LESSON 2: MARKET RESEARCH

market research

is a system for collecting, recording, and analyzing information about customers, competitors, goods, and services. You will draw on secondary data and primary data as you gather your information.

primary data

is information collected for the very first time to fit a specific purpose. Most market researchers also collect this.

Survey

The most common type of primary market research is this. This is a list of questions to ask your customers to find out demographic and psychographic information. This can be conducted by mail, over the phone, on the Internet, or in person.

Observation

If you are considering opening a juice bar in a shopping mall, you might want to see how many customers you could attract.

focus groups

This are in-depth interviews with small numbers of people. The benefit of this is that they allow for a more in-depth discussion about a topic than a questionnaire does. This usually are led by a moderator who asks questions about buying habits, likes and dislikes, and interest in particular products and services. The session is recorded so that the comments can be reviewed carefully after the session ends.

Secondary Data.

is data found in already published sources. Information on population, family size, household income, economic trends, industry forecasts, and other information can be found in this resources.