CH18 - Market Research

Question 1

What is the purpose of Market research ?

Answer 1

Aimed at finding the characteristics of customers and what products they want and why

Question 2

What dose Market Research measure ?

Answer 2

New products
Different price levels
Alternat forms of promoting
New packaging
Online distribution

Question 3

How dose Market research link to NPD ?
(Customers needs and tastes)

Answer 3

Undertake primary & secondary research into consumer needs and the business competition

Question 4

How dose Market research link to NPD ?
(Product idea and packaging)

Answer 4

Testing product and packaging with consumer groups

Question 5

How dose Market research link to NPD ?
(Brand positioning and advertising)

Answer 5

Pre-testing the product image and advertisements
(control groups)

Question 6

What is the link between MR and Consumer characteristics ?

Answer 6

A business needs to establish who the consumer of their products are likely to be
Being aware of this allows the product to be targeted (target market) based upon consumer factors (age, income etc)

Question 7

MR and pattern of sales in market trends

Answer 7

MR needs to be conducted on both existing products as well as new
Ex :
Sales at Gap fell they then conducted MR and data was then used to promote and reverse the trend of sales

Question 8

How dose MR help with future demand changes ?

Answer 8

A business need to try forecast changes in demand level so that it doesn’t produce less or more of product than needed.

Question 9

How MR helps with promotion styles and packaging ?

Answer 9

Consumer testing of products and promotions is constantly being undertaken by some businesses
Different versions of a product being advertised should be tested before final decision
Consumer responses can be include into final product

Question 10

What is Quantitative Data? (Basic)

Answer 10

Numbers & quantities

Question 11

What is Qualitative data? (Basic)

Answer 11

Broader information, writing etc

Question 12

What is Primary Research?

Answer 12

First hand collection of data by an organisation for its own needs
Find out people’s opinions

Question 13

How can you conduct Primary Research ?

Answer 13

Questionnaire, interviews , consumer panels , observation , experiments (Test Marketing)

Question 14

What are the advantages of Primary Research ?

Answer 14

Helps to find out about completely new markets for which no other data exists
Helps business get specific information for new products/services (Competitors may not have)
Business can target a specific market to obtain information

Question 14

What are the disadvantages of Primary Research ?

Answer 14

Expensive
Time consuming
Success depends on quality of research
Based on a sample of people may not represent the market segment as a whole

Question 15

What do you get from a questionnaire ?

Answer 15

Included detailed, open questions to give qualitative and quantitative data

Question 16

What can be done in an Interview?

Answer 16

Allows for personal contact with the participants, follow-up questions can be asked

Question 17

The downside to observations ?

Answer 17

If people are aware they are being observed they could behave differently

Question 18

What happens in a Focus groups ?

Answer 18

Encourage debate between consumers about a product or advertisement. Discussion is observed and recorded

Question 19

What is Secondary research ?

Answer 19

Originally collected by another, often for a different purpose
Lower in cost and quicker to find
Can be used to asses the main features of a market

Question 20

Advantages of Secondary Research ?

Answer 20

Can provide information about the population, economy and market
Can help identify key areas of market information Primary Research needs to focus on
Many sources can be accessed on the internet
Limited finance may prove this to be the only option

Question 21

Disadvantages of Secondary Research ?

Answer 21

Difficult to find specific information
Data may not be accurate
Information may be outdated
Not all data is available to every business and could be expensive to obtain and has to be purchased from a MR agency
Data is so vast that its not easy to analyse or make useful for an individual business

Question 22

Sources of Secondary Data

Answer 22

Government
Local Government (governing body)
Trade organisations
Market Research agencies
Internal company records
Company records and accounts