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Market Research Reference – The Billion Dollar Site
Reference Section @ BillDoll.com – The Billion Dollar Site
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Market Research Reference
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Main Sections @ The Billion Dollar Site
Content derived from Wikipedia article on Marketing Research
Marketing research
Marketing Research is the search for and retrieval of existing, discovery or creation of new information or knowledge for a specific purpose. Research has many categories, from medical research to literary research. 'Marketing research is a form of business research. and Business-to-Business (B2B)Marketing Research, or Business Marketing Research, previously known as Industrial Marketing Research.
B2B Marketing Research investigates the markets for products sold by one business to another, rather than to consumers.
Consumer Marketing Research is a form of applied sociology which concentrates on understanding the behaviours, whims and preferences, of consumers in a market-based economy. The field of consumer marketing research as a statistical science was pioneered by Arthur Nielsen with the founding of the ACNielsen Company in 1923.
In addition to marketing research, other forms of business research include:
Market research is broader in scope and examines all aspects of a business environment. It asks questions about competitors, market structure, government regulations, economic trends, technological advances, and numerous other factors that make up the business environment. (See Environmental scanning.) Sometimes the term refers more particularly to the financial analysis of companies, industries, or sectors. In this case, financial analysts usually carry out the research and provide the results to investment advisors and potential investors.
Product research - This looks at what products can be produced with available technology, and what new product innovations near-future technology can develop. (see New Product Development)
Advertising research - This attempts to assess the likely impact of an advertising campaign in advance, and also measure the success of a recent campaign..
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Types of marketing research
Marketing research techniques come in many forms, including:
A company collects primary research by gathering original data. Secondary research is conducted on data published previously and usually by someone else. Secondary research costs far less than primary research, but seldom comes in a form that exactly meets the needs of the researcher.
A similar distinction exists between exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation. It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution. Conclusive research draws conclusions: the results of the study can be generalized to the whole population.
Exploratory research is conducted to explore a problem to get some basic idea about the solution at the preliminary stages of research. It may serve as the input to conclusive research. Exploratory research information is collected by focus group interviews, reviewing literature or books, discussing with experts, etc. This is unstructured and qualitative in nature. If a secondary source of data is unable to serve the purpose, a convenience sample of small size can be collected. Conclusive research is conducted to draw some conclusion about the problem. It is essentially, structured and quantitative research, and the output of this research is the input to Management information systems (MIS).
Exploratory research is also conducted to simplify the findings of the conclusive/ descriptive research, if the findings are very hard to interpret for Marketing Manager.
Some times it may happen to conduct conclusive research with out followed by a exploratory research. e.g. Consumer satisfaction Study. Because every year this study conducted by some one and initial ideas concern to the study may readily available.
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Marketing research methods
Methodologically, marketing research uses the following types of research designs:
A-BASED ON QUESTIONING:
Qualitative marketing research - generally used for exploratory purposes - small number of respondents - not generalizable to the whole population - statistical significance and confidence not calculated - examples include focus groups, in-depth interviews, and projective techniques Quantitative marketing research - generally used to draw conclusions - tests a specific hypothesis - uses random sampling techniques so as to infer from the sample to the population - involves a large number of respondents - examples include surveys and questionnaires
B-BASED ON OBSERVATIONS:
Ethnographic studies -, by nature qualitative, the researcher observes social phenomena in their natural setting - observations can occur cross-sectionally (observations made at one time) or longitudinally (observations occur over several time-periods) - examples include product-use analysis and computer cookie traces Experimental techniques -, by nature quantitative, the researcher creates a quasi-artificial environment to try to control spurious factors, then manipulates at least one of the variables - examples include purchase laboratories and test markets Researchers often use more than one research design. They may start with secondary research to get background information, then conduct a focus group (qualitative research design) to explore the issues. Finally they might do a full nation-wide survey (quantitative research design) in order to devise specific recommendations for the client.
Business to business market research
Business to business (b2b) research is inevitably more complicated than consumer research. The researchers need to know what type of multi-faceted approach will answer the objectives, since seldom is it possible to find the answers using just one method. Finding the right respondents is crucial in b2b research since they are often busy, and may not want to participate. Encouraging them to “open up” is yet another skill required of the b2b researcher. Last, but not least, most business research leads to strategic decisions and this means that the business researcher must have expertise in developing strategies that are strongly rooted in the research findings and acceptable to the client.
There are four key factors that make b2b market research special and different to consumer markets:
Commonly used marketing research terms
Market research techniques resemble those used in political polling and social science research. Meta-analysis (also called the Schmidt-Hunter technique) refers to a statistical method of combining data from multiple studies or from several types of studies. Conceptualization means the process of converting vague mental images into definable concepts. Operationalization is the process of converting concepts into specific observable behaviors that a researcher can measure. Precision refers to the exactness of any given measure. Reliability refers to the likelihood that a given operationalized construct will yield the same results if re-measured. Validity refers to the extent to which a measure provides data that captures the meaning of the operationalized construct as defined in the study. It asks, “Are we measuring what we intended to measure?”
Applied research sets out to prove a specific hypothesis of value to the clients paying for the research. For example, a cigarette company might commission research that attempts to show that cigarettes are good for one's health. Many researchers have ethical misgivings about doing applied research.
Sugging (or Selling Under the Guise of market research) forms a sales technique in which sales people pretend to conduct marketing research, but with the real purpose of obtaining buyer motivation and buyer decision-making information to be used in a subsequent sales call.
Frugging comprises the practice of soliciting funds under the pretense of being a research organization.
Education in Marketing Research
There are a number of excellent education opportunities, mostly of them offered by Universities or main Business Schools. A convenient and flexible approach is distance learning. "Principles of Marketing Research" [3] is a well-known and highly respected online course on Marketing Research run by the University of Georgia and supported by the Marketing Research Association (USA) [4] and ESOMAR (an international organization with headquarters in The Netherlands) [5]. It is based on the Marketing Research Core Body of Knowledge (MRCBOK©), a standard for education in Marketing Research. Recently, a specialized course in Pharmaceutical Market Research was launched ("Principles of Marketing Research - Pharmaceutical Supplements")[6]
References ^ Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation 2006 (5th Edition) by Naresh Malhotra. ISBN 0132221179 This book is a must for marketing researchers. http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Research-Applied-Orientation-Student/dp/0132221179 ^ *"Business-to-Business Marketing" By Paul Hague, Nick Hague and Matt Harrison (undated) accessed October 9, 2006 ^ http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/is/mr/index.phtml ^ http://www.mra-net.org/ ^ http://www.esomar.org/ ^ http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/is/mrpharma/index.phtml
Related topics in Wikipedia
Marketing List of marketing research firms quantitative marketing research qualitative marketing research observational techniques experimental techniques Commercial eye tracking industry or market research Knowledge management Master of Marketing Research Propaganda Internet Strategic Intelligence (ISI)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_research"
Content derived from Wikipedia article on Market Research
Market research is the process of systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about customers, competitors and the market. Market research can help create a business plan, launch a new product or service, fine tune existing products and services, expand into new markets etc. It can be used to determine which portion of the population will purchase the product/service, based on variables like age, gender, location and income level. It can be found out what market characteristics your target market has. With market research, companies can learn more about current and potential customers.
The purpose of market research is to help companies make better business decisions about the development and marketing of new products. Market research represents the voice of the consumer in a company.
A list of questions that can be answered through market research:
What is happening in the market? What are the trends? Who are the competitors? How do consumers talk about the products in the market? Which needs are important? Are the needs being met by current products? A simple example of what market research can do for a business is the following. At the company Chevrolet they brought several disciplines together in a cross-functional team to develop a concept for a completely new Corvette. This team enabled the marketers to come up with an alternative concept, one that balanced 4 attributes: comfort and convenience, quality, styling, and performance. This was considered radical because comfort and convenience were not traditional Corvette values. However, market research demonstrated that consumers supported the alternative concept. As a result the new Corvette was a huge success in the market. [Burns 2001]
With market research you can get some kind of confirmation that there is a market for your idea, and that a successful launch and growth are possible.
Market research for business planning
Market research is discovering what people want, need, or believe. It can also involve discovering how they act. Once that research is complete it can be used to determine how to market your specific product. Whenever possible, try to reduce risks at the earliest possible stage. For example you could carry out market research early on and not wait until you are almost ready to enter the market. If early market research reveals that your business idea has real potential, you can use this information in planning the build-up of your business. [Ilar 1998]
For starting up a business there are a few things should be found out through market research in order to know if your business is feasible. These are things like:
Market information
Market information is making known the prices of the different commodities in the market, the supply and the demand. Information about the markets can be obtained in several different varieties and formats. The most basic form of market information is the best quotation and last sale data, including the number of shares, with respect to a particular security at a given time. [Market research 2006]
Examples of market information questions are:
Who are the customers? Where are they located and how can they be contacted? What quantity and quality do they want? What is the best time to sell? What is the long-term or historical price data over a number of years? What is the expected production in the country? Is there more demand for one product or another? Etc. Market segmentation Market segmentation is the division of the market or population into subgroups with similar motivations. Widely used bases for segmenting include geographic differences, personality differences, demographic differences, use of product differences, and psychographic differences.
Market trends
The upward or downward movements of a market, during a period of time.
The market size is more difficult to estimate if you are starting with something completely new. In this case, you will have to derive the figures from the number of potential customers or customer segments. [Ilar 1998]
But besides information about the target market you also need information about your competitor, your customers, products etc. A few techniques are:
Customer analysis
Competitor analysis Risk analysis Product research Advertising research In the last chapter you can read how to perform market research, with interviews and questionnaires, but there is already a lot of information available. Market research firms and industry experts publish much of their information on websites, and in trade and business magazines. Reference sites index these magazines, many offer the texts online and if not the libraries stock them. Trade associations publish many listings and statistics on their websites as well as in hard copy publications. So there is already a lot of information available.
Perform market research
This chapter introduces the steps involved in the market research process. It also provides you with a brief preview of each of the steps necessary to conduct a market research effort. The market research process has 4 basic steps. These steps include:
Defining the research problem Establishing the research design Collecting and analysing data Formulate findings Figure 1 is the meta-process model of market research. The model shows every activity that must be performed. And every activity has a few sequential activities. Every sequential activity is connected with an arrow which implies that these activities need to be carried out in a pre-defined order.
Before these 4 steps are discussed it is important to make a few comments about these steps. First although the list does strongly imply an orderly step-by-step process, it is rare that a research project follows these steps in the exact order that they are presented in the figure. Market research is more of an interactive process whereby a researcher, by discovering something in a given step, may move backward in the process and begin again at another step [Market research 2006] Finding some new information while collecting data, may cause the researcher to establish different research objectives. In the following the different market research steps are described.
Defining the research problem
The step defining the research problem exists of 2 main steps: (1) formulating the problem and (2) establishing research objectives.
Defining the problem is the single most important step in the market research process. A clear statement of the problem is a key to a good research. A firm may spend hundreds or thousands of dollars doing market research, but if it has not correctly identified the problem, those dollars are wasted. In our case it is obvious that the problem here is setting up a business. But even if this is clear, you still need to know what exactly you need to know to make the new business a success and what specific related to the product is difficult to find out. Problems that may be encountered are: it is unknown what potential markets there are, what customer groups are interested in your products, who the competitors are? After formulating your problem, you need to formulate your research questions. What questions need to be answered and which possible sub-questions do you have.
With the problem or opportunity defined, the next step is to set objectives for your market research operations. Research objectives, related to and determined by the problem formulation, are set so that when achieved they provide the necessary information to solve the problem. A good way of setting research objectives is to ask, “What information is needed in order to solve the problem?" Your objective might be to explore the nature of a problem so you may further define it, or perhaps it is to determine how many people will buy your product packaged in a certain way and offered at a certain price. Your objective might even be to test possible cause and effect relationships. For example, if you lower your price, how much will it increase your sales volume? And what impact will it have on your profit?
Clear objectives can lead to clear results. An example of this is a situation at Camaro/Firebird. Auto manufacturers are sometimes criticized for creating expensive vehicles with unwanted features and technologies that do not meet the needs of the target market. To avoid this trap engineering team of this company turned to market research to evaluate how changes in performance and fuel economy would affect sales volume and customer satisfaction. It turned out that customers were willing to pay more for greater performance if the car also offered simultaneous increases in fuel economy. [Burns 2001]
The problem description, the research question, sub questions and the research objectives are part of an overall document problem description.
After describing and formulating the problem and the objectives, the next step is to prepare a detailed and realistic time frame to complete all steps of the market research process. If your business operates in cycles, establish target dates that will allow the best accessibility to your market. For example, a holiday greeting card business may want to conduct research before or around the holiday season buying period, when their customers are most likely to be thinking about their purchases. [Market research 2006]
Selecting and establishing research design
The step selecting and establishing research design consists of 3 main steps: (1) select the research design, (2) identify information types and sources and (3) determine and design research instrument.
Select the research design
As stated earlier, every research project and every business is different. Still, there are enough commonalities among research projects to categorize them by research methods and procedures used to collect and analyze data. There are three types of research design:
Exploratory research design - Descriptive research Causal research Exploratory research is defined as collecting information in an unstructured and informal way. For example if the owners of a new restaurant often eat out at competitor’s restaurants in order to gather information about menu selections, prices and service quality.
Descriptive research refers to a set of methods and procedures that describe marketing variables. Descriptive studies portray these variables by answering who, what, why and how questions. These types of research studies may describe such things as consumers’ attitudes, intentions, and behaviours, or the number of competitors and their strategies.
Causal research design is conducted by controlling various factors to determine which factor is causing the problem. It allows you to isolate causes and effects. By changing one factor, say price you can monitor its effects on a key consequence such as sales. Although causal research can give you a high level of understanding of the variable you are studying, the designs often require experiments that are complex and expensive.
Identify information types and sources
There are two types of information available to a market researcher: primary data and secondary data. Primary data is original information gathered for a specific purpose. Secondary data refers to information that already exists somewhere and has been collected for some other purpose. Both types of research have a number of activities and methods of conducting associated with them. Secondary research is usually faster and less expensive to obtain than primary research. Gathering secondary research may be as simple as making a trip to a local library or business information center or browsing the Internet. There is already a lot of statistics about different businesses that can be used for this research.
Information source
Secondary data help identify the problem; better define problem; develop an approch to problem; fomulate an appropriate research design; answer certain research questions and test some research hyotheses; Interpret primary data more insightfully.
Determining and design research instrument
After determining which type(s) of information are needed, the methods of accessing data must be determined. There are several different methods of collecting data. These methods include telephone surveys, mail surveys, personal interviews or group surveys.
The actual design of the research instrument, the data collection form that is used to ask and record the information is critical to the success of the project. There are two basic methods to collect information: by asking questions or by observing. The most common research instrument is the questionnaire. There are two types of forms: structured and unstructured. Structured questionnaires list close-end questions. These include multiple choice questions which offer respondents the ability to answer "yes" or "no" or choose from a list of several answer choices. Close-end questions also include scales refer to questions that ask respondents to rank their answers at a particular point on a scale. Unstructured questionnaires have open-ended questions. Respondents can answer in their own words.
Collecting and analyzing data
Data collection is usually done by trained interviewers who are employed by field data collection companies to collect primary data. A choice has to be made between collecting the data yourself or hiring an external office who are specialized in interviews.
Data analysis is needed to give the raw data any meaning. The first step in analyzing the data is cleaning the data. This is the process of checking the raw data to verify that the data has been correctly entered into the files from the data collection form. After that the data have to be coded. This is the process of assigning all response categories a numerical value. For example males = 1, females = 2. After that the data can be tabulated, which refers to the actual counting of the number of observations that fall in to each possible response category.
Data can also be collected on a smaller scale to obtain more qualitative data. One frequently used form of qualitative data collection is the focus group. Focus Groups are generally comprised of a small selection of the target audience. The participants are then queried and the discussions are guided by a moderator. The group is often recorded and/or viewed by the marketing team or others via a two-way mirror or closed circuit system. Focus group companies exist worldwide. Some specialize in certain industries, such as the legal community, while others provide more general services.
Formulate findings
After analyzing the data you can make your findings based on this data. Once the findings about the target market, competition and environment are finished, present it in an organized manner to the decision makers of the business. In this case report the findings in the market analysis section of your business plan. In summary, the resulting data was created to help guide your business decisions, so it needs to be readily accessible to the decision makers.
Related Topics in Wikipedia
Marketing research Business Plan List of marketing research firms Market Segmentation Positioning New product Launch Focus group Internet Strategic Intelligence Coolhunting
References
Arinze, B. “Market planning with computer models: A case study in the software industry.” Industrial marketing management, Volume: 19, Issue: 2 (May 1990), pp: 117-129 Cornish, S. L. “Product Innovation and the Spatial Dynamics of Market Intelligence: Does Proximity to Markets Matter?” Economic Geography. Volume: 73, Issue 2 (April 1997), pp: 143-165. Davis, R.E. (1993). Experience: The role of market research in the development of new consumer products. Journal of product innovation management. Volume: 10, pp: 309-317 Mullins, J.W. (1998). New product development in rapidly changing markets: an exploratory study. Journal of product innovation management. Volume: 15, pp: 224-236 Berry, T. (2004): Hurdle: The book on business planning - Millennium Edition. Eugene, OR: Palo Alto Software. Burns, A.C., & Bush, R.F. (2001). Marketing research. London: Prentice-Hall Ilar, D.; Kienhuis, H.; Kubr, T.; Marchesi, H.(1998). Starting Up: achieving success with professional business planning, McKinsey & Company, inc Switzerland. Market Research. URL accessed February 27, 2006. www.360view4u.co.uk - An Information Warehouse
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Credits & Copyright: This page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia articles Marketing Research & Market Research
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