Department store magnate John Wanamaker once said: half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is I don’t know which half.” Wanamaker’s conundrum vexes marketers to this day. With the exception of direct marketing the relationship between message and consumer behavior is still maddeningly elusive. Conventional research tools are ill-suited to assess the impact of marketing investment on behavior, mainly because it’s nearly impossible to track all the steps from the moment someone sees an ad to the moment when they make a purchase. As a result, marketing researchers have had to settle for metrics like awareness and attitudes – essentially asking actual and potential customers about how they feel about a given product or advertisement – which aren’t necessarily predictive of behavior. Just because someone thinks a BMW is the best care out there does not mean she’s going to buy one. On the flip side, just because someone has a low opinion of his home insurance company does not mean he’s going to make the effort to switch. By asking yourself following 4 questions, you make smarter decisions about how to spend your precious research dollars.

1. Four ways to make Marketing Research pay
Department store magnate John Wanamaker once said: half the money I spend on advertising
is wasted. The trouble is I don’t know which half.” Wanamaker’s conundrum vexes marketers to
this day. With the exception of direct marketing the relationship between message and
consumer behavior is still maddeningly elusive.
Conventional research tools are ill-suited to assess the impact of marketing investment on
behavior, mainly because it’s nearly impossible to track all the steps from the moment someone
sees an ad to the moment when they make a purchase. As a result, marketing researchers
have had to settle for metrics like awareness and attitudes – essentially asking actual and
potential customers about how they feel about a given product or advertisement – which aren’t
necessarily predictive of behavior. Just because someone thinks a BMW is the best care out
there does not mean she’s going to buy one. On the flip side, just because someone has a low
opinion of his home insurance company does not mean he’s going to make the effort to switch.
By asking yourself following 4 questions, you make smarter decisions about how to spend your
precious research dollars.
Can the question you are asking be answered by a given research methodology
Most marketers conduct marketing research with the intent of evaluating whether or not their
campaign will work. Often that means measuring how much of what people saw they actually
understood or could recall. What they’d really like to know is whether messaging and media will
translate into action – not at all the same thing.
Just because you can research it, is it worth finding out:
It might be nice to know that the number of people who think of your financial services company
as intelligent has increased 8.7% year over year. Then again, what if there’s no measurable link

2. between perception of intelligence and the decision to invest in a variable annuity? When it
comes to your research budget, “nice to know” is not enough.
Is Qualitative research yielding actionable insight?
Qualitative research methods such as focus groups are best suited to generating interesting
ideas, not hard conclusions. A show of hands of, say, eight people around a table has a precise
statistical value.
Why research when you can track instead
Tracking can reveal that an ad generated a demonstrable increase in intention to purchase, but
that conversion was low because somewhere between the ad and the cashier the engagement
broke down
AMR Group is an expert in Vietnam and its markets. The team is local but with international
training and experience, operating to global standards. AMR Group helps brands bloom in
Vietnam through lean, focused & reliable marketing research from VINAMR Marketing
Research & Consultants; marketing & brand strategy with AMR. VINAMR Marketing Research
& Consultants provide world class lean, focused and reliable research through deep
understanding of the brief, international quality field, professional data handling & decision-
orientated analysis, action focused recommendation. AMR use insights from VINAMR
Marketing Research & Consultants to deliver effective marketing & branding consulting, retail
consulting & training, seminar & training: Brand War
Compiled by AMR Group (Marketing Research in Vietnam-Nghien Cuu Thi Truong Viet
Nam) on 2014
Source: Forbes
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For enquiries, email Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung (CEO of AMR Group)
research@vinamr.com.vn

3. This article is compiled by AMR Group to provide updated information on markets. AMR Group
puts the best effort to obtain the most accurate and timely information available from various
reliable sources. The article should be best considered a reference and indicative only. It is not
an offer or advice for any actions related to any assets. AMR Group provides no warranty or
undertaking of any kind in respect to the information and materials found with, or linked to the
report and no obligation to update the information after the report was released. AMR Group
does not bear any responsibility for the compiled information, or any consequences arising from
its use.