What is marketing research? Discuss the marketing research
process with the help of an example. Briefly explain the sources of data.
Answer:
Market Research is a systematic, objective collection and analysis of data about a
particular target market, competition, and/or environment. It always incorporates
some form of data collection whether it be secondary research (often referred to as
desk research) or primary research which is collected direct from a respondent.
The purpose of any market research project is to achieve an increased
understanding of the subject matter. With markets throughout the world becoming
increasingly more competitive, market research is now on the agenda of many
organisations, whether they be large or small.
The Market Research Process
To conduct market research, organisations may decide to undertake the project
themselves (some through a marketing research department) or they might choose
to commission it via a market research agency or consultancy. Whichever, before
undertaking any research project, it is crucial to define the research objectives i.e.
what are you trying to achieve from the research? And what do you need to know?
After considering the objectives, Market Researchers can utilise many types of
research techniques and methodologies to capture the data that they require. All of
the available methodologies either collect quantitative or qualitative information.
The use of each very much depends on the research objectives but many believe
that results are most useful when the two methods are combined.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is numerically oriented, requires significant attention to the
measurement of market phenomena and often involves statistical analysis. For
example, a bank might ask its customers to rate its overall service as excellent,
good, poor or very poor. This will provide quantitative information that can be
analysed statistically. The main rule with quantitative research is that every
respondent is asked the same series of questions. The approach is very structured
and normally involves large numbers of interviews/questionnaires.
Perhaps the most common quantitative technique is the ‘market research survey’.
These are basically projects that involve the collection of data from multiple cases
– such as consumers or a set of products. Quantitative surveys can be conducted by
using post (self-completion), face-to-face (in-street or in-home), telephone, email
or web techniques. The questionnaire is one of the more common tools for
collecting data from a survey, but it is only one of a wide ranging set of data
collection aids.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research provides an understanding of how or why things are as they
are. For example, a Market Researcher may stop a consumer who has purchased a
particular type of bread and ask him or her why that type of bread was chosen.
Unlike quantitative research there are no fixed set of questions but, instead, a topic
guide (or discussion guide) is used to explore various issues in-depth. The
discussion between the interviewer (or moderator) and the respondent is largely
determined by the respondents' own thoughts and feelings.
As with quantitative techniques, there are also various types of qualitative
methodologies. Research of this sort is mostly done face-to-face. One of the bestknown techniques is market research group discussions (or focus groups). These
are usually made up of 6 to 8 targeted respondents, a research moderator whose
role is to ask the required questions, draw out answers, and encourage discussion,
and an observation area usually behind one way mirrors, and video and/or audio
taping facilities.
In addition, qualitative research can also be conducted on a ‘one on one’ basis i.e.
an in-depth interview with a trained executive interviewer and one respondent, a
paired depth (two respondents), a triad (three respondents) and a mini group
discussion (4-5 respondents)
HAPPY LEARNING TASLEEM
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