Market Research

• Expensive to collect and analyse as it requires specialist research skills
• Based around opinions so carries the risk that the sample isn't representative

• Essential for important new product development and launches to ensure business give customers what they want
• Focused on understanding customer needs, wants, expectations; which gives useful insights for a business
• Can highlight issues that need addressing such as why customers don't buy, whether prices are too high, quality issues, etc
• Effective way of testing elements of the marketing mix such as new branding or promotional campaigns

Customers differ in terms of:

• Benefits they want
• Amount they are able/willing to pay to give an idea of which market to attract and what price to set
• Media they see (television adverts, newspapers, websites, etc), which provides advertising and sets a reputation
• Quantities they buy - businesses need to know how much of a product to make, work out the cost, etc
• Time and place that they buy - businesses need to know where to sell their products

A form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea or packaging. 

Gets opinions of people and then their ideas, often in product development.

Often carried out by YouGov.

• Data relatively easy to analyse
• Numerical data provides insights into relevant trends
• Can be compared with data from other sources such as competitors

• Even a relatively small sample size can provide useful research insights
• Sampling before making marketing decisions can reduce risks and costs
• Flexible and relatively fast

The gathering of data from a sample of respondants, the results of which should be representative of the population as a whole. Random so not biased.

• Doesn't explain why things didn't happen, leaving a business unsure how to resolve problems
• Doesn't explain the reasons behind numerical trends
• May lack reliability if sample size and method not valid

• Time consuming and costly to obtain
• Risk of survey bias which would be inconsistent and give a false representation
• Sampling may not be representative

• Google - Good to get quick market research for free. Can access nearly all information.
• Government departments - Provide detailed insights into the economy and many industry sectors which is useful in setting objectives.
• Trade associations - Great source of market analysis which is useful to tailor products and get to know about the sector.
• Trade press and magazines - Industry and market insights from professional business publishers.
• Competitor websites and marketing materials - Provides valuable information on marketing activites of competitors so you know their tactics and how to overcome them.
• Market research reports - Commercial organisations produce a variety of reports that analyse individual markets which can point a business in the right direction.

Concerned with data such as numbers and addresses questions such as "how many?", "how often?", "who?", "when?" and "where?".

Based on larger samples so more statistically valid.

Main methods include surveys.

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

• Directly focused to research objectives and can be aimed to specific targets
• Kept private from competitors and the public
• More detailed insights, particularly into customer views which allows for better and more specific product development

Based on opinions, attitudes, beliefs and intentions.

Answers questions such as "why?", "would?" or "how?".

Aims to understand why customers behave in a certain way or how they may respond to a new product or service.

Common methods include focus groups and interviews.

• Often free and easy to obtain, but competitors could also use it
• Good source of market insights to see what's good and what's not
• Quick to access and use

• Observation
• Postal/online surveys
• Telephone interviews
• Focus groups
• Face to face surveys
• Test marketing
• Experiments

Data collected first hand for a specific research purpose.

• Can quickly become out of date, giving a false representation
• Not tailored to business needs
• Specialist reports often expensive, but could be worth it

• Dimensions of the market (size, structure, trends, etc) which gives an idea of how to operate and set marketing objectives
• Competitor strategies (market share, positioning, USPs, etc)
• Customer needs, wants and expectations so the business is able to provide products customers will buy
• Existing and potential opportunities for different market segments - there could be a gap in the market

• If it is unrepresentative of the population, could lead to incorrect conclusions
• Risk of bias in questions and answers which gives a false representation
• Less useful in market segments where customer tastes and preferences are changing frequently as results would be too varied and short lived