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Market research requires data gathered from both secondary sources (existing literature) and primary sources (directly from market participants).
What it is: Most market research starts with gathering data relevant to the markets, industries, customers, competitors, economies, technologies, etc. for which you are doing research. Before you can complete analysis of the market research, you need to define the types and sources of data. Data is gathered from primary and secondary sources.
What it does: Primary data is data that you create yourself by collecting directly from the source. Secondary research is the process of looking for publically available data that has previously been collected, assimilated, categorized, analyzed, and reported. Secondary data is almost always cheaper and requires fewer resources to gather than primary research. You should only gather primary research when the necessary information is not available from public sources or private sources of secondary data will not make it available to you.
Data gathering is necessary to provide the information required for all forms of marketing research analysis.
How it is used: Both primary and secondary research is used in different methods of analysis to reach understanding, determine strategy, and make tactical decisions about actions in the marketplace.
Where: Market research data is used in SWOT analysis, competitor analysis, customer segmentation, industry analysis, etc.
Why: One of the most common sources of market failure is the lack of knowledge concerning the market drivers in a market or industry. New product development seldom fails because of an inability to make the technology work as desired, but about 290 of 300 new product ideas fail because the product marketer misread the needs and desires of their customers. Market research data is necessary to complete market analysis and big data analysis.
Where it shouldn't be used: Don't use primary or secondary market research data to draw conclusions about the larger market unless the survey data has a known confidence interval and certainty. Do not use casual interview data or focus group output to draw conclusions about the larger market. Do not use data gathered from a small subset of the market; this increases the risk of sampling bias.
Any restrictions: Do not use data that comes from too small of a sample, a biased sample, interviewers trying to prove a point, unknowledgeable customers, customers who do not make the buying decision, or a competitor's or company's website. Company websites often list the wishes of management but may not describe what the employees of the company actually do.
Warnings: Be wary of using outdated data. Data gathered several years ago may not be relevant to decisions being made today. Be sure to consider the potential for attitudes, technology, competitive positions, market needs, etc. to shift over time. Be certain the data you are using is current, relevant, and unbiased.
Understanding Different Research Methods (See Section 2)
Gather data: Always start with secondary data, then collect primary data only if necessary.
Create a data plan for what information you need to complete the analyses.
Always start with secondary sources of data.
Review public sources of data, such as government reports, trade data, magazines, articles, associations, competitor and customer websites, and other publically available sources.
Identify proprietary sources of information from reports, databases, multiclient students, subscription services, etc.
When necessary, utilize more research-intensive primary resources:
Expert interviews are a great way to test the trends and initial findings from your secondary research. They can highlight important issues and players.
Focus groups are some of the best places to try out new ideas to see how a subset of the market might react. They are most often used to identify the ranges to use on a survey and the factors to include in the lists of topics in a survey. You should test the survey topics on focus groups to be sure you understand how the target market will perceive the more expensive survey questions.
Quantitative surveys to collect data that can be used to project opinions of the target market. If you have a random sample of the target market that is large enough to provide high accuracy and confidence, then you can anticipate how the target market as a whole will respond to your anticipated stimuli. Survey research is expensive, complex, and resource-intensive. It should almost always be the last thing you do so you can leverage everything else you have learned to make sure your survey will provide accurate answers to the most important questions.
Analyze the data: The analysis of the data will be dependent on the research analysis tool you use.
Interpret the results by following the planned analysis tool
Present results: Always include the sources of the data and the confidence you have in the sources that provided the data you used in your analysis.
Capturing the data in a template will be unique based on the data plan you developed. You can capture most data in a standard spreadsheet.
Output representation and recommendations should always include the sources of the data and the confidence you have in the sources that provided the data you used in your analysis and recommendations.
Use your own school library resources or Secondary Sources Available in BYU Library: Business Library
This content is provided to you freely by Ensign College.
Access it online or download it at https://ensign.edtechbooks.org/projectbased_internships/market_and_business_research_overview.
