Finals: Lesson 13 Market Research

• Market Research


  A process used by businesses to collect, analyze and interpret information used to make sound business decisions and successfully manage the business
• Market Research

  • Helps to identify opportunities and problems
  • Used to design marketing activities
  • Used to refine the marketing activities
  • Used to evaluate marketing activities
• Six Steps of Market Research

  1. Problem Definition

  2. Research Objectives

  3. Research Design and Data Sources

  4. Sample Design

  5. Data Processing and Analysis

  6. Presentation of Results
• Problem Definition

  The process of identifying and understanding a problem or challenge
• Research Objectives


  The goals set for a research study after identifying the problem
• Types of Research Objectives

  • Exploratory
  • Descriptive
  • Cause and Effect Relationship
• Exploratory Research


  Aims to gather preliminary information to help define the problem and formulate a hypothesis
• Descriptive Research


  Involves conducting research to describe something significant for your business
• Cause and Effect Relationship Research


  Seeks to determine if one variable directly affects another
• Research Design and Data Sources

  1. Primary Data

  2. Secondary Data
• Primary Data


  Data collected specifically for the research project at hand
• Secondary Data


  Data that already exists and was collected for another purpose
• Sample Design


  The process of selecting the right group (sample) from the overall population for your research
• Data Processing and Analysis

  Organizing and analyzing the collected data
• Presentation of Results


  Presenting the findings and conclusions to the management
• Company-wide Application of Marketing Research

  • Sales Department
  • Customer Service Department
  • Product Management
• Determine Media Channels


  Deciding on the media channels to use for promoting a product
• Types of Communication

  • Social Media
  • Email Marketing
  • Surveys
  • Blogs
• Performing Product Testing


  Using a focus group to test a new product and provide feedback
• Marketing Plan


  An organizational plan, generally written for a three-year timeframe, that describes the marketing goals, strategies, and action plans for the overall marketing of products or services that a company has to offer
• Marketing Controls


  A set of procedures used to monitor the success of marketing activities set forth in a company's marketing plan
• Marketing Controls

  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Pricing
  • Delivery
• Market Research


  An overall term for ways to gather data about how satisfied customers are with the product and what influences buying decisions
• Activities Performed in Market Research

  • Test Marketing
  • Marketing Statistics
• Test Marketing


  A form of market research that helps to determine how a customer actually feels about a product or service
• Test Marketing Methods

  • Focus Groups
  • Experiments
  • Observations
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
• Marketing Statistics


  Measurements of data collected regarding profitability, market share, and sales