Market Research

• Market Research

  The collection of information that might help a business to be more successful and/or spot gaps in the market. 
• The purpose of market research is to:

  Identify customer needs

  Identify a target market

  Identify a gap in the market

  Understand the level of demand for goods and services
• Types of market research

  Primary and secondary research
• Primary research 


  is data collected first-hand for a specific purpose by the business.
• Types of Primary research:

  Questionnaires

  Observations

  Focus groups 

  Interviews
• Advantages of primary research

  • Specific to the business
  • Provides detailed information
  • Relevant and up to date
• Disadvantages of Primary research:

  • time consuming
  • sometimes difficult to collect
  • expensive
• Secondary research


  is data that already exists that has been collected for a different purpose.
• Examples of Secondary research:

  Government information

  Competitor websites

  Customer reviews

  Newspapers

  Market research reports
• Advantages of Secondary research:

  • quick and easy to gather
  • Provides industry-specific information
  • Often easy to analyse
• Disadvantages of Secondary research:

  • Not specific to the business
  • Could be outdated
  • May be biased or inaccurate 
• Qualitative research


  is usually expressed as opinions, including descriptive information gained using open-ended questions such as ‘What do you like about this product and why?’
• Quantitative research


  is usually numerical data gathered through the use of closed question such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses, multiple choice options or a rating system. This type of research can generally be expressed in a graph or chart.