MARKET RESEARCH for Senior High School

Q2, Module 5

Market Research or Marketing Research Process can be defined as the process of gathering,
analyzing and interpreting the information about the products or the services to be offered for
sale to the potential consumers in the market. Marketing research encompasses a range of
activities aimed at gathering information and data to help your company better understand its
target market. Once you capture market research data, you can then leverage it to introduce or
upgrade products, improve the customer experience, craft a sharper marketing position, or help
guide business decisions.

A Standard Approach to Research Inquiries

Marketing research is a useful and necessary tool for helping marketers and an
organization’s executive leadership make wise decisions. Carrying out marketing research can
involve highly specialized skills that go deeper than the information outlined in this module.
However, it is important for any marketer to be familiar with the basic procedures and techniques
of marketing research.

It is very likely that at some point a marketing professional will need to supervise an
internal marketing research activity or to work with an outside marketing research firm to
conduct a research project. Managers who understand the research function can do a better job of
framing the problem and critically appraising the proposals made by research specialists. They
are also in a better position to evaluate their findings and recommendations.

Periodically marketers themselves need to find solutions to marketing problems without

the assistance of marketing research specialists inside or outside the company. If you are familiar
with the basic procedures of marketing research, you can supervise and even conduct a
reasonably satisfactory search for the information needed.
Step 1: Identify the Problem
The first step for any marketing research activity is to clearly identify and define the problem
you are trying to solve. You start by stating the marketing or business problem you need to
address and for which you need additional information to figure out a solution. Next, articulate
the objectives for the research: What do you want to understand by the time the research project
is completed? What specific information, guidance, or recommendations need to come out of the
research in order to make it a worthwhile investment of the organization’s time and money?

It’s important to share the problem definition and research objectives with other team members
to get their input and further refine your understanding of the problem and what is needed to
solve it. At times, the problem you really need to solve is not the same problem that appears on
the surface. Collaborating with other stakeholders helps refine your understanding of the
problem, focus your thinking, and prioritize what you hope to learn from the research.
Prioritizing your objectives is particularly helpful if you don’t have the time or resources to
investigate everything you want.

To flesh out your understanding of the problem, it’s useful to begin brainstorming actual
research questions you want to explore. What are the questions you need to answer in order to
get to the research outcomes? What is the missing information that marketing research will help
you find? The goal at this stage is to generate a set of preliminary, big-picture questions that will
frame your research inquiry. You will revisit these research questions later in the process, but
when you’re getting started, this exercise helps clarify the scope of the project, whom you need
to talk to, what information may already be available, and where to look for the information you
don’t yet have.

Step 2: Develop a Research Plan

Once you have a problem definition, research objectives, and a preliminary set of research
questions, the next step is to develop a research plan. Essential to this plan is identifying
precisely what information you need to answer your questions and achieve your objectives. Do
you need to understand customer opinions about something? Are you looking for a clearer
picture of customer needs and related behaviors? Do you need sales, spending, or revenue data?
Do you need information about competitors’ products, or insight about what will make
prospective customers notice you? When do need the information, and what’s the time frame for
getting it? What budget and resources are available?

Once you have clarified what kind of information you need and the timing and budget for your
project, you can develop the research design. This details how you plan to collect and analyze the
information you’re after. Some types of information are readily available through secondary
research and secondary data sources. Secondary research analyzes information that has already
been collected for another purpose by a third party, such as a government agency, an industry
association, or another company. Other types of information need to from talking directly to
customers about your research questions. This is known as primary research, which collects
primary data captured expressly for your research inquiry. Marketing research projects may
include secondary research, primary research, or both.

Depending on your objectives and budget, sometimes a small-scale project will be enough to get
the insight and direction you need. At other times, in order to reach the level of certainty or detail
required, you may need larger-scale research involving participation from hundreds or even
thousands of individual consumers. The research plan lays out the information your project will
capture—both primary and secondary data—and describes what you will do with it to get the
answers you need. (Note: You’ll learn more about data collection methods and when to use them
later in this module.)

Your data collection plan goes hand in hand with your analysis plan. Different types of analysis
yield different types of results. The analysis plan should match the type of data you are
collecting, as well as the outcomes your project is seeking and the resources at your disposal.
Simpler research designs tend to require simpler analysis techniques. More complex research
designs can yield powerful results, such as understanding causality and trade-offs in customer
perceptions. However, these more sophisticated designs can require more time and money to
execute effectively, both in terms of data collection and analytical expertise.

The research plan also specifies who will conduct the research activities, including data
collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting on results. At times a singlehanded marketing
manager or research specialist runs the entire research project. At other times, a company may
contract with a marketing research analyst or consulting firm to conduct the research. In this
situation, the marketing manager provides supervisory oversight to ensure the research delivers
on expectations.

Finally, the research plan indicates who will interpret the research findings and how the findings
will be reported. This part of the research plan should consider the internal audience(s) for the
research and what reporting format will be most helpful. Often, senior executives are primary
stakeholders, and they’re anxious for marketing research to inform and validate their choices.
When this is the case, getting their buy-in on the research plan is recommended to make sure that
they are comfortable with the approach and receptive to the potential findings.

Step 3: Conduct the Research

Conducting research can be a fun and exciting part of the marketing research process. After
struggling with the gaps in your knowledge of market dynamics—which led you to embark on a
marketing research project in the first place—now things are about to change. Conducting
research begins to generate information that helps answer your urgent marketing questions.

Typically data collection begins by reviewing any existing research and data that provide some
information or insight about the problem. As a rule, this is secondary research. Prior research
projects, internal data analyses, industry reports, customer-satisfaction survey results, and other
information sources may be worthwhile to review. Even though these resources may not answer
your research questions fully, they may further illuminate the problem you are trying to solve.
Secondary research and data sources are nearly always cheaper than capturing new information
on your own. Your marketing research project should benefit from prior work wherever possible.

After getting everything you can from secondary research, it’s time to shift attention to primary
research, if this is part of your research plan. Primary research involves asking questions and
then listening to and/or observing the behavior of the target audience you are studying. In order
to generate reliable, accurate results, it is important to use proper scientific methods for primary
research data collection and analysis. This includes identifying the right individuals and number
of people to talk to, using carefully worded surveys or interview scripts, and capturing data
accurately.

Without proper techniques, you may inadvertently get bad data or discover bias in the responses
that distorts the results and points you in the wrong direction. The module on Marketing
Research Techniques discusses these issues in further detail, since the procedures for getting
reliable data vary by research method.

Step 4: Analyze and Report Findings

Analyzing the data obtained in a market survey involves transforming the primary and/or
secondary data into useful information and insights that answer the research questions. This
information is condensed into a format to be used by managers—usually a presentation or
detailed report.

Analysis starts with formatting, cleaning, and editing the data to make sure that it’s suitable for
whatever analytical techniques are being used. Next, data are tabulated to show what’s
happening: What do customers actually think? What’s happening with purchasing or other
behaviors? How do revenue figures actually add up? Whatever the research questions, the
analysis takes source data and applies analytical techniques to provide a clearer picture of what’s
going on. This process may involve simple or sophisticated techniques, depending on the
research outcomes required. Common analytical techniques include regression analysis to
determine correlations between factors; conjoint analysis to determine trade-offs and priorities;
predictive modeling to anticipate patterns and causality; and analysis of unstructured data such as
Internet search terms or social media posts to provide context and meaning around what people
say and do.

Good analysis is important because the interpretation of research data—the “so what?” factor—
depends on it. The analysis combs through data to paint a picture of what’s going on. The
interpretation goes further to explain what the research data mean and make recommendations
about what managers need to know and do based on the research results. For example, what is
the short list of key findings and takeaways that managers should remember from the research?
What are the market segments you’ve identified, and which ones should you target? What are
the primary reasons your customers choose your competitor’s product over yours, and what does
this mean for future improvements to your product?

Individuals with a good working knowledge of the business should be involved in interpreting
the data because they are in the best position to identify significant insights and make
recommendations from the research findings. Marketing research reports incorporate both
analysis and interpretation of data to address the project objectives.

The final report for a marketing research project may be in written form or slide-presentation
format, depending on organizational culture and management preferences. Often a slide
presentation is the preferred format for initially sharing research results with internal
stakeholders. Particularly for large, complex projects, a written report may be a better format for
discussing detailed findings and nuances in the data, which managers can study and reference in
the future.

Step 5: Take Action

Once the report is complete, the presentation is delivered, and the recommendations are made,
the marketing research project is over, right? Wrong.

What comes next is arguably the most important step of all: taking action based on your research
results.

If your project has done a good job interpreting the findings and translating them into
recommendations for the marketing team and other areas of the business, this step may seem
relatively straightforward. When the research results validate a path the organization is already
on, the “take action” step can galvanize the team to move further and faster in that same
direction.

Things are not so simple when the research results indicate a new direction or a significant shift
is advisable. In these cases, it’s worthwhile to spend time helping managers understand the
research, explain why it is wise to shift course, and explain how the business will benefit from
the new path. As with any important business decision, managers must think deeply about the
new approach and carefully map strategies, tactics, and available resources to plan effectively.
By making the results available and accessible to managers and their execution teams, the
marketing research project can serve as an ongoing guide and touchstone to help the organization
plan, execute, and adjust course as it works toward desired goals and outcomes.

It is worth mentioning that many marketing research projects are never translated into
management action. Sometimes this is because the report is too technical and difficult to
understand. In other cases, the research conclusions fail to provide useful insights or solutions to
the problem, or the report writer fails to offer specific suggestions for translating the research
findings into management strategy. These pitfalls can be avoided by paying due attention to the
research objectives throughout the project and allocating sufficient time and resources to do a
good job interpreting research results for those who will need to act on them.
DATA COLLECTION is the most valuable tool in any type of research study. Inaccurate data
collection may cause mistakes and ultimately lead to invalid results.
TIPS in COLLECTING DATA
 Organize collected data as soon as it is available
 Know what message you want to get across and then collect data that is relevant to the
message
 Collect more data
 Create more data
 Take note of interesting or significant data

In this lesson, we will consider the three different data collection techniques – SURVEY
(Questionnaire), INTERVIEW and FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION – and evaluate their
suitability under different circumstances SURVEYS are the most common way to gather primary
research with the use of questionnaires or interview schedule. These can be done via direct
mail, over the phone, internet (e.g. Google) or email, face-to-face or on the Web (e.g. Skype or
Viber). When designing or constructing your own research questionnaire, remember the
following guidelines.

Keep it as simple as possible

Make sure it is clearly appealing and easy to read
Cluster or block related questions
Move from complex questions to more specific questions
Make sure questions are concise and easily understood
Avoid questions that are difficult to answer
Make sure response scales used are consistent with categories that are mutually exclusive

SURVEYS
Researchers collect responses by deploying surveys and managing data via online questionnaires
or on-screen surveys at the POS. These surveys contain closed-ended and open-ended questions.
They are popular and are the most widely used research techniques.

INTERVIEW is one of the most reliable and credible ways of getting relevant information from
target customers. It is typically done in person between the researcher/entrepreneur and a
respondent where the researcher asks pertinent questions that will give significant pieces of
information about the problem that he will solve. The interview is also helpful even when the
business has already started because the customers’ feedback provides the entrepreneur a
glimpse of what the customers think about the business. Interviews normally last from 15 to 40
minutes, but they can last longer, depending on the participants’ interest in the topic. In a
structured interview, the researcher asks a standard set of questions and nothing more. (Leedy &
Ormrod, 2001, pp.38-39) Personal interviews are the traditional method of conducting an
interview. It allows the researcher to establish relationship with potential participants and
therefore gain their cooperation. It generates highest response rates in survey research. They also
allow the researcher to clarify indefinite answers and when necessary, seek follow-up
information. (Leedy & Ormrod, 2001, pp.39)
 Telephone interviews are less expensive and less time-consuming, but the
disadvantages are that the response rate is not as high as the face-to-face
interview, but considerably higher than the mailed questionnaire

FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION (FGD) - is an excellent method for generating and screening
ideas and concepts. It can be moderated group interviews and brainstorming sessions that
provide information on user’s needs and behaviors.
The following are considerations in the use of focus group discussions in market research:
 The length of the session is between 90 and 120 minutes.
 Conduct focus groups discussion with 8 to 10 participants per group.
 Assign an expert moderator / facilitator who can manage group dynamics.
 Use a semi-structured or open-format discussion
 Strive for consistency in the group’s composition (for example, it may not be advisable to
have business customers and retail customers in the same focus group, their needs are very
different)