10.3: Market Research

Question 1

What is market research?

Answer 1

The gathering and analysis of data about a particular market segment in order to understand what that segment wants or needs

Question 2

When can market research be useful? Give an example.

Answer 2

• At all stages of the marketing process
• Prior to starting work on a new product, a company can use market research to understand whether there is a need in the market for that product and, if so, what features people would like it to have and how much they might pay for it

Question 3

Why is it important to be clear about the aims of the research from the outset?

Answer 3

Market research takes time and effort to arrange and some methods can be relatively expensive, such as setting up a focus group

Question 4

Name 3 items that should be determined before beginning market research.

Answer 4

• what information is needed
• from whom will the researchers gather data
• how will the research be carried out

Question 5

Give some examples of how market research can be carried out.

Answer 5

• survey: a series of questions designed to investigate the opinions, feelings, actions or behaviours of a large group of people
• focus group: a small group of people drawn from the relevant consumer segment, brought together to discuss and comment on the topic being researched
• interviews: one-to-one discussion of the topic being researched
• observing consumer behaviour
  secondary research:market research is carried out by using data already available in the public domain or available as a report from a market research company

Question 6

What influence can marketing have on consumer behaviour?

Answer 6

• can bring to the attention of the consumer something that they need or want
• can direct consumers to where they can buy the product, reducing the effort needed to buy that product
• highlights the selling points of the product (whether that be a luxury status, the fact that the grapes were organically grown or a competitive price)

Question 7

Name some methods of observing and recording consumer behaviour.

Answer 7

• watching how consumers move around a shop
• interacting with consumers (e.g. retail or hospitality staff may build up a profile of the preferences of regular customers)
• store loyalty cards (records of purchases)
• web analytics (information recorded about what web pages you have visited, how long you spent on the page, etc.)