purpose, but the results have been somewhat mixed as to whether or not it is a good medium for marketing research. The German marketing research firm Komjuniti was one of the first “real-world” companies to set up an “island” in Second Life upon which it could conduct marketing research. However, with so many other attractive fantasy islands in which to play, the company found it difficult to get Second Life residents, or players, to voluntarily visit the island and stay long enough so meaningful research could be conducted. (Plus, the “residents,” or players, in Second Life have been known to protest corporations invading their world. When the German firm Komjuniti created an island in Second Life to conduct marketing research, the residents showed up waving signs and threatening to boycott the island.) (Wagner, 2007)

Why is being able to control the setting so important? Let’s say you are an American flag manufacturer and you are working with Walmart to conduct an experiment to see where in its stores American flags should be placed so as to increase their sales. Then the terrorist attacks of 9/11 occur. In the days afterward, sales skyrocketed—people bought flags no matter where they were displayed. Obviously, the terrorist attacks in the United States would have skewed the experiment’s data.

An experiment conducted in a natural setting such as a store is referred to as a field experiment . Companies sometimes do field experiments either because it is more convenient or because they want to see if buyers will behave the same way in the “real world” as in a laboratory or on a computer. The place the experiment is conducted or the demographic group of people the experiment is administered to is considered the test market . Before a large company rolls out a product to the entire marketplace, it will often place the offering in a test market to see how well it will be received. For example, to compete with MillerCoors’ sixty-four-calorie beer MGD 64, Anheuser-Busch recently began testing its Select 55 beer in certain cities around the country (McWilliams, 2009).

Figure 10.10

Select 55 beer: Coming soon to a test market near you? (If you’re on a diet, you have to hope so!)

Martine – Le champagne – CC BY-NC 2.0.

Many companies use experiments to test all of their marketing communications. For example, the online discount retailer O.co (formerly called Overstock.com) carefully tests all of its marketing offers and tracks the results of each one. One study the company conducted combined twenty-six different variables related to offers e-mailed to several thousand customers. The study resulted in a decision to send a group of e-mails to different segments. The company then tracked the results of the sales generated to see if they were in line with the earlier experiment it had conducted that led it to make the offer.

Step 3: Design the Data-Collection Forms

If the behavior of buyers is being formally observed, and a number of different researchers are conducting observations, the data obviously need to be recorded on a standardized data-collection form that’s either paper or electronic. Otherwise, the data collected will not be comparable. The items on the form could include a shopper’s sex; his or her approximate age; whether the person seemed hurried, moderately hurried, or unhurried; and whether or not he or she read the label on products, used coupons, and so forth.

The same is true when it comes to surveying people with questionnaires. Surveying people is one of the most commonly used techniques to collect quantitative data. Surveys are popular because they can be easily administered to large numbers of people fairly quickly. However, to produce the best results, the questionnaire for the survey needs to be carefully designed.

Questionnaire Design

Most questionnaires follow a similar format: They begin with an introduction describing what the study is for, followed by instructions for completing the questionnaire and, if necessary, returning it to the market researcher. The first few questions that appear on the questionnaire are usually basic, warm-up type of questions the respondent can readily answer, such as the respondent’s age, level of education, place of residence, and so forth. The warm-up questions are then followed by a logical progression of more detailed, in-depth questions that get to the heart of the question being researched. Lastly, the questionnaire wraps up with a statement that thanks the respondent for participating in the survey and information and explains when and how they will be paid for participating. To see some examples of questionnaires and how they are laid out, click on the following link: http://cas.uah.edu/wrenb/mkt343/Project/Sample%20Questionnaires.htm .

How the questions themselves are worded is extremely important. It’s human nature for respondents to want to provide the “correct” answers to the person administering the survey, so as to seem agreeable. Therefore, there is always a hazard that people will try to tell you what you want to hear on a survey. Consequently, care needs to be taken that the survey questions are written in an unbiased, neutral way. In other words, they shouldn’t lead a person taking the questionnaire to answer a question one way or another by virtue of the way you have worded it. The following is an example of a leading question.

Don’t you agree that teachers should be paid more ?

The questions also need to be clear and unambiguous. Consider the following question:

Which brand of toothpaste do you use ?

The question sounds clear enough, but is it really? What if the respondent recently switched brands? What if she uses Crest at home, but while away from home or traveling, she uses Colgate’s Wisp portable toothpaste-and-brush product? How will the respondent answer the question? Rewording the question as follows so it’s more specific will help make the question clearer:

Which brand of toothpaste have you used at home in the past six months? If you have used more than one brand, please list each of them 1 .

Sensitive questions have to be asked carefully. For example, asking a respondent, “Do you consider yourself a light, moderate, or heavy drinker?” can be tricky. Few people want to admit to being heavy drinkers. You can “soften” the question by including a range of answers, as the following example shows:

How many alcoholic beverages do you consume in a week ?

• __0–5 alcoholic beverages
• __5–10 alcoholic beverages
• __10–15 alcoholic beverages

Many people don’t like to answer questions about their income levels. Asking them to specify income ranges rather than divulge their actual incomes can help.

Other research question “don’ts” include using jargon and acronyms that could confuse people. “How often do you IM?” is an example. Also, don’t muddy the waters by asking two questions in the same question, something researchers refer to as a double-barreled question . “Do you think parents should spend more time with their children and/or their teachers?” is an example of a double-barreled question.

Open-ended questions , or questions that ask respondents to elaborate, can be included. However, they are harder to tabulate than closed-ended questions , or questions that limit a respondent’s answers. Multiple-choice and yes-and-no questions are examples of closed-ended questions.

Testing the Questionnaire

You have probably heard the phrase “garbage in, garbage out.” If the questions are bad, the information gathered will be bad, too. One way to make sure you don’t end up with garbage is to test the questionnaire before sending it out to find out if there are any problems with it. Is there enough space for people to elaborate on open-ended questions? Is the font readable? To test the questionnaire, marketing research professionals first administer it to a number of respondents face to face. This gives the respondents the chance to ask the researcher about questions or instructions that are unclear or don’t make sense to them. The researcher then administers the questionnaire to a small subset of respondents in the actual way the survey is going to be disseminated, whether it’s delivered via phone, in person, by mail, or online.

Getting people to participate and complete questionnaires can be difficult. If the questionnaire is too long or hard to read, many people won’t complete it. So, by all means, eliminate any questions that aren’t necessary. Of course, including some sort of monetary incentive for completing the survey can increase the number of completed questionnaires a market researcher will receive.

Step 4: Specify the Sample

Once you have created your questionnaire or other marketing study, how do you figure out who should participate in it? Obviously, you can’t survey or observe all potential buyers in the marketplace. Instead, you must choose a sample. A sample is a subset of potential buyers that are representative of your entire target market, or population being studied. Sometimes market researchers refer to the population as the universe to reflect the fact that it includes the entire target market, whether it consists of a million people, a hundred thousand, a few hundred, or a dozen. “All unmarried people over the age of eighteen who purchased Dirt Devil steam cleaners in the United States during 2011” is an example of a population that has been defined.

Obviously, the population has to be defined correctly. Otherwise, you will be studying the wrong group of people. Not defining the population correctly can result in flawed research, or sampling error. A sampling error is any type of marketing research mistake that results because a sample was utilized. One criticism of Internet surveys is that the people who take these surveys don’t really represent the overall population. On average, Internet survey takers tend to be more educated and tech savvy. Consequently, if they solely constitute your population, even if you screen them for certain criteria, the data you collect could end up being skewed.

The next step is to put together the sampling frame , which is the list from which the sample is drawn. The sampling frame can be put together using a directory, customer list, or membership roster (Wrenn et. al., 2007). Keep in mind that the sampling frame won’t perfectly match the population. Some people will be included on the list who shouldn’t be. Other people who should be included will be inadvertently omitted. It’s no different than if you were to conduct a survey of, say, 25 percent of your friends, using friends’ names you have in your cell phone. Most of your friends’ names are likely to be programmed into your phone, but not all of them. As a result, a certain degree of sampling error always occurs.

There are two main categories of samples in terms of how they are drawn: probability samples and nonprobability samples. A probability sample is one in which each would-be participant has a known and equal chance of being selected. The chance is known because the total number of people in the sampling frame is known. For example, if every other person from the sampling frame were chosen, each person would have a 50 percent chance of being selected.

A nonprobability sample is any type of sample that’s not drawn in a systematic way. So the chances of each would-be participant being selected can’t be known. A convenience sample is one type of nonprobability sample. It is a sample a researcher draws because it’s readily available and convenient to do so. Surveying people on the street as they pass by is an example of a convenience sample. The question is, are these people representative of the target market?

For example, suppose a grocery store needed to quickly conduct some research on shoppers to get ready for an upcoming promotion. Now suppose that the researcher assigned to the project showed up between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on a weekday and surveyed as many shoppers as possible. The problem is that the shoppers wouldn’t be representative of the store’s entire target market. What about commuters who stop at the store before and after work? Their views wouldn’t be represented. Neither would people who work the night shift or shop at odd hours. As a result, there would be a lot of room for sampling error in this study. For this reason, studies that use nonprobability samples aren’t considered as accurate as studies that use probability samples. Nonprobability samples are more often used in exploratory research.

Lastly, the size of the sample has an effect on the amount of sampling error. Larger samples generally produce more accurate results. The larger your sample is, the more data you will have, which will give you a more complete picture of what you’re studying. However, the more people surveyed or studied, the more costly the research becomes.

Statistics can be used to determine a sample’s optimal size. If you take a marketing research or statistics class, you will learn more about how to determine the optimal size.

Of course, if you hire a marketing research company, much of this work will be taken care of for you. Many marketing research companies, like ResearchNow, maintain panels of prescreened people they draw upon for samples. In addition, the marketing research firm will be responsible for collecting the data or contracting with a company that specializes in data collection. Data collection is discussed next.

Step 5: Collect the Data

As we have explained, primary marketing research data can be gathered in a number of ways. Surveys, taking physical measurements, and observing people are just three of the ways we discussed. If you’re observing customers as part of gathering the data, keep in mind that if shoppers are aware of the fact, it can have an effect on their behavior. For example, if a customer shopping for feminine hygiene products in a supermarket aisle realizes she is being watched, she could become embarrassed and leave the aisle, which would adversely affect your data. To get around problems such as these, some companies set up cameras or two-way mirrors to observe customers. Organizations also hire mystery shoppers to work around the problem. A mystery shopper is someone who is paid to shop at a firm’s establishment or one of its competitors to observe the level of service, cleanliness of the facility, and so forth, and report his or her findings to the firm.

Make Extra Money as a Mystery Shopper

Watch the YouTube video to get an idea of how mystery shopping works.

Survey data can be collected in many different ways and combinations of ways. The following are the basic methods used:

• Face-to-face (can be computer aided)
• Telephone (can be computer aided or completely automated)
• Mail and hand delivery
• E-mail and the Web

A face-to-face survey is, of course, administered by a person. The surveys are conducted in public places such as in shopping malls, on the street, or in people’s homes if they have agreed to it. In years past, it was common for researchers in the United States to knock on people’s doors to gather survey data. However, randomly collected door-to-door interviews are less common today, partly because people are afraid of crime and are reluctant to give information to strangers (McDaniel & Gates, 1998).

Nonetheless, “beating the streets” is still a legitimate way questionnaire data is collected. When the U.S. Census Bureau collects data on the nation’s population, it hand delivers questionnaires to rural households that do not have street-name and house-number addresses. And Census Bureau workers personally survey the homeless to collect information about their numbers. Face-to-face surveys are also commonly used in third world countries to collect information from people who cannot read or lack phones and computers.

A plus of face-to-face surveys is that they allow researchers to ask lengthier, more complex questions because the people being surveyed can see and read the questionnaires. The same is true when a computer is utilized. For example, the researcher might ask the respondent to look at a list of ten retail stores and rank the stores from best to worst. The same question wouldn’t work so well over the telephone because the person couldn’t see the list. The question would have to be rewritten. Another drawback with telephone surveys is that even though federal and state “do not call” laws generally don’t prohibit companies from gathering survey information over the phone, people often screen such calls using answering machines and caller ID.

Probably the biggest drawback of both surveys conducted face-to-face and administered over the phone by a person is that they are labor intensive and therefore costly. Mailing out questionnaires is costly, too, and the response rates can be rather low. Think about why that might be so: if you receive a questionnaire in the mail, it is easy to throw it in the trash; it’s harder to tell a market researcher who approaches you on the street that you don’t want to be interviewed.

By contrast, gathering survey data collected by a computer, either over the telephone or on the Internet, can be very cost-effective and in some cases free. SurveyMonkey and Zoomerang are two Web sites that will allow you to create online questionnaires, e-mail them to up to one hundred people for free, and view the responses in real time as they come in. For larger surveys, you have to pay a subscription price of a few hundred dollars. But that still can be extremely cost-effective. The two Web sites also have a host of other features such as online-survey templates you can use to create your questionnaire, a way to set up automatic reminders sent to people who haven’t yet completed their surveys, and tools you can use to create graphics to put in your final research report. To see how easy it is to put together a survey in SurveyMonkey, click on the following link: http://help.surveymonkey.com/app/tutorials/detail/a_id/423 .

Like a face-to-face survey, an Internet survey can enable you to show buyers different visuals such as ads, pictures, and videos of products and their packaging. Web surveys are also fast, which is a major plus. Whereas face-to-face and mailed surveys often take weeks to collect, you can conduct a Web survey in a matter of days or even hours. And, of course, because the information is electronically gathered it can be automatically tabulated. You can also potentially reach a broader geographic group than you could if you had to personally interview people. The Zoomerang Web site allows you to create surveys in forty different languages.

Another plus for Web and computer surveys (and electronic phone surveys) is that there is less room for human error because the surveys are administered electronically. For instance, there’s no risk that the interviewer will ask a question wrong or use a tone of voice that could mislead the respondents. Respondents are also likely to feel more comfortable inputting the information into a computer if a question is sensitive than they would divulging the information to another person face-to-face or over the phone. Given all of these advantages, it’s not surprising that the Internet is quickly becoming the top way to collect primary data. However, like mail surveys, surveys sent to people over the Internet are easy to ignore.

Lastly, before the data collection process begins, the surveyors and observers need to be trained to look for the same things, ask questions the same way, and so forth. If they are using rankings or rating scales, they need to be “on the same page,” so to speak, as to what constitutes a high ranking or a low ranking. As an analogy, you have probably had some teachers grade your college papers harder than others. The goal of training is to avoid a wide disparity between how different observers and interviewers record the data.

Figure 10.11

Training people so they know what constitutes different ratings when they are collecting data will improve the quality of the information gathered in a marketing research study.

Ricardo Rodriquez – Satisfaction survey – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

For example, if an observation form asks the observers to describe whether a shopper’s behavior is hurried, moderately hurried, or unhurried, they should be given an idea of what defines each rating. Does it depend on how much time the person spends in the store or in the individual aisles? How fast they walk? In other words, the criteria and ratings need to be spelled out.

Collecting International Marketing Research Data

Gathering marketing research data in foreign countries poses special challenges. However, that doesn’t stop firms from doing so. Marketing research companies are located all across the globe, in fact. Eight of the ten largest marketing research companies in the world are headquartered in the United States. However, five of these eight firms earn more of their revenues abroad than they do in the United States. There’s a reason for this: many U.S. markets were saturated, or tapped out, long ago in terms of the amount that they can grow. Coke is an example. As you learned earlier in the book, most of the Coca-Cola Company’s revenues are earned in markets abroad. To be sure, the United States is still a huge market when it comes to the revenues marketing research firms generate by conducting research in the country: in terms of their spending, American consumers fuel the world’s economic engine. Still, emerging countries with growing middle classes, such as China, India, and Brazil, are hot new markets companies want to tap.

What kind of challenges do firms face when trying to conduct marketing research abroad? As we explained, face-to-face surveys are commonly used in third world countries to collect information from people who cannot read or lack phones and computers. However, face-to-face surveys are also common in Europe, despite the fact that phones and computers are readily available. In-home surveys are also common in parts of Europe. By contrast, in some countries, including many Asian countries, it’s considered taboo or rude to try to gather information from strangers either face-to-face or over the phone. In many Muslim countries, women are forbidden to talk to strangers.

And how do you figure out whom to research in foreign countries? That in itself is a problem. In the United States, researchers often ask if they can talk to the heads of households to conduct marketing research. But in countries in which domestic servants or employees are common, the heads of households aren’t necessarily the principal shoppers; their domestic employees are (Malhotra).

Translating surveys is also an issue. Have you ever watched the TV comedians Jay Leno and David Letterman make fun of the English translations found on ethnic menus and products? Research tools such as surveys can suffer from the same problem. Hiring someone who is bilingual to translate a survey into another language can be a disaster if the person isn’t a native speaker of the language to which the survey is being translated.

One way companies try to deal with translation problems is by using back translation. When back translation is used, a native speaker translates the survey into the foreign language and then translates it back again to the original language to determine if there were gaps in meaning—that is, if anything was lost in translation. And it’s not just the language that’s an issue. If the research involves any visual images, they, too, could be a point of confusion. Certain colors, shapes, and symbols can have negative connotations in other countries. For example, the color white represents purity in many Western cultures, but in China, it is the color of death and mourning (Zouhali-Worrall, 2008). Also, look back at the cartoon-completion exercise in Figure 10.8 “Example of a Cartoon-Completion Projective Technique” . What would women in Muslim countries who aren’t allowed to converse with male sellers think of it? Chances are, the cartoon wouldn’t provide you with the information you’re seeking if Muslim women in some countries were asked to complete it.

One way marketing research companies are dealing with the complexities of global research is by merging with or acquiring marketing research companies abroad. The Nielsen Company is the largest marketing research company in the world. The firm operates in more than a hundred countries and employs more than forty thousand people. Many of its expansions have been the result of acquisitions and mergers.

Step 6: Analyze the Data

Step 6 involves analyzing the data to ensure it’s as accurate as possible. If the research is collected by hand using a pen and pencil, it’s entered into a computer. Or respondents might have already entered the information directly into a computer. For example, when Toyota goes to an event such as a car show, the automaker’s marketing personnel ask would-be buyers to complete questionnaires directly on computers. Companies are also beginning to experiment with software that can be used to collect data using mobile phones.

Once all the data is collected, the researchers begin the data cleaning , which is the process of removing data that have accidentally been duplicated (entered twice into the computer) or correcting data that have obviously been recorded wrong. A program such as Microsoft Excel or a statistical program such as Predictive Analytics Software (PASW, which was formerly known as SPSS) is then used to tabulate, or calculate, the basic results of the research, such as the total number of participants and how collectively they answered various questions. The programs can also be used to calculate averages, such as the average age of respondents, their average satisfaction, and so forth. The same can done for percentages, and other values you learned about, or will learn about, in a statistics course, such as the standard deviation, mean, and median for each question.

The information generated by the programs can be used to draw conclusions, such as what all customers might like or not like about an offering based on what the sample group liked or did not like. The information can also be used to spot differences among groups of people. For example, the research might show that people in one area of the country like the product better than people in another area. Trends to predict what might happen in the future can also be spotted.

If there are any open-ended questions respondents have elaborated upon—for example, “Explain why you like the current brand you use better than any other brand”—the answers to each are pasted together, one on top of another, so researchers can compare and summarize the information. As we have explained, qualitative information such as this can give you a fuller picture of the results of the research.

Part of analyzing the data is to see if it seems sound. Does the way in which the research was conducted seem sound? Was the sample size large enough? Are the conclusions that become apparent from it reasonable?

The two most commonly used criteria used to test the soundness of a study are (1) validity and (2) reliability. A study is valid if it actually tested what it was designed to test. For example, did the experiment you ran in Second Life test what it was designed to test? Did it reflect what could really happen in the real world? If not, the research isn’t valid. If you were to repeat the study, and get the same results (or nearly the same results), the research is said to be reliable . If you get a drastically different result if you repeat the study, it’s not reliable. The data collected, or at least some it, can also be compared to, or reconciled with, similar data from other sources either gathered by your firm or by another organization to see if the information seems on target.

Stage 7: Write the Research Report and Present Its Findings

If you end up becoming a marketing professional and conducting a research study after you graduate, hopefully you will do a great job putting the study together. You will have defined the problem correctly, chosen the right sample, collected the data accurately, analyzed it, and your findings will be sound. At that point, you will be required to write the research report and perhaps present it to an audience of decision makers. You will do so via a written report and, in some cases, a slide or PowerPoint presentation based on your written report.

The six basic elements of a research report are as follows.

• Title Page . The title page explains what the report is about, when it was conducted and by whom, and who requested it.
• Table of Contents . The table of contents outlines the major parts of the report, as well as any graphs and charts, and the page numbers on which they can be found.
• Executive Summary . The executive summary summarizes all the details in the report in a very quick way. Many people who receive the report—both executives and nonexecutives—won’t have time to read the entire report. Instead, they will rely on the executive summary to quickly get an idea of the study’s results and what to do about those results.

Methodology and Limitations . The methodology section of the report explains the technical details of how the research was designed and conducted. The section explains, for example, how the data was collected and by whom, the size of the sample, how it was chosen, and whom or what it consisted of (e.g., the number of women versus men or children versus adults). It also includes information about the statistical techniques used to analyze the data.

Every study has errors—sampling errors, interviewer errors, and so forth. The methodology section should explain these details, so decision makers can consider their overall impact. The margin of error is the overall tendency of the study to be off kilter—that is, how far it could have gone wrong in either direction. Remember how newscasters present the presidential polls before an election? They always say, “This candidate is ahead 48 to 44 percent, plus or minus 2 percent.” That “plus or minus” is the margin of error. The larger the margin of error is, the less likely the results of the study are accurate. The margin of error needs to be included in the methodology section.

• Findings . The findings section is a longer, fleshed-out version of the executive summary that goes into more detail about the statistics uncovered by the research that bolster the study’s findings. If you have related research or secondary data on hand that back up the findings, it can be included to help show the study did what it was designed to do.
• Recommendations . The recommendations section should outline the course of action you think should be taken based on the findings of the research and the purpose of the project. For example, if you conducted a global market research study to identify new locations for stores, make a recommendation for the locations (Mersdorf, 2009).

As we have said, these are the basic sections of a marketing research report. However, additional sections can be added as needed. For example, you might need to add a section on the competition and each firm’s market share. If you’re trying to decide on different supply chain options, you will need to include a section on that topic.

As you write the research report, keep your audience in mind. Don’t use technical jargon decision makers and other people reading the report won’t understand. If technical terms must be used, explain them. Also, proofread the document to ferret out any grammatical errors and typos, and ask a couple of other people to proofread behind you to catch any mistakes you might have missed. If your research report is riddled with errors, its credibility will be undermined, even if the findings and recommendations you make are extremely accurate.

Many research reports are presented via PowerPoint. If you’re asked to create a slideshow presentation from the report, don’t try to include every detail in the report on the slides. The information will be too long and tedious for people attending the presentation to read through. And if they do go to the trouble of reading all the information, they probably won’t be listening to the speaker who is making the presentation.

Instead of including all the information from the study in the slides, boil each section of the report down to key points and add some “talking points” only the presenter will see. After or during the presentation, you can give the attendees the longer, paper version of the report so they can read the details at a convenient time, if they choose to.

Key Takeaway

Step 1 in the marketing research process is to define the problem. Businesses take a look at what they believe are symptoms and try to drill down to the potential causes so as to precisely define the problem. The next task for the researcher is to put into writing the research objective, or goal, the research is supposed to accomplish. Step 2 in the process is to design the research. The research design is the “plan of attack.” It outlines what data you are going to gather, from whom, how, and when, and how you’re going to analyze it once it has been obtained. Step 3 is to design the data-collection forms, which need to be standardized so the information gathered on each is comparable. Surveys are a popular way to gather data because they can be easily administered to large numbers of people fairly quickly. However, to produce the best results, survey questionnaires need to be carefully designed and pretested before they are used. Step 4 is drawing the sample, or a subset of potential buyers who are representative of your entire target market. If the sample is not correctly selected, the research will be flawed. Step 5 is to actually collect the data, whether it’s collected by a person face-to-face, over the phone, or with the help of computers or the Internet. The data-collection process is often different in foreign countries. Step 6 is to analyze the data collected for any obvious errors, tabulate the data, and then draw conclusions from it based on the results. The last step in the process, Step 7, is writing the research report and presenting the findings to decision makers.

Review Questions

• Explain why it’s important to carefully define the problem or opportunity a marketing research study is designed to investigate.
• Describe the different types of problems that can occur when marketing research professionals develop questions for surveys.
• How does a probability sample differ from a nonprobability sample?
• What makes a marketing research study valid? What makes a marketing research study reliable?
• What sections should be included in a marketing research report? What is each section designed to do?

1 “Questionnaire Design,” QuickMBA , http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/research/qdesign (accessed December 14, 2009).

Barnes, B., “Disney Expert Uses Science to Draw Boy Viewers,” New York Times , April 15, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/arts/television/14boys.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 (accessed December 14, 2009).

Burns A. and Ronald Bush, Marketing Research , 6th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010), 85.

Malhotra, N., Marketing Research: An Applied Approach , 6th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall), 764.

McDaniel, C. D. and Roger H. Gates, Marketing Research Essentials , 2nd ed. (Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing, 1998), 61.

McWilliams, J., “A-B Puts Super-Low-Calorie Beer in Ring with Miller,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch , August 16, 2009, http://www.stltoday.com/business/next-matchup-light-weights-a-b-puts-super-low-calorie/article_47511bfe-18ca-5979-bdb9-0526c97d4edf.html (accessed April 13, 2012).

Mersdorf, S., “How to Organize Your Next Survey Report,” Cvent , August 24, 2009, http://survey.cvent.com/blog/cvent-survey/0/0/how-to-organize-your-next-survey-report (accessed December 14, 2009).

Rappeport A. and David Gelles, “Facebook to Form Alliance with Nielsen,” Financial Times , September 23, 2009, 16.

Spangler, T., “Disney Lab Tracks Feelings,” Multichannel News 30, no. 30 (August 3, 2009): 26.

Wagner, J., “Marketing in Second Life Doesn’t Work…Here Is Why!” GigaOM , April 4, 2007, http://gigaom.com/2007/04/04/3-reasons-why-marketing-in-second-life-doesnt-work (accessed December 14, 2009).

Wrenn, B., Robert E. Stevens, and David L. Loudon, Marketing Research: Text and Cases , 2nd ed. (Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2007), 180.

Zouhali-Worrall, M., “Found in Translation: Avoiding Multilingual Gaffes,” CNNMoney.com , July 14, 2008, http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/07/smallbusiness/language_translation.fsb/index.htm (accessed December 14, 2009).

Principles of Marketing Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Module 6: Marketing Information and Research

The marketing research process, learning objectives.

• Identify the steps of conducting a marketing research project

A Standard Approach to Research Inquiries

Marketing research is a useful and necessary tool for helping marketers and an organization’s executive leadership make wise decisions. Carrying out marketing research can involve highly specialized skills that go deeper than the information outlined in this module. However, it is important for any marketer to be familiar with the basic procedures and techniques of marketing research.

It is very likely that at some point a marketing professional will need to supervise an internal marketing research activity or to work with an outside marketing research firm to conduct a research project. Managers who understand the research function can do a better job of framing the problem and critically appraising the proposals made by research specialists. They are also in a better position to evaluate their findings and recommendations.

Periodically marketers themselves need to find solutions to marketing problems without the assistance of marketing research specialists inside or outside the company. If you are familiar with the basic procedures of marketing research, you can supervise and even conduct a reasonably satisfactory search for the information needed.

Step 1: Identify the Problem

The first step for any marketing research activity is to clearly identify and define the problem you are trying to solve. You start by stating the marketing or business problem you need to address and for which you need additional information to figure out a solution. Next, articulate the objectives for the research: What do you want to understand by the time the research project is completed? What specific information, guidance, or recommendations need to come out of the research in order to make it a worthwhile investment of the organization’s time and money?

It’s important to share the problem definition and research objectives with other team members to get their input and further refine your understanding of the problem and what is needed to solve it. At times, the problem you really need to solve is not the same problem that appears on the surface. Collaborating with other stakeholders helps refine your understanding of the problem, focus your thinking, and prioritize what you hope to learn from the research. Prioritizing your objectives is particularly helpful if you don’t have the time or resources to investigate everything you want.

To flesh out your understanding of the problem, it’s useful to begin brainstorming actual research questions you want to explore. What are the questions you need to answer in order to get to the research outcomes? What is the missing information that marketing research will help you find? The goal at this stage is to generate a set of preliminary, big-picture questions that will frame your research inquiry. You will revisit these research questions later in the process, but when you’re getting started, this exercise helps clarify the scope of the project, whom you need to talk to, what information may already be available, and where to look for the information you don’t yet have.

Applied Example: Marketing Research for Bookends

To illustrate the marketing research process, let’s return to Uncle Dan and his ailing bookstore, Bookends. You need a lot of information if you’re going to help Dan turn things around, so marketing research is a good idea. You begin by identifying the problem and then work to set down your research objectives and initial research questions:

Step 2: Develop a Research Plan

Once you have a problem definition, research objectives, and a preliminary set of research questions, the next step is to develop a research plan. Essential to this plan is identifying precisely what information you need to answer your questions and achieve your objectives. Do you need to understand customer opinions about something? Are you looking for a clearer picture of customer needs and related behaviors? Do you need sales, spending, or revenue data? Do you need information about competitors’ products, or insight about what will make prospective customers notice you? When do need the information, and what’s the time frame for getting it? What budget and resources are available?

Once you have clarified what kind of information you need and the timing and budget for your project, you can develop the research design. This details how you plan to collect and analyze the information you’re after. Some types of information are readily available through  secondary research and secondary data sources. Secondary research analyzes information that has already been collected for another purpose by a third party, such as a government agency, an industry association, or another company. Other types of information need to from talking directly to customers about your research questions. This is known as primary research , which collects primary data captured expressly for your research inquiry.   Marketing research projects may include secondary research, primary research, or both.

Depending on your objectives and budget, sometimes a small-scale project will be enough to get the insight and direction you need. At other times, in order to reach the level of certainty or detail required, you may need larger-scale research involving participation from hundreds or even thousands of individual consumers. The research plan lays out the information your project will capture—both primary and secondary data—and describes what you will do with it to get the answers you need. (Note: You’ll learn more about data collection methods and when to use them later in this module.)

Your data collection plan goes hand in hand with your analysis plan. Different types of analysis yield different types of results. The analysis plan should match the type of data you are collecting, as well as the outcomes your project is seeking and the resources at your disposal. Simpler research designs tend to require simpler analysis techniques. More complex research designs can yield powerful results, such as understanding causality and trade-offs in customer perceptions. However, these more sophisticated designs can require more time and money to execute effectively, both in terms of data collection and analytical expertise.

The research plan also specifies who will conduct the research activities, including data collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting on results. At times a singlehanded marketing manager or research specialist runs the entire research project. At other times, a company may contract with a marketing research analyst or consulting firm to conduct the research. In this situation, the marketing manager provides supervisory oversight to ensure the research delivers on expectations.

Finally, the research plan indicates who will interpret the research findings and how the findings will be reported. This part of the research plan should consider the internal audience(s) for the research and what reporting format will be most helpful. Often, senior executives are primary stakeholders, and they’re anxious for marketing research to inform and validate their choices. When this is the case, getting their buy-in on the research plan is recommended to make sure that they are comfortable with the approach and receptive to the potential findings.

Applied Example: A Bookends Research Plan

You talk over the results of your problem identification work with Dan. He thinks you’re on the right track and wants to know what’s next. You explain that the next step is to put together a detailed plan for getting answers to the research questions.

Dan is enthusiastic, but he’s also short on money. You realize that such a financial constraint will limit what’s possible, but with Dan’s help you can do something worthwhile. Below is the research plan you sketch out:

Step 3: Conduct the Research

Conducting research can be a fun and exciting part of the marketing research process. After struggling with the gaps in your knowledge of market dynamics—which led you to embark on a marketing research project in the first place—now things are about to change. Conducting research begins to generate information that helps answer your urgent marketing questions.

Typically data collection begins by reviewing any existing research and data that provide some information or insight about the problem. As a rule, this is secondary research. Prior research projects, internal data analyses, industry reports, customer-satisfaction survey results, and other information sources may be worthwhile to review. Even though these resources may not answer your research questions fully, they may further illuminate the problem you are trying to solve. Secondary research and data sources are nearly always cheaper than capturing new information on your own. Your marketing research project should benefit from prior work wherever possible.

After getting everything you can from secondary research, it’s time to shift attention to primary research, if this is part of your research plan. Primary research involves asking questions and then listening to and/or observing the behavior of the target audience you are studying. In order to generate reliable, accurate results, it is important to use proper scientific methods for primary research data collection and analysis. This includes identifying the right individuals and number of people to talk to, using carefully worded surveys or interview scripts, and capturing data accurately.

Without proper techniques, you may inadvertently get bad data or discover bias in the responses that distorts the results and points you in the wrong direction. The module on Marketing Research Techniques discusses these issues in further detail, since the procedures for getting reliable data vary by research method.

Applied Example: Getting the Data on Bookends

Dan is on board with the research plan, and he’s excited to dig into the project. You start with secondary data, getting a dump of Dan’s sales data from the past two years, along with related information: customer name, zip code, frequency of purchase, gender, date of purchase, and discounts/promotions (if any).

You visit the U.S. Census Bureau Web site to download demographic data about your metro area. The data show all zip codes in the area, along with population size, gender breakdown, age ranges, income, and education levels.

The next part of the project is customer-survey data. You work with Dan to put together a short survey about customer attitudes toward Bookends, how often and why they come, where else they spend money on books and entertainment, and why they go other places besides Bookends. Dan comes up with the great idea of offering a 5 percent discount coupon to anyone who completes the survey. Although it eats into his profits, this scheme gets more people to complete the survey and buy books, so it’s worth it.

For a couple of days, you and Dan take turns doing “man on the street” interviews (you interview the guy in the red hat, for instance). You find people who say they’ve never been to Bookends and ask them a few questions about why they haven’t visited the store, where else they buy books and other entertainment, and what might get them interested in visiting Bookends sometime. This is all a lot of work, but for a zero-budget project, it’s coming together pretty well.

Step 4: Analyze and Report Findings

Analyzing the data obtained in a market survey involves transforming the primary and/or secondary data into useful information and insights that answer the research questions. This information is condensed into a format to be used by managers—usually a presentation or detailed report.

Analysis starts with formatting, cleaning, and editing the data to make sure that it’s suitable for whatever analytical techniques are being used. Next, data are tabulated to show what’s happening: What do customers actually think? What’s happening with purchasing or other behaviors? How do revenue figures actually add up? Whatever the research questions, the analysis takes source data and applies analytical techniques to provide a clearer picture of what’s going on. This process may involve simple or sophisticated techniques, depending on the research outcomes required. Common analytical techniques include regression analysis to determine correlations between factors; conjoint analysis to determine trade-offs and priorities; predictive modeling to anticipate patterns and causality; and analysis of unstructured data such as Internet search terms or social media posts to provide context and meaning around what people say and do.

Good analysis is important because the interpretation of research data—the “so what?” factor—depends on it. The analysis combs through data to paint a picture of what’s going on. The interpretation goes further to explain what the research data mean and make recommendations about what managers need to know and do based on the research results. For example, what is the short list of key findings and takeaways that managers should remember from the research? What are the market segments you’ve identified, and which ones should you target?  What are the primary reasons your customers choose your competitor’s product over yours, and what does this mean for future improvements to your product?

Individuals with a good working knowledge of the business should be involved in interpreting the data because they are in the best position to identify significant insights and make recommendations from the research findings. Marketing research reports incorporate both analysis and interpretation of data to address the project objectives.

The final report for a marketing research project may be in written form or slide-presentation format, depending on organizational culture and management preferences. Often a slide presentation is the preferred format for initially sharing research results with internal stakeholders. Particularly for large, complex projects, a written report may be a better format for discussing detailed findings and nuances in the data, which managers can study and reference in the future.

Applied Example: Analysis and Insights for Bookends

Getting the data was a bit of a hassle, but now you’ve got it, and you’re excited to see what it reveals. Your statistician cousin, Marina, turns out to be a whiz with both the sales data and the census data. She identified several demographic profiles in the metro area that looked a lot like lifestyle segments. Then she mapped Bookends’ sales data into those segments to show who is and isn’t visiting Bookends. After matching customer-survey data to the sales data, she broke down the segments further based on their spending levels and reasons they visit Bookends.

Gradually a clearer picture of Bookends’ customers is beginning to emerge: who they are, why they come, why they don’t come, and what role Bookends plays in their lives. Right away, a couple of higher-priority segments—based on their spending levels, proximity, and loyalty to Bookends—stand out. You and your uncle are definitely seeing some possibilities for making the bookstore a more prominent part of their lives. You capture these insights as “recommendations to be considered” while you evaluate the right marketing mix for each of the new segments you’d like to focus on.

Step 5: Take Action

Once the report is complete, the presentation is delivered, and the recommendations are made, the marketing research project is over, right? Wrong.

What comes next is arguably the most important step of all: taking action based on your research results.

If your project has done a good job interpreting the findings and translating them into recommendations for the marketing team and other areas of the business, this step may seem relatively straightforward. When the research results validate a path the organization is already on, the “take action” step can galvanize the team to move further and faster in that same direction.

Things are not so simple when the research results indicate a new direction or a significant shift is advisable. In these cases, it’s worthwhile to spend time helping managers understand the research, explain why it is wise to shift course, and explain how the business will benefit from the new path. As with any important business decision, managers must think deeply about the new approach and carefully map strategies, tactics, and available resources to plan effectively. By making the results available and accessible to managers and their execution teams, the marketing research project can serve as an ongoing guide and touchstone to help the organization plan, execute, and adjust course as it works toward desired goals and outcomes.

It is worth mentioning that many marketing research projects are never translated into management action. Sometimes this is because the report is too technical and difficult to understand. In other cases, the research conclusions fail to provide useful insights or solutions to the problem, or the report writer fails to offer specific suggestions for translating the research findings into management strategy. These pitfalls can be avoided by paying due attention to the research objectives throughout the project and allocating sufficient time and resources to do a good job interpreting research results for those who will need to act on them.

Applied Example: Bookends’ New Customer Campaign

Your research findings and recommendations identified three segments for Bookends to focus on. Based on the demographics, lifestyle, and spending patterns found during your marketing research, you’re able to name them: 1) Bored Empty-Nesters, 2) Busy Families, and 3) Hipster Wannabes. Dan has a decent-sized clientele across all three groups, and they are pretty good spenders when they come in. But until now he hasn’t done much to purposely attract any of them.

With newly identified segments in focus, you and Dan begin brainstorming about a marketing mix to target each group. What types of books and other products would appeal to each one? What activities or events would bring them into the store? Are there promotions or particular messages that would induce them to buy at Bookends instead of Amazon or another bookseller? How will Dan reach and communicate with each group? And what can you do to bring more new customers into the store within these target groups?

Even though Bookends is a real-life project with serious consequences for your uncle Dan, it’s also a fun laboratory where you can test out some of the principles you’re learning in your marketing class. You’re figuring out quickly what it’s like to be a marketer.

Well done, rookie!

Check Your Understanding

Answer the question(s) below to see how well you understand the topics covered in this outcome. This short quiz does  not  count toward your grade in the class, and you can retake it an unlimited number of times.

Use this quiz to check your understanding and decide whether to (1) study the previous section further or (2) move on to the next section.

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The Marketing Research Process in 6 Steps

Learn about the six steps in the marketing research process so you can better understand your target consumer and your marketing strategy.

When launching into marketing strategy, it’s important to have a marketing research process so that one isn’t going into it unprepared. Your market research process may involve tracking the engagement with social media posts or questioning a focus group about their household spending habits. Whatever the path, companies have long embraced different types of research methods to gain consumer insight, help strengthen a brand, and achieve a competitive edge in the market.

These approaches are part of marketing research, a process that can reveal information about a company’s marketing efforts, such as which products have the highest potential for success or what advertising strategies will be the most impactful. Marketing research is a valuable tool in developing an effective marketing strategy. For example, conducting marketing research helps a business discover key information about its market standing and target customers. It also provides essential details about demographics and where to prioritize marketing investments. Yet, less than 40% of marketers use consumer research to influence their decisions. 

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What is marketing research? 

Marketing research is the process of collecting and analyzing data from consumers and competitors to help businesses explore who their target customer is and what they want from the brand. Good marketing research can also provide insight into how effective marketing efforts are, and explore potential areas for growth. Marketing research covers a business’s entire marketing plan—from creating brand awareness to securing brand loyalists.  

To conduct marketing research, businesses collect information from consumers to help identify a product’s target market and how best to reach it. They do this by gathering consumer feedback from product surveys, focus groups, social media tracking, phone interviews, and consumer observation. A company may also complete a competitor analysis to assess market share and check how it’s stacking up against the competition. 

The 6 steps in the marketing process

The market research process is designed to paint a thorough picture of a company’s marketing plan, helping to identify where the weaknesses and strengths exist. The first step in the marketing research process is defining the problem or the question your research is trying to answer, followed by developing a research plan to answer that question, collecting and analyzing the data, and then producing a report. 

1. Identify the opportunity

The first step is to define the problem you’re aiming to solve. Asking specific questions will help pinpoint the most pressing needs or reveal the biggest opportunities to reach your research objectives . Questions you might ask in this initial stage include:

• How many of our recent buyers are first-time customers? 
• How can we turn them into repeat customers?
• Why are sales lower than last quarter? 
• Are our prices too high?
• Why do customers put items in their shopping cart but don’t complete the purchase? 
• How can we make our checkout flow more efficient?

2. Develop a research plan

A marketing research plan can help a business outline how to find the ways to address the questions it seeks to answer or the problems it wishes to solve. How you plan and design this research depends on the budget available, the research method chosen to source data, and the scope of the project.

There are two main research methods you can use to collect your data: primary research and secondary research. Each pulls information from different sources to provide a clear snapshot of your marketing research plan. 

• Primary research. Primary research involves gathering original data through collection methods such as surveys or in-person interviews, then synthesizing that data into a report. Although potentially time-consuming and costly, it may be among the best ways to accurately collect answers to your questions.
• Secondary research. Secondary research data involves gathering and synthesizing information gleaned from other sources, such as research reports, websites, or government files. Most research plans start with secondary data since it’s usually less expensive and readily available. You can use the information you gleaned using secondary data to inform how you will approach your primary research. 

The scope and budget for the plan will likely influence the time it takes to complete the research. A smaller sample size, for example, may only need a few weeks, while a larger, complex research project may take months (and more money) to collect the necessary information.   

3. Collect the data

After identifying objectives, it’s important to start collecting information . There are several different data collection methods that you can use to source information.

• Surveys. Conducting a survey is an effective primary research method that can provide valuable feedback about business practices, marketing tactics, and product demand. Unbiased survey research can help capture the thoughts and feelings of a particular demographic. 
• A/B testing. This research methodology compares two or more versions of a variable— say, two layouts of the same website (version A and B)—to collect information to test which would result in better outcomes and consumer engagement. In this scenario, the goal may be to see which site attracts more direct traffic to increase the number of monthly visitors.
• Social media polling. Setting up a social media poll can be an effective and inexpensive way to collect user data. Polling current and potential customers gathers insight from  your target audience, which can impact how the company curates its products and user experiences. 
• Interviews. Face-to-face or phone interviews can help companies assess consumer expectations from a brand. During these interviews, participants may be asked questions like: How long have you been a customer? Or: Why did you choose this brand over the competitor?
• Focus groups. Focus groups gather a select group of people together based on demographics, buying history, or other factors to collect non-numerical (qualitative) data about a particular product or service . With focus groups, moderators can capture a variety of opinions and emotions via open-ended conversation or lines of questioning to capture the feelings potential (or current) customers have toward a product or service. 

4. Analyze your data

Analyzing data is a way to uncover trends or patterns within the company or in the marketplace that can impact a business’s market performance. Data analysis transforms raw metrics into digestible information to provide the answers to your initial research questions.

There are four main types of analysis you can use to evaluate data: 

• Descriptive analytics. Analysis tools that lay out data in charts and graphs, for example, so you can see the big picture are known as descriptive analytics. This type of analysis presents a snapshot of performance in numbers, such as unique users or page views. 
• Diagnostic analytics. Analysis tools that provide more than a general overview can help you find the “cause and effect” of a problem. For example, if the number of visitors to your website has decreased by 15% within the last six months, you’ll want to investigate why. Are too many pop-ups making it more difficult for users to navigate the site, or is the page load speed too slow and users are clicking out to another website? 
• Predictive analytics. Based on existing data, predictive analytics help companies establish predictive models to forecast future outcomes more accurately. For instance, if data points to a correlation between the start of the school year and increased clothing sales, your ecommerce company may need additional solutions to help take care of increased web traffic during this time of year. 
• Prescriptive analytics. This analytics tool combines descriptive, diagnostic, and predictive analytics methods to help companies optimize their best course of action. For example, if predictive analytics show clothing sales go up at the beginning of the school year, prescriptive analytics would assist in prescribing a solution—in this case, finding web hosting plans that upgrade site bandwidth to accommodate increased web traffic.

5. Present your results

Once you’ve done the research and analyzed the data, you can build a research report to present your key findings. You can present your report in a slideshow format, as an illustrated book, as a video, or in an interactive dashboard that allows users to look at the data in different ways. The emphasis should be to present the information in a way that is comprehensible and accessible. 

Marketing research reports contain, at minimum, key company-specific details like customer profiles, target audience buying habits, and market competitors, and address the questions your research sought to answer. Beyond that, reports typically present the findings from the research in a narrative format that incorporates visuals, like charts and graphs, alongside “real people” feedback. You’re not looking to present a stack of numbers—you want to establish a story about real people, how they behave, and their desires (as they pertain to the company or product). The report also needs to present the solutions to these problems—how the company should tailor its strategies to optimize its marketing and target its consumers better.

Other information to include in your report is how you arrived at these conclusions. Which research methods did you use? How long did it take? How big were your sample groups? Once the report is compiled, share these results with all necessary parties, like relevant stakeholders such as the marketing team, company managers, or other people this proposed shift in strategy might affect, like engineering. 

6. Incorporate your findings

Once you’ve presented your data, it’s time to develop actionable plans that put your findings into play, whether it’s developing brand-new strategies or improving existing ones. Some findings may result in big shifts to your marketing plans or small improvements that can help you optimize your company strategy overall. 

For instance, if your marketing report points to an issue with retaining a younger audience, you may need to redesign your entire social media campaign to accommodate a wider demographic. Or, you might only need a smaller shift, like offering extra promotions through social media accounts to entice current young customers to stay loyal. An ever-changing market means that your data won’t stay relevant forever, so turning your info into action can help you improve your business when it counts.

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Marketing Research FAQ

What is an example of marketing research, what are the 7 types of marketing research.

• Exploratory Research
• Descriptive Research
• Causal Research
• Survey Research
• Secondary Research
• Experimental Research
• Qualitative Research

What is the main idea of marketing research?

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Explaining the Market Research Process [With Examples]

by Emily Rodgers

Posted at: 5/23/2023 12:30 PM

I n today's rapidly evolving business landscape, staying ahead of the competition requires more than just a great product or service. It demands a deep understanding of the market, consumer behavior, and emerging trends. 

This is where the market research process becomes invaluable. 

In this blog post, we will delve more into market research and explore its significance in driving business success.

We will also walk you through each step of the market research process, offering practical examples along the way to illustrate how market research can be applied to real-world scenarios.

What is Market Research?

Market research refers to the systematic process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data and information about a particular market, industry, or target audience. 

The purpose of conducting market research is to gain insights into consumer behavior, market trends, competitor analysis, and other primary objectives.

Although the overarching goal for many organizations is to make informed decisions with the valuable data and insights collected from their target audience. 

Market research involves various methods and techniques, such as:

Focus groups

• Qualitative recruiting
• Data analysis

The collected data is then analyzed and interpreted to identify patterns, trends, and customer preferences.

Watch the video below to dive deeper into common market research methodologies.

Why Do Companies Conduct Market Research?

Market research plays a crucial role in reducing risks, identifying opportunities, and ensuring business success by providing valuable information about the market and consumer behavior. 

As a result, it helps businesses stay competitive and responsive to changing market trends and customer needs. In fact, data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers.

The reasons companies and organizations conduct market research vary.

Although, based on our market research company’s experience working with B2B and B2C brands, the key objectives of market research often include:

Understanding a target audience

Market research helps businesses understand their customers, their needs, preferences, and behaviors. This information enables companies to tailor their products, services, and marketing channels to effectively meet customer demands.

Assessing market potential

By conducting a market analysis , businesses can evaluate the size, growth rate, and profitability of a particular market. This assessment helps in identifying new market opportunities and determining the feasibility of launching new products or entering new market segments.

For instance, Drive Research worked with a liquor store to understand what area of a community would be most beneficial to open a new branch. Read more about their story in the blog post, How to Choose the Right Liquor Store Location .

Analyzing the competition

Market research such as conducting a competitor analysis helps companies gain insights into their competitors, their strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and market positioning.

This knowledge enables businesses to develop effective competitive strategies and differentiate themselves in the market.

Evaluating marketing campaigns

Advertising testing with market research involves testing concepts before launching them into the world.

In doing so, brands can make necessary adjustments based on their audience’s feedback to increase the potential ROI of the marketing campaign.

In addition, market research helps in assessing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, advertisements, and promotional activities after they've been in the market for some time.

Making informed business decisions

Regardless of what type of market research an organization is conducting, or their reason for doing so, it all steps down to making data-driven decisions . 

The insights gained from market research assist businesses in making informed choices regarding product development, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and overall business planning.

What are the Types of Market Research?

There are many types of market research that are often used together to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the market. 

Although, market research can be broadly categorized into two main types: 

• Primary research: This type of research involves collecting data directly from original sources to address specific research objectives.
• Secondary research: This type of research involves using existing data and information that has been collected by others for purposes other than the current research.

Primary research provides specific and tailored insights, while secondary research offers broader industry trends, benchmarks, and historical data.

Let’s explore each type of market research in more detail.

1. Primary research

Primary research is conducted firsthand and is tailored to the specific needs of a particular study. Common methods used in primary research include:

Surveys involve gathering data through structured questionnaires, either online, over the phone, through email, or in person. They are often conducted with a sample of the target population or the entire population, depending on the research goals.

In-depth interviews (IDIs)

In-depth interviews or IDIs for short, involve one-on-one conversations with individuals or small groups to gather in-depth insights. Interviews can be structured (with predefined questions) or unstructured (allowing for open-ended discussions).

Observations

Observations or mobile ethnography involve systematically observing and recording consumer behavior in real-life settings. This method is often used in retail environments, user testing, or ethnographic studies.

Focus groups bring together a small group of individuals (typically 6-10) to discuss specific topics or concepts in a facilitated environment. It allows for interactive discussions and provides exploratory or qualitative insights.

They can be conducted in person at a focus group facility or remotely through online focus groups .

2. Secondary research

This type of research is more cost-effective and time-efficient. Common sources of secondary research include:

Market reports

Published reports by market research firms, industry associations, and government agencies provide comprehensive data and insights on various markets, industries, and consumer trends.

For example, here are the syndicated reports available on the Drive Research website:

• Grocery Shopping Consumer Segmentation Report
• Cannabis Consumer Report
• Voice of Influencer Report

Academic research

Academic journals, research papers, and dissertations can be valuable sources of information for specific industries or topics.

Publicly available data

Government databases, statistical publications, and public records provide a wealth of data, such as census data, economic indicators, and demographic information.

Internal company data

Companies can leverage their internal data, such as sales figures, customer feedback, and website analytics, to gain insights into their existing customer base and market performance.

What is the Market Research Process?

How market research is conducted will differ from firm to firm and provider to provider, regardless of whether it is a qualitative or quantitative study. However, it typically follows a systematic step-by-step process. 

The market research process follows a step-by-step best practice approach including these 6 steps:

• Kickoff meeting to discuss project objectives
• Designing the market research tool
• Testing and fieldwork
• Analysis and reporting
• Develop a strategy for the next steps
• Taking action with the data

Additionally, one of the first considerations you'll have for your business is whether or not to use an outside market research company to assist. 

The benefits of using an outside firm include expertise, time savings, honest and reliable feedback, and the ability to benchmark results against others.

Although it's important to choose a market research firm that matches your goals, works well with your team, and delivers on expectations.

If you decide to work with a market research firm, here are the steps of the market research process you can expect.

Step 1: Kickoff meeting to discuss project objectives

The kickoff meeting is the first step in the market research process once the proposal is squared away.

This can be handled internally with your team, on a conference call, or through an in-person meeting with your provider.

Here you will tackle the core objectives of the market research. This includes what you want to learn from the research, what you want to do with the results, and other expectations and action items anticipated from the market research.

Step 2: Designing the market research tool

As we discussed, there are different types of market research so this step will vary. However, it is a core stage in the market research process. 

This step involves the design of the survey, moderator's guide, interviewer guide, or other script.

The design is the setup of your instrument. It's crucial that lots of time and attention be spent on this step. If this is not done well it will have trickle effects on every step after.

Additionally, we recommend creating an outline first before building out a full draft.

The outline should reflect those core objectives from the kickoff. Once the structure and outline are agreed upon, it is easier to take the next steps with the full draft.

Step 3: Testing and fieldwork

Once the survey instrument is designed, you'll want to test it.

This could be a test interview with an employee, a mock focus group with colleagues, or sending a link out to a group of people to take the test survey.

Once you ensure everything is working correctly and you have no further edits, you are ready for fieldwork.

Fieldwork is the data collection phase of the market research process.

This is when all of the work is put in to acquire feedback and data points to analyze. This could mean conducting focus groups, conducting in-depth interviews (IDIs), conducting the UX, or running a survey.

Step 4: Analysis and reporting

Once fieldwork is closed, the next step is data quality cleaning . Here you'll want to make sure all of the data collected is of the highest quality.

With qualitative there isn't as much of a concern as the quantitative data.

With qualitative because you are so close to the participants, you know the feedback is honest and real. However, with surveys many cases are submitted that you might not have had a chance to review.

Here are some quick data quality-checking tips .

After the data is cleaned, it's time to create a topline or comprehensive market research report .

You'll want to ensure the report tells a story. This means taking all of the data and turning it into digestible tidbits and themes. This works well for an executive summary.

The market research firm would also provide benchmarks or context, recommendations, action items, an infographic, a customer persona, and an appendix with more detailed data.

But, if you are completing this in-house, your report should reflect this as well.

Step 5: Develop a strategy for the next steps

After you create your report, you'll want to schedule a debrief with your core team and possibly your management team.

Because no one is closer to the data than you or your market research firm, you'll want to supply the management team with your interpretations, assumptions, and takeaways.

These debrief meetings help an outsider take away the key points rather than forcing him or her to read the full report on their own.

A market research firm's report may be upwards of 100+ pages. Therefore, not everyone will have the time to read through it. It is important to walk them through the highlights.

Step 6: Taking action with the data

The final step is laying out action items and changes from the market research. It's one thing to do the research but another to then make changes with it.

Particularly if it was a customer survey or an employee survey, those respondents are expecting your business to take action with the results.

If it is any other type of study, changes, and improvements are suggested as well.

Market Research Examples

The market research process can be applied to many different scenarios. 

From identifying customer needs to evaluating the competition and assessing market potential, market research empowers companies to navigate the dynamic marketplace with confidence.

For instance, here are 4 different examples of how market research can be used in the real world:

1. Measuring customer satisfaction

A company in the telecommunications industry wants to understand customer satisfaction levels and identify areas for improvement. 

They work with a customer satisfaction survey company to distribute a questionnaire to their existing customer base. 

The survey collects feedback on aspects such as:

• Service quality
• Customer support
• Likelihood to recommend ( NPS )
• Overall experience

The survey data helps the company gain insights into customer preferences, pain points, and satisfaction drivers, allowing them to make informed decisions to enhance their offerings and retain more customers.

Recommended Reading: Conducting Customer Surveys [Ultimate Guide]

2. Evaluating the competition

A fashion retailer aims to gain a competitive edge in the market by understanding their competitors' strategies, strengths, and weaknesses. 

They work with a competitive assessment company to analyze competitor websites, product offerings, pricing, promotional activities, and customer reviews. 

This example of market research helps the retailer…

• Identify gaps in the market
• Differentiate their brand
• Refine pricing strategies
• Develop marketing campaigns that highlight their unique selling points

3. Improving new products

An electronics company is planning to introduce a new line of smartphones. 

Before investing in the development process, they conduct new product development market research to understand consumer preferences, needs, and trends. 

They work with a focus group company to host group interviews with their target audience, seeking feedback on features, design, pricing, and potential demand. 

These focus groups help guide the electronics company in developing a smartphone that aligns with customer expectations, ensuring a higher chance of success in the market.

4. Evaluating advertising and marketing campaigns

A software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup wants to optimize its marketing campaigns to attract more leads and increase conversions.

The startup follows the market research process to gain insights into its target audience, including their demographics, preferences, and buying behavior. 

Through campaign evaluation surveys and data analysis, they identify the most effective marketing channels, messaging strategies, and customer touchpoints. 

As a result, the SaaS team can tailor their marketing campaigns to resonate with their audience. This leads to improved engagement, higher conversions, and increased customer acquisition.

Final Thoughts

The market research process follows a step-by-step best practice approach. This starts with a proposal from a market research provider followed by a kickoff meeting, research instrument design, testing and fieldwork, analysis and reporting, and a final debrief.

Whether you're a business owner, a marketing professional, or simply someone curious about understanding market demand, this guide has now equipped you with the knowledge to unlock the power of market research.

If you are interested in working with a third-party company to execute the market research process, contact Drive Research today .

Contact Our Market Research Company

Drive Research is a full-service market research company specializing in various qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Our team helps clients execute the market research process from kickoff to reporting.

If you are interested in learning more about our market research services , contact us today.

• Message us on our website
• Email us at [email protected]
• Call us at 888-725-DATA
• Text us at 315-303-2040

Emily Rodgers

A SUNY Cortland graduate, Emily has taken her passion for social and content marketing to Drive Research as the Marketing Manager. She has earned certificates for both Google Analytics and Google AdWords.

Learn more about Emily, here .

Categories: Market Research Glossary

Need help with your project? Get in touch with Drive Research.

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Home — Essay Samples — Business — Marketing Research — How Marketing Research Plays A Role In The Marketing System

How Marketing Research Plays a Role in The Marketing System

• Categories: Marketing Research

About this sample

Words: 1580 |

Published: Mar 14, 2019

Words: 1580 | Pages: 3 | 8 min read

Table of contents

Why companies should conduct marketing research, process of marketing research, importance of marketing research.

• Understanding the reason behind a customer’s decision to purchase the product.
• Determine the marketing opportunities
• Understand the marketing problems
• Selection of the right course of action
• Understanding the perception of the customer
• Understanding the distribution network in the new market
• Forecast of the future sales
• The expectation of the increasing the market share
• Assessment of the market competition and policies.
• Market description surveys
• Market profiling segmentations surveys
• Tracking surveys and stages in the purchase process
• Customer intention- purchase analysis surveys
• Customer expectations and attitudes survey
• Customer loyalty, trust and retention analysis survey
• New product concept analysis survey
• Conjoint survey (New product acceptance and further demand surveys)
• Uses and habits surveys
• Product fulfillment surveys
• Competitive market and product positioning
• Brand equity surveys
• Advertising, media, message and effectiveness surveys
• Advertising value analysis survey
• Sales effectiveness survey
• Sales generation survey
• Customer service survey
• CSR surveys
• Market tracking surveys
• Price setting and elasticity of demand analysis survey
• Companies need to define the extent of opportunity they are expecting from the new market.
• Developing a hypothesis depending on the nature of opportunity.
• Formulation of an extensive research plan pertaining to the opportunity
• Setting out the objectives of the research
• Determination of the research design and preparing the proposal for the research
• Secondary data collection
• Designing the questionnaire
• Designing the sample
• Conducting the formal investigation
• Processing the data
• Analyzing the data
• Interpretation of the results and compiling the formal research report.

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Each topic is carefully selected to reflect current industry trends and academic research, making them not only academically rigorous but also highly pertinent to the evolving landscape of marketing. Whether you are interested in exploring the latest digital marketing strategies or understanding consumer behavior in emerging markets, our comprehensive list offers diverse options for meaningful research.

In addition to providing this extensive list of marketing thesis topics, iResearchNet is committed to supporting students throughout their thesis-writing journey. Our expert writing services offer customized assistance, ensuring that students can craft high-quality, original theses that meet academic standards and make a significant contribution to the field of marketing.

600 Marketing Thesis Topics and Ideas

Selecting a well-defined thesis topic is a critical step in the academic journey, especially in the diverse and rapidly evolving field of marketing. A carefully chosen topic not only lays the groundwork for a successful thesis but also ensures that the research conducted is relevant to both academic and industry standards. To assist students in this crucial process, we have organized an extensive list of thesis topics into 20 distinct categories, each reflecting key aspects of marketing research. These categories cover a broad spectrum of marketing disciplines, from traditional areas like advertising and consumer behavior to contemporary challenges such as digital marketing and influencer marketing. By addressing both established and emerging topics, this list offers students the opportunity to explore a wide range of issues that are both significant and innovative in today’s marketing landscape.

• The impact of emotional appeal in advertising on consumer behavior
• Effectiveness of online vs. traditional advertising in reaching target audiences
• The role of celebrity endorsements in brand advertising
• How advertising influences consumer purchasing decisions
• The impact of cultural differences on global advertising strategies
• Analyzing the effectiveness of social media advertising campaigns
• The role of humor in advertising and its impact on brand recall
• The influence of gender stereotypes in advertising
• The effectiveness of targeted advertising in the digital age
• The role of visual elements in print advertising
• Advertising ethics: balancing creativity and responsibility
• The impact of advertising on consumer brand loyalty
• The effectiveness of influencer advertising compared to traditional methods
• Advertising strategies for launching new products
• The role of emotional branding in advertising
• How nostalgia is used in advertising to connect with consumers
• The influence of color psychology in advertising campaigns
• The impact of advertising on children’s purchasing behavior
• Advertising in the age of ad blockers: challenges and opportunities
• The effectiveness of direct mail advertising in the digital era
• The role of music in television advertising
• How brand storytelling in advertising influences consumer perceptions
• The impact of negative advertising on brand reputation
• The role of corporate social responsibility in advertising
• The effectiveness of interactive advertising in engaging consumers
• The impact of political advertising on voter behavior
• How digital billboards influence consumer behavior
• The role of advertising in building brand equity
• The effectiveness of viral advertising campaigns
• The influence of advertising frequency on consumer attitudes
• The impact of social media on consumer buying behavior
• How cultural factors influence consumer behavior in international markets
• The role of brand loyalty in consumer purchasing decisions
• The influence of packaging on consumer buying behavior
• The impact of price sensitivity on consumer choice
• How online reviews influence consumer behavior
• The role of consumer trust in e-commerce transactions
• The impact of environmental awareness on consumer purchasing behavior
• How consumer behavior differs between online and offline shopping
• The influence of peer pressure on teenage consumer behavior
• The impact of consumer behavior on brand switching
• How consumer perception of quality affects brand choice
• The role of emotions in consumer decision-making
• The impact of lifestyle changes on consumer behavior
• How consumer behavior is influenced by advertising
• The role of brand personality in shaping consumer preferences
• The influence of social media influencers on consumer behavior
• How consumer behavior changes during economic recessions
• The impact of consumer behavior on product innovation
• The role of consumer behavior in the success of new product launches
• How technology influences consumer behavior in retail
• The impact of consumer behavior on brand image
• The influence of consumer behavior on pricing strategies
• How consumer behavior is affected by brand reputation
• The role of cultural diversity in shaping consumer behavior
• The impact of consumer behavior on the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
• How generational differences influence consumer behavior
• The influence of consumer behavior on product development
• The role of consumer behavior in shaping marketing strategies
• How consumer behavior is influenced by economic factors
• The impact of search engine optimization on online visibility
• How content marketing drives consumer engagement
• The effectiveness of email marketing in customer retention
• The role of digital marketing in brand building
• How digital marketing strategies influence consumer behavior
• The impact of mobile marketing on consumer engagement
• The role of influencer marketing in digital campaigns
• How personalization in digital marketing affects consumer loyalty
• The effectiveness of pay-per-click advertising in driving sales
• The role of data analytics in shaping digital marketing strategies
• The impact of social media marketing on brand awareness
• How digital marketing is transforming the retail industry
• The role of video marketing in digital strategies
• The impact of digital marketing on consumer trust
• How artificial intelligence is revolutionizing digital marketing
• The effectiveness of remarketing campaigns in increasing conversions
• The role of user-generated content in digital marketing
• How voice search is changing digital marketing strategies
• The impact of digital marketing on small businesses
• How digital marketing is driving globalization
• The role of automation in digital marketing
• How digital marketing strategies vary across industries
• The impact of digital marketing on traditional marketing channels
• The role of augmented reality in digital marketing
• How digital marketing is enhancing customer experiences
• The effectiveness of social media ads compared to traditional ads
• How blockchain technology is influencing digital marketing
• The role of big data in digital marketing strategies
• The impact of GDPR on digital marketing practices
• How digital marketing is evolving with the rise of the Internet of Things
• The impact of green marketing on consumer behavior
• How green marketing influences brand loyalty
• The role of green certifications in marketing strategies
• The effectiveness of eco-labeling in green marketing
• How green marketing affects corporate reputation
• The role of sustainability in green marketing campaigns
• How green marketing is transforming the fashion industry
• The impact of green marketing on product innovation
• The role of green marketing in building brand equity
• How consumer perceptions of green products influence buying decisions
• The effectiveness of green marketing in the automotive industry
• How green marketing strategies differ across global markets
• The role of green marketing in reducing carbon footprints
• The impact of green marketing on business profitability
• How green marketing is influencing packaging design
• The role of corporate social responsibility in green marketing
• How green marketing affects customer satisfaction
• The effectiveness of green marketing in the food and beverage industry
• How green marketing strategies are driving corporate change
• The role of green marketing in promoting renewable energy
• The impact of green marketing on brand positioning
• How green marketing influences consumer trust
• The effectiveness of cause-related marketing in green initiatives
• How green marketing is shaping consumer expectations
• The role of government regulations in green marketing strategies
• How green marketing is evolving in response to environmental concerns
• The impact of green marketing on supply chain management
• How green marketing strategies enhance competitive advantage
• The role of green marketing in consumer education
• How companies are integrating green marketing into their overall strategies
• The role of strategic marketing management in business success
• How marketing management practices influence brand equity
• The impact of marketing management on customer relationship management
• How marketing management strategies vary across industries
• The role of marketing management in product lifecycle management
• How marketing management affects corporate profitability
• The impact of marketing management on brand positioning
• How marketing management practices influence consumer loyalty
• The role of digital tools in marketing management
• How marketing management drives business innovation
• The impact of marketing management on market segmentation
• How marketing management strategies influence advertising effectiveness
• The role of marketing management in global expansion
• How marketing management practices are evolving in the digital age
• The impact of marketing management on competitive advantage
• How marketing management influences pricing strategies
• The role of marketing management in customer acquisition
• How marketing management affects customer retention
• The impact of marketing management on brand awareness
• How marketing management strategies vary by company size
• The role of marketing management in product development
• How marketing management practices influence customer satisfaction
• The impact of marketing management on market research
• How marketing management drives corporate social responsibility initiatives
• The role of marketing management in brand revitalization
• How marketing management strategies are affected by globalization
• The impact of marketing management on sales performance
• How marketing management practices influence business sustainability
• The role of marketing management in crisis communication
• How marketing management is integrated into overall business strategy
• The impact of segmentation strategies on market penetration
• How branding strategies influence consumer perception
• The role of pricing strategies in competitive markets
• How positioning strategies drive brand success
• The impact of differentiation strategies on brand loyalty
• How integrated marketing communication strategies enhance brand equity
• The role of innovation in marketing strategies
• How digital marketing strategies influence customer engagement
• The impact of global marketing strategies on brand awareness
• How social media strategies affect consumer behavior
• The role of content marketing in brand strategy
• How cause-related marketing strategies impact consumer trust
• The effectiveness of customer-centric marketing strategies
• How multi-channel marketing strategies drive sales growth
• The role of experiential marketing in brand building
• How relationship marketing strategies enhance customer loyalty
• The impact of product line extension strategies on brand equity
• How niche marketing strategies influence market share
• The role of rebranding strategies in business turnaround
• How data-driven marketing strategies enhance decision-making
• The impact of viral marketing strategies on brand visibility
• How influencer marketing strategies affect brand perception
• The role of customer segmentation in targeted marketing strategies
• How omni-channel marketing strategies improve customer experience
• The effectiveness of guerrilla marketing strategies in crowded markets
• How digital transformation is shaping marketing strategies
• The role of storytelling in brand strategy
• How sustainable marketing strategies influence consumer behavior
• The impact of loyalty programs on marketing strategies
• How marketing strategies differ in B2B vs. B2C contexts
• The impact of influencer marketing on consumer behavior
• How influencer marketing strategies vary across platforms
• The role of influencer credibility in marketing effectiveness
• How influencer marketing drives brand awareness
• The impact of influencer marketing on purchasing decisions
• How micro-influencers compare to macro-influencers in marketing campaigns
• The role of influencer partnerships in brand building
• How influencer marketing strategies affect brand loyalty
• The impact of social media algorithms on influencer marketing
• How influencer marketing influences brand perception
• The role of influencer marketing in product launches
• How brands measure the ROI of influencer marketing campaigns
• The impact of influencer marketing on customer trust
• How influencer marketing strategies vary by industry
• The role of authenticity in influencer marketing success
• How influencer marketing drives engagement on social media
• The impact of influencer marketing on brand reputation
• How influencer marketing affects customer retention
• The role of storytelling in influencer marketing
• How influencer marketing strategies are evolving with changing consumer preferences
• The impact of influencer marketing on small businesses
• How influencer marketing complements traditional advertising strategies
• The role of influencer marketing in building online communities
• How brands select influencers for their marketing campaigns
• The impact of influencer marketing on brand visibility
• How influencer marketing strategies are influenced by cultural factors
• The role of influencer marketing in the fashion industry
• How influencer marketing affects consumer trust in e-commerce
• The impact of influencer marketing on luxury brand positioning
• How influencer marketing is reshaping the advertising landscape
• How social media marketing influences consumer behavior
• The role of social media in customer relationship management
• How social media platforms differ in marketing effectiveness
• The impact of social media marketing on sales performance
• How social media algorithms affect marketing strategies
• The role of user-generated content in social media marketing
• How social media marketing drives customer engagement
• The impact of social media marketing on brand loyalty
• How social media influencers enhance marketing campaigns
• The role of social media marketing in product launches
• How social media marketing strategies vary by industry
• The impact of social media marketing on customer acquisition
• How social media marketing influences brand perception
• The role of social listening in social media marketing
• How social media marketing is integrated into omni-channel strategies
• The impact of social media marketing on consumer trust
• How social media marketing drives website traffic
• The role of social media analytics in shaping marketing strategies
• How social media marketing affects customer retention
• The impact of social media marketing on small businesses
• How social media platforms are evolving as marketing channels
• The role of paid advertising in social media marketing
• How social media marketing strategies are adapted for global markets
• The impact of social media marketing on brand equity
• How social media marketing complements traditional advertising
• The role of video content in social media marketing success
• How social media marketing strategies are influenced by cultural trends
• The impact of social media marketing on public relations
• How brands build communities through social media marketing
• The impact of brand management on consumer loyalty
• How brand management strategies influence brand equity
• The role of brand management in product lifecycle management
• How brand management affects corporate reputation
• The impact of rebranding on brand perception
• How brand management drives business growth
• The role of brand management in global expansion
• How brand management strategies vary by industry
• The impact of brand management on customer satisfaction
• How brand management influences brand differentiation
• The role of brand management in crisis communication
• How brand management strategies are evolving in the digital age
• The impact of brand management on competitive advantage
• How brand management affects pricing strategies
• The role of brand management in customer acquisition
• How brand management drives innovation
• The impact of brand management on market positioning
• How brand management strategies influence advertising effectiveness
• The role of brand management in building brand equity
• How brand management affects product development
• The impact of brand management on corporate social responsibility
• How brand management strategies enhance customer experience
• The role of brand management in B2B vs. B2C contexts
• How brand management influences supply chain management
• The impact of brand management on organizational culture
• How brand management strategies vary across global markets
• The role of brand management in luxury brand positioning
• How brand management affects employee engagement
• The impact of brand management on brand trust
• How brand management strategies are adapted for emerging markets
• The impact of public relations on corporate reputation
• How public relations strategies influence brand perception
• The role of public relations in crisis management
• How public relations contributes to brand awareness
• The impact of public relations on consumer trust
• How public relations strategies are evolving in the digital age
• The role of public relations in corporate social responsibility
• How public relations influences media coverage
• The impact of public relations on stakeholder engagement
• How public relations supports brand management efforts
• The role of public relations in managing corporate communication
• How public relations strategies vary by industry
• The impact of public relations on investor relations
• How public relations drives corporate transparency
• The role of public relations in government relations
• How public relations strategies influence public opinion
• The impact of public relations on employee relations
• How public relations supports marketing campaigns
• The role of public relations in shaping corporate identity
• How public relations influences crisis communication effectiveness
• The impact of public relations on brand loyalty
• How public relations strategies are adapted for global markets
• The role of public relations in non-profit organizations
• How public relations affects brand trust
• The impact of public relations on community relations
• How public relations strategies vary between B2B and B2C contexts
• The role of public relations in managing social media communication
• How public relations contributes to organizational change
• The impact of public relations on customer perception
• How public relations supports product launches
• The impact of cultural differences on international marketing strategies
• How international marketing influences brand positioning
• The role of global marketing strategies in achieving market penetration
• How international marketing drives global brand equity
• The impact of localization on international marketing success
• How international marketing strategies vary across regions
• The role of digital marketing in international market expansion
• How international marketing affects cross-cultural communication
• The impact of international marketing on global supply chains
• How international marketing influences pricing strategies
• The role of international marketing in building global brands
• How international marketing drives competitive advantage
• The impact of international marketing on product adaptation
• How international marketing strategies support global expansion
• The role of international marketing in managing global advertising
• How international marketing affects customer acquisition in new markets
• The impact of international marketing on brand consistency
• How international marketing strategies are influenced by regional regulations
• The role of international marketing in achieving global customer engagement
• How international marketing supports business diversification
• The impact of international marketing on market entry strategies
• How international marketing drives consumer behavior in emerging markets
• The role of international marketing in global strategic alliances
• How international marketing influences global product development
• The impact of international marketing on global distribution channels
• How international marketing strategies are adapted for cultural sensitivity
• The role of international marketing in managing global brand reputation
• How international marketing supports global e-commerce growth
• The impact of international marketing on cross-border partnerships
• How international marketing strategies address global market challenges
• The impact of integrated marketing communications on brand awareness
• How marketing communications strategies influence consumer perception
• The role of marketing communications in product launches
• How marketing communications drive brand loyalty
• The impact of digital marketing communications on customer engagement
• How marketing communications strategies vary by industry
• The role of marketing communications in shaping brand identity
• How marketing communications affect consumer buying decisions
• The impact of marketing communications on sales performance
• How marketing communications strategies support customer retention
• The role of marketing communications in building brand equity
• How marketing communications are adapted for global markets
• The impact of social media on marketing communications effectiveness
• How marketing communications drive customer acquisition
• The role of content in marketing communications strategies
• How marketing communications support corporate reputation management
• The impact of marketing communications on consumer trust
• How marketing communications strategies vary between B2B and B2C contexts
• The role of visual elements in marketing communications success
• How marketing communications influence brand positioning
• The impact of marketing communications on consumer brand perception
• How marketing communications drive digital engagement
• The role of storytelling in marketing communications effectiveness
• How marketing communications strategies are evolving in the digital age
• The impact of email marketing on marketing communications
• How marketing communications influence brand differentiation
• The role of public relations in marketing communications success
• How marketing communications support crisis management efforts
• The impact of mobile marketing on marketing communications
• How marketing communications strategies drive product awareness
• The impact of marketing analytics on decision-making processes
• How marketing analytics drives customer segmentation strategies
• The role of predictive analytics in shaping marketing strategies
• How marketing analytics influences consumer behavior insights
• The impact of marketing analytics on campaign effectiveness
• How marketing analytics supports personalization strategies
• The role of big data in marketing analytics
• How marketing analytics drives ROI measurement
• The impact of marketing analytics on customer retention
• How marketing analytics influences pricing strategies
• The role of marketing analytics in optimizing digital marketing efforts
• How marketing analytics supports lead generation strategies
• The impact of marketing analytics on customer journey mapping
• How marketing analytics drives content marketing success
• The role of marketing analytics in shaping brand strategies
• How marketing analytics influences market segmentation
• The impact of marketing analytics on social media marketing effectiveness
• How marketing analytics supports multi-channel marketing strategies
• The role of marketing analytics in improving customer experience
• How marketing analytics drives competitive analysis
• The impact of marketing analytics on marketing automation
• How marketing analytics supports customer acquisition strategies
• The role of marketing analytics in enhancing campaign targeting
• How marketing analytics influences product development decisions
• The impact of marketing analytics on brand equity measurement
• How marketing analytics supports customer lifetime value analysis
• The role of marketing analytics in optimizing media spend
• How marketing analytics drives marketing innovation
• The impact of marketing analytics on strategic planning
• How marketing analytics supports business growth strategies
• The impact of customer feedback on product development processes
• How product development strategies influence market success
• The role of innovation in product development
• How product development affects brand positioning
• The impact of product development on customer satisfaction
• How product development drives competitive advantage
• The role of cross-functional teams in product development success
• How product development strategies vary by industry
• The impact of product development on brand equity
• How product development influences product lifecycle management
• The role of market research in product development decisions
• How product development strategies support business growth
• The impact of product development on customer retention
• How product development drives market differentiation
• The role of design thinking in product development innovation
• How product development affects pricing strategies
• The impact of product development on customer loyalty
• How product development supports global market expansion
• The role of product development in sustaining brand relevance
• How product development influences supply chain management
• The impact of product development on time-to-market
• How product development drives product portfolio management
• The role of customer insights in product development success
• How product development strategies support product innovation
• The impact of product development on market entry strategies
• How product development affects brand image
• The role of sustainability in product development decisions
• How product development drives business transformation
• The impact of product development on product launch success
• How product development strategies are adapted for emerging markets
• The impact of event marketing on brand awareness
• How event marketing strategies influence consumer engagement
• The role of event marketing in product launches
• How event marketing drives customer acquisition
• The impact of event marketing on sales performance
• How event marketing supports brand building efforts
• The role of event marketing in shaping brand perception
• How event marketing influences customer loyalty
• The impact of digital marketing on event marketing success
• How event marketing strategies vary by industry
• The role of experiential marketing in event marketing effectiveness
• How event marketing drives word-of-mouth marketing
• The impact of event marketing on customer experience
• How event marketing supports business growth strategies
• The role of social media in event marketing success
• How event marketing influences brand positioning
• The impact of event marketing on customer retention
• How event marketing drives brand advocacy
• The role of event marketing in shaping corporate identity
• How event marketing strategies support community engagement
• The impact of event marketing on brand differentiation
• How event marketing drives sales lead generation
• The role of public relations in event marketing success
• How event marketing influences brand equity
• The impact of event marketing on attendee satisfaction
• How event marketing strategies are adapted for global markets
• The role of sponsorships in event marketing success
• How event marketing drives customer trust
• The impact of event marketing on market penetration
• How event marketing strategies are evolving in the digital age
• The impact of email marketing on customer retention
• How e-marketing strategies influence online sales performance
• The role of e-marketing in customer acquisition
• How e-marketing drives brand awareness
• The impact of personalization in e-marketing strategies
• How e-marketing supports lead generation efforts
• The role of automation in e-marketing success
• How e-marketing influences customer engagement
• The impact of e-marketing on consumer behavior
• How e-marketing drives website traffic
• The role of content in e-marketing effectiveness
• How e-marketing strategies vary by industry
• The impact of e-marketing on brand loyalty
• How e-marketing supports multi-channel marketing strategies
• The role of e-marketing in customer journey mapping
• How e-marketing drives conversion rates
• The impact of e-marketing on customer satisfaction
• How e-marketing influences purchase decisions
• The role of data analytics in e-marketing success
• How e-marketing supports customer segmentation
• The impact of e-marketing on business growth
• How e-marketing drives customer trust
• The role of A/B testing in e-marketing optimization
• How e-marketing influences pricing strategies
• The impact of e-marketing on customer loyalty programs
• How e-marketing supports product launches
• The role of e-marketing in crisis communication
• How e-marketing drives customer retention strategies
• The impact of e-marketing on brand perception
• How e-marketing strategies are evolving with technological advancements
• The impact of brand heritage on luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management influences consumer perceptions
• The role of exclusivity in luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management drives brand loyalty
• The impact of digital marketing on luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management supports premium pricing strategies
• The role of customer experience in luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management influences brand equity
• The impact of global expansion on luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management strategies vary by region
• The role of brand storytelling in luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management drives customer engagement
• The impact of sustainability on luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management influences brand positioning
• The role of social media in luxury brand management success
• How luxury brand management drives brand advocacy
• The impact of brand ambassadors on luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management supports customer acquisition
• The role of exclusivity in maintaining luxury brand status
• How luxury brand management influences brand perception
• The impact of customer relationship management on luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management drives brand differentiation
• The role of innovation in luxury brand management success
• How luxury brand management strategies support product launches
• The impact of market trends on luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management influences customer satisfaction
• The role of cultural factors in luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management supports business growth
• The impact of brand authenticity on luxury brand management
• How luxury brand management drives customer trust
• The impact of social media on fashion marketing strategies
• How fashion marketing drives brand awareness
• The role of influencer marketing in fashion marketing success
• How fashion marketing strategies influence consumer behavior
• The impact of digital marketing on fashion marketing effectiveness
• How fashion marketing supports brand differentiation
• The role of trend forecasting in fashion marketing success
• How fashion marketing drives customer engagement
• The impact of sustainability on fashion marketing strategies
• How fashion marketing influences brand positioning
• The role of celebrity endorsements in fashion marketing campaigns
• How fashion marketing drives sales growth
• The impact of global expansion on fashion marketing strategies
• How fashion marketing supports product innovation
• The role of brand storytelling in fashion marketing success
• How fashion marketing drives customer loyalty
• The impact of cultural trends on fashion marketing strategies
• How fashion marketing influences customer retention
• The role of content marketing in fashion marketing success
• How fashion marketing drives social media engagement
• The impact of digital transformation on fashion marketing strategies
• How fashion marketing supports business growth
• The role of experiential marketing in fashion marketing success
• How fashion marketing drives brand equity
• The impact of consumer behavior on fashion marketing strategies
• How fashion marketing supports brand management efforts
• The role of e-commerce in fashion marketing success
• How fashion marketing drives customer acquisition
• The impact of luxury trends on fashion marketing strategies
• How fashion marketing influences customer trust
• The impact of content marketing on customer engagement
• How content marketing drives brand awareness
• The role of storytelling in content marketing success
• How content marketing strategies influence consumer behavior
• The impact of personalization on content marketing effectiveness
• How content marketing supports lead generation efforts
• The role of video content in content marketing success
• How content marketing drives social media engagement
• The impact of SEO on content marketing strategies
• How content marketing supports business growth
• The role of data analytics in content marketing effectiveness
• How content marketing influences customer retention
• The impact of content marketing on brand loyalty
• How content marketing drives website traffic
• The role of content marketing in shaping brand identity
• How content marketing supports product launches
• The impact of content marketing on consumer trust
• How content marketing drives conversion rates
• The role of interactive content in content marketing success
• How content marketing supports multi-channel marketing strategies
• The impact of content marketing on customer acquisition
• How content marketing drives brand advocacy
• The role of user-generated content in content marketing success
• How content marketing influences brand perception
• The impact of content marketing on sales performance
• How content marketing supports customer segmentation
• The role of content marketing in crisis communication
• How content marketing drives customer loyalty programs
• The impact of content marketing on brand equity
• How content marketing strategies are evolving with technology
• The impact of viral marketing on brand awareness
• How viral marketing strategies influence consumer behavior
• The role of social media in viral marketing success
• How viral marketing drives customer engagement
• The impact of storytelling on viral marketing effectiveness
• How viral marketing supports product launches
• The role of influencers in viral marketing campaigns
• How viral marketing drives brand visibility
• The impact of emotional appeal on viral marketing success
• How viral marketing supports brand building efforts
• The role of user-generated content in viral marketing campaigns
• How viral marketing drives online traffic
• The impact of video content on viral marketing success
• How viral marketing influences consumer trust
• The role of timing in viral marketing effectiveness
• How viral marketing supports customer acquisition strategies
• The impact of cultural relevance on viral marketing success
• How viral marketing drives word-of-mouth marketing
• The role of social sharing in viral marketing effectiveness
• How viral marketing supports brand advocacy
• The impact of humor on viral marketing success
• How viral marketing influences brand perception
• The role of engagement metrics in viral marketing strategies
• How viral marketing drives social media engagement
• The impact of viral marketing on brand loyalty
• How viral marketing supports business growth strategies
• The role of creativity in viral marketing success
• How viral marketing influences customer retention
• The impact of viral marketing on public relations
• How viral marketing drives sales growth

Choosing a marketing thesis topic that resonates with current trends and aligns with your personal academic goals is essential for producing impactful and meaningful research. The comprehensive list of topics provided here spans both traditional and contemporary areas of marketing, offering a broad range of possibilities for your thesis. Whether you are interested in exploring established marketing practices or diving into emerging trends, this list serves as a valuable starting point for your research, paving the way for significant contributions to the field of marketing.

Marketing and Potential Thesis Topics

Marketing is a cornerstone of business success, acting as the bridge between companies and consumers. It encompasses a wide array of activities, from understanding consumer needs to developing strategies that effectively communicate the value of products and services. The field of marketing is vast, with numerous subfields that each present distinct challenges and opportunities for research. From traditional areas like advertising and public relations to contemporary domains such as digital marketing and influencer strategies, marketing offers a rich landscape for academic exploration. For students, choosing a thesis topic in marketing is not just about completing a degree requirement; it’s an opportunity to contribute to a field that plays a critical role in shaping business outcomes.

Current Issues in Marketing

Today’s marketers face a variety of pressing challenges that require innovative solutions and strategic thinking. One of the most significant issues is data privacy, which has become a central concern in the digital age. As consumers become more aware of how their personal information is collected and used, companies must navigate the fine line between personalized marketing and privacy invasion. Effective marketing practices in this area involve transparent data practices and the use of secure, consent-based data collection methods.

Another critical challenge is digital disruption. The rapid evolution of digital technologies has transformed how businesses operate and how they reach their audiences. Marketers must continuously adapt to new platforms, tools, and technologies, such as social media, mobile apps, and digital analytics. This disruption often requires a shift from traditional marketing methods to more dynamic, technology-driven approaches.

Consumer trust is another pressing issue, particularly in a world where misinformation and skepticism are rampant. Building and maintaining trust requires authenticity and consistency in brand messaging, as well as a commitment to ethical marketing practices. Marketers must also be adept at crisis communication, ensuring that they can respond effectively when trust is compromised.

Examples of relevant thesis topics:

• The role of data privacy regulations in shaping digital marketing strategies.
• Strategies for managing digital disruption in traditional marketing models.
• The impact of consumer trust on brand loyalty and marketing effectiveness.

Recent Trends in Marketing

As the marketing landscape evolves, several emerging trends are reshaping how businesses engage with their customers. One of the most prominent trends is personalization. With advancements in data analytics and machine learning, companies can now tailor their marketing efforts to individual consumers’ preferences and behaviors. Personalization enhances the customer experience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. However, it also raises concerns about privacy and the ethical use of data.

Another significant trend is the rise of omni-channel strategies. Consumers today interact with brands across multiple channels, from physical stores to online platforms and mobile apps. An effective omni-channel strategy ensures a seamless and consistent experience across all touchpoints, allowing businesses to meet customers wherever they are. This approach not only improves customer satisfaction but also drives sales by providing a more integrated shopping experience.

Sustainability has also become a key focus in marketing, driven by increasing consumer demand for environmentally and socially responsible products. Companies are now incorporating sustainability into their branding and marketing strategies, not just as a means to attract eco-conscious consumers but also as a way to differentiate themselves in a crowded market. This trend is influencing everything from product development to packaging and advertising.

• The effectiveness of personalization in digital marketing campaigns.
• The impact of omni-channel strategies on consumer behavior and brand loyalty.
• The role of sustainability in shaping modern marketing practices.

Future Directions in Marketing

Looking ahead, several developments are poised to shape the future of marketing. One of the most significant is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already being used to optimize various aspects of marketing, from content creation to customer segmentation and predictive analytics. As AI continues to evolve, it is expected to play an even more prominent role in decision-making processes, enabling marketers to deliver more targeted and efficient campaigns.

Predictive analytics is another area with significant potential. By analyzing past data, predictive analytics can forecast future consumer behaviors and trends, allowing marketers to be more proactive in their strategies. This capability is particularly valuable in dynamic markets where consumer preferences can shift rapidly. Predictive analytics can help companies stay ahead of the curve, ensuring that their marketing efforts are always aligned with the latest trends.

The increasing prevalence of remote work and digital collaboration tools is also likely to influence marketing practices. As teams become more dispersed, there will be a greater emphasis on digital communication and collaboration. This shift may lead to new forms of virtual marketing and engagement strategies, as companies look for ways to connect with remote audiences in a more meaningful way.

• The impact of artificial intelligence on the future of digital marketing.
• How predictive analytics can enhance marketing strategy development.
• The role of remote work in shaping future marketing practices and team dynamics.

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Marketing Research for Decision Making Process Essay

The marketing research links the marketer to the consumer through information. In order to facilitate decision making process, marketing research should aim at collecting adequate information concerning consumers because marketing forms the basis of a company’s strategy. The information may include the consumers medical condition, investments, income, phone calls, travel patterns e.t.c.Marketing research is necessary in new product execution, pricing , promotion as well as products distribution.

A firm basically survives by producing goods and services that meets the consumer needs in i.e. creating goods and services that the consumers are able and willing to buy. Thus ascertaining the demands of consumers before introducing a new product in the industry is necessary for the future viability of a firm.

The information that a firm may collect before launching a new product includes the information about the preference of the firms’ products as compared to those of competitors, the consumers average income, information as to whether the consumers are ready to appreciate the newly launched products, the spending culture of the consumers among others.

It is essential for a firm to access data concerning the consumers so as to compare the sales of a product with another similar product or sales in a given area as compared to another area and then take the necessary marketing actions such as pricing the products in a way that is affordable for the consumers. This will enable the firm to add value to their products and also to come up with alternative products that matches with the needs of the consumers so as to maintain the existing customers as well as attracting others

It is essential for a company to access as much information as possible from the consumers so as to be able to determine as to whether the firm is up to date with the latest innovations .Innovations nowadays is the key to the organizational growth and those organizations that are lagging behind the latest technology e.g. failure to use internet e.t.c.are finding it difficult to maintain their market share because the competitors are discovering new ideas and concepts each and every day.

Therefore, the information that a firm could collect with regards to innovation includes the age of the consumers, information regarding the access to computers, phones e.t.c. so as to develop products that suits the needs of various needs.

For instance, entertainment gadgets such as iPods are mainly used by the youth as compared to old people and therefore a firm that produces i Pods needs to target the youths mostly in its advertising. There is a need for a firm to conduct market research so as to take advantage of the dynamic market place

Marketing research information enables a firm to determine the attitude that the consumers have towards a certain product or its advertising. Consumers may be consuming a certain product due to lack of alternative and so they will tend to shy away from buying the same products once another product with different features is introduced into the market and so rendering the firm to loss a portion of its market niche.

Another important reason as to why an organization needs to collect as much data as possible concerning consumers is to be able to know the trends in the market place and determine as to whether the firm will continue to offer the product at a given area or not.

If customers reveal a high level of satisfaction, then the organization may continue to offer the products with the existing features and if a certain product does not satisfy the consumers, the firm may decide to diversify the product or abolish it all together and focus on those products that are readily available.

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• Open access
• Published: 23 October 2024

Successful entrepreneurship, higher education and society: from business practice to academia

• J. Sevilla-Bernardo 1 , 2 ,
• Teresa C. Herrador-Alcaide 3 &
• Blanca Sanchez-Robles 4  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  1404 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

• Business and management

This research explores the coverage of success factors for entrepreneurship in higher education through the lens of the actual practice in prosperous company launchings. Accordingly, the paper analyzes how universities prioritize the importance of the success factors in entrepreneurship identified by business practitioners. Through the text analysis of a set of syllabi of courses on entrepreneurship we find that the success factors underlined in the teaching-learning process are the idea, business model, CEO, finance, and marketing. The exploration of a collection of recent papers on entrepreneurship education suggests that the factors emphasized by researchers are CEO, social impact, team, and formation. We find differences in the teaching-learning and research spheres regarding the ranking of success factors. Teaching-learning focuses on more traditional aspects of entrepreneurship and firm management, associated with key functional areas in companies. Research, in contrast, emphasizes social and psychological aspects and pays more attention to recent trends in management, like gender, diversity, and social impact. This suggests that research enjoys more flexibility and capacity for quick adaptation to new trends and ideas in society than teaching. Our findings imply that the process of teaching-learning in entrepreneurship must strive to remain closer to the reality of firms to prioritize the transmission and development of knowledge and skills more in accord with business practice.

Introduction

Disruptive technologies and digitalization reduce entry barriers in many activities and generate opportunities for the creation of new firms (Kraus et al. 2019 ; Modgil et al. 2022 ; Sturgeon 2021 ). Because of complex transformations in labor markets and changes in lifestyles, individuals increasingly consider entrepreneurship and self-employment as attractive options (Israr and Saleem, 2018 ). The rise of entrepreneurship in recent decades is beneficial from an economic and social perspective; as Akcigit and Kerr ( 2018 ) point out, new firms contribute to innovation and diffusion of technological progress, favor the accumulation of human and physical capital, and generate economic growth.

Although there are successful self-made entrepreneurs, nations may enhance the entrepreneurship capacities of their citizens by offering effective Entrepreneurship Education (EE). EE refers to those training schemes which provide the knowledge and skills necessary to pursuit entrepreneurial projects (Rauch and Hulsink, 2015 ).

The provision of EE, which has expanded remarkably in many countries in recent years, is rather heterogeneous. Currently EE is offered by different agents and in various formats, both by means of formal and informal schemes. Formal education is carried out by learning institutions (for example universities and business schools) through structured programs and courses. Informal education usually complements formal training by means of short courses and workshops and lacks structure regarding content, goals, and time; it may not lead to a certificate (Debarliev et al. 2022 ). Footnote 1

Since EE is inherently practical and action-oriented, it is highly dependent on the context where it is offered (see Lindahl Thomassen et al. 2020 , for a thorough discussion). The context may be considered at different levels. First, at the macro level, it relates to the characteristics of the country where the institution operates, in terms of government policy, labor market conditions, composition of GDP, and historical heritage, among others; second, at the intermediate level, the context is associated to the elements characterizing the regional economy and the teaching institution, like financing, stakeholders, capacity to hire and autonomy to determine the structure of programs. Third, at the micro level, the context is associated with teaching styles, pedagogical models, assessment, cultural background, and socioeconomic features of students and instructors. Footnote 2

There is considerable debate about the goals, methodologies, and characteristics that sound EE should incorporate. Although studies focusing on EE have proliferated in recent years (see for example Henry and Lewis, 2018 , and Klofsten et al. 2019 , and references therein) there are still many issues related to entrepreneurship training still lacking clear answers (Rideout and Gray, 2013 ). This context motivates this investigation, which assesses the importance that university education for entrepreneurship attaches to the different factors associated with firm success by business practitioners.

This paper focuses on university entrepreneurship education for several reasons. First, the interest in entrepreneurship education has transformed the nature of universities and enhanced its association with actual business practice. Higher education institutions are becoming much more involved in the tasks of transferring knowledge to firms and of developing an entrepreneurial culture, thus playing a protagonist role in the process of transition towards alternative economic and social models based predominantly upon knowledge and innovation (Zaidan et al. 2024 ). Many universities are facilitating the process of technology transfer to society through spin-offs, alliances, and incubators, thus becoming entrepreneurial universities (Etzkowitz, 2016 ; Klofsten et al. 2019 ). Footnote 3 Furthermore, higher education for entrepreneurship plays an important role in developing the skills and capabilities of future generations of entrepreneurs; hence it is crucial that this education is provided with the utmost quality and efficacy.

In order to be effective, entrepreneurship education must facilitate a deep understanding of the potential factors correlated with firm success (such as the idea, culture and values, team, CEO or financial management, among others) (Díaz-Santamaría and Bulchand-Gidumal, 2021 ). Accordingly, we assess which of these aspects are emphasized by higher education institutions included in a sample of Spanish universities that undertake entrepreneurship education. Since entrepreneurship has an important practical dimension, we explore the coverage of firm success by universities through the lens of the actual practice of prosperous company launchings. We work with a categorization of success factors that originated in business practice and was systematized by Berkus ( 2016 ), Payne ( 2011 ) and Gross ( 2015 ). This taxonomy is widely used by business angels and venture investors. Universities have often been reproached for being “ivory towers”, i.e. too theoretical and disconnected from real life (Buckley, 2012 ). In the last decades they are transitioned towards models characterized by closer links with industries, but these trends are not uniform across countries and institutions (Etzkowitz et al. 2000 ). This research is a way of testing to what extent universities align with business practitioners and are receptive to the insights and new ideas produced by companies when dealing with firm success in entrepreneurship teaching and researching.

This paper is related to the literature on entrepreneurship education. This issue has been researched by many scholars in recent times. Within this literature, a particularly relevant contribution is Etzkowitz et al. ( 2000 ); these authors describe the new role of universities within modern societies by means of the triple helix model, featuring close links and interactions between universities, government, and industries. Laukkanen ( 2000 ) analyzes how universities may impact their regional environment, favoring new ventures and enhancing the expansion of regional companies. Shane ( 2004 ) discusses the creation of spinoff companies by universities and how they enable the commercialization of university technology. Feola et al. ( 2021 ) study the entrepreneurial orientation of universities. Footnote 4

This study is particularly close as well to contributions that stress the importance of developing the entrepreneurial mind-set in students (Krueger and Sussan, 2017 ) and underscore the links between role models and entrepreneurship intention (Abbasianchavari and Moritz, 2021 ). Nonetheless, the literature has not explored sufficiently yet, to the best of our knowledge, how university education addresses and transmits the importance of the variables related to firm success. This study intends to shed some light on this issue.

Finally, this research is also connected to the (still incipient) literature employing bibliometric analyses to explore issues linked to entrepreneurship. Examples are Donthu et al. ( 2021 ) and Skute ( 2019 ).

With this background in mind, we perform an approximation to how academic activity approaches the notion of success in entrepreneurship in two main spheres: teaching-learning and research. According to Spanish regulations, universities must make available to students a syllabus or guide for each course containing information on teaching goals, topics covered, assessment, and other relevant aspects. This study exploits this feature of the Spanish higher education institutions. Through the analysis of course syllabi from a sample of universities, we assess how EE conveys and transmits to students the relevance of the various factors associated to the successful launching of companies. Looking at the aspects emphasized in the curricula also provides a test of the effective interrelations between academia and the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Moreover, the exploration of a set of recent publications produced by the faculty of the universities in the sample helps understand how success factors in entrepreneurship are perceived and emphasized by researchers, and to what extent teaching and research in entrepreneurship converge regarding the relative importance attributed to success factors.

We work with a sample of 30 Spanish universities and perform our exploration by means of text analysis tools. The Spanish university system provides an interesting case for researchers in EE. Footnote 5 In accord with general trends, entrepreneurship in Spain has flourished in the last decades; in parallel, higher education institutions have also expanded their supply of programs and courses on entrepreneurship. As it happens in many other countries, universities in Spain incorporate education about entrepreneurship in their activity through different schemes, and this heterogeneity enriches the analysis. Footnote 6

This study has interest and practical implications for different types of agents, and in particular for universities, scholars, education regulators and policymakers. The insights provided by this research can help them improve the design and supervision of the different programs and courses that integrate the education for entrepreneurship. This paper also helps researchers obtain a clearer overview of EE in Spain (and, by extension, in Europe).

Because of these considerations, the research objective of this paper is to gauge whether the factors that identify the successful entrepreneurial company according to business practitioners are prioritized and emphasized by EE carried out at universities. This goal is decomposed in three more specific research questions (RQ) which, in turn, i. Explore the relative importance attributed to these success factors in university teaching; ii. Perform the same assessment for research on EE carried out at universities and iii. Compare the emphasis on success factors in teaching and in research.

The structure of the rest of the paper is as follows: Section “Theoretical framework” describes the theoretical framework supporting this research. Section “Methodology” discusses the methodology employed. Section “Results. First stage: teaching” summarizes the main findings from this investigation in teaching-learning; Section “Results. Second stage: research” performs a similar task in research. Section “Success factors in teaching-learning and research: a comparison” compares the results obtained in teaching-learning and in research. Section 7 concludes.

Theoretical framework

The entrepreneur: concept and role.

This subsection summarizes some ideas about the notion of entrepreneur to provide a framing for the rest of the paper. Footnote 7 The explicit discussion of the role of the entrepreneur within the economic literature may be traced back to Cantillon ( 1755 ) and his Essai sur la nature du commerce (Hoselitz, 1951 ). Footnote 8

Cantillon understood the entrepreneur as a central element in the midst of the activity of markets (Brown and Thornton, 2013 ). Cantillon defined the entrepreneur as someone who operated with goods and services in pursuit of profit in an uncertain environment (Thornton, 2020 ). This interpretation of the term entrepreneur evolved over time; gradually entrepreneurship became associated to a disruptive innovation whereby a new idea, product, or process replaced an existing one while planting the seed for the next idea, product, or process, paving the way for the Schumpeterian creative destruction (Jonsson, 2017 ). From this perspective, some authors dynamically reformulated Cantillon’s insights on entrepreneurship and related entrepreneurial undertakings to three business processes: envisioning and valuing opportunities, allocating and assigning resources, and legitimizing novelty (Wadhwani and Lubinski, 2017 ). Entrepreneurship within economic literature, therefore, became linked to terms such as innovation, idea, product, opportunity, or risk, which were identified as indicators of success by scholars through different times and contexts.

A century later, Alfred Marshall regarded entrepreneurship as the fourth production factor, which organized and coordinated the other three classical factors (labor, capital and land) enhancing their efficiency (Marshall, 1949 ). According to Marshall, the entrepreneur had to make important decisions concerning the allocation of resources in order to increase productivity, decrease costs, and raise profits; this insight was later on developed by Williams Middleton et al. ( 2020 ) within the framework of the transaction cost theory of the firm. Marshall, however, did not emphasized enough the importance of the subjective elements of entrepreneurship, according to Austrian economists; examples of these elements are the idea of what business to pursue and how to pursue it, and the expectations about markets, competitors, and prices (Witt, 1999 ). Moreover, the relationship between entrepreneurship and firm is not straightforward within the Marshallian paradigm.

Another important contributor to the notion of entrepreneur was Frank Knight. Knight ( 1921 ) highlighted the important role of the entrepreneur in connection to uncertainty; he extended the idea proposed by Cantillon and stressed how the entrepreneur innovated, adapted to changes in the environment, and handled uncertainty, acting as an insurer for the rest of stakeholders. Moreover, it is generally considered that Knight ( 1921 ) pioneered a new avenue for research exploring the personal traits that made entrepreneurs successful.

Subsequent contributions (some of them within the Austrian tradition) revisited these ideas and discussed how entrepreneurs´ traits might influence entrepreneurship, both inside and outside the firm. Footnote 9 A result of this orientation was the emerging notion of subjective entrepreneurship, which introduced behavioral, psychological, and social considerations and explored the set of characteristics that an entrepreneur should display in order to succeed (Marshall and Ojiako, 2015 ; Bula, 2012 ).

This strand of literature took off in the mid-20 th century but showed signs of decay in the 1980s. Research on subjective and social entrepreneurship flourished again at the beginning of the 21st century, partly because of the increasing availability of surveys providing abundant empirical data on this issue and also because of the growing interest in start-ups, business culture, and new business models (Cassis and Minoglou, 2005 ).

Recent contributions within this literature analyze empirical evidence to understand what drives an entrepreneur and what are the personal traits associated with successful company launchings. Examples of these characteristics are the need for achievement, proactivity, innovativeness, tolerance to uncertainty and self-efficacy, openness, conscientiousness, innovativeness (Kerr et al. 2018 ). Other authors support an interdisciplinary approach to the idea of entrepreneurship, capable of integrating economic, behavioral, and social elements (Ripsas, 1998 ). Footnote 10

After summarizing the historical evolution of the notion of entrepreneurship, the next subsection explores this idea within the context of higher education.

Higher education, entrepreneurship, and society

Entrepreneurship Education comprises those educational interventions that prepare students for a career in entrepreneurship (Rauch and Hulsink, 2015 ). These interventions are oriented towards two main directions: first, they foster a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship which stimulates the intention of students to become an entrepreneur (Ripollés and Blesa, 2023 ); second, they endow students with knowledge and skills that are relevant to successfully launch and manage a business (Nguyen and Nguyen, 2024 ).

There is abundant empirical evidence suggesting a positive impact of EE on entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors. Goyanes and Serra ( 2016 ) suggest that entrepreneurship programs affect the intention to become entrepreneurs in a sample of Spanish students by promoting a positive perception of entrepreneurship. Other contributions provide similar conclusions employing samples from different countries (Sampedro et al. 2014 ; Amofah et al. 2020 ; Margaça et al. 2021 ). According to Guerrero et al. ( 2018 ), EE promotes work effort tolerance and reduces risk aversion in students. EE also helps detect business opportunities (Bueckmann-Diegoli et al. 2021 ). Urbano et al. ( 2017 ) find that entrepreneurial education has a larger influence on the students’ decisions to become entrepreneurs than other informal factors (role models, social image, or fear of failure). Obviously, the role of entrepreneurship education in fostering students’ entrepreneurial intention in students is limited, since there may be other factors at play (Camacho-Miñano and del Campo, 2017 ).

Entrepreneurial training helps develop appropriate skills (Maravé-Vivas et al. 2021 ), such as creative thinking oriented to the generation of business value (Arruti, Morales and Benitez, 2021 ). Sound planification and anticipation can also be taught through the preparation of business plans (Ferreras-Garcia et al. 2019 ; Ferreras-Garcia et al. 2021 ). As discussed above, the literature suggests that entrepreneurial competencies encompass not only knowledge and skills, but also personality traits that help launch and consolidate a project successfully (Arruti and Paños-Castro, 2020 ).

The emphasis in sustainability is directing the attention of universities towards the social impact of entrepreneurship (Huertas González-Serrano et al. 2020 ), whereby not only the economic outcomes of a project but also its non-economic consequences are considered (Yépez-Mora et al. 2019 ). The implication for EE is straightforward: universities should promote the development of social skills among business students (Pérez-Fernández et al. 2020 ), stressing the potential of new firms for job creation (Jiménez et al. 2015 ) and for the dynamization of the local economy (Butkouskaya et al. 2020 ).

Universities have acquired protagonism not only as educators in entrepreneurship but also as agents promoting entrepreneurship. In the last decades, many universities have gone one step further in the consolidation of a more practical approach to entrepreneurship. Institutions in different countries have promoted business incubators, spin offs and alliances with companies. Others have evolved to become entrepreneurial universities, understood as entities actively engaged with innovation and diffusion of knowledge spillovers that contribute to regional development (Etzkowitz et al. 2000 ; Guerrero and Urbano, 2012 ). In this context, universities promote synergies between managers, academics, and students, seeking opportunities with common strategic objectives, and favoring the accumulation of human capital (Klofsten et al. 2019 ).

These approaches have often been successful, generating a positive impact on students and the local environment. Infrastructures provided by the entrepreneurial university (incubators, spin-offs, and others) enable exposure to risk of students and promote their autonomy, thus preparing them for entrepreneurship (Guerrero et al. 2020 ). Spin-off organizations or innovative start-ups show in practical ways how to produce knowledge with practical, marketeable applications (Tejero et al. 2019 ). Entrepreneurship incubators have been shown to generate profitable and sustainable jobs over time (Del Campo Villares et al. 2020 ) and to generate a positive impact on the environment. Entrepreneurial training has contributed significantly to the creation of companies (García et al. 2017 ) and to the regional development of nearby areas (Guerrero et al. 2015 ). Valera-Loza et al. ( 2021 ) suggest that the greater the relationship between research, entrepreneurial curriculum and entrepreneurial culture, the greater the impact in the form of business results. The literature documents as well a direct and positive relationship between entrepreneurship training and its application to business projects (Aceituno-Aceituno et al. 2018 ).

In addition, alliances between universities and other agents in the entrepreneurial ecosystem can help overcome infrastructure shortcomings of higher education institutions (Ten Caten et al. 2019 ). In any event, entrepreneurial universities must find the right balance between teaching, research, and entrepreneurship (Paños-Castro et al. 2021 ).

These considerations highlight the importance of universities for entrepreneurship education. Furthermore, they suggest that many higher education institutions have actively and effectively become involved in entrepreneurship through the channel of entrepreneurial universities.

Business practice, academia, and factors for successful entrepreneurship

Education for entrepreneurship must enable potential entrepreneurs pursue their projects as successfully as possible (Bauman and Lucy, 2021 ). Firm success, however, is a nuanced, complex, and multifaceted concept. Company success has been traditionally measured by aspects and variables like turnover, profit, productivity, value creation, and other related economic or financial indicators (Josefy et al. 2017 ). In the case of start-ups or projects in the early stages, success has been associated with survival. Footnote 11 It can also be understood in a more holistic and encompassing view which intertwines economic, psychological, and sociological features (Giannantonio and Hurley-Hanson, 2016 ).

Along these lines, in recent decades success in entrepreneurship has been explored in the context of venture investments, business angels, and seed capital, and hence closely associated with company valuation. Traditional firm valuation tools based upon the discount of future cash flows are difficult to apply in practice to start-ups; these companies have features like novelty, disruptive business models, high risks, and lack of comparable benchmarks which complicate valuation. In many new business models turnover and profits are difficult to forecast; their evolution may be nonlinear while some landmarks may critically determine success or failure. Typical finance sources, such as fintech, crowdfunding, and venture capital, are relatively new as well.

The most appropriate methodologies for valuation may also be different according to the various stages of the company over the life cycle. In the early stages, qualitative methods may seem more informative while, as the new firm consolidates, quantitative tools become more convenient (Escartín et al. 2020 ).

In this setting, some new tools, complementary to traditional methods, have been developed and progressively adopted. They assess aspects closely related to the expertise of founders and the strategic viability of the project (see Escartín et al. 2020 for a summary). Two of these tools stand out because of their popularity and usefulness: the Berkus model (Berkus, 2016 ) and the Scorecard Valuation Method (Payne, 2011 ), now widely used by business angels and funds. Footnote 12 Their approaches incorporate qualitative aspects which are key for the success of young companies and allow a thorough understanding of their specific business models.

Berkus ( 2016 ) associated success aspects in entrepreneurship with the capacity to overcome several key risks faced by a project in its inception (product, technological, execution, financial, market). He defined the following success factors: sound idea or business model, prototype, founder team or quality management team, strategic relationships, and product rollout or sales (Berkus, 2016 ). It has proved to be a useful tool to assess new firms before they generate revenues (Amis et al. 2001 ). Payne ( 2011 ) proposed the Scorecard Valuation Method, which attaches a weight (contingent on the industry) to the following parameters: team, market size, product, and competitive environment. Footnote 13 Gross ( 2015 ) stressed another crucial factor, timing, understood as the coincidence over time of demand and supply. Combining the approaches from Berkus ( 2016 ), Gross ( 2015 ), and Payne ( 2011 ) produces a first set of seven success factors: idea, CEO/decision marking procedure, business model, finance, team, marketing, and timing.

The subsequent literature on firm success has added other nine relevant factors: evaluation culture, culture and values, internal satisfaction, adaptation to environment, formation, diversity, advisors, lean management, and founders’ experience (Díaz-Santamaría and Bulchand-Gidumal, 2021 ; Sevilla-Bernardo et al. 2022 ).

As discussed above, there is an additional factor acquiring increasing relevance: social impact (Huertas González-Serrano et al. 2020 ). This variable captures how a firm affects its economic, social, and environmental surroundings when striving to answer to the challenges and demands of society (Yépez-Mora et al. 2019 ). Social impact is related to successful entrepreneurship because it affects the motivation, commitment, and engagement with the firm of managers, employees, and other stakeholders, influencing turn-key parameters like turnover, productivity, and profits (Pérez López, 1998 ). For example, prospective customers may be more inclined to consume goods produced by less pollutant technologies and environmentally conscious companies.

We are endowed at this point, therefore, with a set of 17 factors that practitioners, investors, and related literature have identified as important for firm success. These factors constitute the backbone of our analysis. We want to ascertain to what extent these 17 factors are also emphasized and prioritized by entrepreneurial education at universities, both in terms of teaching and research.

As discussed above, the literature has so far explored many issues related to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship education and has enabled a more thorough understanding of these elements. The links among universities, firms and governments have also been analyzed, showing novel patterns of divisions of labor and interactions among agents. Effective Interactions and spillovers, however, may not be uniform nor occur at the same pace across disciplines (Etzkowitz et al. 2000 ) and should be explored on a case-by-case approach.

To the better of our knowledge, the degree of absorption by universities of the framework of analysis of success employed by practitioners is still under-researched. To get a better understanding of this issue provides the motivation for this paper, which articulates the investigation through three main questions:

Q1: How does the university teaching-learning process prioritize the success factors identified by business practitioners?

Q2: Which relative importance does research at university attach to the success factors identified by business practitioners?

Q3: Is there a convergence between the relative importance associated to success factors in teaching-learning and research?

Methodology

Research design.

Once we have identified the relevant factors for company success in business practice, our next step is to explore the relevance that higher education attaches to these factors in entrepreneurship education. Two key dimensions of universities – separate but closely interconnected- are the transmission of knowledge through the teaching-learning process and the generation of new knowledge through research. Footnote 14 Hence we organize this investigation in two stages which assess each one of these two spheres of activity.

As discussed above, we carry out our investigation within a general framework in which entrepreneurial practice and university activity (particularized in teaching-learning and research) are closely interrelated (as described, for example, by Etzkowitz et al. 2000 ). It is commonly accepted that universities generate knowledge and ideas. Knowledge and ideas spill over from universities to companies that, through novel business models, strive to turn them into marketable goods and services sold at a price (Tejero et al. 2019 ; Pardo-Garcia and Barac, 2020 ). Footnote 15 However, this flow may operate as well in a reverse way (although this possibility is perhaps less well-known): knowledge and ideas may transit from entrepreneurial ecosystems to universities through alliances and other forms of interaction between practitioners and scholars (Klofsten et al. 2019 ; Ten Caten et al. 2019 ). This paper assumes that the flow of knowledge and ideas between companies and universities may operate in both directions.

This paper employs text analysis as its main methodological tool. Intuitively, text analysis consists of understanding text as unstructured data that can be explored with mathematical and statistical tools. Text analysis methods are becoming widespread in research because software packages are increasingly capable of analyzing large sets of text from different sources and extracting meaningful insights. These tools can uncover patterns, features, and associations in the texts that would be very difficult and time-consuming to detect by manual means. In the particular case of our research, they provide valuable quantitative and qualitative information. Figure 1 summarizes our research design.

Source: Authors.

We organize our investigation in two stages (Fig. 2 ). In the first stage, and in order to answer the first research question, we focus on formal university education in entrepreneurship at the undergraduate level.

In this regard, we exploit the current Spanish regulation in higher education and work with a set of syllabi from undergraduate courses on entrepreneurship. To comply with the Spanish legislation, universities have to make available for students the guides for the different courses that compose a diploma. Footnote 16 These guides have detailed and practical information for each course, such as content and structure, reading materials, work-load, assignments, and procedure to compute final grades. Nowadays most universities warrant their online availability well in advance the beginning of the academic year. These syllabi are a source of key information for prospective students, faculty, education administrators and regulatory agencies; they also convey valuable information for researchers. This research capitalizes on this characteristic by gathering, selecting and analyzing a set of syllabi using text analysis to uncover the frequencies and co-occurrences of the keywords related to the factors implying success in entrepreneurship.

The second stage of this investigation concentrates on research on entrepreneurship education pursued at universities. For this purpose, a set of publications on EE written by researchers affiliated with the universities in our sample have been identified from the Web of Science (Clarivate, 2022 ). Text analysis is then employed on this set, similarly as in the first stage. The tool shows how success factors are prioritized by the research carried out at universities. Finally, the coverage of success factors in the teaching-learning activity and in research are compared.

Sample of universities

In the academic year 22/23 there were 89 universities in Spain, a comparatively high number according to the size and population of the country (Ministerio de Ciencia et al. 2023 ). Footnote 17 There is considerable heterogeneity among universities in terms of size, number, and types of degrees offered and methodologies. Hence it is not easy to define a representative sample of universities to be analyzed.

One possible approximation to the Spanish university system is through the employ of rankings. There are several prestigious national rankings; some of them are elaborated by media groups (El Mundo, El Español); others are provided by institutions specialized in research and analysis (Fundación CYD, U-Ranking) (Riesco, 2023 ).

After considering the available options, we have decided to employ the U-Ranking (Fundación BBVA and Ivie, 2022 ) because of its broad approach. It features a holistic and wide coverage and provides a synthesis of indicators grouped in three main categories: global, teaching-learning, and research. It enables the comparison among universities and is used by prospective students, employers, academics, and other interested public to assess the quality of high-education institutions (Pérez García et al. 2017 ).

The 2022 edition of the ranking provided data for 72 public and private universities, which enrolled 98% of students in bachelor level degrees. Universities were classified into 12 levels according to their global index.

We have considered the five top levels of the global index, encompassing 36 universities (half of the total number) and the top 40% of the ranking. Footnote 18 In accordance with the literature on technological diffusion (for example Barro and Sala-i-Martin, 1997 ), we hypothesize that the most successful teaching methods and best practices spill over from top institutions to the rest through channels like the mobility of lecturers and researchers, conferences, and seminars, publications, networking and meetings of administrators, among others. Hence it is reasonable, in our view, to focus on the top institutions in the ranking. The geographical coverage of our sample is rather wide: it includes universities from all Spanish regions.

Definition of success factors for entrepreneurship

As discussed above, the set of 17 success factors for entrepreneurship considered in this research has been inspired by business practitioners (Gross, 2015 ; Berkus, 2016 ). Recent literature has already regarded these factors as relevant for successful entrepreneurship (Sevilla-Bernardo et al. 2022 ; Gallardo-Vázquez et al. 2024 ; Lee et al. 2023 ; Szathmári et al. 2024 ).

The list of 17 factors has been expanded through the use of a dictionary associated with the text analysis software packages. This dictionary provides several equivalent words or pairs of words (synonyms or slight modifications of the terms) by success factor. These terms have been manually reviewed as well in the context of this research.

Text delimitation and empirical exercise

The next step has been the delimitation of the documents to be explored by text analysis. In the case of teaching-learning, this delimitation has implied a thorough and meticulous gathering of the syllabi available online corresponding to the universities in our sample in the academic year 2022–23 (the most recent academic year at the time of the beginning of this research). The search has focused on undergraduate courses of entrepreneurship, usually offered within the curriculum of the Bachelor in Business Administration. In the case of universities not teaching a course entitled entrepreneurship, the search has been expanded to other alternative denominations related to the fields of entrepreneurship, innovation, and firm creation. Footnote 19

We have covered courses taught both in English and Spanish although the text analysis has been run over English texts. Footnote 20 Hence the syllabi have been translated to English when necessary. The set of syllabi in English will produce the corpus or main document for the teaching-learning exercise.

As far as research is concerned, a search has been performed in the Core Collection of the Web of Science (Clarivate, 2022 ) using entrepreneurship as the baseline keyword. Other keywords like education, teaching, and university (with all their variations) have been added in order to narrow down the quest. We have restricted the exploration to papers published in open access over the decade before the start of this investigation (2012–2022) by coauthors affiliated with the universities in the sample, for consistency reasons with the first stage. This has provided a set of 42 papers. This set corresponds to the corpus or main document of the research exercise.

Once the documents for each stage have been identified and collected, and following Welbers et al. ( 2017 ), Gao et al. ( 2019 ), Huertas González-Serrano et al. ( 2020 ), and Zhai et al. ( 2023 ), the empirical exercise has been organized in several steps: Footnote 21

Step 1. Creation of the corpus

The sets of syllabi in pdf have been imported and converted into plain text, producing the so-called corpus for the teaching-learning stage. Analogously, the set of papers selected has been imported and converted into the corpus for the research stage.

Step 2. Creation of the document-term matrix and pre-processing

As commented above, the purpose of these exercises is to extract and analyze data from texts. One efficient way of accomplishing this task is by creating a matrix (commonly named the document term matrix ). Basically, the matrix relates each word (or more generally, unit of analysis) with the number of times it appears in the corpus. The unit of analysis employed is the word (although some pairs of words, like business model, have been allowed). The data in the matrix still display some noise so it requires preprocessing and cleaning. The following operations are performed accordingly:

Removal of stop words (articles, prepositions, conjunctions, etc., which the package is capable of detecting).

Trimming or elimination of words appearing only a small number of times.

Stemming or removal of some suffixes, keeping only the root of the words: this task allows to reuniting words conveying the same idea, reducing the number of different words (and hence elements in the matrix).

Removal of punctuation.

In addition, the syllabi have been filtered. The information related to assessments and reading materials has been suppressed to concentrate on the goals and contents of the courses and thus minimize the potential noise. Paragraphs related only to soft skills (according to Pardo-Garcia and Barac, 2020 ) or to general competencies (according to Fernández de Caleya et al. 2020 ) have also been eliminated.

Step 3. Analysis

Once the document term matrix is conveniently filtered and cleaned, the analysis properly speaking is implemented. First, a dictionary associating success factors to keywords has been employed (as in Sevilla-Bernardo et al. 2022 ). This dictionary maps each of the 17 success factors to lists of keywords, where every factor may correspond to more than one keyword.

The next task is the computation of frequencies, either absolute (the number of times a word appears) or relative (absolute frequency divided by the total number of words). Frequencies illustrate about the most treated factor by each syllabus or paper.

It is also feasible to perform a similar estimation regarding joint apparitions or co-occurrences of groups of two words or bigrams. Bigrams are pairs of words that frequently appear together. Joint apparitions for each bigram are counted and stored in a matrix. This matrix can be turned into a graph with provides a visual presentation of the relationships among words.

Results. First stage: teaching

This section describes the main results from the empirical exercise, starting with the relative frequencies of individual factors. Next, it details the most important success factors according to the geographical location of each university. Finally, it performs an analysis of co-occurrences among factors.

Frequency analysis

As discussed above, the first stage consists of a thorough text analysis of the syllabi of the courses about entrepreneurship through the lens of the 17 success factors for entrepreneurship identified in the literature and discussed in the section about our theoretical framework above.

Table 1 shows global results from the frequency analysis of success factors in the syllabi of the universities in our sample. For each success factor, the third column details the number of syllabi that include this factor. The fourth column informs about the relative frequency of apparition in the syllabi of the success factor.

Relative frequencies are expressed in percentage terms and computed as the ratio of the total number of appearances of each factor relative to the total number of appearances of all factors combined, multiplied by 100. Thus

Relative Frequency (%) = (Number of appearances of the factor / Total number of appearances of all factors) × 100. Footnote 22

This method ensures that the importance of each factor is represented in terms of its proportion in the total appearances for all factors.

The fifth column displays the associated cumulative frequency for each factor. Appendix 1 details the most important factors by the university.

As Table 1 shows, the main success factors according to their relative frequency in the syllabi are the following: idea (13.4%), business model (12.9%), CEO (12%), finance (10.5%), and marketing (8.1%). Their cumulative frequency is 56.9%. The factors with smaller relative frequency, instead, are founders’ experience, internal satisfaction, and advisors.

Figure 3 represents the association between each success factor, the number of syllabi where the factor is included, and its relative frequency. According to their relevance, factors may be grouped into three categories: the first class is made up of the five top factors, which show up in a number of syllabi between 17 and 28 and amount to 56,9% of the cumulative frequency. The second group is encompassed by factors turning up in 12–14 syllabi; they are culture and values, team, social impact, and assessment culture. The last group comprises formation, timing, lean management, diversity, adaptation to the environment, founders experience, and satisfaction, with marginal participation since they are present only in 1–10 syllabi. The factor advisor is not included in any syllabus.

As shown in Table 1 and Fig. 4 , nine factors make up 82% of the cumulative frequency: they are idea, business model, CEO/decision-making procedure, finance, marketing, culture and values, team, social impact, and internal assessment culture.

Geographical distribution

Figure 5 indicates the prevalence of success factors according to the geographical location (provinces) of the correspondent universities.

We do not have enough data at this point to perform a causal analysis relating success factors to regional variables. Nonetheless, some interesting insights may be tentatively drawn from the figure. As it should be expected, the idea is a key factor in all the Spanish territory. Social impact is particularly relevant in Cataluña and Valencia; these regions are important logistic centers for international trade flows and tourism and may be very permeable to social trends.

Financial factors are important in Universidad del País Vasco, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and Universidad de Lleida; these institutions are close to the headquarters of some of the main financial institutions in Spain such as Bilbao, Madrid, and Barcelona.

Co-occurrence

The individual analysis of the presence of success factors can be complemented by the exploration of relationships between them. Thus, the next step in this research has been the joint analysis of pairs of success factors by looking at their co-occurrences in the syllabi. Table 2 and Fig. 6 summarize the findings from this exploration.

Co-occurrence informs about the frequency with which two or more words appear together in a text or collection of texts; through the association of words in pairs (or, more generally, ngrams), potential associations of ideas or concepts may be inferred. These associations may be visualized by means of graphs and idea maps. Intuitively, these graphs display the pairs connected according to some criteria and organized in networks.

Networks are characterized in terms of nodes (or vertices) and edges (or links between nodes). In the present example, the success factors (or their associated keywords) occupy the nodes. The edge or link between two nodes represents the frequency of co-occurrence of the words occupying the nodes. Footnote 23 In this case, the edges represent non-directed relationships because co-occurrences among pairs are symmetrical. Footnote 24

Table 2 summarizes the results for co-occurrences between pairs of keywords in the syllabi. For each row, the first column in the table details a keyword and the second column shows the success factor associated to that keyword. The same occurs for the third and fourth columns. Each line displays the co-occurrence for each pair of keywords, and therefore between the factors associated to these keywords.

Figure 6 summarizes graphically the co-occurrences between keywords that are larger than 0.3 (chosen as the minimum threshold in this case) detailed in Table 2 . Considering the intensity of co-occurrences, Footnote 25 the main associations occur between the factors CEO-Social Impact (co-occurrence: 0.5473, associated keywords: Management-Social) and Idea-CEO (co-occurrence: 0.4873, associated keywords: Creativity-Management). As the figure conveys there is a central cluster of interconnected nodes, made up of the following keywords: management, social, idea, and creativity, corresponding to the following factors: CEO, Social Impact, and Idea.

The second level in terms of intensity of co-occurrences comes from the relationships between the following pairs of keywords: Idea-Management, Innovation-Social, and Idea-Social (co-occurrences around 0.45, according to Fig. 6 and Table 2 ), involving the following factors: Idea, CEO, and Social Impact. The third level is composed of the following pairs of keywords: Creativity-Social, Innovation-Management, Creativity-Idea, and Management-Strategy (co-occurrence around 0.40), involving again the following factors: Idea, CEO, and Social impact. Other keywords like strategy, strategical, and innovation are less connected to the central core. Marketing, in addition, is relatively far from the rest of nodes.

The individual keywords with the largest level of centrality are management (with 5 links), idea (also with 5), social (4), and creativity (4). Footnote 26 Marketing exhibits the smallest centrality, with only one link.

These findings can be interpreted in terms of the success factors for entrepreneurship associated to each keyword. The analysis shows that the teaching-learning process in entrepreneurship tends to associate primarily the factors CEO, idea, and social impact, suggesting that successful entrepreneurship requires the combination of a good idea, sound management, and a social dimension. In particular, the pair CEO and social has the highest co-occurrence, conveying the relevance of the entrepreneurship endeavors seeking to make a positive impact on society. The factor marketing, however, only appears scarcely in association with other factors. Surprisingly, the factors of finance and business model are not even represented in the graph because their co-occurrence with other terms is below the predetermined threshold of 0.3.

Results. Second stage: research

This section proceeds in a similar order as Section 4: it starts with the discussion of relative frequencies and continues with a comment about co-occurrences among factors.

The second stage of this investigation explores the relative importance that research on entrepreneurship education assigns to the success factors defined before. For comparison reasons, we have worked with the same sample of universities as in the first stage. Accordingly, we have performed in the Core Collection of the Web of Science (Clarivate, 2022 ) a search of articles coauthored by researchers affiliated with the universities in our sample. The time horizon is 2012–2022. The baseline keyword has been entrepreneurship, complemented by education, teaching, and university. This quest has identified 42 papers (Appendix 2 ).

Table 3 and Figs. 7 and 8 show the ranking, relative frequency, and cumulative frequency of the 17 success factors in the set of papers analyzed. There are four factors which appear in all of the 42 articles analyzed: CEO, social impact, team, and formation. They represent 30.8% of the associated cumulative weight. Three factors turn up in all papers except one; they are culture and values, idea, and marketing.

As the table and figures convey, factors 1–7 have very similar weights in the collection of papers analyzed and comprise 53.4% of the cumulative weight. For the syllabi, instead, the first seven factors imply 70.3% of this magnitude. This suggests that research on entrepreneurship education distributes its interest more homogeneously among factors than the teaching-learning process.

The last positions in the table are occupied by the factors business model, founders’ experience, and lean management, which receive a smaller coverage in the research output analyzed.

The standard deviation of the relative frequency is 2.1, lower than in the case of the syllabi (4.5).

Similarly to what was performed for the syllabi, we have undertaken a co-occurrence analysis of keywords in the compiled publications. Results are summarized in Table 4 and Fig. 9 .

Table 4 shows the co-occurrences of success factors in the research output analyzed.

Figure 9 displays the network graph for this analysis. As the table and the figure convey, there are 18 associations between 13 words above the predetermined threshold of 0.3. Four words (creativity, innovation, education, management) compose a central cluster.

The pairs education-innovation and education-social feature the strongest relationships, in both cases with co-occurrences higher than 0.5. The pairs innovation-social and creativity-innovation, with co-occurrences higher than 0.4, lie as well in the central core. In terms of factors, the most frequent associations are formation and idea, formation and social impact and idea and social impact.

There are keywords only connected to education but not related among them: such are the cases of gender, formation, and sustainability. This suggests that the joint exploration of aspects like creativity and gender or culture and gender has not yet occurred in a significant fashion in the sample of papers. Strategic, in turn, only co-occur with management. Teamwork only co-occurs with education, with a figure slightly above 0.3. The lowest co-occurrence (0.3020) corresponds to the pair innovation-formation.

It is surprising that traditional key areas for entrepreneurship, like finance, momentum, adaptation to the environment, or business model, do not display a level of co-occurrence with other keywords above the threshold.

Success factors in teaching-learning and research: a comparison

The above discussion shows that the university teaching-learning process considers as the main factors for firm success the following five: idea, business model, CEO, finance, and marketing. These factors make up for 56,9% of the cumulative frequency in the syllabi analyzed. Research, in turn, underlines CEO, social impact, team, formation, culture and values, idea, and marketing. These seven factors encompass 53,4% of the cumulative frequency.

Tables 5 and 6 and Figs. 10 and 11 further explore the comparison between teaching-learning and research in terms of the success factors underscored. There are several factors occupying rather different positions in teaching-learning and in research. The idea is the first factor for success in teaching-learning but only the sixth in research. The business model, in turn, is second in teaching-learning and occupies the 15 th position in research. Finance and Marketing are regarded as more important for teaching-learning than for research; finance is the fourth in teaching-learning and eighth in research, whereas marketing is fifth in teaching-learning and seventh in research.

Social impact is the second most important factor for research, but only the eighth most relevant for teaching-learning. Formation and diversity are more highly regarded in research (4 th and 9 th position) than in teaching-learning (10th and 13th, respectively).

Team and culture and values have similar weights and placements in the upper part of the table in both dimensions. Evaluation culture and timing are in similar positions in both realms, in the middle of the ranking. Finally, founders’ experience and internal satisfaction lie at the bottom of the ranking in both cases, indicating that they are not prioritized in teaching-learning nor in research.

These findings suggest that teaching gives preeminence to the aspects traditionally considered key and hard core in entrepreneurship and management, such as idea, business model, CEO, finance, and marketing. Research, instead, focuses to a higher degree on the human, social, and relational aspects, emphasizing CEO, social impact, and team.

Figure 10 compares the association between each success factor and its relative frequency in both academic dimensions. As previously mentioned, the relative frequency displays a smoother profile and is more evenly distributed among the various factors in research, whereas it is more concentrated in some items in teaching-learning.

Table 6 and Fig. 11 show the differences in relative frequency for each factor in teaching-learning and research. For example, the business model musters 12.9% of the cumulative frequency in teaching but only 3.1% in research; the difference in relative frequencies is 9.8 percentage points. There are five factors exhibiting higher weights in teaching than in research: CEO, idea, finance, business model, and lean management. Differences are especially high regarding business model (9.8 percentage points), idea (roughly 6 percentage points), CE0 (4.3), and finance (3.7).

The factors with higher weights in research and the largest differences with respect to teaching-learning are advisors (difference of 4.6 percentage points), diversity (4.2 percentage points), adaptation (3.9), and satisfaction (3.2).

These results suggest interesting interpretations. The focus of research on social impact as a success factor is in accord with the increasing centrality that elements like regional development, job creation, and support for local business are acquiring within the new conceptualizations of entrepreneurship, as exemplified by Etzkowitz et al. ( 2000 ), Klofsten et al. ( 2019 ), Huertas González-Serrano et al. ( 2020 ), Jiménez et al ( 2015 ) and Butkouskaya et al. ( 2020 ).

The importance of the idea is also stressed in both teaching-learning and research, but its relative frequency (and therefore importance) is higher for instructors than for researchers. This may be attributed to the emphasis that most recent contributions on entrepreneurship (Etzkowitz et al. 2000 ; Laukkanen, 2000 ; and Klofsten et al. 2019 ) are placing in the how to do a project and not only on what project to do . A similar consideration may be applied to the priorization attached by research to factors like team and formation, consistent with higher relative importance of the stakeholders involved in the project, in detriment of more technical and quantitative aspects like business model and finance (Yépez-Mora et al. 2019 ).

These results suggest as well that research pays more attention than teaching-learning to new approaches and trends in management and entrepreneurship, in turn, associated to wider social transformations. This, in turn, suggests that research on entrepreneurship enjoys more flexibility and capacity for quick adaptation to new trends than teaching-learning, where resistance to change may oppose new ideas (Lozano, 2006 ). This implication is reasonable and in accord with the experience of many professors and administrators working in academia. Hiring staff with new ideas is expensive and time-consuming, and universities must handle the specialization required by the entrepreneurial teaching-learning process in a scenario of financial constraints (Etzkowitz et al. 2000 ; Dabic, González-Loureiro, and Daim, 2015 ). In the case of the Spanish university system, heavily regulated, this asymmetry is even larger because of the rigidities associated to the hiring of new faculty and the convoluted procedures necessary to reform the curricula. It is remarkable that the smaller permeability of teaching-learning to new approaches is detected even when the faculty of the institution is already addressing these novelties in their research activity.

These findings are also in accord with recent contributions stressing the need for universities to draw lessons from practical experience and the surrounding environment. Although universities are changing their educational strategies and innovating in the ways they address entrepreneurship (Huq and Gilbert, 2017 ), their lack of flexibility prevents them from fully adapting content and methodology to evolving needs (Teece, 2018 ).

The implications are straightforward: universities should design their entrepreneurship programs in closer collaboration with firms (Todorovic et al. 2011 ), increase their capacity for adaptation to the ongoing challenges in management (Teece, 2018 ), and work towards more effective interactions with industry and governments (Etzkowitz and Klofsten, 2005 ).

A more practical approach to entrepreneurship education by universities is also advisable. The nature of problems associated with company launching (complexity, multidisciplinarity, lack of structuration, lack of definition) suggests that practice-based pedagogies may be more appropriate and effective than traditional approaches (Neck and Greene, 2011 ). Learning by doing may also be a sound avenue in entrepreneurship education (Hameed and Irfan, 2019 ). Launching business incubators that approximate universities to entrepreneurs may also be beneficial (Hassan, 2020 ; Guerrero et al. 2020 ). However, it should not be overlooked that entrepreneurship education must be practice-based but also research-based (Klofsten et al. 2019 ).

This paper analyzes the importance given to company success factors in the teaching-learning and research spheres by means of the exploration of a sample of Spanish universities. The tool is text mining over a set of syllabi of courses in entrepreneurship and over a set of articles from the Web of Science. The theoretical framework for this analysis is the characterization of 17 success factors as identified in business practice.

The first topic of analysis was the way in which academia gives priority to the different sets of factors for successful business entrepreneurship applied in the field of business. Regarding academia in relation to the teaching-learning process, according to the findings described here, the factors to successful business entrepreneurship emphasized by the teaching-learning process are idea, business model, CEO, finance, and marketing. The second question was similar to the first but applied to research. Results suggest that research underscores the following factors: CEO, social impact, team, formation, and values.

Another relevant issue was to analyze about the potential convergence between the success factors identified in teaching and in research. The empirical exercise shows that there are several factors considered as very relevant in both spheres. These factors are idea, CEO and culture, and values. Despite this convergence, this investigation suggests the presence of differences in the teaching and research spheres regarding the relative importance assigned to success factors.

According to the results discussed in the paper, the perception of the relative importance of success factors and the subsequent prioritizing is different in teaching and in research: the rankings of factors and the co-occurrences among them vary substantially. Research pays more attention to novel concepts such as social, diversity, sustainability, and gender, while teaching-learning, in a more conventional and traditional fashion, attaches the biggest importance to the idea, business model, CEO/decision-making process, finance and marketing, aspects associated to the hardcore and more technical aspects of companies.

This implies that teaching may not have incorporated fully yet new trends in management and entrepreneurship such as the increased interest in social diversity or gender. These findings suggest, in accord with other recent contributions, the need for closer interaction between universities and business practitioners to enable curricula to swiftly incorporate recent trends in management.

The main limitation of this research refers to its sample and geographical scope. Hence further research may enrich the present findings by extending the analysis to universities of other countries. To explore the time dimension examining trends over time may also shed more light on these issues.

Data availability

Detailed information about the generation of the data analyzed in this research is available in the article. Other additional material can be requested from the authors.

Another related taxonomy classifies EE in compulsory and voluntary. Compulsory EE is usually offered through sessions imparted within a program in an academic setting (Lyons and Zhang, 2018 ). Voluntary EE, instead, typically applies to extra-curricular or even self-directed activities and may occur with the collaboration of incubators and technological parks (Debarliev et al., 2022 ).

For example, it is common in business schools to employ the case method, based upon the analyses of firms though active discussions with the students in the classroom (60 at the most, who typically attend most of the sessions). This kind of approach may not be feasible in a state-owned university, where groups may be considerably larger because of budget constraints and where session attendance may be more irregular.

Although the first entrepreneurial universities were located in the US (Stanford, MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, among others), the phenomenon has become global and there are nowadays entrepreneurial universities in many countries worldwide. See Etzkowitz et al. ( 2000 ) for a description of the genesis and evolution of these institutions. See Etzkowitz and Klofsten ( 2005 ) for an specific analysis for the Swedish case.

See Schmitz et al. ( 2017 ) and Aparicio et al. ( 2019 ) for reviews of these issues.

There were 89 universities in the academic year 22/23 (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, 2023 ).

Some Spanish universities offer full programs in entrepreneurship, whereas others teach entrepreneurship as an additional component of a diploma. By and large they cover usual topics in EE like firm creation, innovation, business plans, opportunity identification, and fund rising, among others. They also work towards the development of competences in students.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to explore in detail the notion of the entrepreneur. For a full discussion of the notion of entrepreneurship over time see Hébert and Link ( 2009 ).

The recent discovery of an early Spanish translation and comment of Cantillon’s Essai sur la nature du commerce suggests that the treaty was a source of inspiration for subsequent financial and banking entrepreneurial developments in Spain over the late eighteenth century (Astigarraga and Zabalza, 2022 ).

Mainstream economics, however, focused on issues related to the production function, market equilibria, and the theory of the firm, and somehow lost interest on the subjective element of the entrepreneur (Ripsas, 1998 ).

These aspects closely relate to two of the three pillars of Corporate Social Responsibility from the perspective of the Triple Bottom Line, i.e. the responsibility of the firm regarding the economy, the society and the environment.

In line with the literature, we understand start-ups as young companies based upon innovative technologies or disruptive business models (see Montani et al., 2020 for a discussion).

Berkus and Payne are two successful business angels.

Other contributions have employed comparable frameworks to define Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which facilitate the evaluation of new business models. See Gilsing et al., ( 2021 ) for a literature review and a proposal.

Traditionally, the transmission of knowledge in the Spanish university system has been centered around teaching ; more recently, however, (and especially since its integration in the European Higher Education Area) the focus is shifting towards learning , conceived as a process where the student plays a more active role.

As discussed above, universities may turn knowledge into goods and services themselves through incubators or spin-offs.

Law 6/2001.

Universities in Spain belong to two main categories, public (managed and funded by the central or regional governments) and private. In academic year 22/23 there were 50 public and 39 private universities. Private universities started to operate in the 1990s and have grown fast thereafter. All universities in Spain are subject to stringent regulation and supervised by a national agency. Nonetheless, there is more flexibility in terms of strategy, human resource policies and course design in private institutions.

In the end we eliminated from the sample six universities whose syllabi was not available online at the time of the search.

There were ten out of 30 universities in our sample that taught the course as compulsory in the Bachelor in the academic year 2022-23; seven universities (23%) in this group provided courses representing six European Credits or units

English is the language most frequently employed for text analysis and has the best-adapted software.

The software employed is RStudio, with the packages tm and tidyverse.

For example, for the factor “Idea” which appears 28 times out of a total of 209 appearances of all factors, Relative Frequency of Idea = (28 / 209) × 100 = 13.4%.

To facilitate the visualization of the network, usually only co-occurrences above a predetermined threshold are represented explicitly in the graph.

The co-occurrence of the following pairs: idea, management, and management, idea, for example, are the same.

According to language processing software, co-occurrence is the frequency with which two or more words appear together in a corpus of text. In text analysis, co-occurrence implies that the words are semantically related and are associated in the context of the text. Co-occurrence helps deduct the association of themes based on the semantic relationship between words. The intensity of the co-occurrences is expressed numerically by the coefficient of co-occurrence, so that the higher the coefficient, the stronger the relationship between the words and, consequently, between the topics they represent in the context of the research.

The centrality of a node is defined as the number of links of the node (Bhattacharya et al., 2023 ).

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Sevilla-Bernardo, J., Herrador-Alcaide, T.C. & Sanchez-Robles, B. Successful entrepreneurship, higher education and society: from business practice to academia. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1404 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03916-3

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