Marketing Research

Last updated Dec 7, 2022 Edit

• Business

Market research is important because customers differ in terms of:

• the benefits they want
• amount they are able to or willing to pay
• media (television, newspapers, websites and magazines) they see/use
• quantities they buy
• time and place that they buy

Insights provided by effective market research:

• dimensions of the market (Size, structure, growth, trends)
• competitor strategies
• needs, wants and expectations of customers
• market segments

Data collected first-hand for a specific reason or purpose

• Online surveys
• Questionnaire
• Interviews
• Testing & Observation
• Focus Groups
• Staged launches/releases
• Postal surveys
• Experiments

• Targeted data—what you need exactly
• Verifiable accuracy
• Fresh data
• Kept private
• More detailed

• Time consuming
• Requires engagement with individuals/marketing
• Needs analysis (secondary research may come with completed graphs etc)
• Specialist reports can be expensive
• Risk of survey bias
• Sampling may not be representative

Data that already exists and which has been collected for a different purpose

• Government and Census data (ONS etc)
• Internet
• Books & Newspapers
• Income statements
• Competitor Websites
• Marketing Research Reports (£££)
• Trade Associations

• Quick and easy to access
• Likely to be free
• Large datasets are available
• Good source of market insights

• Can contain bias
• Might be old
• Not specific to what you need

• Focuses on numerical data
• Collected through surveys and questionnaires
• Helps companies to see what % of people think what
• • Eg, 35% of people enjoy football

• Focuses on opinions and attitudes
• Collected through interviews, focus groups, in-depth discussions
• Helps companies to see what people really think
• Eg, students at the local school like watching football but not playing it.

Business