MARKET RESEARCH
2 TYPES OF BUSINESSES(w.r.t.marketing):
• PRODUCT- ORIENTATED BUSINESS
Comes up with product on their own, and then convinces customers to buy
it,
Eg fresh foods,agricultural produce, new inventions/innovations(ipod)
• MARKET - ORIENTATED BUSINESS
Researches market(customer) first, and then comes up with product to meet
market’s wants.
Eg most biz today from Coca Cola to MIS
Collecting information about the
market
Quantitative info: about figures/numbers; eg. how many
times customers eat out in a week, what were the sales for
branded clothes last year
Qualitative info: about opinions/judgement; eg. What is the
most likeable feature of this product, why do customers
prefer higher priced products.
TYPES OF MARKET RESEARCH
Primary Research, OR Field Research:
•Collection and collation of original data from potential or
existing customers.
•First hand , and aimed at a specific purpose
•You control Primary data!
•Time consuming and expensive to gather info from customers
Methods of Primary research
1. Questionnaire:
Face-to-face/postal/telephone/online
(+) Detailed info can be gathered about the product/service.
(-) Questions not well-framed/unclear/misleading
(-) Asking questions, and collating data can be expensive and
Methods of Primary Research (contd.)
2. Interviews: Interviewer asks ready-prepared questions
from interviewee.
(+) Interviewer can explain questions not understood
(+) Detailed qualitative info can be gathered
(-) Interviewer bias: consciously/unconsciously influencing
the answers due to personal opinions
(-) Time-consuming and expensive; can be in groups(but
answers might get influenced by other people in group)
SAMPLING:
Choosing the SAMPLE
i.e.
people who will be asked to fill in a questionnaire or will be
interviewed,
as asking everybody from your target audience is too expensive and
impractical.
ii. Quota Sample: People are selected
Sampling Methods: on the basis of certain
characteristics, e.g. age, gender,
i. Random Sample:
income.
People are selected at random without
Researchers are given a quota to ask a
specific criteria,
certain no. of people with specific
e.g. postal questionnaire sent to names characteristics ,e.g. interview 20 people
picked up by computer (from the from age 10-25, 30 from age 26- 45, 20
telephone directory) from age 46-60.
(-) May not be a consumer of product (-) May result in biased (not fair) selection
being investigated/researched
Methods of Primary Research (contd.)
3. Focus groups: A group of customers brought together
by a business to:
give info about a product
and the choices they make.
Test new products and
say what they like/dislike
Study effect of ads on
buying, over a period of time, etc.
(+) Give detailed info on consumer opinions.
(-) Time-consuming, expensive and maybe, biased if some
people on the panel get influenced by other members’
opinions.
https://
www.surveypolice.com/blog/how-focus-groups-impacted-these-5-major-compani
Methods of Primary Research (contd.)
4. Observation: in the form of:
Recording, e.g. ,meters fitted to monitor which TV
channels customers watch
Watching, e.g. how many cars pass a particular
billboard at a particular hour, how many people enter
a shop and come out having bought sth
Audits, e.g. checking/counting stock in shops to see
which products have sold well
(+) Inexpensive way to
gather info/data
(-) Only gives basic figures,
but not reasons/opinions behind
customer choices/decisions.
Secondary Research OR Desk Research
• Use of info that has already been collected and is
available for use by others
• Many people have access to secondary data.
• This info may be from Internal or External sources.
Internal Sources of info: ready and cheap source of data
from within the organisation
Sales deptt records, pricing data, customer records,
sales reports: info on best-selling products
Info from distribution/ PR staff
Finance deptt: info on costs
Customer service department: info on customer
feedback, complaints etc.
External Sources of info: info available from outside the
business, collected for some purpose other than the
research being done.
Can be useful if analysed and suited to own purpose.
Can be available free or bought at a price.
Internet (must check accuracy!)
Trade and employer associations
Specialist journals
Research reports
Newspapers
Govt. reports and statistics
Media reports
MR Agencies’ reports
Accuracy of MR information:
PRIMARY RESEARCH accuracy depends on
how carefully is the sample chosen –
quota/random: quota sample will get more representative info
from different groups
sample size: bigger the sample, more accurate the results but
also more expensive
how questions are phrased to ensure honest responses
Accuracy can be improved by trying the questionnaire on small
group first to check misunderstanding, and revise questions ,if
needed.
SECONDARY RESEARCH accuracy depends on source and
how carefully info is used: newspaper articles may be
biased; internet info might be inaccurate; statistics change
very fast
