Using Market Research
Understanding the use of market research, gathering data:.
- Market research is crucial in gathering data about potential customers, their needs and preferences.
- It aids businesses in understanding the profile of their target customers, such as age, gender, income level, and lifestyle.
- It involves collecting information about customer behaviour including purchasing habits, brand loyalty, and responses to pricing and promotional activities.
Evaluating Market Potential:
- The information obtained through market research helps evaluate the potential of a particular market.
- It helps in assessing market size, growth rate, and profit potential.
- This aids in deciding whether entering a new market or launching a new product is a good business decision.
Developing Marketing Mix:
- Market research is vital for developing an effective marketing mix - the combination of product, price, place, and promotion strategies that a business uses to reach its target market.
- It can help identify the right product features, price levels, distribution channels, and promotional messages that will appeal to the target market.
Improving Customer Satisfaction:
- By uncovering the needs and expectations of customers, market research allows businesses to improve the quality of their products or services.
- This leads to increased customer satisfaction, higher sales and potentially larger market share.
Identifying Market Trends:
- Market research often involves studying changes in the market, such as emerging trends and customer preferences.
- This helps businesses stay up-to-date and adapt their offerings accordingly, keeping them competitive.
Mitigating Risk:
- Market research reduces the risk associated with business decisions.
- It provides evidence and information to support decisions like market entry, product development, pricing and promotion, reducing the chances of costly mistakes.
Assessing Competition:
- Market research includes studying competitors in terms of their market share, product offerings, pricing strategies, promotional activities and more.
- This helps businesses understand their competitive position and devise strategies to differentiate themselves from the competition.
INTERACTIVE VIDEO
Are you interested in learning about the importance of market research for businesses? In this interactive video, we'll explore why market research is essential and the risks of not doing it. We'll take a look at what market research is and the various tasks involved in completing the process.
- DETAILED EXPLAINER VIDEO
- 10 QUESTION MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUIZ
- 6 INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES
- INTERACTIVE CASE STUDY
- SUPPORTING STUDENT WORKSHEETS
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS COCA COLA
The interactive case study explores how Coca-Cola's decision to change its formula in the 1980s and introduce New Coke as a response to Pepsi's market share growth became the most costly marketing mistake ever. The company conducted market research to develop a new formula that would taste sweeter than both old Coke and Pepsi. However, they failed to account for the emotional connection and brand loyalty people had towards the original Coke, resulting in massive customer backlash and financial loss.
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GCSE Business
- Specification
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- Introduction
- Specification at a glance
- 3.1 Business in the real world
- 3.2 Influences on business
- 3.3 Business operations
- 3.4 Human resources
- 3.5 Marketing
- 3.6 Finance
- Scheme of assessment
- General administration
- Appendix: quantitative skills in business
3.5.3 The purpose and methods of market research
Content | Additional information |
|---|---|
| Purpose of market research Collect information about: | Students should understand why businesses conduct market research, such as to identify market opportunities and to get a better insight into their customers and competitors. |
Methods of market research to include primary and secondary: | Students should understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative market research. Students should identify the benefits and drawbacks for various market research techniques and select the best method for a given business. |
Use of market research: information that may help decision making | Students should be able to interpret and use qualitative and quantitative market research findings to help make appropriate decisions for different types of business. Students should be expected to manipulate and interpret data from tables and charts. Students should be able to identify market size and market share. |
Methods of Market Research ( AQA GCSE Business )
Revision note.
Business Content Creator
Primary Market Research
Primary research is the process of gathering information directly from consumers in the target market using field research methods such as surveys, interviews, etc
This research gathers information which is new and does not already exist in any format
The most commonly used methods of primary market research include surveys, interviews based on questionnaires, observation, focus groups and test marketing
Businesses usually carry out primary research with a sample of the target market in which they are interested
A sample is a group of respondents that reflects the characteristics of the target market as a whole
The larger the sample size, the more likely it is that research results will reflect the views of the target market as a whole
A business will often use more than one method of primary research in order to build up a reliable understanding of the market
The data can then be analysed and used to make data-led judgements such as how much to charge for a new product and where to sell it
Methods of Primary Research
|
|
|---|---|
| is used to ask a series of questions to a certain number of people such as Survey Monkey |
| in a store or judge consumer traffic at a particular location in a store may have on consumer choice |
| but does allow the interviewee to ask and gather information, which can easily be missed when conducting surveys |
| on all aspects of the from the target market |
Primary market research should be able to answer many of the specific questions businesses have about their customers, competitors and market conditions
However, it can be costly to conduct
Small businesses are likely to be limited on the type and scale of primary research they conduct
Evaluating Primary Market Research
|
|
|---|---|
| and will not be available to its rivals | and unrepresentative of target customers, leading to unreliable results |
| to be gathered from respondents, such as reasons for certain behaviour or choices | may mean that researchers can guide respondents to |
| can be used to and will therefore be more relevant to business decisions | to make the process more |
Secondary Market Research
Secondary research involves the collection, compilation, and analysis of data that already exists
Diagram: Secondary Research Sources
Businesses can consult a wide range of secondary sources to gather market research data
Diagram explanation
Government publications.
National governments and trading blocs such as the EU publish reports and statistics on topics such as the economy, demographics, industry trends and consumer behaviour
Academic institutions
Universities and research institutions conduct studies and publish research papers which provide valuable insights and data on specific industries, consumer behaviour and market trends
E.g. Stanford University is a globally significant research centre for engineering and medicine
Industry associations
Trade associations and industry-specific organisations provide detailed information about specific sectors, including market size, growth rates and industry benchmarks
E.g. The International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers conducts and collates research on production and sales statistics
Specialist market research reports
Companies specialising in market research produce and sell in-depth reports on various industries, markets and consumer trends
E.g. Mintel is one of the leading private companies supplying market research information
Financial reports
Public limited companies are required to publish annual reports which can provide valuable information about a company's performance, market position and future plans
Online databases
There are various online databases and research platforms that provide access to a wide range of secondary market research
E.g. Statista and Euromonitor International make a large volume of data on international commerce available
Media sources
Newspapers, magazines and online publications often contain articles, opinion pieces and investigative reports that can offer insights into market trends, consumer behaviour and industry developments
E.g. The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal
Businesses must weigh up the reliability of secondary market research
Aspects such as cost, relevance and availability of data will affect the decision on which secondary data to use
Evaluating Secondary Market Research
|
|
|---|---|
| and may be than primary research, thereby saving time leading to compared to primary research that lacks a large marketing budget and/or expertise | , may or may e.g. Wikipedia to purchase market-specific secondary data from specialist companies, e.g. MINTEL reports , especially in dynamic markets |
Choosing Appropriate Market Research Methods
Businesses often use a combination of different market research methods to gain a comprehensive understanding of the market, consumers, and competition
Their choice of market research methods depends on a range of factors, including:
1. The research objectives
If a business wants to gather in-depth insights and understand consumer motives, qualitative methods like focus groups or in-depth interviews may be the most suitable
If the business simply wants to measure market size, identify consumer preferences, or measure market trends, quantitative methods like surveys or data analysis may be more appropriate
2. Target audience
The geographic location and how easy it is to communicate with the target market can influence the choice of research method
If the target audience is spread across a wide geographical area, online surveys or phone interviews may be more practical than in-person focus groups or face-to-face surveys
3. Level of detail required
Qualitative methods like interviews provide detailed insights but are more time-consuming and expensive to carry out
Quantitative methods like surveys can cover a larger sample size but may lack the depth of qualitative methods
4. Resources
Businesses with limited budgets may not be able to afford very detailed research
Those requiring market research quickly or have limited human resources to carry out research may only be able to access secondary market research
5. The nature of the product
Testing a physical product may require in-person focus groups or product trials
Researching a service or digital product may be better suited for online surveys or beta testing
You may be asked to analyse the benefits of carrying out market research for a particular business. In these 6-mark questions, you need to ensure that your chain of argument includes repeated reference to the business context.
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Marketing: Primary Market Research (GCSE)
Last updated 22 Mar 2021
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There are various methods of primary research:
Observation
Watching how consumers behave provides many insights, but can leave questions unanswered. Observation works well in retail markets; sit outside a shop and watch how many people walk by, look at the window display etc.
Postal surveys
Sent to the address of potential customers who complete the form and send back in a pre-paid envelope. Relatively cheap, a postal survey can cover a wide geographical area and avoids the potential for interviewer bias. However, response rates (the proportion of people sending back a completed survey) are often very low and it can take be a long time before enough surveys are returned
Telephone interviews
Not to be confused with "telesales" (which is a method of selling), the telephone interview allow quicker feedback than a postal survey. However, potential customers are often wary of being called and may be reluctant to give anything other than short answers
Online surveys
Increasingly popular and relatively low cost, online surveys are widely used by small businesses as a way of capturing the views of existing and potential customers
Face-to-face surveys
Personal interviews conducted face-to-face. A costly, but good way to get detailed insights from an individual
Focus groups
Groups of potential customers are brought together to discuss their feelings about a product or market. Focus groups are a good way of getting detailed information about customer tastes and preferences
Test marketing
This involves selling a new product in a small section of the market in order to assess customer reaction. For example, a start-up could start by selling to a limited local area in order to iron-out product issues. Software firms often test-market their products by offering "beta" versions for testing by a small group of potential customers. Test marketing can be a good predictor of how a new product or service will be received by the larger market (provided that it can be kept secret from competitors!)
- Marketing research
- Primary research
- Focus group
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Market Research (GCSE Business Studies Revision)
Teacher recommended
- Created by: happy child.
- Created on: 20-05-11 11:27
- Business Studies
Market research
Marketing is about responding to consumers' needs. It is important to find out what these needs are before launching a new product.
A business conducts market research to help identify gaps in the market and business opportunities.
What is a market?
A shop is an example of a market
Businesses sell to customers in markets . A market is any place where buyers and sellers meet to trade products - it could be a high street shop or a web site. Any business in a marketplace is likely to be in competition with other firms offering similar products. Successful products are the ones which meet customer needs better than rival offerings.
Markets are dynamic . This means that they are always changing. A business must be aware of market trends and evolving customer requirements caused by new fashions or changing economic conditions.
There is far more to marketing than selling or advertising. Put simply, marketing is about identifying and satisfying customer needs .
The first step is to gather information about customers needs, competitors and market trends. An entrepreneur can use the results of market research to produce competitive products.
New magazines will hope to retain customers after their launch
The first step for a new business or product is to attract trial purchases .
A new magazine may run special offers to get customers to try the first issue, hoping that repeat sales are generated. The magazine will soon close if customers fail to buy future issues. The aim of a special offer scheme is to convert trial purchases into repeat sales.
Market research involves gathering data about customers, competitors and market trends.
- Marketing mix
Report Mon 26th March, 2012 @ 18:32
This is really good! Thnx a lot:)x
Report Wed 4th December, 2013 @ 10:37
Excellent notes covering market research, segmentation and market mapping. They can be adapted by more active learners and have a useful test yourself facility.
Report Wed 9th May, 2018 @ 17:46
These notes are ****
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