3.3 Conducting a literature review

Literature reviews in market research are crucial for establishing context and guiding research direction. They summarize existing knowledge, identify gaps, and provide rationale for new studies. By reviewing and synthesizing previous work, researchers can refine their focus and ensure their study contributes meaningfully to the field.

Effective literature reviews involve strategic searching, critical evaluation, and thoughtful synthesis of findings. Researchers use targeted search strategies, assess study quality, and organize findings into themes. This process helps identify trends, inconsistencies, and areas for further investigation in market research.

Literature Review in Market Research

Purpose of literature reviews

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• Establish context and background of research problem
  • Identify gaps in existing knowledge to justify need for current study
  • Provide rationale for conducting the research (problem statement, research objectives)
• Provide overview of current state of research on topic
  • Summarize key findings and conclusions from previous studies (meta-analysis, systematic review)
  • Identify trends, patterns, and inconsistencies in literature to guide research direction
• Clarify research question and objectives
  • Refine focus of study based on reviewed literature to ensure relevance and originality
  • Ensure research contributes to existing body of knowledge by addressing gaps or extending previous work
• Define boundaries and limitations of research
  • Specify scope of study in terms of variables (independent, dependent), population (demographics, sample size), and context (industry, geography)
  • Identify potential constraints and limitations based on reviewed literature (methodological issues, data availability)

Strategies for literature searches

• Identify key concepts and variables related to research topic
  • Break down research question into main themes and sub-topics (customer satisfaction, service quality)
  • Generate list of keywords and synonyms for each concept (customer loyalty, consumer retention)
• Select appropriate databases and search engines
  • Identify relevant academic databases in field of market research (Business Source Complete, ABI/INFORM)
  • Consider using multidisciplinary databases for broader perspective (Web of Science, Scopus)
• Construct effective search queries
  • Combine keywords using Boolean operators AND (narrows results), OR (expands results), NOT (excludes terms)
  • Use truncation and wildcard symbols to capture variations of keywords (custom*, behav?or)
• Apply filters and limiters to refine search results
  • Limit search results by publication date (last 5 years), language (English), and document type (peer-reviewed articles)
  • Use subject headings and controlled vocabularies specific to database (MeSH terms, thesauri)
• Identify additional sources through reference lists and citation tracking
  • Review reference lists of relevant articles to find other pertinent studies (snowball sampling)
  • Use citation tracking tools to identify more recent articles that have cited key studies (Google Scholar, Web of Science)

Evaluation of research quality

• Assess relevance of article to research question
  • Determine if article addresses key concepts and variables of interest (customer satisfaction, service quality)
  • Evaluate applicability of findings to current research context (B2B vs B2C, industry-specific)
• Examine methodological quality of study
  • Assess appropriateness of research design (experimental, survey) and data collection methods (questionnaire, interview)
  • Evaluate sample size (power analysis), sampling technique (random, purposive), and representativeness of sample (demographic characteristics)
• Evaluate credibility of findings and conclusions
  • Assess strength of evidence presented in article (statistical significance, effect size)
  • Identify potential biases (selection bias, response bias), limitations (cross-sectional design), and confounding factors (extraneous variables)
• Consider expertise and reputation of authors and publication source
  • Evaluate authors' credentials (academic degrees, research experience) and institutional affiliations (universities, research centers)
  • Assess quality and impact factor of journal or publication venue (Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research)

Synthesis of literature findings

• Organize reviewed literature into meaningful categories or themes
  • Identify common patterns, trends, and relationships among studies (positive correlation between variables)
  • Group studies based on their focus (antecedents of customer satisfaction), methodology (qualitative vs quantitative), or findings (significant vs non-significant results)
• Summarize main findings and conclusions from each category or theme
  • Highlight key points and takeaways from each group of studies (service quality as a key driver of customer satisfaction)
  • Identify areas of agreement and disagreement among studies (conflicting evidence on the role of price)
• Identify gaps and inconsistencies in literature
  • Recognize areas where research is lacking or inconclusive (limited research on the impact of social media)
  • Highlight contradictory findings or unanswered questions (inconsistent results on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty)
• Develop coherent narrative that integrates findings from multiple studies
  • Synthesize findings into cohesive summary that addresses research question (service quality and perceived value are the most significant predictors of customer satisfaction)
  • Discuss implications of reviewed literature for current study (need for further research on the moderating role of demographic variables)