Student guide Faculty of Economics A.Y. 2008/09

Students will gain an understanding of the role of quantitative methods in strategic and operational marketing decision-making, particularly with regard to large scale surveys and the analysis of internal data (customer database).

The three main subject areas covered are:
1. Qualitative research: objectives and methods of investigation.
2. Quantitative research: structuring of the questionnaire and definition of the sample.
3. Quantitative research: univariate and multivariate statistical analysis methods.

The course will alternate lectures on the methodology with practical work on a series of business case studies using commercially-available software programs. The specific objective is to enable students to independently replicate all the analysis methods taught during the course.

1. Sources of data for quantitative research in marketing. Overview.
2. Qualitative research as a precursors to the large-scale survey.
3. Principal methods of qualitative research.
4. Stages of large-scale quantitative surveys.
5. Probabilistic and non-probabilistic sampling methods. The simple random sample.
6. Survey contact methods. Computerisation of the collected data.
7. Introduction to statistical analysis of data: univariate analysis (frequency distributions and measures of position, variability and shape).
8. Introduction to bivariate statistical analysis: contingency tables and the chi-square test.
9. Introduction to the PSS statistical software package.
10. Study of linear correlation and variance analysis - T test and F test.
11. Introduction to multivariate statistical analysis. Analysis of dependence and interdependence.
12. Quantitative approaches to segmentation of demand.
13. Segmentation into homogeneous groups. The classical segmentation model.
14. Factor analysis: methodological aspects and application examples.
15. Cluster analysis: methodological aspects and application examples.
16. Flexible segmentation model: conjoint analysis.
17. Simulation of shares of preference in conjoint analysis.
18. Introduction to quantitative methods for competitive positioning.
19. Attribute based methods: linear discriminant analysis; Methodological aspects.
20. Perceptual mapping by linear discriminant analysis: interpretative aspects.
21. Non-attribute based methods: MDS. Methodological aspects and applications.
22. Overview of data mining methods for goal-based segmentation: the regression tree.

For students who attend lectures
There will be an oral examination, consisting of the presentation of an application project (quantitative market research or quantitative analysis of a marketing database), with a 90% weighting on the final result, and an individual assessment of the candidate's effective contribution to the project during the examination interview.
For students who do not attend lectures:
There will be an oral examination.

L. MOLTENI, G. TROILO, Ricerche di marketing, Milano, Mc Graw Hill, 2003.
L. MOLTENI, L´analisi multivariata nelle ricerche di marketing, Milano, EGEA, 1993.