Market research

• Primary research - research that involves getting information from customer/ potential customers directly
• Secondary research - research that involves looking at data collected by other people
• Quantitative data - information that can be measured or reduced to a number
• Qualitative data - information that involves people's opinions and feelings
• Ways to do primary research:

  • Observations
  • Surveys
  • Questionnaires
  • Focus groups
• Ways to do secondary research:

  • Market reports
  • Government reports
  • Articles
• Ways market research helps firms:

  • Find out general information about the market
  • Understand customers
  • Make informed decisions
  • Reduce risks
  • Spot a gap in the market
• Market share - the proportion of total sales in the market controlled by a business
• Market size - how many potential buyers or sellers of products there are or the total value of products in a market
• Advantage of primary research:

  • Up to date information
  • Relevant and specif to product
  • Can be targeted at specific markets
• Disadvantages of primary research:

  • Needs large samples to be reliable
  • Often expensive
  • Time consuming #
• Advantages of secondary research:

  • Cheaper than primary research
  • Easily found
  • Instantly available
• Disadvantages of secondary research:

  • Often out of date
  • Not always relevant
  • Not specific to firm's product