104 market research

Question 1

explain what is meant by market research

Answer 1

the process of collecting information and data about a business’s customers, the marketplace and the activities of competitors within that marketplace.

Question 2

explain the value of carrying out market research

Answer 2

-discover needs of customers
-test customer response to new products/service
-monitor competition
-decide weather or not market demand is Increasing/decreasing

Question 3

distinguish between primary and secondary market research

Answer 3

-primary: data collected by you. the data collected is new,and directly relevant to the needs of the business . it’s specific to the business and products

-secondary: previously collected information, not been gathered specifically for the business , but adapted for its use

Question 4

distinguish between quantitative and qualitative data

Answer 4

quantitative- aims to gather information based on facts and statistics, ask closed questions ,can discover trends and patterns, subjectiveness is eliminated , but answers are closed not leading to fuller responses

qualitative-aims to discover opinions/views and discover attitudes and motivations of consumer eg.by focus group- it helps gain realistic understanding of the world of the consumer as questions can be expanded/adopted . but answers can be time consuming and subjective

Question 5

explain the different methods of primary and secondary research available to business

Answer 5

primary- questionnaires, focus group , test marketing and consumer panels(individuals selected by business to provide input/opinion of product for research)

secondary- official publications , industry magazines , internal information, online desk research

Question 6

explain issues involved in selecting the most appropriate method of market research

Answer 6

~ money-have you got access to the resources

~time -how quick do you need the data

~availability- do you have existing customers or are you looking for new customers

~personalisation- does the data need to be about your business specifically

Question 7

evaluate usefulness of primary research

Answer 7

-you can see what the customers want and provide them with the services -> however it depends on if they respond to the eg.questionaries

• up to date information- better decision making ->however it depends on how long it take eg.due to sample size and open questions and how expensive it is
• the research collected is only available to the business enabling it to gain advantages over competitors -> can be bias

Question 8

evaluate usefulness of secondary research

Answer 8

(+) cheap and quick to obtain , easy to analyse several data sources

(-) often out if date, little control over quantity and quality, problems with interpretation

Question 9

interpreting quantitative and qualitative data

Answer 9

key points to consider :
-has the data been interpreted correctly?
-is the sample big enough ?
-were correct methods used ?
-is there any bias ?
-are results strong or weak eg. 80/20 ratter than 60/40

Question 10

evaluate qualitative data

Answer 10

(+) up to date information on customers and what they want - helping the business make adaptions to better meet expectations-increasing profit -feel valued brand loyalty

(-) time consuming , expensive ,prone to bias , depends on experience/ skill of researcher

Question 11

evaluate quantitate data

Answer 11

(+) easier to find trends , removes subjectivity and bias , cheaper and easier to collect , easier to get participants (less time to complete)

(-) it shows figures but does not show why these figures have occurred as the questions are closed , the validity of findings depends on the sample , out of date (not up to date with competitors)

Question 12

what is sampling

Answer 12

getting opinions from a number of people, chosen from a specific group, in order to find out about the whole group

Question 13

explain quota sampling

Answer 13

~quota sampling- ‘population is segmented into specific groups with the same characteristics then a number is selected from each group’ ,
(+) could be cheap/ easy - requires less respondents
(-)less representative , high levels of bias , not representative of the population

Question 14

describe random sampling

Answer 14

‘every member of the population has an equal chance of selection’
(+) no bias
(-) assumes all members are the same- not representable

Question 15

understand the need to avoid bias in market research

Answer 15

‘bias is something that may cause data within a sample to be weighted towards one side ‘
-data collected may not be valid/reliable
-data may be misleading -negatively affects success of businesses

Question 16

evaluate the usefulness of sample size for a business

Answer 16

size of sample needs to be large enough to make data statistically valid :
-too large sample size -time consuming , expensive
-too small-greater chance random factors will make results inaccurate