Market Research Flashcards
Market research
The process of collecting information about a business’s customers, the market place and the activities of competitors within that marketplace.
Features of market research
Have a collection of information relative to their objectives
Analyse and evaluate information to allow the business to make more informed decisions
Primary market research
The collection of information first-hand for a specific purpose.
Methods of primary research
Questionnaires
Focus groups
Consumer panels
Test marketing
Questionnaires
Specific information gained from a series of questions, usually carried out face to face.
Focus groups
Chaired discussions on themes set by a market researcher to try to understand most important issues to all groups of the population.
Consumer panels
Similar to focus groups, but more product orientated, and made up of consumers of products. The objective is to gain opinions on different aspects of a product.
Test marketing
Trial release of the product in a restricted area, designed to gather customer responses.
Secondary market research
The use of information that has already been collected for a different purpose.
Methods of secondary research
Official publications
Industry magazines
Internal information
Online desk research
Official publications
Census reports and social trend surveys.
Industry magazines
Many industries produce their own ‘industry magazine’, which provides information on specific retail and product areas.
Internal information
Retailers can build up detailed profiles of their customers, and then create target marketing, improve customer service and alter product ranges.
Online desk research
Simple Google searches can often find relevant data, and there is tons of information avaliable on the internet. Sorting out what is useful from the rest can be difficult.
Qualitative research
Based on opinions, attitudes and beliefs. Aims to understand why customers behave in a certain way or how they respond to a new product.
Advantages of qualitative research
Uses open ended questions - answers are unrestricted
Detailed insights and thoughts
Can highlight issues and problems
Disadvantages of qualitative research
Difficult to analyse and interpret because answers aren’t closed
Difficult to find patterns/trends
Quantitative research
Research concerned with data. Based on larger sample and therefore more statistically valid.
Advantages of quantitative research
Uses closed questions - has a pre-fixed determined answer
Easy to analyse and interpret
Disadvantages of quantitative research
Doesn’t give reasons/explanations
Can lack reliability if the sample is too small or is biased
Sample
Obtaining representative data from a population.
Methods of sampling
Random sampling
Quota sampling
Random sampling
Every member of the population has an equal chance of being interviewed.
Features of random sampling
Not easy to achieve (don’t confuse with haphazard sampling)
Creates expensive fieldwork costs
Drawn from local electoral registers
Interviewer must call three times before giving up on the address
Quota sampling
The population is segmented into a number of groups which share specific characteristics.
Features of quota sampling
The sample is often segmented on the demographic profile
This is a relatively cheap method of sampling
Bias
A concern or interest with one thing more than others
