Planning Customer Research

Overview

How to think about the role of research in developing truly customer-centric marketing programs.

Presented by:
Larry Vincent,
Professor of the Practice
of Marketing
Presented to:
MKT 512
September 4, 2025

Customer-centric research

Customer-centric research looks beyond the offerings we sell to understand the people who buy and use them. We princpally focus on four psychological drivers.

Research process

Problem statement worksheet

Poorly framed research questions

  • Do customers like our brand?
  • How can we increase market share?
  • Is our marketing effective?
  • How many people use our service?
  • Which name should we use for our new product?

Formulate questions
Motivation

Situation

Local coffee shop expanding into new locations and needs to advise real estate team on location scouting.


Question(s)

???

Formulate questions
Motivation

Situation

Local coffee shop expanding into new locations and needs to advise real estate team on location scouting.


Questions

  • What motivations drive target customers to seek out our coffee shops?
  • Do motivations change throughout the customer’s day?
  • How well do motivations differ across potential geographic markets?

Formulate questions
Perception

Situation

A fitness company is considering development of a new app targeted at 25-35 year-old urban professionals.


Question(s)

???

Formulate questions
Perception

Situation

A fitness company is considering development of a new app targeted at 25-35 year-old urban professionals.


Questions

  • How does the target customer perceive the utility and experience of existing fitness apps?
  • How does this perception influence choice?
  • How does this perception drive continued use of the app?

Formulate questions
Emotion

Situation

Streaming content provider wants to grow their premium tier of service.


Question(s)

???

Formulate questions
Emotion

Situation

Streaming content provider wants to grow their premium tier of service.


Questions

  • What emotions do our customers experience when using premium subscription tier versus the free tier?
  • How do these emotions impact likelihood to retain the premium tier?
  • Do these emotions affect propensity to recommend the premium tier to others?

Formulate questions
Memory

Situation

Celebrity-backed spirit brand wants to invest in a podcast to grow retail sales of premium vodka.


Question(s)

???

Formulate questions
Memory

Situation

Celebrity-backed spirit brand wants to invest in a podcast to grow retail sales of premium vodka.


Questions

  • How much do shoppers recall about branded content when making purchase decisions in retail aisles?
  • Does the content affect their consideration?
  • How much of an impact can be attributed to the content in customer decision process?

Your turn

  • Break into small groups
  • You are a marketing research team at Starbucks
  • First day sales of Pumpkin Spice Lattes are down 15% from the previous year
  • Generate one or more customer-centric research questions

Research types

What goes into a research design?

  • Definition of the research question(s), with context
  • Definition of the desired sampling frame
  • Examples of questions or lines of inquiry the research might explore
  • Analysis plan–how the data collected will be converted into insights that can drive managerial action

Sample plan

$200K spent. Lots of data and slides.
ZERO “so what.”

Former Student,
Marketing Manager in BioTech Firm

Hierarchy of data

This is a good time to talk about error.

Your group plan

Your research plan

  • Research question and business context/objectives
  • Initial hypotheses
  • Proposed methodology
  • Data sources
  • Timeline
  • Expected outcomes

Team Charter

Suggestions only…

  • Purpose of the team
  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Communication plan
  • Conflict resolution (decide how to decide)
  • Work plan