1.2.2 Market Research Flashcards
what is market research?
Market research is where businesses try to find out what
customers want/need, and also look at what competitors
are doing/offering.
why should a business use market research?
A business should use
market research to help
them identify what a
customer need is and how
to meet and exceed that
need
The market research should
help to understand the
potential customers
why should a business use market research?
A business should use
market research to help
them identify what a
customer need is and how
to meet and exceed that
need
The market research should
help to understand the
potential customers
how does market research help with gaps in the market?
A business will carry out
marketing research to
spot a gap in the market
or a potential business
opportunity
Markets are dynamic and
trends change all the time
so the more up-to-date
the research is – the
quicker the business can
be to market with the
product
how does market research reduce risk?
It gives the business owner solid
information on which to base a
decision e.g. where is the most
convenient location for
customers? What type of
milkshake do they prefer? How
much would customers pay for a
milkshake?
what is primary research?
Primary research is the gathering of new
information that is specific to the business
This is an expensive method of research but
will produce good quality information that the
business can use for decision making
It is not always suitable, so there are also
secondary research methods
Primary research is original data
gathered by the researcher
The information does not yet
exist, so it could not be found
on the Internet, a website, in a
magazine or anywhere else
This is brand new information
which the researcher will find
out about the business
what are the 4 main primary research
methods?
1) Survey
2) Questionnaire
3) Focus group
4) Observation
what’s a survey?
Primary research may also
include a survey of
customers who use the
business
A business can gather
quantitative (numbers) and
qualitative data (opinions)
in this method
It can also be used to
measure customer
satisfaction, giving the
business a clear idea of
where to improve
surveys have closed, multiple choice/scale questions
what makes a good questionnaire?
A business will have to
consider:
Who should they ask?
(Random or quota
sampling)
How many people should
she ask? (sample size)
Where should they stand
to ask questions?
How many questions
should they ask?
What questions should
they ask?
A good questionnaire needs
a mix of open and closed
questions:
Closed – do you like fish?
Open- what kind of fish
have you ever eaten?
They must not ask leading
questions: Do you really like
fish? If so how much?
what is a focus group? pros and cons
A focus group brings a group
of potential customers
together to talk about the
proposed new product or
service idea.
+ Quite a cheap method
which gathers lots of data
about how customers “feel”
about a product
- May be hard to persuade
people to take part - Views of small numbers of
customers may not be the
views of everyone
how can a business gather information through observation?
A business may choose
to gather data from
observation of buyer
behaviour
Do customers shop
alone or in groups?
Do customers notice
carefully placed
promotions?
What route do
customers take round a
store?
what is secondary research?
In secondary research the information already
exists in some format, someone has already
collected the data
Secondary research is also called desk
research
what are the 3 main secondary research
methods?
1) Internet
2) Market reports
3) Government reports
how is the internet help with market research?
There are billions of
websites on the Internet
It’s a great place for a
market research to find
information about the
competition
The researchers may get
ideas for new ways to
market the products by
looking at competitors
websites
how do businesses get market reports?
Mintel trends and reports –
Mintel has a global team of
trend analysts constantly
assessing change in culture,
economy and society and
writing industry reports about
it
Mintel collects all the data and
does all the research so their
business does not have to,
they can just buy the
completed report
Reports cost between £1,000 -
£4,000
