2.2 Primary Market Research

• Primary market research involves gathering data and information that has not been gathered before.
• Observations is the process of watching and notijng down what individuals do and how they behave in a particular situation. This is often used by retail.
• Observations Advantages:

  • An observation can identify if customers are avoiding an aisle completely or just not purchasing those goods.
  • It can help inform decision making of whether to continue selling a product.
• Observations Disadvantages:

  • It does not provide a reason to why people are avoiding something.
  • It can be time-consuming and costly.
• Questionnaires are a set of questions printed and written on a piece of paper sent in the post with a selection of answers. This is used by most businesses.
• Questionnaires Advantages:

  • Cheap to produce.
  • Information gained is accurate and relevant.
  • Can take place in multiple locations.
• Questionnaires Disadvantages:

  • They can't have clarification as you can't speak to them.
  • They can be seen as junk mail, hence won't be useful.
• Surveys involve a group of open and closed questions, and are one of the four types, personal, postal, telephone or internet.
• Survey Advantages:

  • Personal: Interviewers can explain questions.
  • Telephone: Covers a wide geographical area.
  • Internet: Quick to produce.
  • Postal: Information gained is accurate and relevant.
• Survey Disadvantages:

  • Personal: Expensive and time consuming.
  • Postal: Not many are returned so a waste of money.
  • Telephone: Time consuming.
  • Internet: High proportion won't be answered.
• A focus group is a group of people that have a discussion about a product or a service. This is often used by most businesses.
• Focus Group Advantages:

  • Information gained is accurate and relevant.
  • A co-ordinator can explain the questions and direct the conversation if a question needs elaboration.
• Focus Group Disadvantages:

  • Expensive.
  • Time consuming.
• Consumer trials are short-term offering of a product or service that allows a limited number of consumers to examine, use or test the product before it's fully launched. This is often used by businesses in development.
• Consumer Trials Advantages:

  • Provides honest and reliable information.
  • Information obtained can be used to amend the product if necessary.
• Consumer Trials Disadvantages:

  • Expensive to operate.
  • Analysing peoples opinions and views is not as easy as analysing numerical data.
• Test Marketing and Pilots is when a product is launched to a small part of the market. It allows us to know whether to launch nationwide and make edits to the product. The is often used by businesses in development.
• Test Marketing & Pilots Advantages:

  • There is information about the real product, not just a generic thing.
  • Reduces the financial risk as launching the product is costly.
• Test Marketing & Pilots: Disadvantages

  • Competitors will see the product and may design similar products before nationwide launch.
  • Results and feedback are based on a small group of customers and may not be representative.
• Primary Market Research Benefits:

  • Directly relevant to the business.
  • Up-to-date information gathered.
  • It's private, only your business can see it.
• Primary Market Research Drawbacks:

  • Time consuming.
  • Often expensive to carry out.
  • Results can be misleading if the sample size is too small.