Consumer PANELS/omnibus panels

Difference between panel and survey:

In a survey, a fresh sample is selected
In a panel research, the same panel is used again and again for the collection of information.

A panel comprises of respondents who may be

House wives ----(for getting information on household products or channel viewing habits etc.)
Households
Executives -- (for getting information on clothes etc)
Basically information regarding purchases, frequency of purchases, brand preferences can be collected on a
regular basis.

The panel maintain their consumption in a diary provided by the company.

Definition: “Panel consists of persons, households or business firms who report their purchase activities at
periodic intervals and who are selected based on a combination of their willingness and representativeness.

In a consumer panel, there is a permanent sample of respondents.

Advantages of consumer panel

1) Continuous supply of information: information is provided on an ongoing basis. Any kind of similarity
or change in consumption a pattern ca be easily gauged.
2) Longer interviews are possible : as the panel members are met on an ongoing basis , the panel
members can be interviewed for a longer time ---- ( the panel members know the interviewer)
3) Economical method: as information is collected from same consumers on a regular basis, it’s
comparatively cheaper.
4) Time saving :
5) Reliable information

Disadvantages

1) Biased information : Over a period of time , the panel members may give biased answers
2) Absence of representative character: the small panel can never represent the entire class of consumers.
Drawing conclusions based on panel readings can lead to wrong judgements.
3) Panel members drop out : over a period of time , some panel members drop out. In such a scenario,
identifying new consumers with similar characteristics is not easy.
4) Limited cooperation: initially the panel members are very cooperative. As time goes by, their
cooperation level/ enthusiasm falls.

Types of consumer panels

1) Purchase panel : is useful to study the purchasing habits and trends of consumers The selected
consumers are asked to record their purchases in the diaries provided to them.
e.g of purchase panel --- housewives---- to record purchase behavior of items like washing powder,
toothpaste, soaps etc.
 2) Audience panel : Many channels want to know hoe their programs are fairing . An audience panel
records the viewership/listening patterns (TV/RADIO). The panel records on a diary or automatically
(people meter) the channels they watched in the previous week. This helps the companies in media
planning.

3) Product testing Panel: before launching a product , its tested among the product testing panel. Their
views on features, packaging are recorded. This information can be used for future product
upgradations.
4) Dealer panel : companies collect information from certain dealers on a regular basis . Information like
competitor product and pricing etc are recorded.
5) Retail audit panel : panel of retail outlets whoa re willing to giv3e information about sales and stock on
a regular basis (normally monthly) of all brands in their respective shops/showrooms .
This helps the researcher draw useful inferences . This data is useful in finding out who are the leading
brands (market shares), which brand is doing well in which state etc.
ORG MARG does retail audit on an ongoing basis and they publish reports. The
companies subscribe to this report. For e.g For Colour TV/Washing machines the cost is Rs 3,00,000
per year. 12 monthly copies are provided.

The Marketing research Process

1) Define the problem :

E.g “ Will offering an inflight phone service create enough incremental preference and profit for JET
airways to justify its cost against other possible investments that Jet might make
2) Define the research objectives :
a) To find out the main reasons why airline passengers might place phone calls while
flying
b) What kind of passengers would be the most likely to make phone calls
c) How amny extra passengers mighr choose Jet airways because of this new service
d) What kind of pricing should be done for this new service
e) How important will phone service be realtive to other factors such as flight
schedules, food quality etc.

3) Developing the research plan

a) Data Source : Secondary and primary data
b) Research approaches : Observation, focus groups, survey, experiment.
c) Research Instruments : Questionnaire
d) Sampling Plan : Sampling unit, Sample size, Sampling procedure
e) Contact methods : Telephone, mail, personal

4) Collecting the information : The field work

5) Analyzing the information
6) Present the findings
Lets say the main findings are
a) The chief reasons to make in-flight calls are 1) Emergencies, 2) Business calls
etc.
b) Most calls will be made by business people.
c) About 5 out of every 200 passengers would use the service at Rs 100 / min . The same
increases to 10 out of 200 if the rate is Rs 75 /min. Total per flight-- 10*75—rs 750. If the
breakeven per flight is Rs10000 /- ., the scheme is not worth trying
d) Flight schedules and in-flight service is more important then phone on board.
SAMPLING PLAN :

1) Sampling unit: This answers the question----“ Who is to be surveyed” The researcher must define the
target population that will be sampled. The sample unit can be housewives, teenagers, executives,
business people etc. The sample unit depends on the product/service. For e.g in the Jet airways survey
the sample unit would be business travellers, vacation travellers of both gender.
2) Sample size: This answers the question ---“ How many people should be surveyed”. Large samples
give more reliable results then small samples. But the cost may not justify a large sample. Generally a
sample size which is 1-2% of the target population is good enough o generate fairly accurate results.
3) Sampling procedures: This answers ” How should the respondents be chosen” . the two types are a)
Probability sampling and b) Non probability sample.

Some terminology’s in Sampling

Sample element: This is the unit about which information is sought by the marketing researcher for further
analysis and action The most common sampling element in marketing research is a human respondent who
could be a consumer, a dealer, a person exposed to an advertisement, company, household etc.

Population: This is not the entire population of a given geographic area, but the predefined set of potential
respondents (elements) in a geographical area for e.g , a population may be defined s “ all mothers who
buy branded baby food in Mumbai”. Or all teenagers who watch MTV in Bangalore/India “

Sampling frame: is a subset of the defined target population from which a realistic sample is selected. For
e.g , We may use a telephone directory of Mumbai as a sampling frame to represent the target population
defined as “ adult residents of Mumbai” . Obviously there would be number of elements (people) who fit
our population definition , but don’t figure in the telephone directory. Similarly some who have moved out
of Mumbai , would still be listed.
Thus a sampling frame is usually a practical listing of the population , or a definition of the elements or
areas which can be used for sampling exercise.

Sampling unit : If individual respondents form the sample elements and if we select some individuals in a
single step , the sampling unit is also the element. But in most research, there is a multistage selection.
For e.g, We may first select specific areas or blocks in a city. These form the first stage sampling units.
Next, we may select specific streets within a block or area and these are called second stage sampling unit.
Then we may select apartments or houses---- third stage sampling units. At the last stage we reach the
individual sampling element --- the respondent.

The sample size calacualtion when estimating meass (for continuous or interval –scaled variables)

2
N= (Zs/e)

Z== Represents the Z score from standard normal distribution for the confidecne level desired by the
researcher For e.g a confidence level of 95% would indicate a score of 1.96 (refer statistics table for
standard normal distribution for atwo sided probability value of 0.95). Similarly for a 90 percent confidence
level the corresponding Z score is 1.645
S== represents the population standard deviation for the variable we are trying to measure from the study.
In Practically all variables , 99.7 % of the values of the variables would be within +- 3 standard deviation of
the mean , we could get an approximate value of the standard deviation by by dividing the range by 6

e.g we are doing a customer satisfaction study for a washing machine. We are measuring satisfaction on a
scale of 1 to 10. The variable we are trying to measure is customer satisfaction which is being measured on
a 10 point interval scale. Since the lowest value is 1 and highest is 10 , the range is 9. Thus the estimated
sample standard deviation becomes 9/6 = 1.5=s

e = The third value for calculating the sample sixe required is e= the tolerable error in estimating the

variable.

The lower the tole4rance , higher will be the sample size.

Thus for the above example, we have to decide how much error (on a scale of 1 to 10) we can tolerate in
the etimate of average customer satisfaction. Let’s say its 0.5

This in totality this means , we would like our estimate of customer satisfaction to be within 0.5 of the
actual value, with a confidence level of 95%

2
Thus n= (1.96*1.5/0.5) = 35

Thus sample size = 35.

If we tighten the tolerance level of error to +-0.25

Then n= 138.

Formula for sample size calculation when estimating proportions

In case where the variable