About Market Research:
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The American Marketing Association defines market research as "the process of identifying and anticipating the needs and wants of consumers, business owners, governments, and others with a stake in a product or service by conducting surveys, focus groups, polls, test marketing, and other studies."
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The following principles summarize the main goal of market research:
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Market research involves three main parties: the researcher, the client, and the interviewees.
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The role of market researchers is to research on behalf of organizations or companies, who themselves hire to obtain the information they need about the market (e.g., what products are selling). The interviewer's task is to provide that needed information by asking respondents questions and recording their answers. The respondent's role is to answer truthfully, to the best of their ability.
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The client is responsible for defining the research objectives and for providing feedback on the research process and findings. Very often, the client will need to either buy data sets that help them with the research or otherwise figure out how to run their own data collection operation in order to do so. Sometimes the research can be done manually with the help of a proxy network, but very often, a professional solution will be needed to make sure the integrity of the data is intact. Nothing worse than doing market research with faulty data leading your decisions.
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It can be seen that market research fulfills two main functions: it provides information and influences behavior. The former is the collection and analysis of data to understand customer needs, wants, and trends. The latter is the application of that understanding to create a plan or strategy—usually marketing-based—to appeal to customers and satisfy their needs.
There are many types of market research, but they can be broadly grouped into two categories: primary and secondary.
Primary research is conducted to develop or create a product or service, and so relies on data that has been collected specifically to answer certain research questions. A secondary research does not typically require any analysis of existing products but makes use of data already available from other sources such as public records and economic indicators.
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The main types of primary market research are surveys, focus groups, and interviews.
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Surveys can be conducted in several ways, but the most common is through the use of questionnaires that are sent to a target population. A questionnaire may be self-administered (e.g., through an online survey), or it may be administered by interviewers. In a focus group, a small number of participants are brought together to discuss a product or service under the guidance of a moderator. This type of research is often used to gain insights into customer attitudes and opinions. Interviews are one-on-one meetings between an interviewer and a respondent and can be conducted in person or over the phone.
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Secondary research uses data that has already been collected by someone else for a different purpose. This data can be found in published reports, such as market research reports, census data, and trade journals. It can also come from unpublished sources, such as surveys and focus groups that have been conducted by other researchers.
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Once the data has been collected, it needs to be analyzed. The primary objective of data analysis is to identify the relationships among variables. Market researchers use statistical software for this purpose.
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Finally, after knowing what the market wants and understanding how their product fits into that picture, marketers can use different strategies to promote it—ranging from television or magazine advertisements to online campaigns. It is through this process that market research can help to shape and define the products and services we see in the marketplace.
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Nowadays, market research is essential for any business, big or small. It is the process of understanding customer needs and wants, to create a plan or strategy—usually marketing-based—to appeal to customers and satisfy their needs.
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