Unit 4 - Marketing (Market research) Flashcards
Market Research
Market research is the process of gathering, analysing and processing data relevant to marketing decisions.
What to research?
- Market
- Competition
- Customers
Purpose of market research
- Identify market opportunities
- Gain an insight into competition
- Inform business decisions
- Identify and understand customer needs
- Assess previous decisions taken
Methods of market research
- Survey
- Questionnaire
- Focus group
- Interview
- Test Market
- Internet
- Government/Market reports
Two key categories of market research
- Primary research collects Data first-hand for a specific research purpose.
- Secondary research collects data that already exists that has been collected for a different purpose.
Surveys and Questionnaires
- Can be done by post, online or face to face. Given to existing and potential customers.
- Relatively cheap and can produce good quality data, if the sample size is large enough
- Data collected is usually quantitative and therefore easy to analyse.
- Questions need to be well designed to ensure the information collected is reliable.
- Reply rates are often low, especially for phone and postal methods.
Can be expensive and time consuming for a large sample to be obtained that truly represents the views of the general population.
Pros of Surveys
- Large amount of data relatively quickly.
- Relatively cheap to collect.
- Less expensive and time consuming.
- Collect data and information for a broad range of research purposes.
Cons of Surveys
- Face-to-face can be expensive and time consuming.
- Bias
- Poorly worded, so the results are inaccurate or misleading.
- Time-consuming to complete.
- Not be entirely truthful.
Focus groups
- Good way of getting detailed information about customer tastes and preferences.
- They provide detailed information and opinions i.e. qualitative information.
- Can be costly and time consuming to conduct and therefore need to be carefully managed.
- Only a small amount of data is collected which may not reflect the view points of others fully.
Pros of focus groups
- Cheap and easy method
- Used to measure reaction
- Identify product requirements and other needs.
- Provide insight into current position
Cons of focus groups
- Not represent the entire market.
- May not be 100% honest
- Costly
Interviews
- Can find out more in depth, qualitative information from respondents.
- Follow up questions are possible.
- Easy to clarify any misinterpretation of questions.
- Expensive and time consuming, which can limit the sample size and therefore the validity of the data collected.
Dependent on the method of interview, it may be difficult to attract potential respondents to answer questions.
Pros of interviews
- Through in-depth questioning
- High response rate
- tailored to the respondent
Cons of Interviews
- Very time consuming
- Bias
Test marketing
- Primary data can be gathered from selling a product in a specific region to test it and its sales levels.
- the feedback is used to modify the products before the final launch.
Pros of primary research
- Focused to research objectives ie what you need.
- Kept private
Cons of primary research
- Risk of survey bias
- Time-consuming and costly to obtain
Secondary market research methods
- Government information
- Competitor websites
- Customer reviews
- Newspaper (printed press)
- Market research reports
Government information
Provides detailed insights on the economy and on many industry sectors. There is also population data published by the government based on the census.
Competitor websites
Valuable information on marketing activities of competitors including their products, prices and promotional activities and materials.
Customer reviews
The internet provides data from product users who gives ratings and feedback about a particular product. In come cases these are independent sites e.g. Trip Advisor, in other cases they are provided by the business itself e.g. Amazon.
Newspapers (printed press)
Financial and economic information is provided on a daily basis. Newspapers provide local, national and international data which is up to date. They also provide case studies of other local businesses.
Market research reports
Organisations such as Mintel and Keynote produce a wide variety of expensive reports that analyse individual markets.
Pros of secondary research
- Free and easy to obtain
- Good source of market insights
- Quick
- Provide information on large parts of the population which would be unrealistic for a business to gather, by themselves.
Quantitative and qualitative
- Quantitative data: Data that is normally numerical.
- Qualitative data: Based on opinions, attitudes and beliefs.
Pros of qualitative research
- Essential for important new product development and launchers.
- Focused on understanding customer needs, wants, expectations.
- Can highlight issues
- Effective way of testing elements of the marketing mix.
Cons of qualitative research
- Expensive to collect
- Risk that the sample chosen is not representative of other=BIAS
Pros of quantitative research
- Easy to analyse
- Provides insights into relevant trends.
Can be compared with data from other sources.
Cons of quantitative data
- Does not explain why things happen.
- May lack reliability if sample size and methods is not valid.
Pros of social media marketing
- Wide reach
- Engagement
- Market information
- Cost savings
- Brand recognition
- Speed
Cons of social media marketing
- Accessibility problem
- Lurkers
- Used as a supplement
