Market Research

Question 1

What is primary research?

Answer 1

Data collected first-hand for a specific research purpose

Question 2

What is secondary research?

Answer 2

Data that already exists and which has been collected for a different purpose

Question 3

What are some examples of primary research?

Answer 3

• Focus groups
• Interviews
• Surveys/questionnaires
• Product trials

Question 4

What are some examples of secondary research?

Answer 4

• Market reports
• Analytics
• Google

Question 5

What are some advantages of primary research?

Answer 5

• Directly focused to research objectives - fit for purpose
• Generally up to date
• More detailed insights, mainly into customers views

Question 6

What are some disadvantages of primary research?

Answer 6

• Very time consuming and often expensive to obtain

- Risk of survey bias - data may not be representative of the population

Question 7

What are some advantages of secondary research?

Answer 7

• Often free and easy to obtain
• Good source of market insights
• Quick to access and use

Question 8

What are some disadvantages of secondary research?

Answer 8

• Can quickly become out of date
• Not always tailored to specific research needs
• Specialist reports can be expensive

Question 9

What is quantitative research?

Answer 9

• More concerned with data
• Answers questions like ‘how many?’ ‘How often?’ ‘Who?’ ‘When?’ And ‘where?’
• Larger samples used therefore it is more statistically valid
• Main methods of obtaining it are different types of surveys
• Ensures the research results reflect the whole population

Question 10

What is qualitative research?

Answer 10

• Based on opinions, attitudes, beliefs and intentions
• Answers questions like ‘Why?’ ‘Would?’ Or ‘how?’
• Aims to understand why customers behave in a certain way or how they may respond to a new product
• Focus groups and interviews are common methods

Question 11

What are the benefits of quantitative research?

Answer 11

• Data relatively easy to analyse
• Numerical data provides insights into relevant trends
• Can be compared with data from other sources

Question 12

What are the drawbacks of quantitative data?

Answer 12

• Focuses on data rather than explaining why things happen
• Doesn’t explain the reasons behind numerical trends
• May lack reliability if sample size and method isn’t valid

Question 13

What are the benefits of qualitative research?

Answer 13

• Essential for important new product development and launches
• Focuses on understanding needs and wants
• Highlights issues that need addressing

Question 14

What are the drawbacks of qualitative research?

Answer 14

• Expensive to collect and analyse - requires specialist research skills
• Based around opinions - always at risk that the sample size isn’t representative

Question 15

What is market segmentation?

Answer 15

Dividing a market into parts that reflect different customer needs and wants

Question 16

What are the benefits of market segmentation?

Answer 16

• Focuses resources on parts of a market where the business can succeed
• Allows a business to grow share in markets
• Helps with new product development - focused on needs and wants of customers in the segment
• Helps make the marketing mix more effective - better targeting of promotion

Question 17

What are the drawbacks of market segmentation?

Answer 17

• Data isn’t always available, up to date or reliable
• Even if the segment is identified, it doesn’t mean the customers are reached
• Markets are increasingly dynamic

Question 18

What is market orientation?

Answer 18

Business responds to customer needs and wants and designs products accordingly

Question 19

What is product orientation?

Answer 19

Business develops products based on what it is good at doing