Market Research

Profile

Term:
Each summer term
Course Format:
2 hours lecture / 2 hours exercise per week
Time/Place/Documents:
See LSF and Moodle
Exam:
2 hours written exam
Credits:
6 ECTS
Contact Person:
Niko Dellner

Description

Market Research teaches you how to describe markets and analyze data in a quantitative manner. It provides the basis for understanding and conducting marketing research.

The objectives of the course are:

  • To give you hands-on experience in different data analysis techniques
  • To teach you skills that are critical in Marketing, especially skills needed for sound analysis and decision-making about product design, market segmentation and communication
  • To provide you the opportunity to look into the “black box” of analyzing tools
  • To sharpen your overall analytical and quantitative skills
  • To learn how to assess the quality of market research

Course set-up

The course develops on your basic knowledge in Statistics. You should have completed statistical and empirical courses. Market Research consists of lectures and computer lab sessions. Lectures cover theory and potential applications for various analysis tools. Analysis tools include standard tools such as Factor Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Discriminant Analysis, but also basics of more advanced techniques such as Conjoint Analysis (including Hierarchical Bayes Choice-Based Conjoint), Structural Equation Modeling, Latent Class Analysis etc.

During lab sessions, you will learn to apply the tools to actual business questions and get hands-on experience. We work with state of the art and industry standard software applications such as SPSS (Sawtooth, Amos, Mplus, SmartPLS, etc). There will be three parallel lab sessions in order to suit your different time schedules. The registration process for the lab sessions will start in the week of the first lecture. Additional guest lecturers share their experience and give you an idea on how they use the contents of this course in everyday business life. Grading is based on a two hour in-class open book exam. Please continuously prepare your material as the course progresses in order to quickly find relevant information. Start benefiting from professional tools that will help you working efficiently in your future jobs.

Recommended Readings

  • Birks, D.; Malhotra, N (2007): Marketing Research, An Applied Approach, 3rd European Edition, Financial Times / Prentice Hall.
  • Hair, J. F.; Black, W. C.; Babin, B. J.; Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis. A Global Perspective, 7th edition, Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
  • Mooi, E. A.; Sarstedt, M. (2010): A Concise Guide to Market Research. The Process, Data, and Methods Using IBM SPSS Statistics, Berlin et al.: Springer. Please visit the book's website for more information.