Effects Of Marketing Research In Product Planning And Development

INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
This era of marketing orientation or concept has made firms to look at customers needs in designing their offer (product). By marketing concept, we mean the marketing philosophy which holds that the key to achieving organizational goals consist of being more effective and efficient than competitors in integrating marketing activities towards determining and satisfying needs and wants of markets.
This is in contrast with product concept which holds that consumers will favour those products that offer the most quality, performance or innovation features. The emphasis is on superior product quality and improvement overtime.
Because the consumers have become the central focus in the marketing concept, it becomes pertinent that firms should produce in light of the consumers needs, which is the tenet of the embark on marketing research in the development of product planning to offer the consumers. Thus, marketing research is inevitable in product planning and development in its effect is highly a positive one. This is because it is by the use of marketing research a firm will know the exact needs of the market she intends to serve and the characteristics of the target consumers. Marketing research is one of the tools used by firms or marketers in improving the quantity and quality of decision making and better understanding of the market place of dynamic environment. A marketing research model studies who are my customers, where they are what did they want, and how I get there, with what effects. A marketing that builds a product or creates a service and then sits back and waits for things to happen usually discovers that not much happen. The fact remains that after you’ve produced the best product, packaged it brilliantly. Priced it rightly distributed it magnificently, and positioned it to best meet the needs of the customers, you would have wasted all these marketing efforts, if nobody knows you have done all these things such is the consence of marketing research. This finding will enable the firm to appropriately plan the right price, deliver the products to the right place to reach the consumers and communicate them through the appropriate means as well.
Marketing research is seen as a systematic gathering, recoding and analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services, which includes investigation of market, segments, product differentiation, channel relationships, effectiveness of salesmen and advertising, pricing practices etc. This means that market potentials and market shares studies to assessments of customers satisfaction, and purchase behaviours, to studies of pricing, product, promotion and distribution.
This justifies how the view about marketing, as the process of researching into and identifying customers needs and wants for the purpose of creating goods and services and facilitating their transfer into the hands of customers through the specialized functions of pricing, promotion, and distribution.
In view of this product planning refers to all activities involves in setting product goals and means or strategies to realize them within the firm’s framework or product policy. It is a careful predetermination of future states of nature (or the environment) and the arrangement of programmes to take advantage of them from this. It means that marketing research is one of the major activities that enables firms determine what product to offer to the market. One can say in this era of marketing concept and as revealed in the above statement that marketing research is a part of product planning developed, and such a relevant part played that if ignored, will render the whole organization effort useless, hence her (the forms) objectives will not be realized or achieved.
Once more, a little understanding of what marketing and marketing research are again will help as appreciate the above statement. Marketing according to Okafor (1995:7) quoting the institute of marketing London, is the management process that is responsible for identifying anticipating and satisfying consumers requirements profitably. Also marketing research in the same Okafor (1995:31) refers to all human activities scientifically directed towards the enhancement of the organizations offerings (products) and the solution to the marketing. We can see that marketing is basically concerned about the future. In order to be able to identify, anticipate and perfectly satisfy the consumers needs profitably means that the organization need abundant vital information at regular intervals to be able to predict consumers buying behaviour during the short and long-terms basis. Supplying this vital information is necessary to aid marketing decisions for effective and efficient satisfaction of consumers needs now and in the future is that marketing research does. This agrees with the determination of marketing as seen above.
Again it has been found that some organizations totally ignored and some paid little attention to marketing research in their product planning development, due to ignorance of the beneficial effect and may be because of cost associate in running or maintaining the marketing research department. This study is designed to reveal how inevitable marketing research is in product planning development, its benefits, and as well as the consequences of operating without it or ignoring it especially in consumer-marketing oriented firms, knowing the rate of competition in the market, the rate of change in consumer tastes and preferences, the nature of the economic and the dynamic nature of the business market environment.
Therefore, it is the researcher’s wish to examine the effectiveness of marketing research in the product planning development in the manufacturing firms, using Burxtin paints Ltd Owerri, Imo State as a case study.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
There are a lot of problems which promoted the urge to carry out this study.
1. In the first place, the Nigeria business environment has become highly competitive (especially in paints industry). For example, major paints industry in Nigeria are Burxtin paints Ltd, clover paint, saclux paint, Aka paint, De-Diamond, unic paint, regents paint etc. This means that in addition to competition from these companies, Burxtin paint had faced a new kind of competition with these companies when producing.
2. They do not have marketing research department in their organization, that is another problem which the firm is facing in product development.
3. In Burxtin paint Ltd, they believed that marketing research in product planning development is expensive and consumed a lot of time in the cost of running.
4. They ignored having marketing research department
5. They do not know the positive contribution of marketing research to the success of a new product planning and product development, therefore, these are problems for which Burxtin paint Ltd faced.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The primary object of this study is to examine, to verify, and to find out the comparative use and effectiveness of marketing research in product planning and development, using Burxtin paint Ltd as a case study. The study is to examine, to verify, and to find out the following objectives:
1. To find out how marketing research in product planning development will help Burxtin paint Ltd to withstand their competitors. In other words, marketing research will help Burxtin paint Ltd to know the wick-points of their competitors and work towards that in order to get the market segment or increase sales.
2. To find out if the marketing research in product planning and development will bring a change in consumer taste and preference as well as other environment variable such as competitors activities.
3. To find out the need or importance of having marketing research department in Burxtin paint Ltd.
4. To verify the consequences of ignoring marketing research product planning development.
5. To examine the importance of marketing research in goods, product packaging and brand, design in other to meet or be above other competitors.
6. To find out the positive contribution of marketing research to the success of a new product planning and product development.
7. To find out the need for which Burxtin paint Ltd will believed that marketing research in product planning development is not expensive and it does not consumed a lot of time in the cost of running.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
The main research question of this study are:
1. Does marketing research have any positive contribution to the success of a new product planning and development?
2. Does marketing research help in goods packaging and brand design of a product?
3. Is there any benefit of monitoring the change in consumer’s taste and preference and the marketing environment thus, competitors activities etc in order to know the best steps to them?
4. Why do they ignore having marketing research department?
5. Does Burxtin paint Ltd afraid of competitors?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
The following research hypothesis formed the basis of study
Ho: Marketing research does not have positive contribution to the success of a new product planning and product development.
HA: Marketing research have positive contribution to the success of a new product planning and product development.
Ho: Marketing research does not help in good packaging and brand design of a new product.
Ho: Marketing research help in good packaging and brand design of a new product

1.6 THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research work is directed to the study of the effects of marketing research in product planning and development. So, this study was limited to the firm used as a case in this research work that is Burxtin paint Ltd, Imo State. The study was to determine the problems in which the firm is facing and find a useful solutions to that effect. The solutions will equally benefit as many firms as are marketing oriented companies and all consumers.
Finally, the scope of the study will give the firm that is Burxtin paint Ltd an opportunity to find out the need for the firm to have marketing research department.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Many problems hindered the researcher from attaining the peak of this research. Therefore, the researcher encounted the following problems in work not quite favorable, among them are:
1. Academic Programme at the Time of Study: At the time of this study, there were a lot of disruption more than what have been ever experiences by the researcher never stayed at a place while writing this project.
2. Time: Time has always been a constraint to any project work both academic and non-academic projects. As a student is faced with a lot of academic works, the researcher did not have enough time source for information. At the end, there were conflicting interests on whether to abandon academic works and face project or vice-versa.
3. Cost/Financial Involvement: The total accomplishment of the objectives of this study demand much cost and finance than what the researcher had at his disposed. The researcher as a student has limited financial resources to finance this project. Because of this, he was not able to travel to the company of the study as many times as he supposed to and could visit many libraries that should have been reached for materials
However, he was able to utilize the much he can do to carryout a meaningful research in this project work.
4. Attitude of Respondents/Problem of Availability of Data: The general attitude of Nigerians towards researcher is a discouraging one. In the course of gathering information of this study, many of this selected respondents (both company staff and individual) with-held information for reason best known to them. Therefore, the company under study which is the main source of primary data did not give sufficient information as desired and required through the survey study due to the nature of activities going on in the company, which did not allow the respondents give the desired contribution is the research work. Even the secondary data used were not sufficient, through the researcher tried to elicit the appropriate information from the available ones.
All these factors acted as limitation to the study.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS
To enhance the understanding of this project, the researcher has taken his time to explain the following terms as they related to marketing:
1. Analysis: Means to get meaning of a data
2. Consumers: An individual who is the final uses of a product or services. He may or may not buy but has the capacity to consume.
3. Concept: An idea or a principles relating to something
4. Inevitable: Impossible to avoid
5. Marketing: Marketing is any human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange process.
6. Marketing Concept/Orientation: A managerial philosophy that an organization should try to satisfy customers needs through a coordinated set of activities, more effectively than its competitors, at the same time allows the organization to achieve its goals.
7. Pertinent: Relevant to something
8. Philosophy: A particular set or system of beliefs resulting from this research for knowledge or a set of beliefs or an attribute to life that is a guiding principles for behaviour.
9. Systematic: This is a step-by-step method of finding solution to a problem. It is scientific
10. Research: This is a serious study of a subject that is intended to discover new facts or new ideas.
11. Tenet: A principle or belief held by a personal or group and forming part of a large system of beliefs.
12. Product: Are something that are consumerable or for production
13. Market: Consist of customers and customers are likely to differ in one or more respects.
14. Organization Structure: Consists of different people in an organization to carry out a certain goals.
15. Product planning: It refers to activities involved in setting product goal and means or strategies to realize them within the firm’s framework of product policy.
16. Product development: Is a modified product, or new product that is being introduced into the market for the first time.
17. Competitors: Different companies producing similar product
18. Packaging: Is the act of covering something
19. Development: Creating a new thing or modifying something.
20. Goals: Are certain objectives set to be achieved
21. Market Segmentation: As a practical smart marketing strategy, in which a firm develops some product offerings designed to appeal to a specific part of the aggregate market.
22. Pricing: Is therefore the act of determining the price of value in monetary terms of product
23. Product Design: Involves ensuring that the design takes into consideration the case and cost of manufacture of a product.
24. Cost Control: The design stage is one place where cost can be minimized.
25. Market Research: This is a combination of methods and techniques employed for answering questions relating to the present and future market potential lies of products or services.