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Market Research. Stage 6 Business Studies. Success depends on a lot of things, but when you have information about a particular market segment, a geographic area, or customer preferences, you'll be better prepared to make the decisions that can make or break your business.
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Market Research Stage 6 Business Studies
Success depends on a lot of things, but when you have information about a particular market segment, a geographic area, or customer preferences, you'll be better prepared to make the decisions that can make or break your business
MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS • Market research is the systematic collecting, recording and analysing of information related to the marketing of goods and services.. • The main steps involved are: • A. Determining information needs • B. Data collection • C. Data analysis and interpretation.
Determining information needs • This is deciding the type of information that will be most useful to the business. • Begins with identifying and defining the problem e.g. 'Sales of a product are falling so the reason for this problem must be found.' • Research is then necessary to identify what type of information is appropriate for solving the problem. There are three main types of research: .
Types of Research • Exploratory research - used to clarify the problem • Descriptive research - used to describe things about the problem • Causal research - used to determine cause- and-effect relationships • Example, falling sales may be a symptom of an underlying problem related to price or product promotion. • Exploratory and descriptive research can assess the effect of competing products, the success of promotions and the characteristics of the market, • Causal research can determine the effect of a price change.
Data Collection • The major part of designing market research is deciding what data needs to be collected. • Two main types of market research data: • i. Primary Research and • ii. Secondary Research • Primary Research is data is collected specifically for the problem, and requires original data. • Secondary Research is research already published, and is the cheapest form of research because the data already exists for your acquisition (aka desktop)
Primary Collection Primary Collection • The main sources of primary research are: Observationalresearch. The researcher watches people's behaviour in an area such as a shop. It is useful for gathering data from people who would not ordinarily volunteer it Focusgroups. • Involves a group of people selected because they match the characteristics of the target market. • People are shown the product and guided through a process of collecting information on the product such as its packaging, size and advertising3/6
Primary Sources Cont. Experimentalresearch. • This tests responses by changing aspects of a product to prove a cause- and-effect relationship Surveys. • A popular way of collecting data. • Surveys need to be carefully constructed. • Various styles of questions can be used as well as different ways of collecting information (phone, personal interviews, mail and so on).
Problems with primary research • Primary Research has two problems: • Very expensive to collect • Usually takes a long time to collect.
Secondary Research Secondary research may be collected in two ways: • Externally, when a business uses a market research firm • Internally, when the business conducts the research itself.
Internal Data Collection • Data that has been collected and published previously. Because it is widely available and comparatively cheap, many researchers begin with secondary data. Secondary data can be collected from: • Internalsources are mainly: • Accounts departments, for details of customer sales • Marketing departments, for details of sales reports and sales distribution.
External Data Collection : • The media, such as newspapers and magazines • State and federal governments, which collect large amounts of data (the Australian Bureau of Statistics is an example) • Trade associations • Company reports • Research firms • The Internet.
Data Analysis & Interpretation • Once data is collected, it must be interpreted to make it useful. • Researchers interpret findings, draw conclusions about usefulness and report outcomes to management. • Data becomes information and makes it useful. • Information is usually presented as a report to management. • Decisions on how to use the research will then be made by management ( possibly in consultation with researchers)