EMS L2

Market Research

• is the process of gathering data about consumers and the market as a whole and In order to determine the marketability of a product or service

• Gaining a deeper understanding of potential clients, how well your product or service meets their needs, and how it stacks up against rival offerings are the objectives of market research.

Surveys and interviews

• are two of the most practical and effective tools entrepreneurs can use to gather firsthand information from potential and existing customers.

Survey

• defined as "the collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions”

• It is structured questionnaires distributed to a target audience, either online, in person, or through mobile platforms.

Interview

• are more personal and in-depth.

• involve one-on-one conversations

• may be structured with predetermined questions, semi-structured with some flexibility, or unstructured to encourage free-flowing discussions.

• typically last between 15 and 40 minutes, but they can extend depending on the participants’ interest in the topic.

personal & telephone

two types of interviews

Personal interviews

• are the traditional method of conducting interviews. They enable the researcher to establish relationships with potential participants, fostering cooperation.

• yield the highest response rates in survey research. Additionally, they allow the researcher to clarify ambiguous answers and seek follow-up information when necessary.

Telephone interviews

• more affordable and time-efficient, but they have limitations.

• The response rate is not as high as face-to-face interviews, but it is significantly higher than the response rate of mailed questionnaires.

Purpose of Market Research in Entrepreneurship

• serves to bridge creativity with reality, ensuring that products resonate with users and can withstand competition.

• supports customer understanding by mapping out personas, pain points, and buying behaviors, which helps entrepreneurs tailor their offerings more effectively

Primary Research Methods

• Collecting new, first-hand information from your ideal clients

• specially crafted data gathered to address particular queries about your company, goods, or target market.

• e.g. interviews (telephone or face-to-face), surveys (online or mail), questionnaires (online or mail), focus groups, and visits to competitors' locations

Secondary Research

• includes previously published information that has been compiled by outside organizations such as government agencies, industry associations, and trade publications

• relatively inexpensive and is often publicly available.

• tends to be broad, so if you are interested in a niche market or an emerging technology, you may not be able to find secondary data that is relevant to your needs.

Surveys and Questionnaires, Interviews and Focus Groups, Observation and Ethnographic Research, Competitive Intelligence Tools, Analytics and Triangulation

Tools for Gathering Data

Surveys and Questionnaires

• Google Forms – free, easy to use for basic surveys.

Interviews and Focus Groups

• Zoom, Google Meet- record online interviews and discussions.

Observation and Ethnographic Research

• Field Notes / Journals – direct observation in real settings.

• Video/Photo Diaries – participants record their usage habits.

Competitive Intelligence Tools

• SimilarWeb – competitor website traffic and audience insights.

• Crunchbase – competitor profiles, funding, and growth data.

Analytics and Triangulation

Google Sheets or Excel (free): Side-by-side columns to compare data.

Airbnb

• made by Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia

• conducted extensive user interviews and A/B testing on listings, discovering travelers wanted authentic, local experiences over sterile hotels and hosts needed easy tools for pricing and photos.

Coke Campaign

• revealed younger consumers felt disconnected from the brand, craving personalization

• analyze social media sentiment and focus groups

Grab

• revealed that commuters struggled with unreliable taxis, long queues, and safety concerns.

Customer Needs

• is a need that motivates a customer to purchase a product or service.

• The need can be known or unknown, and is the ultimate factor that determines which solution the customer purchases.

Customer Needs as Jobs to Be Done

• focused on understanding what causes a customer to buy a product.

• Circumstances-based description of understanding your customers’ desires

• Functional Needs

• Social Needs

• Emotional Needs

Three Main Types of Customer Needs

Functional Needs

• typically evaluate potential solutions based on whether they’ll help them achieve a particular task or function

Social Needs

• is a customer need that relates to how a person wants to be perceived by others when using a product or service

Emotional Needs

• about how people feel when they use the product or service.

• e.g. they feel relaxed

Customer Pain Points

• specific problems, frustrations, or unmet needs that customers experience when interacting with a product, service, or brand.

Process Pain Points, Financial Pain Points, Support Pain Points, Product Pain Points

Types of Customer Pain Points

Process Pain Points

• come from internal procedures or systems that complicate or delay customer interactions.

• Example: A patient booking a doctor’s appointment has to call during office hours, fill out multiple forms, and wait days for confirmation instead of using an online scheduling system

Financial Pain Points

• Issues tied to cost or pricing that make it hard for customers to justify or continue using the product.

• Example: An airline advertises cheap flight tickets but adds hidden charges for seat selection, baggage, and even printing a boarding pass.

Support Pain Points

• Frustrations arising from the customer’s experience with support, sales teams, or service interactions.

• Example: A customer waits 30 minutes on hold to reach a support agent, only to be transferred multiple times without a solution.

Product Pain Points

• Shortcomings or gaps within the product or service that reduce customer satisfaction or productivity.

• Example: A smartphone has excellent hardware but a very short battery life, forcing users to recharge multiple times a day.

• Collecting Customer Feedback, Consulting Sales and Support Teams, Analyzing Customer Data,

Identifying Customer Pain Points (steps)

Collecting Customer Feedback

• Direct feedback through surveys, forums, and focus groups gives businesses firsthand insights into what frustrates customers.

• Open-ended questions are particularly valuable because they allow customers to describe issues in their own words.

Consulting Sales and Support Teams

• Employees who interact with customers daily often notice recurring complaints or challenges. Their insights can reveal problems that customers may not articulate directly.

Analyzing Customer Data

• Metrics such as churn rates, cart abandonment, customer satisfaction scores, and resolution times provide quantitative evidence of where customers are struggling.

• Combining data with feedback helps businesses identify which pain points are most critical.

• Look Beyond the Obvious, Think Toward the Future, Spot Trends, Look for Opportunities to Solve Multiple Problems

How to Address Customer Pain Points

Look Beyond the Obvious

• dig deeper through meaningful conversations that go beyond surface frustrations.

• By uncovering root causes, companies can provide solutions that are more precise and valuable.

• e.g. Customers struggle with slow delivery times.

• Opportunity: By improving logistics and ensuring faster deliveries, the business can position itself as more reliable than competitors.

Think Toward the Future

• to have discussions that pave the way for long-term partnerships

• increases not only the chance of closing a sale but also of creating a reliable, ongoing relationship

• e.g. Customers are frustrated with frequent stock-outs.

• Opportunity: Investing in an advanced inventory system not only prevents shortages but also opens doors for predictive analytics, trend forecasting, and smarter product planning.

Spot Trends

• Instead of only addressing isolated complaints, businesses should look for these patterns and respond with broader support. This may include training, consulting, or even strategic advice.

• e.g. Inefficient processes cause delays and mistakes.

• Opportunity: Streamlining workflows reduces costs, increases productivity, and allows employees to focus on higher-value tasks.

Look for Opportunities to Solve Multiple Problems

• look for ways their product or service can create multi-dimensional value, as this increases the likelihood of adoption and customer satisfaction.

• e.g. Customers feel unsupported when issues arise.

• Opportunity: Enhancing customer service with training, chatbots, or 24/7 support builds trust and loyalty, turning one-time buyers into repeat customers.

Environmental Scanning

• systematic and continuous gathering and analysis of various factors to help companies in making more informed choices and improving overall organizational performance.

• part of strategic planning and an important factor in developing effective planning and management strategies.

• This is not only closed to external scanning; environmental scanning also includes internal scanning.

Purpose of Environmental Scanning

• to help businesses stay informed

• about factors that could impact their operations, strategy, and competitiveness.

• Helps businesses make informed decisions, avoiding larger conflicts.

• It enables companies to identify growth opportunities and potential threats at an early stage.

• Through systematic analysis and data collection, techniques are developed to help businesses achieve both short-term and long-term objectives — a big factor of business success.

• Identify Scanning Needs and Objectives, Collect Relevant Information, Analyze Information, Forecast and Anticipate Changes, Develop Action Plans, Monitor and Review

Process of Environmental Scanning

Identify Scanning Needs and Objectives

• Established a purpose of scanning, such as assessing new market trends or monitoring competitors — it guides the scope and focus

Collect Relevant Information

• Gather information from different sources, including both internal or external sources. It usually includes industrial reports, competitor insights and technological trends.

Analyze Information

• involves interpreting the collected data to identify patterns, correlations, and potential implication for the organizations.

Forecast and Anticipate Changes

• Use forecasting tools and predictive models to identify potential future developments in the environment.

Develop Action Plans

• Based on the analysis, create strategic plans to respond to opportunities and mitigate risks.

Monitor and Review

• it is a continuous process, requiring regular monitoring and adjustments based on the latest information available.

• SWOT Analysis, PESTLE, Porter’s Five Forces

• Techniques of Environmental Scanning

SWOT

• a planning tool used to identify and evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of an organization

Strengths

• internal factors that refer to any number of areas or characteristics in which a company excels and gains a competitive advantage over its competitors.

• these dvantages may be qualitative in nature, making them difficult to measure, such as a great corporate culture, strong brand recognition, and so on.

Weaknesses

• internal factor

• competitive disadvantage among their peers

• it is where the company falls short.

• Examples include inexperienced management, high employee turnover

Opportunities

• external factor

• represents a company's potential areas for growth or improvement, which may give them an advantage over competitors.

• Examples include technological advancements, new markets, and emerging trends.

Threats

• external factors

• represent the risks to a business's ability to operate.

• Examples include market changes, economic downturns, and regulatory changes.

PESTEL Analysis

• framework for assessing the business environment in which a company operates

Political Factors

• these are government-driven actions, regulations, and policies that shape the business environment.

• Example: When our government lowered corporate tax rates – it could help companies save money and reinvest in growth.

Economic Factors

• these refer to the economic conditions and trends that affect consumer purchasing power, business costs, and overall industry performance.

• Example: Rising fuel prices increase resulting in a hike in fares.

Social Factors

• these involve cultural, demographic, and lifestyle aspects that influence consumer needs, behaviors, and market demand.

• Example: Gen Z’s becoming more health-conscious they may demand more for sugar-free drinks, fat free products, and plant-based foods.

Technological Factors

• these refer to innovations and tech developments that influence industries and consumer behavior.

• Example: Online payment apps like Gcash and Maya made cashless shopping common in the Philippines.

Environmental Factors

• also called ecological factors, these cover the physical and environmental conditions that affect business sustainability.

• Example: Coffee Shops started using paper straws to reduce plastic waste.

Legal Factors

• these involve the laws and regulations businesses must follow

• Example: Employers must follow minimum wage laws in the Philippines.

Porter’s Five Forces Model

• developed by Michael E. Porter (Harvard Business School, 1979)

• this model is a strategic tool used to analyze the level of competition within an industry and assess its profitability and attractiveness

Competitive Rivalry

• measures how intense the competition is among existing businesses in the industry. High rivalry usually means lower profitability.

Threat of New Entrants

• assesses how easy or difficult it is for new businesses to enter the market and compete. If an industry is profitable and there are few barriers to enter, rivalry soon intensifies. When more organizations compete for the same market share, profits start to fall.

Threat of Substitutes

• looks at the risk of customers switching to alternative products or services that meet the same need.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

• refers to how much power suppliers have over businesses, especially when they control prices or supply availability.

Bargaining Power of Buyers

• describes the influence customers have on pricing and product quality. High buyer power pushes companies to lower prices or improve quality.

Trend Spotting

• involves identifying emerging patterns or themes that are widely popular before they reach their peak.

• This involves taking steps to detect signals like emerging data anomalies or cultural shifts and using them to forecast a trend’s growth and development.

Purpose of Trendspotting

• gives analysts, marketers, product developers, and other professionals the ability to plan for the future by anticipating new business opportunities and demands.

• can help brands distinguish themselves from the competition with a first-move advantage.

Fads

• refers to a temporary enthusiasm for a product, idea or behavior that gains rapid popularity but fades quickly. These are short-lived and driven by hype

Trends

• refers to a more sustainable and long-lasting pattern of behavior or preferences that evolves over time.

Google Trends, trandwatching, social media platforms

Tools for Trendspotting

Google Trends

• free online tool developed by Google that allows users to explore popularity of specific search queries over time and across different regions

TrendWatching

• tool that provides in-depth reports and insights on global and regional trends, ideal to use for understanding consumer behavior.

Social Media Platforms

• it is a great platform to spot trends because millions of users share and interact with content in real time.

Evaluating Entrepreneurial Opportunities

• is the process of analyzing and assessing a potential business idea or market opportunity to determine its feasibility, profitability, and long-term sustainability.

Purpose of Opportunity Evaluation

• for the business to make informed decisions on pursuing, adjusting, or dropping opportunities, thus optimizing resource allocation and minimizing risks.

• ensures that the opportunity aligns with the market demands, and company goals.

• helps a business identify the idea’s strengths and weaknesses

Idea Screening, Market and Consumer Analysis, Value Proposition and Differentiation, Feasibility and Resource Check, Risk and Mitigation, Financial Forecasting, Make the decision

Steps in Opportunity Evaluation

Segmentation Bases

• is the process of dividing a broad market into smaller, more defined groups of consumers who share similar characteristics, needs, or behaviors

Demographic Segmentation

• is the process of dividing a broad market into smaller, more defined groups of consumers who share similar characteristics, needs, or behaviors

Psychographic Segmentation

• describes an individual's psychological traits by categorizing people into groups based on unobservable elements of their psychology, such as personality, lifestyle, social status, activities, interests, opinions, and attitudes.

Geographic Segmentation

• involves dividing the market based on where the consumer lives and works. This segmentation assumes that a person’s location can significantly influence their behavior, preferences, and purchasing decisions.

Behavioral Segmentation

• refers to the audience's group actions, habits, and interactions. It focuses on how consumers interact with products and brands.

• This approach examines factors such as purchase behavior, brand loyalty, usage rate, benefits sought, and buyer readiness stage.

Profiling Segments

• is a strategic process that involves categorizing a population into distinct groups based on shared characteristics or behaviors.

• it allows companies to cater accurately to the needs of different consumer groups. This process helps in creating a focused brand message that can effectively engage the target audience.

Census data, HubSpot’s Marketing Hub, Salesforce Customer 360, SurveyMonkey, Social Media Analytics

What are the tools and data sources for profiling segments?

Census data

• refers to the structured record of information collected by national or local authorities from every household and individual inhabiting a particular region or country.

• It’s open for public access.

HubSpot’s Marketing Hub

• tool excels in providing a 360-degree view of the customer journey.

• It captures every interaction a customer has with your brand, from the first website visit to the final purchase, enabling personalized marketing strategies.

Salesforce Customer 360

• integrates seamlessly with other Salesforce products, offering a unified customer profile that enhances cross-departmental collaboration.

Survey Monkey

• a well-known platform that specializes in creating and analyzing customer surveys, making it a valuable tool for businesses looking to gather direct insights from their customer base.

Social Media Analytics

• Data from social listening tools (Sprout Social, Meltwater) that track what people are saying about your brand, their interests, and their social behavior on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Lifecycle Segmentation

• is the process of grouping customers based on the customer lifecycle stage they are in.

• helps you learn the proportion of customers at every stage and discover trends in how people move between the stages.

Geo-demographic Clustering

• is a market analysis technique that categorizes consumers into specific groups based on their shared demographic and geographic traits.

Digital Behavior Segmentation

• is the process of grouping customers based on their actions and interactions with a company's digital channels, such as websites, mobile apps, social media, and email.

Psychographic Deep Dives

• involves analyzing consumer behavior and motivations beyond basic demographics.

• focuses on understanding the psychological attributes of consumers, such as values, interests, attitudes, and lifestyles.

psychographics

Which of the segmentation bases yields the richest insight for new ventures?

Evaluating Segment Attractiveness

• first step in target market selection is assessing the attractiveness of different customer segments.

Market size and growth rate

• indicate whether the segment is large enough to sustain operations and whether there is room for long-term expansion.

Profitability potential

• focuses on the customers’ willingness to pay, as well as their sensitivity to pricing, which directly affects margins.

Accessibility

• measures how easily the company can reach the target segment through distribution channels, promotions, and communication strategies.