External Secondary Data

Published data from outside the organization are external secondary data. The U.S. Census Bureau publishes a variety of useful reports. Best known is the Census 2000, which is a decennial count of the U.S. pop­ulation containing detailed information on American households, such as the num­ber of people per household and their age, sex, race/ethnic background, income, occupation, and education. Marketers use these data to identify characteristics and trends of ultimate consumers.

The Census Bureau also publishes other reports that are vital to business firms selling products and services to organizations. The Economic Census, which now encompasses the former U.S. Census of Manufacturers, U.S. Census of Retail Trade, and others, is conducted every five years. The 2002 Economic Census contains data on the number and size of establishments in the United States that produce a good or service on the basis of its North American Industry Classification (NAICS) and the new North American Product Classification System (NAPCS). The Current Indus­trial Reports are periodic studies that provide data on the production quantity and shipment value of selected products. Finally, trade associations, universities, and busi­ness periodicals provide detailed data of value to market researchers and planners. These data are now available online via the Internet, which can be identified and located using a search engine like Google. The Web Link provides examples.

A variety of marketing research organizations serves the needs of marketers. Spe­cialized syndicated services provide a standard set of data on a regular basis, such as the Nielsen Media Research’s TV ratings or J. D. Powers with its automotive qual­ity and customer satisfaction research. Other market research suppliers contract with clients to conduct complete marketing research projects.

Several data services provide comprehensive information on household demograph­ics and lifestyle, product purchases, TV viewing behavior, and responses to coupon and free-sample promotions. Their principal advantage is the ability of one service to col­lect, analyze, interrelate, and present all this information. For consumer product firms like Procter & Gamble, sales data from various channels are critical to allocate scarce marketing resources. As a result, they use firms such as Information Resources’ Info-Scan and AC Nielsen’s ScanTrack to collect product sales and coupon/free-sample redemptions that have been scanned at the checkout counters of supermarket, drug, convenience, and mass merchandise retailers in the United States and other interna­tional markets. Campbell Soup, maker of Swanson frozen dinners, used the informa­tion from one of these single-source data providers to shift a TV ad campaign from a serious to a light theme, which increased sales of Swanson dinners by 14 percent.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 1127