1.3 Flashcards
Different types of information?
Internal
External
Qualitative
Quantitative
Historic
Forecasted
Primary
Secondary
What are the advantages of internal information?
Readily available
Less costly to collect than external
Contains fewer errors than external through market research
What are the disadvantages of external information?
Culture needed of keeping accurate info within a business
Fails to consider the external environment
Doesn’t help with consumer trends
Doesn’t provide opportunities for benchmarking
Cannot prepare a business from future threats
What are the advantages of external information?
A large amount of info is available
Easy to obtain online
What are the disadvantages of external information?
Quantity of data can be confusing
Can be very costly to obtain info from external research companies
What are the advantages of qualitative information?
Allows a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour as in detail
Allows people to elaborate on their answer, more detailed analysis
What are the disadvantages of qualitative information?
Difficult to analyse as answers can vary
Time-consuming to organise focus groups and f2f interviews
Longer to analyse results
Fewer people can be researched, and results therefore cannot be accurately generalised
What are the advantages of quantitative information?
Easy to analyse
Consumer trends can be deduced
Data more objective then qualitative
Results can generally be applied to whole population
Easier, cheaper and less time consuming
What are the disadvantages of quantitative information?
It does not answer the question “why?”
Might lead to bias and false answers, rendering findings unreliable
Answers may not be true, only the closest match
Data can appear more scientific and factual than it actually is
What are the advantages of historic information?
Can be used to forecast the future
Future sales can be forecasted using past figure sales
Easy to collect historic data and quick
Ensures consistency, attitude, value. Stakeholders know what to expect
What are the disadvantages of historic information?
If there have been changes to internal and external environment, use of historic info could impede growth. Loss in market share and failure
What are the advantages of forecasted information?
If reliable, allows the business to be prepared
Cash flow forecasts used to predict shortages of cash.
What are the disadvantages of forecasted information?
Might not be useful in the face of changes
Inaccurate forecasts may lead to disastrous decisions and huge losses.
Not easy to predict
Requires a high degree of skill, knowledge and experience
What are the advantages of primary information?
Questionnaires can be tailored to fit specific needs.
What are the disadvantages of primary information?
Costly and time-consuming
Lot of skills and knowledge are required
