4.4 Market Research Flashcards
reasons to carry out market research
- identify customers’ needs and wants and understand consumers’ purchasing behaviour
- identifying potential changes in the market (ie consumer spending patterns)
- establishing what consumers like and dislike testing new products
- evaluating existing marketing efforts
- investigating new possibilities in existing or new markets
how social enterprises use market research
- they focus on human needs
- they carry out market research to identify which human needs they should address through their work and how well their activities manage to meet the need
product-based research
- testing new product –> releasing the product to a specific area for a limited time
- see if it meets needs of target market
price-based research
- regularly research market to find out pricing strategies of competitors
- adjust own prices to make sure they are in line with the competition
promotion-based research
select which media ttheir target market accesses
(if they select wrong and the target market doesn’t see it = money wasted)
place-based research
selecting right distribution channels
people-based research
people representing bran are well trained and inform and support customer
- good experience incentivizes repeat selling
customer service
process-based research
implementing appropriate process for delivering the service
physical evidence-based research
researching sensory and visual experiences of the customer
primary market research
- new information gathered by surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups, camera studies etc
secondary market research
using evidence (about a market) gathered by others
- ex. academic journals, government publications, media articles, market analyses
surveys
primary market research
- qualitative and quantitative data
- email surveys, phone surveys, face-to-face surveys
surveys and prices/ responsiveness
fast and affordable: online
middle: telephone
higher response rate: face-to-face
interviews
primary market research
- lengthier
- large amount of qualitative data
- follow-up questions
- interviewees usually require financial incentive to take part
focus groups
primary market research
- interview with a small group of individuals (with similar characteristics)
observations
primary market research
- natrual reactions of customers studied
market analyses
secondary market research
- paying a market research agency for new research is more up-to-date, but it is expensive
- less expensive to buy market analysis reports that are already published
academic jounals
secondary market research
- articles on new research and academic theory
government publications
secondary market research
- up to date and reliable data
- free
media articles
secondary market research
- updated regularly
- current local and/or national info
other online secondary research content examples
secondary market research
- social media
- company websites
- e-commerce sales data
- investor relations pages
five best things to look for in market research
currency
relevance
authority
accuracy
purpose
uses of primary research
- direct information about preferences and tastes
- info about reasons for purchase
- unique info = competitive advantage
limitations of primary research
- expensive and time-consuming
- training staff to carry it out
- difficult to construct effective questions and experiments
uses of secondary research
- lower cost
- broader contextual information about whole economy, population and general trends
- already available (published)
limitations of secondary research
- rely on research methods of others
- information that the business wants may not exist
- existing info may not fit business’s purpose (may be for different issue, subject or target market)
quantitative research
collection of numerical data and information that can be counted
smaller amount of information from a larger sample size
qualitative research
collection of non-numerical data, such as opinions
(“why”)
more information from a smaller sample size
sample
subset of individuals from a given population that is used to make some estimation or prediction of the population as a whole
population
group of individuals from which a sample is drawn
sampling
selecting a subset of individuals from a given population to make an estimation or prediction about the population as a whole
sampling mehods
- random sampling
- quota sampling
- convenience sampling
random sampling
everyone in the population has the same chance of being selected to take part in the research
quota sampling
dividing the population into strata (layers) based on a given characteristic; proportional sample then taken from each strata
advantages of quota sampling
- faster and easier to administer
- less expensive than random
- population proportions taken into account
convenience sampling
sample is made up of whoever is willing to take part in the research
pros and cons of convenience sampling
pros: easier, convenient, less expensive
cons: doesn’t represent population accurately
pros and cons of random sampling
pros: more accurate
cons: more expensive
