Welcome to BUS634: Marketing Research, Strategy, and Application

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

Learn marketing research fundamentals, including key terms, concepts, processes, methods, and applications, by conducting and evaluating marketing research to make data-driven marketing decisions.

Course Introduction

This course focuses on familiarizing you with the key aspects of the marketing research process and methods supported by real-world applications. Marketing research is vital in facilitating data-driven decision-making in the marketing field. It serves as a crucial source of information for decision-making across all aspects of marketing, including the micro and macro environment, customers, and the 4Ps of Marketing (Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion). Market researchers gather and analyze data to generate valuable insights that inform a range of decisions, from uncovering consumer preferences to testing products and pre-testing messaging for brands, products, and services. The data collected covers a wide range of areas, including competition, market assessment, the marketing efforts of competitors, industries, consumers, marketing segmentation, and various environmental factors such as government regulation, technological developments, and many other relevant stakeholders. In this course, you will learn how to: 1. Define marketing goals: Start by clearly defining the marketing goals, such as increasing brand awareness, improving customer satisfaction, or launching a new product. 2. Align research with marketing goals: Once the marketing goals have been defined, align the marketing research with these goals. This means research objectives and questions, research design, data collection methods, sampling, and data analysis methods that should be consistent with the marketing goals. 3. Conduct marketing research: Conduct marketing research using the selected methods and design. This could involve qualitative research, observation, survey research, experiments, secondary data research, and other data collection methods. 4. Analyze research results: Analyze the research results to determine the key insights and findings relevant to the marketing goals. This could involve statistical, trend, or other data analysis methods. 5. Present findings clearly and concisely in a manner understandable to marketing decision-makers deploying standard methods, including visuals. 6. Make clear marketing recommendations informed by research findings. This may involve adjusting the marketing strategy and changing the marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place), modifying the target market(s), or adjusting the marketing communication approach.

This course includes the following units:

Unit 1: Introduction to Marketing Research, Strategies, and Applications. Unit 2: Key Terminology and Concepts. Unit 3: Creating Measurable Outcomes. Unit 4: Research Design. Unit 5: Sampling and Data Collection. Unit 6: Quantitative Data Analysis. Unit 7: Qualitative Data Analysis. Unit 8: Presenting Findings and Making Recommendations

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

[1] describe the nature, purpose, value, and ethics of research in the marketing decision-making process; [2] create a marketing research project goal and plan outline utilizing terminology and concepts; [3] create research goals, objectives, and operational definitions of variables; [4] create research designs appropriate for marketing research goals; [5] apply sampling strategies appropriate for target markets; [6] apply different data collection methods and prepare data for analysis; [7] apply various statistical tools; [8] determine research findings limitations; [9] present findings; [10] explain how research impacts various aspects of the marketing process

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final examination is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn 70% or higher on the final exam. The exam will be password-protected and requires a proctor.

Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. There is a 14 days waiting period between each attempt. You may only attempt the final exam a maximum of 3 times. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam after 3 attempts, you will not complete this course.

There is also a practice exam that you may take as many times as you want to help you prepare for the final exam. The course also contains end-of-unit assessments in this course. The end-of-unit assessments are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want to until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments by clicking on Quizzes in the course's navigation bar.

Tips for Success

BUS634: Marketing Research, Strategy, and Application is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take 23 hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.

Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:

  • Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
  • Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.

To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don’t have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require login.

For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.

Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App

You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

Download on Google Play Download on the App Store

Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.