Market Research Handbook

The fifth edition of the MARKET RESEARCH HANDBOOK has been completely revised to reflect the latest approaches in the rapidly changing world of professional market research.

The new Handbook stands out from earlier editions by explaining the latest research techniques and methodologies within a contemporary business context. Yet it remains an invaluable and practical day to day reference work for the modern market researcher.

Truly international in outlook and approach, the Handbook combines contributions from over 40 research thought leaders and specialists from across the world.

Edited by Mario van Hamersveld and Cees de Bont

PART ONE
MARKET RESEARCH: THE CONTEXT, MAIN ROLES AND CORNER STONES

• The Role and Changing Nature of Marketing Intelligence
  DVL Smith
• What is Market Research?
  Adam Phillips
• Data Collection: Key Stone and Cornerstones
  John Kelly
• The Market Research Process
  Hans-Willi Schroiff

PART TWO
UTILISATION TOWARDS VALUE CREATION

• Developing a Company Strategy
  Gerard Loosschilder and Maarten Schellekens
• Research for Innovation: Defining Market Propositions
  Elisabetta Osta, Phillip Cartwright, Jaideep Prabhu and Marco Bevolo
• Refining Market Propositions
  Nigel Hollis and Dominic Twose
• Launch and Monitoring of In-Market Performance
  Raimund Wildner

PART THREE
SPECIFIC RESEARCH APPLICATIONS

• Media Research
  Andrew Green
• Institutional and Social Research
  Dieter Korczak
• Business to Business Research
  Neil McPhee
• Research in Specific Domains: Health Care; Automotives and Telecom
  Dirk Huisman
• Youth Research
  Joël-Yves Le Bigot, Catherine Lott-Vernet and Piyul Mukherjee
• Researching Diverse Individuals and Societies
  Anjul Sharma
• Opinion Polling
  Kathleen A. Frankovic
• Employee Research
  Andrew Buckley and Richard Goosey
• Mystery Shopping
  Helen Turner
• Customer Satisfaction
  Laurent Flor`es

PART FOUR
RECENT DEVELOPMENT – A CLOSER LOOK

• The Changing Role of the Researcher
  John Marinopoulos
• Main Developments and Trends
  Ray Poynter
• Online Market Research
  Pete Comley
• Data Mining and Data Fusion
  Colin Shearer
• Ethnography and Observational Research
  Hy Mariampolski
• Semiotics: What it is and What it Can Do for Market Research
  Virginia Valentine
• Creative Approaches for the Fuzzy Front End
  Lucile Rameckers and Stefanie Un
• Brain Science: In Search of the Emotional Unconscious
  David Penn

PART FIVE
BACKGROUND BUILDING BLOCKS

• Annex 1. The Research Brief
  C. Frederic John
• Annex 2. Statistics and Significance Testing
  Paul Harris and Ken Baker
• Annex 3. Demographic and Other Classifications
  Mario van Hamersveld
• Annex 4. Professional Ethics and Standards
  Véronique Jeannin

Reviews

Review extracted from Admap magazine – January 2008 issue

The new basics?

I first looked at this book in some dismay – where were all the basics; the chapters on sampling and questionnaires design? Surely the role of a handbook is to instruct the novice or as a quick reference for the more practiced researcher. The Fourth Edition sits on the corner of my desk to be dipped into for advice or reassurance on a host of issues. Was my crutch being removed?

The Fifth Edition deliberately does not concentrate on the rudimentaries of the research process, because, as the editors say, there are many other sources of basic instruction available. It aims to move the state of knowledge on, and concentrates on utilising research results and creating value from them; looking at research from the user’s rather than the research agency’s point of view.

The basics are not entirely ignored: Adam Phillips and DVL Smith define who we are and what we do; John Kelly takes us through the different types of data collection and their issues; complemented by more of the basics in the annexes.

But the innovations are in the section on Value creation, where different types of research activities are examined, from strategy and proposition development to product launch; in the section on specific applications where the use of research in ten different sectors is described, with Andrew Green giving us a comprehensive review of Media Research around the world; and particularly in the eight chapters on recent developments, pointing the way towards the future, from Web 2.0 to brain science.

The new edition reflects the changing needs of researchers as their role changes from being data providers to being an integral part of the decision making process.

In many ways this book represents the new basic that researchers who want to make a real contribution to that process need to know. This book will definitely find a place on the corner of my desk, where it will sit alongside, not replace, the previous edition.

Ian Brace

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Testimonials

“I enjoyed reading the 5th edition of the Market Research Handbook. As an academic teaching MBA students it gave me invaluable examples and insights to help my students appreciate the difference between academic textbook approaches and how this translates to the "real world."
Dr Meredith Lawley (Australia)
Associate Professor (Marketing), Faculty of Business, University of the Sunshine Coast

"The editors and authors make an overdue contribution to bridging the Theory-Practice divide. Their client perspective will delight, inform and inspire market research specialists and users alike."
Prof. Seán Meehan (Switzerland)
Martin Hilti Professor of Marketing and Change Management, IMD - International Institute for Management Development

“With the advances in online research, the challenge of falling response rates and the increasing demand on research to impact business performance this is a much needed Handbook. It has a powerful futuristic outlook without compromising on the foundations of professional and technical integrity."
KN Tang (China Hong Kong )
Chairman Emeritus, Asia Pacific, Nielsen

“This new Handbook demonstrates the core skills and know how inherent in modern market research techniques and methodologies, whilst also clearly showing the way for applying research in today’s business environment.”
Nelsom Marangoni (Brazil)
Chief executive, IBOPE Solution