Insegnamento a.a. 2026-2027

30228 - MARKETING RESEARCH

Department of Marketing


Student consultation hours
Class timetable
Exam timetable

Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
BAI (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - BEMACS (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - BESS-CLES (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - BGL (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - BIEF (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - BIEM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - CLEACC (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - CLEAM (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08) - WBB (6 credits - I sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/08)
Course Director:
GENEROSO BRANCA

Classes: 31 (I sem.)
Instructors:
Class 31: GENEROSO BRANCA


Suggested background knowledge

During the course, there are in-class exercise sessions in which students gain hands-on experience analyzing real-world data sets on their laptops. During these sessions, the students make use of spreadsheet applications, e.g., Microsoft Excel and SPSS. For this reason, to get the most out of the course, attendance is highly recommended. Also, students should be familiar with the contents of prior empirical courses and have a basic knowledge of statistics, to gain a more insightful understanding of the course material.

Mission & Content Summary

MISSION

Marketing research drives communication with customers, identifies business opportunities, and informs managerial decisions. As data availability explodes from a variety of sources, analytical research skills are among the most sought-for in designing and executing marketing research projects. The goal of this course is to understand the concepts and the techniques required to conduct marketing research and to know how to apply them in real-world marketing research problems in order to make better business decisions. In this course, students are introduced to different stages of the marketing research process and get familiar with different types of research designs. They learn how to collect and analyze data. Finally, they also learn diverse research methodologies and their applications to various data sets to solve real-world business problems.

CONTENT SUMMARY

The content of this course comprises theory, concepts and frameworks relevant to marketing, and empirical methodology and their applications to real-world data. The topics include but are not limited to:

  • Exploratory/ descriptive/ qualitative research
  • Survey research and questionnaire design
  • Causal research
  • Customer segmentation
  • Conjoint analysis
  • Experimental design
  • Field experiment
  • A/B testing

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Understand the best methodology to be applied to a given marketing problem
  • Assess the quality of existing marketing research (e.g., in newspapers, consulting business cases, and internal analyses)
  • Recognize limitations and room for improvement in marketing research

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Develop a set of research questions autonomously and derive the appropriate corresponding research design
  • Select and apply appropriate empirical methods to analyze consumer behavior, preferences, and market responses
  • Contribute to marketing research projects

Teaching methods

  • Lectures
  • Practical Exercises
  • Individual works / Assignments
  • Collaborative Works / Assignments

DETAILS

The class sessions comprise lectures, in-class discussions and exercises.

  • Session(s) with guest speaker(s) are planned to offer a further chance to hear additional insights from managers and practitioners.
  • The goal of the assignments is to apply relevant theory, concepts and frameworks to different business contexts and to provide students with hands-on practice in producing research output based on both qualitative and quantitative data. For in-class exercises, students are asked to bring their own laptop with Excel and SPSS, to analyze the data and discuss the analysis output under the guidance of the instructor.
  • An assignment on marketing research will ask students to select a research design, to collect data, to analyze data and to report the results [Detailed instructions for the assignment are to be provided at the beginning of the course].

Assessment methods

  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
     x
  • Collaborative Works / Assignment (report, exercise, presentation, project work etc.)
 x    
  • Peer evaluation
 x    

ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • Assignments: 40%
  • Final Exam (Written): 60%

The assignments assess students’ ability to apply the methods learned during the course.  

The written exam may include multiple-choice and open-ended questions referring to cases, talks and related concepts, models and tools presented and discussed in class. 

 


NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

Final Exam (Written): 100%

The questions are aimed at verifying the ability to apply the knowledge students learned when studying the teaching material.


Teaching materials


ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • All material and content discussed and distributed in class, available via Blackboard.

  • N.K. MALHOTRA, Essentials of Marketing Research, Global Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2015 (selected chapters to be communicated in class).


NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

  • All material and content available via Blackboard.

  • N.K. MALHOTRA, Essentials of Marketing Research, Global Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2015 (all chapters).

Last change 30/07/2026 15:20