4.4 - Market Research

market research

the systematic process of collecting, collating, analysing and interpreting data and info about existing and potential consumers, competitors and market. used by bus to aid marketing planning and strategies. can be either primary or secondary

primary research

systematic process of collecting, recording, analysing, and interpreting new data and info about a specific issue of direct intrest to the business. questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations

secondary research

collection, collation, and interpretation of existing data and info from previously available sources. market analysis, academic journals, government publications, media articles, online content

what doesa business want to do when conducting market research

• detemine ustomer prefrences

• discover likelyhood of consumers buying

• asses customer sensitivity to different price levels

• discover and learn about new market trends

  • investigate demographics

feautres of primary research

• the collection of firsthand data for a specifc purpose

• usually shows a limited/skewed perspective

• must choose a representative and statisitically significant example to ensure reliability

• in depth qualitative data and info

• not always objective rather based on opinions

• more expensive

features of secondary research

• reusing secondhand data and info already collected by smo else

• draws findings from large representative samples

• some second sources require cost like subscription fees

• internet has revolutionised this process

benefits of primary research

• provides bespoke specialist market research data, which are up to date and specific to business requirements

• can give bus a competitive edge by gathering data about consumer purchase patterns and habits in order to anticipate

• enables bus to focus more on effectice and targeted marketing rather than waisting money on less effective mass marketing

• can give detailed and informative qualitative findingd to inform a firms marketing and corporate strategies

• new tech has online surveys making it easier and quicker

• acess to a wide range of sources

disad of primary research

• high cost to conduct compared to secondary

• the task of conducting like long long interviews and mulitple questionares

• desicion making can be delayed due to lengthy time involved conducting research

• imperfections in techniques like biased questions /invalid sample size can lead to underrepresentation and misleading finds

adv of secondary research

• cheaper and easier to collect

• often free on websites, gov data, and online news

• easy to acess with online sources like wikapedia or google

dis of secondary research

• data and info have to be adapted to the firms needs

• data and info easily goes out of date

• rival fiems also have acess to the data - no comp adv

• data may have biases not apparent to the user

surveys

method of gathering quantaitve and qualitative info from a sample of individuals.most common primary research, but can be time consuming, expensive and biased

what are methods of primary research

surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups

interviews

conducted by a interviewer who asks respondants a series of questions. usually more detailed questions than surveys which can be specifically deisgned to meet the needs of a bus. may not relfect views of whole market & timely, costly, biased

focus groups

small cluster of consumers who meet tgt w a researcher for market research purposes. enables deep investigation on customer psychology but is costly so paritcipats are usually incentivised

observations

researchers watching and recording customer behaviour. not dependant of willingness and ability of respondants so the info is more objective and accurate. timely & labour intensive

what are methods of secondary research

media articles, academic journals, government journals, media articles, online content

market analysis

collection of data and info abt market characteristics of a g/s or industry such as market size, growth potential, info from comp. quick and cheap way of assesing a g/s potential

academic research

formal scholarly journals related to a specific academic discipline, written by academics and are peer reviews. generally objective

government publication

official documents an dinfo released by local, national and international governments. vary widely in purpose/content, no standard format. rich choice as govs produce lots of info, fee & public, major source for every feild ex. unemployment figures and inflation rates

media articles

documents and articles that appear in print or online media ex. newpapers, magazines, social media

online content

info via the internet and gives acess to a wide range of resources ex. company websites, blogs, social media

qualitative research

research based on feelings, opinions and perspectives such as why customers prefer a certain brand. generates in depth, non-numerical info that is usually descriptive & not predictive

quantative research

research based on facts, figures, numerical patterns, correlations and results. usually predictive and not descriptive

characteristics of qualitative research

• in depth investigation into motice and resons behinf consumer behaviour

• often primary research

• more detailed & honst

  • can give a lot of info depsite low respondants

characteristics of quantative research

• help make descision making more objectibe but alone arent sufficient without qualitaive data

• relies on alot of responses to get numerical results

• tries to establish correlations and rls btw variables

• quicker and easier to collect, collate and interpret

what are the methods of sampling

quota, random, convenience

population

statistical term that refers to all potential customers of a market or all the people that fulfill some chosen criteria for market research purposes

sampling

the practice of selecting a small group of customers from the population of a certain market for the purpose of market research . seeks to create a group of respondants for market reserch who have representative views of the market

quota sampling

sampling method that divides the population into groups based on a given characteristic, then a sample is taken from the subgroups based on convenience

random sampling

sampling method where everyone in the population has the same chance of being selected to be in the research

convenience sampling

sampling method where a sample is made of whoever is willing /easiest to participate

sampling error

mistakes that arise from sampling design, ex.sample too small, selection of a underrepresentative sample etc.

non sampling error

market research mistakes that arent attributed to human error. ex. untruthful answers by respondants which distort findings

whats the other name for primary research

feild research

whats the other name for secondary research

desk research

adv of interviews

Beliefs, attitudes and

feelings can be

examined in detail

dis of interviews

• Qualitative information might be difficult tanalyse

• Time consuming

• Huge scope for interviewer bias

adv of focus groups

• Detailed questions can be

  asked and participants

  are more lightly to engage

  in discussions.

dis of focus groups

• Tend to be dominated by opinions of extroverts.

• Tendency for participants to conform to the majority view.

• Costly as each participant has to be paid.

adv of observations

Records actual behaviour rather

than what people say they would

do.

dis of obsevrations

Does not necessarily reveal why

people behave or respond in the

way they do.

adv of quota sampling

• relatively representaive sample can be collected qucikly

• faster, easier, chaper than random

dis of quota sampling

• sample isnt always representatibe of the population due to the number of ppl interviews for each segment and the randomness of thier selection

adv of conveniece sampling

• avaliabilty and and quickness

dis of convenience sampling

• exclusion of a

  large proportion of

  the population,

  thus presenting

  highly skewed

  findings

adv of random sampling

• no bias, more accurate

• quick, cheap , simple

dis or random sampling

• high probability that sample doesnt represent the whole population

• indiscrimiate (can select ppl outside the target group)