Download File - Unit 10 Market Research

Unit 10 Market Research
M1
Explain with examples, how different market research methods are appropriate to assist
different marketing situations
Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and the public to the
marketer through information. There are many different ways in which a business can
perform market research, most businesses use one or more of the 5 basic method: surveys,
focus groups, personal interviews, observation and field trials. The type of data that a
business would require and how much money the businesses is willing to invest will
determine which would essentially be the best type of technique for market research.
Surveys – Surveys are a powerful marketing research tool to discover opinions and attitudes
about your company and your competition from large numbers of people. Surveys cost a
fraction of what they used to, placing them within reach of any small business. Regardless of
the size of your business, you can grow and prosper by using affordable surveys to develop
strategies that get new customers and keep the ones you have. The larger the sample, the
more reliable and accurate the results will therefore be. Face-to-face surveys are normally
carried out in high-public locations, such as shopping centres. This is purely because they
allow you to present people with samples and testers of the upcoming product, packaging
or advertising; this will allow the business to collect immediate feedback. Telephone surveys
are less expensive which compared to in-person surveys, however more costly than mail.
Mail surveys are relatively an inexpensive way to reach a wide range of audience. They are
much cheaper than in-person and phone surveys, but the downside is that they only
generate an average response rate of 3-15% despite the low return, mail surveys remain a
cost effective choice for small businesses. Online surveys usually generate unpredictable
response rates and unreliable data mainly because the business has no initial control over
the amount of respondents. An online survey is a simple and inexpensive way for businesses
to collect evidence and to also gather customer opinions and preferences. For example, is a
business wanted to collect customer feedback about a specific product/service then I think
that the best type of survey they should choose is the face-to-face questionnaires. This is
because the business will be able to choose the amount of people they want to interview,
they have their own variable about choosing the size of their target market, unlike online
surveys; where the business has not control on the amount of respondents they will receive.
Furthermore, I think that the more people that a business interviews then the more
accurate and reliable their data will be.
Focus groups – For this method of market research essentially uses a moderator that asks a
series of topics and questions to initiate a discussion among a group of people. For example,
a business would use this type of marketing research method when they want to test their
marketing strategies. Focus groups can also be used to research things like the best possible
price point for a product or service. Businesses also use focus groups before they develop
their products, they show the existing products to consumers in order to learn when they
Unit 10 Market Research
like and dislike about the upcoming product. They can therefore use that information
obtained to help create and define their product specification to the best possible standard
based on the feedback from the focus groups.
Personal Interviews – This type of marketing research method has similarities to focus
groups, because they include unstructured, open questions. They usually last for around an
hour and usually are recorded. Personal interviews and focus groups provide more
subjective data than other research methods such surveys. The results are not that reliable
which therefore means that they usually don’t represent a large enough segment of the
population. Nevertheless, personal interviews give many businesses valuable insights into
their customer’s attitudes and are also effective ways to solve issues or comments related
to the upcoming product/service of the business. For example, if a business wanted to
receive a detailed amount of information on how a single or group of customers and their
opinions on the businesses. They would use this method because it gives businesses more
data that they would require from their customers because you can easily control the
environment of the chosen location of which the interview will take place. As well as this,
unlike surveys, the questioner can receive more natural responses and will also be able to
tell if the responder is telling the truth or not.
Observation – With face-to-face eye contact, respondents will be more likely to tell the truth
when conducted an observation as a type of marketing research method. Similarly like
personal interviews, when a business observes their customers in action by either
videotaping them in stores, they can observe how they will essentially buy or use a product.
This gives the business a more accurate picture of their consumer’s habits and shopping
patterns and uses them for future reference. For example, if a business did not want to rely
on the willingness and the ability of the respondents to give accurate results then they can
use the observation method because the researcher would essentially just observe and
record the events.
Field Trails – Field trails is essentially placing a new product in selected stores to test the
customers response to them, this is much more reliable and accurate because they are
placed in real-life selling conditions which can also help the business’s marketing and
development department when it comes to making changes on the product modifications
based on the results from the field trails. For example, if a business had an upcoming
product/service for their business then the best way they can get the most accurate and
reliable from their target market then they can essentially use field trials to make sure that
they have solid reaction and feedback that can help with the finishing touches of their
product/service.
By Simran Khatri