MSc Marketing / Course details

Marketing is a dynamic business activity. External environment volatility, crises, and shocks (material and energy shortages, inflation, economic recessions, high unemployment, terrorism and war, rapid technological changes, etc.) have changed dramatically the role of marketing. Such changes, including digitalization, force marketing managers to becoming more market driven, requiring a formalized means of acquiring accurate and timely information about customers, products and the marketplace and the overall environment. The means to help them do this is marketing research; marketing research facilitates data-driven decision making. This module teaches the value of the information generated from qualitative and quantitative marketing research approaches for managers who make critical decisions about the future of their products / services and businesses.

The purpose of this course unit is to introduce to students the scope, purpose, and importance of marketing research in modern business organizations. This course unit provides a deep understanding of the nature and process of quantitative and qualitative marketing research methods and data analysis, as well as their applications. The course teaches the value of the information generated from qualitative and quantitative marketing research for managers who make critical decisions about the future of their products and services in business organizations. This is a hands-on course unit; the emphasis will be on practical skills and building depth and confidence in the most commonly used qualitative and quantitative research tools.

Category of outcome
Knowledge and understanding

• (ILO1) Understand the nature and scope of quantitative and qualitative marketing research and its role in supporting the design and implementation of successful marketing decisions
• (ILO2) Understand different approaches and methods of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, both in physical and digital marketing environments

Intellectual skills

• (IOL3) Identify and apply the appropriate analytical tools and interpret the consequent results of quantitative and qualitative data analysis
• (ILO4) Critically evaluate research findings, derive the implications of such findings, and have an understanding of how these would be applied in practice

Practical skills

• (IOL5) Demonstrate the ability to use software for data collection and analysis
• (ILO6) Effectively report and communicate marketing research and analysis findings to professionals in the field of Marketing Research, including corporate research executives, corporate managers, media and marketing research personnel etc.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

• (ILO7) Develop a data driven decision-making mindset
• (ILO8) Create an understanding of different business contexts in a digital world

 

•  Introduction to Marketing Research
•  Defining the Marketing Research Problem
•  Defining the Marketing Research Process
•  Ethics in Marketing Research
•  Secondary Data Collection
•  Introduction to Qualitative Research
•  Nature and Approaches of Qualitative Research
•  Qualitative Techniques and Data collection
•  Qualitative Data Analysis
•  Introduction to Quantitative Research
•  Questionnaire Design
•  Sampling and Data Collection / Preparation
•  Quantitative Data Analysis
•  Research Report: Presenting Results and Report Overview
 

Lectures – Lectures will be used to develop a solid understanding of theoretical concept and existing body of knowledge.
Workshops – Activities will be set up to encourage critical discussion of the theoretical concepts presented during the lectures, and applications of the group project assignment.

Group Report 60%
Group Presentation 40%

Peer Assessment for Group Work 
Please note we will use a formal peer assessment process for the group work assessment. Where deemed appropriate by the course unit leader(s), the peer assessment will be summative.
 

Malhotra, Naresh K. Essentials of marketing research: A hands-on orientation. Essex: Pearson, 2015.

Aaker, D.A., Kumar, V. and Day, G.S., (2012), Marketing Research, 11th edition, Chichester: Wiley & Sons.

Field, Andy (2009), Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, Sage.