Market Research Techniques Commonly Adopted by Research Firms

1. Market Research Techniques Commonly Adopted by Research Firms Businesses that are starting new or looking to launch a product in a new market need to conduct market research. Market research can offer valuable data, insights, and perspectives to help businesses succeed. However, conducting market research is not easy, as businesses need to think about several factors like where to start, how to define the key business objectives, and how to gather information. Likewise, how much information to collect, how to analyze the data to extract meaningful insights, etc. If these parameters are not carefully thought about, companies would receive sub optimal responses that might lead to poor decisions. Hence, planning and executing an effective market research plan is important for companies. It benefits organizations in making vital decisions, finding new opportunities, identifying competitors, and improving offerings. Other important aspects of market research include assessing customer behavior, tracking market trends, etc.

2. Different techniques of conducting market research: Primary Market Research— It is a process of determining the product or service viability based on data collected directly from a set of potential customers. This type of market research is done from scratch and is not carried out based on the previously done research. Primary market research is carried out through surveys, product trials, product testing, in-person interview, or direct observations. Primary research is usually carried out by marketers to address a problem that requires in-depth analysis. This type of market research strengthens marketing strategy because data and information come directly from the customers. Primary research is of two types, quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative market research— This market research deals with numerical data instead of consumers’ attitudes and opinions. This research is carried out through surveys, polls, and questionnaires to collect large amounts of statistical data. The data gathered is analyzed through mathematical, statistical, and computational methods to determine patterns, form predictions, and make estimations. This type of market research provides accurate results and allows companies to develop clear objectives and the way to achieve those objectives. Qualitative market research— This market research is carried out by collecting observational, behavioral, and non-numerical data like text, video, or audio to have insights into consumers’ opinions and experiences. Qualitative market research is conducted through interviews and focus groups and involves open-ended questions and a small sample comprising of a few respondents. An in-depth discussion is carried out on the topics among the respondents to gain insight into what customers are thinking about the product. Secondary Market Research— This kind of market research is carried out using data from secondary sources that were previously collected. Such data is often obtained from

3. government agencies, magazines, industry and trade associations, newspapers, media agencies, and industry-focused newsletters. Hence this type of market research is easily accessible and is more cost-effective compared to primary market research. There are two types of secondary market research, secondary market research from internal sources and secondary market research from external sources. Internal data— Market research from internal sources makes use of the data available in the company’s database for future reference. Such data include sales records, customer account information, product usage data, or previous research reports. It also includes records of earlier advertising and marketing campaigns, etc. External data— Market research from external data is prepared from data from external sources. Data are collected from industry reports, magazines, competitors’ websites, journals, and market reports, etc.