market research

• Businesses need to find out what customers want and what competitors are doing so they use market research to do this
• There are 2 types of market research - field (primary) and desk (secondary) market research
• examples of field research -

  • observation
  • hall test
  • focus group
  • online survey
  • telephone interview
  • face to face interview
  • postal survey
• Advantages of field research -

  • the research gathered is new information
  • the research is more up to date than desk research
  • it has been gathered for a specific purpose and is relevant to the business needs
  • The business has full control over the data collection process, ensuring the reliability and quality of the data.
  • Unlike other forms of research, only the organisation that collects data has access to it.
• Disadvantages of field research -

  • it can be expensive to gather the information
  • it can take a long time to carry out
  • people need to be trained in carrying out field research (interview techniques)
• field research is when information is gathered by an individual or organisation by actively going out and gathering the information.
• Desk research is when you gather and analyse data that has already been published by someone else
• examples of desk research

  • sales figures
  • newspapers
  • government publications
  • websites
  • commercial publications
• advantages of desk research

  • easy to obtain
  • it is usually cheaper
  • decisions can be made quickly because the information already exists
  • it saves time
• disadvantages of desk research -

  • it is not as reliable as field research
  • might not be useful
  • might be outdated
  • could be bias
  • information is less specific than field