Market research Flashcards
What are the 2 types of market research?
Field Research
Desk Research
Field Research
This involves finding out informtaion first hand (primary information) directly from the public/consumer.
Advantages of field research (2)
Information is gathered specific to your purpose.
Information is up-to-date.
Disadvantges of field research (3)
It is more expensive to gather compared to desk research.
It is more time consuming to gather compared to desk research.
People may not always give truthful answers in response to questions.
Desk research
This uses secondary information which has already been gathered for another purpose either from inside or outisde the business.
Advantages of desk research (3)
It is cheaper to access existing information rather than having to collect information from scratch.
It is easier to obtain by looking in a newspaper or on a website as the research has already been carried out.
Decisions can be made quickly as the information already exists.
Disadvantages of desk research (3)
Information may be out of date as it may have been collected a long time ago and so may not be relevant.
Information is available to competitors making it harder to find a competitive edge.
The information may not be as useful as the research has been carried out for a different purpose.
What are the 6 methods of field research?
Personal interview
Telephone survey
Postal Survey
Online Survey
Focus groups/Consumer pannels
Social networking websites
Personal interview
A face-to-face discussion between a trained interviewer and a respondent which can take place in the street or at home.
Personal interview advantages (3)
Allows two-way communication so any point can be clarified.
The researche can encourage the respondant to answer certain questions.
Body language and facial expression can be observed.
Personal interviews disadvantages (2)
It is a costly method of research as interviewers need to be trained.
It’s very time consuming as only one respondent can be interviewed at any one time.
Telephone survey
People are contacted by telephone and asked to answer a range of questions.
Telephone survey advantages (2)
Information is obtained immediately.
Any points can be clarified by the researcher.
Telephone survey disadvantages (1)
Many people will not want to speak to a researcher over the phone and so many calls will need to be made to get a large number of responses.
Postal survey
A list of questions is sent to people through the post. They will complete the survey and send it back to the business.