The Market Research Toolbox: A Concise Guide for Beginners

"Edward F. McQuarrie has written a practical guide that will introduce managers, across functional areas and product lines, to a basic understanding of market research tools. Further investigation of The Market Research Toolbox will give readers insight into traditional and nontraditional market research techniques. This book will be a valuable resource guide for those in business and education alike." --Nancy Waters-Gordon, Program Manager, Hewlett-Packard Company "For all professionals new to marketing research, an engaging and informative book." --The Economic Times If you are thinking of conducting market research but don′t know where to start, try The Market Research Toolbox--the ideal resource for the beginning marketer. Written in an engaging and active style, this book describes how to think of market research in the context of making a business decision. It begins by defining market research and discussing some of the varieties and techniques, then examines what objectives can be met by doing market research, and the expected payoffs. Six traditional market research techniques are covered--secondary research, customer visits, focus groups, surveys, choice modeling, and experimentation. Author Edward F. McQuarrie describes how each technique works, along with its costs, uses, tips for success, and when and how to use certain techniques, as well as precautions to take while using them. Next, McQuarrie discusses nontraditional types of market research that have evolved in recent years to meet the needs of business-to-business marketers and technology firms. The volume concludes with a chapter on five common business applications that can be addressed by combining several individual research techniques into a research strategy. This book will be of particular interest to R&D project managers, program managers, product managers, engineers, quality professionals, and executives at a level where business strategy is set. It will also be useful to students who need an overview of market research.

Edward F. McQuarrie is a professor in the Department of Marketing, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University, in California’s Silicon Valley. He received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 1985 and a B.A. in Psychology and Literature from The Evergreen State College in 1976. His research interests include market research appropriate to technology products, on the one hand, and advertising strategies that call on rhetoric, narrative, and semiotic resources on the other. He has also written the book Customer Visits: Building a Better Market Focus, co-edited the volume Go Figure! New Directions in Advertising Rhetoric, and published articles in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Advertising, Marketing Theory, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of the Market Research Society, Journal of Advertising Research, and the Journal of Product Innovation Management, among others. For a current list of publications, you can access his profile on scholar.google.com or researchgate.net.

 

He was Associate Dean for Assessment at the Leavey School of Business, 2001-2010, responsible for the assessment of learning outcomes and the evaluation of teaching. He was Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, 1996–2000, responsible for the MBA and Executive MBA programs. Professor McQuarrie began moderating focus groups in 1980 for Burke Marketing Research. He has consulted for a variety of technology firms and has taught seminars on effective customer visits, managing focus group research, marketing research methods, and similar topics for the Management Roundtable, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, Apple Computer, Tektronix, Varian Associates, Cadence Design, and other clients, in England, Germany, and New Zealand as well as the United States.