Marketing Research
- Systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services
- In order to make sure that your marketing strategies are effective, you should ask the following questions:
- Who are my customers and potential customers?
- What kind of people are they?
- Where do they live?
- Can and will they buy?
- Am I offering the kinds of goods or services they want—at the best place, at the best time, and in the right amounts?
- Are my prices consistent with what buyers view as the product’s value?
- Are my promotional programs working?
- What do customers think of my business?
How does my business compare with my competitors?This is not a perfect science because there are too many subjective factors—people and constantly changing feelings and behaviorsYou must gather facts and opinions in an orderly, objective way to find out what people want to buy, not just what you want to sell themLearning what customers want and how to present it attractively drives the need for marketing researchSmall business owners tend to have an edge over knowing what customers want because they are closer to their customers and can learn more quickly about their buying habits while large businesses must hire experts to study the mass marketMarket research ensures that marketing information is timely and permits entrepreneurs to:- Reduce business risks
- Spot current and upcoming problems in the current market
- Identify sales opportunities
- Develop plans of action
Without knowing, most business owners do market research every day by analyzing returned items, asking former customers why they have switched, and looking at competitor’s pricesFormal marketing research simply makes this familiar process orderly by providing a framework to organize market information
Market Research—The Process
(1) Define Marketing Problems and Opportunities
a. The first step is often overlooked, but it could possibly be the most crucial step
b. To define the problem, list every factor that may have influenced it, then eliminate any that cannot be measured
c. Examine this list while conducting research to see if any factors ought to be added, but do not let it influence data collection
(2) Set Objectives, Budget, and Timetables
(3) Select Research Types, Methods, and Techniques
a. Assess any information that is immediately available—solutions to the problem may become obvious through the process of defining it
b. Before considering surveys or field experiments, look at the information you currently have—sales records, complaints, receipts, customers’ addresses, credit records, employees
c. Secondary research uses published sources like surveys, books, and magazines, applying or rearranging the information in them to bear on the problem or opportunity at hand
d. Localized figures from newspapers and other local media are often helpful on discovering local conditions
e. There are many sources of secondary research material, all of which are available in libraries, colleges, trade and general business publications, and newspapers
f. Primary research includes direct mail questionnaires, telephone surveys, experiments, panel studies, test marketing, and behavior observation
g. Primary research is usually divided into reactive and non-reactive research
h. Non-reactive research involves observing how people behave in real market situations and reactive research, which includes surveys, interviews, and questionnaires, is usually best left to marketing professionals in order to get more objective and sophisticated results
(4) Design Research Instruments
(5) Collect Data
(6) Organize and Analyze the Data
(7) Present and use Market Research Findings
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