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Файл:Basics of entrepreneurship in the motor transport industry. Study guide
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5. ORGANIZING MARKETING ACTIVITIES
IN ROAD TRANSPORT
5.1. Marketing research
in the road transport services market
Marketing research is the systematic preparation and conduct of various
surveys, analysis of the data obtained, and presentation of the results and
conclusions in a form corresponding to a specific marketing task facing the
company.
Organization of marketing research
Stage 1. Defining the problem, formulating alternatives, and setting
research objectives.
The objectives are:
Exploratory in nature: their purpose is to collect preliminary data that shed
light on the real nature of the problem and allow one to propose possible
solutions or some new ideas.
Verification in nature – they must confirm or refute specific figures.
Causal: the purpose is to establish the presence of a cause-and-effect
relationship between two events.
Stage 2. Developing a research plan
2.1. Data sources
Secondary data is information that already exists in a certain form,
obtained for some other purposes.
Primary data is collected for a specific purpose when implementing
a specific project.
Researchers usually begin their research by analyzing secondary data,
which can be used to fully or partially solve the problem and reduce the costs of
expensive primary data collection.
2.2. Methods of collecting information
Observation. Data can be obtained by observing the people involved in
the situation being studied and analyzing the surrounding circumstances.
Focus groups. A focus group consists of 6-10 people who are asked to
spend several hours in the company of an experienced moderator to discuss
a product, service, company, or other object of marketing research. Focus group
participants are usually paid a small monetary reward. The discussion is usually
conducted in a comfortable environment, with light refreshments.
Quantitative survey. Data on consumer behavior. Consumers leave
a variety of «traces» of their preferences (in supermarket databases, catalog
companies, etc.). Analysis of made purchases allows one to identify hidden
consumer preferences and is often a more reliable source of information than
consumers’ verbal statements to researchers.
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Experiment. The most rigorous from a scientific point of view is an
experimental study, aimed at establishing cause-and-effect relationships. The
objects of the experiment must be specially selected and subjected to planned
influences under conditions of control over the external environment in order to
identify statistically significant differences in their reactions.
2.3. Research tools
Questionnaires are a set of questions to which answers must be received
from respondents, i.e. persons selected to participate in the survey. This tool is
flexible and universal, and therefore is the most common means of collecting
primary data.
In marketing research, there are two types of questions: closed and open.
Closed questions include a list of all possible answers and require
choosing one of them.
Open questions allow the respondent to answer in their own words.
Automatic devices are used relatively rarely in marketing research. These
include, in particular, galvanometers that record the slightest changes in
physiological parameters that accompany the emergence of interest or emotional
arousal in the respondent, for example, under the influence of a particular
advertisement or a specific image.
Qualitative methods including video recordings and informal interviews
help to overcome the limitations of traditional research methods.
2.4. Sample planning
1. Sample composition: who will participate in the study? In order to
conduct marketing research, the target groups that will take part in it must be
identified.
2. Sample size: how many people will be covered by the study? The larger
the sample size, the more reliable the results obtained.
3. Sampling procedure: how will the study participants be selected?
Random sampling allows us to calculate the margin of error of the results
obtained.
2.5. Contact methods
A questionnaire sent by mail is the most suitable way to contact people
who either do not agree to a personal interview or, due to their personality traits,
are prone to distort their answers under the influence of the interviewer.
A telephone interview is the best way to quickly collect information, and
the interviewer also has the opportunity to clarify questions that the respondent
does not understand.
A personal interview is the most universal research method. The interviewer
not only has the opportunity to ask the respondent more questions, but also
supplements the results of the interview with personal observations (Fig. 5.1).
Stage 3. Information collection.
This phase of marketing research usually requires the greatest expenses
and is the source of the greatest number of errors.
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Stage 4. Information analysis.
Questionnaire
● The most suitable way to contact people
Telephone interview
● The best way to quickly collect information
Personal interview
● Personal observations
Online interview
● Frequent visits to the site
Researchers summarize the data in tables and conduct their frequency
analysis.
Fig. 5.1. Contact methods
Stage 5. Presentation of results.
Stage 6. Decision making.
Market segmentation and diagnostics of the competitive environment
are an effective tool.
Segmentation is the division of the market into homogeneous groups of
customers, each of which may require separate products and marketing
complexes.
Market segmentation is one of the functions in the marketing activity
system and is associated with the implementation of work on the classification
of customers or consumers of goods that are on the market or are being
introduced to it.
Segmentation is divided into the following types depending on the nature
of its implementation:
I. Macrosegmentation is the division of the product market into parts
depending on the type of need it satisfies.
The type of need satisfied can be represented by three dimensions:
1. Consumer groups. «Who is satisfied?»
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2. Technologies. «How can this need be satisfied?»
Dividing the market into homogeneous groups of
customers, each of which may require separate products
and marketing mixes
Types of segmentation
By nature of segmentation
Macrosegmentation
Microsegmentation
Segmentation in depth
Segmentation in breadth
Preliminary segmentation
Final segmentation
By type of consumer
Segmentation of consumers
of consumer goods
Segmentation of consumers
of technical products
Segmentation of consumers
of two types of goods
3. Need functions. «What is satisfied?»
Need functions, consumer groups, and technologies specific to a certain
product act as segmentation variables (at the macro level). Based on the
obtained variables, a segmentation grid is built.
Fig. 5.2. Market segmentation
II. Microsegmentation is the division of each obtained market segment
(as a result of macrosegmentation) into parts depending on the type of
consumers.
Types of segmentation of consumer markets (articles of popular
consumption):
1) Socio-demographic (or descriptive) segmentation;
2) Segmentation by benefits;
3) Socio-cultural segmentation;
4) Behavioral segmentation.
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Socio-demographic (or descriptive) segmentation is based on the
assumption that it is the differences in socio-demographic profiles (factors) that
determine the differences in the sought-after advantages and preferences of
customers.
Segmentation criteria: gender, age, income, social class.
Segmentation by benefits is based on the search for a motivational
factor, i.e. identifying the value or benefit that the customer is looking for in the
product.
Sources of information: primary consumer research.
It is necessary to find out: 1) a list of properties or benefits associated
with the category of goods under study; 2) assessments of the relative
importance assigned by customers to each property; 3) grouping of customers
who give the same assessments to the considered properties; 4) assessments of
the size and profile («portrait») of customers for each selected segment.
Behavioral segmentation is based on purchasing behavior.
Segmentation parameters:
1) user status (potential users, non-users, first-time users, regular and
irregular users);
2) the level of product use (how often and how much);
3) the level of loyalty to the product (absolutely loyal, moderately loyal,
disloyal);
4) sensitivity to marketing factors (for example, to price).
Socio-cultural segmentation is based on division by lifestyle, which is
characterized by the following criteria:
1. Personal activity – their characteristic behavior, way of spending time;
2. Personal interests – their preferences and what they consider important
for themselves in the surrounding community;
3. Opinions – concern the idea of the personality, what they think about
themselves, the surroundings, politics, industry, ecology, etc.
However, the meaning of segmentation is not only in dividing a single
market into parts according to certain criteria, but in searching for a set of
criteria that no one has seen before you: it will give you the opportunity to
release a new or modified product on a virtually monopoly market (after all, no
one has «found» it before!).
III. Segmentation in depth – the segmentation process begins with
a broad group of consumers, and then gradually deepens (narrows) it depending
on the classification of end consumers of any group of goods (services);
IV. Segmentation in breadth – the segmentation process begins with
a narrow group of consumers and gradually expands depending on the scope of
application and use of the goods (services);
V. Preliminary segmentation – study of the widest possible market
segments;
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VI. Final segmentation – the final stage of market research; here the
most optimal segments for the company for the market are determined, on which
it will subsequently develop its market strategy.
Segmentation depending on the type of consumers:
1) the process of segmenting consumers of consumer goods (services);
2) segmentation of consumers of industrial and technical goods;
3) segmentation of consumers of two types of goods. However, in
practice, each type of market segmentation is not used separately. As a rule,
marketologists use a combination of these types in their analysis.
A criterion is a way to evaluate a company's choice of a particular
segment. Market segmentation criteria:
1. Segment capacity.
2. Segment accessibility.
3. Segment importance.
4. Profitability.
5. Protection from competition.
6. Expertise of the company's personnel.
7. Mass media availability.
8. Influence of the structure of commercial activity.
9. Legal aspects.
10. Demographic characteristics.
11. Lifestyle.
12. Consumer attitudes towards a given brand.
13. Expected risk.
14. Importance of purchase.
15. Geographic, i.e. urbanization, relief, climate.
16. Demographic.
17. Economic (property).
18. Social.
19. Cultural.
20. Psychological and others.
The modern concept of marketing considers two types of strategies:
concentrated and differentiated marketing.
The strategy of concentrated marketing requires the enterprise to focus its
efforts on one or several, but necessarily profitable, market segments. In these
market segments, the company concentrates one or several products and
supports them with targeted marketing programs. In its content, this strategy
corresponds to the concept of a market niche, diversification of its activities, and
coverage of different market segments.
The strategy of differentiated marketing requires the company to organize
its activities in several segments with specially developed products and
marketing programs.
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Market positioning is a technology for determining the position of
a product in market segments. In this case, the product position is considered as
an established idea of a certain group of consumers about the product
characteristics.
In practice, product positions are determined using positioning maps,
which are a two-dimensional matrix of various pairs of features, for example,
the «quality-price» function for the goods of competing companies, where
competing companies A, B, C, D are listed, and the area of the circle reflects the
volume of product sales. Obviously, each of the producer companies will strive
to take a place in the upper quadrants in terms of quality and closer to the
average price axis. For the selected position, the company must develop
measures for the development and production of the selected product.
Diagnostics of the competitive environment includes the following
stages:
1) identifying a list of firms located in the target or new markets;
2) collecting initial information;
3) bringing cost and financial indicators to a comparable form;
4) determining the type of the selected market (seller's market, buyer's
market);
5) calculating the characteristics reflecting the state of the market;
6) determining the market shares of the firm at the end of the base and
analyzed periods;
7) constructing a table of market shares of firms and calculating the
average market share per firm;
8) calculating generalized characteristics of the intensity of competition;
9) assessing the degree of monopolization of the market;
10) factor analysis of the dynamics of competitors' market shares;
11) choosing the type of statistical distribution of market shares;
12) forming groups of firms located in the market and calculating the
average market share per group;
13) calculating the rate of growth of the market share of each group of
firms;
14) construction of a competitive map of the market;
15) identification of typical strategic positions of firms in the market;
16) situational analysis and forecasting of the firm’s competitive strategy
in a given market.
When developing a competitive strategy, various models are used, which
were proposed by American scientists I. Ansoff (the «product market» matrix)
(Fig. 5.4), M. Porter (Porter’s model), the American consulting firm «Boston
Consulting Group» (portfolio model) (Fig. 5.3), as well as experts from the
«General Electric Company» and «McKinsey» (the «Market Attractiveness –
Competitive Advantages» model) as a development of the portfolio model. The
choice of models depends on the specific situation that has developed in the
market environment.
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Fig. 5.3. «Boston Consulting Group» model
Fig. 5.4. Ansoff Matrix
5.2. Pricing and advertising in the motor transport industry
and its impact on the success of a motor transport enterprise
5.2.1. The essence, objectives, and role of pricing strategies
Pricing policy is the art of managing prices and pricing, the art of setting
prices for goods (services) and varying them depending on the position of the
goods and the firm in the market so that the set goals (strategic, operational) are
achieved.
Pricing policy is implemented through pricing strategies and should be
considered only in the context of the general policy of firms.
Pricing strategies of a firm are the choice by the firm of the main course
of action from all possible courses of action in the field of pricing, ensuring the
achievement of the set goal in each specific place and in a specific time period.
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It is necessary to constantly check the effectiveness of pricing strategies
and, if necessary, revise them. Pricing strategies are an integral part of strategies
in the field of product development, its quality, distribution, and promotion. This
confirms that all elements of the marketing mix are interconnected. Pricing
strategies are not a means of achieving only a specific goal of the firm. They
serve as a tool for achieving various goals formulated by the firm in each
specific case.
The firm’s objectives: obtaining a satisfactory profit (for example, the
average rate of profit); obtaining excess profit by «skimming» the market;
compensation for all costs incurred by the company; market penetration; ousting
competitors; maintaining or increasing its market share; promoting all goods
produced by the company to the market; etc.
A firm can set several objectives simultaneously.
The main factors influencing the pricing strategies of a firm:
1. The nature of competition in the market.
2. The type of product.
3. Elasticity of demand.
4. The firm objective.
5. The size of the firm.
6. The market situation.
5.2.2. Marketing pricing strategies
1. The high price strategy – is applied:
– to a new product that has appeared on the market for the first time and is
protected by a patent;
– to a product for which a so-called «prestigious» price is applied and
which is aimed at customers who attach great importance to the quality,
uniqueness, and status of the product.
The goal of the high price strategy is to obtain excess profit by
«skimming off the cream» from the group of customers for whom the product
has great value.
1.1. The skimming strategy is possible when the company is convinced
that there is a circle of customers («pioneers», lovers of the new) who demand
the product at such a high price, just to own the product at the moment.
2. The average price strategy is the most typical strategy for most
companies that are interested in stability and maintaining a favorable climate for
their activities in the market and consider making a profit as a long-term policy.
Many companies consider the average price strategy to be the fairest, since it
excludes the possibility of a «price war». This strategy does not lead to the
emergence of a new competitor, does not allow individual companies to profit at
the expense of customers and at the same time makes it possible to receive a fair
return on invested capital.
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3. The low price strategy means relatively low prices for goods that are
much lower than the prices of similar competing products.
– The low price strategy is used by companies in order to:
– obtain long-term profits;
– penetrate foreign markets;
– increase the share of their goods in the domestic market;
– enter the mass market;
– higher utilization of production capacities;
– avoid bankruptcy at this stage;
– if the company does not expect that there will be a market for its goods
for a long time.
The low price strategy is also known as the «prevention price» or
«displacement price».
4. Target price strategy (or target profit), for which the goal is a certain
amount of profit.
When implementing this strategy, sales volumes and prices may change,
but the planned amount of profit must be ensured.
5. Fixed price strategy for which setting and maintaining unchanged
prices for its goods and services over a long period of time.
In the event of an increase in production costs, the company, instead of
revising prices upward, reduces the weight of the packaging, changes the
composition of the product, etc. It is assumed that the consumer prefers such
changes to higher prices.
6. Variable price strategy in which the company changes prices as soon
as there is a change in production costs and demand.
7. Discounted price strategy in which the store sets prices for the most
popular goods below cost or below the normal market price. The goal of such
a strategy for retailers is to attract customers to the store in the hope that they
will buy other products at normal prices along with these products, and for
manufacturers, it is to increase customer interest in the entire product range.
With this strategy, stores manage to significantly increase turnover.
8. Strategy of prices for products that are interrelated in terms of
production costs. Two products are considered interrelated in terms of
production costs if a change in the production volume of one causes a change in
the production costs of the other. This applies to by-products and related
products. A decrease in the production volume of one product will lead to an
increase in the production costs of the other, since fixed costs are allocated to
a smaller number of products.
9. Strategy of prices for products that are interrelated in terms of
demand. Two products are interrelated in terms of demand if the price of one
affects the demand for the other. In most cases, this applies to products that are
interchangeable in consumption.
10. Strategy of prices relative to the reflection of product quality in
them. High quality in most cases means a high price for the company.
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