Market research aims to gather information and insights about various needs and preferences of the market. It is useful for companies so that they can identify the target market, and understand the behaviours/choices of target customers. Companies also conduct market research for checking the feasibility of a new product’s launch, or a service. It helps companies in gathering the opinions of their targeted market. This further helps them in making informed decisions.
This article aims to discuss various research methods used for market research. It will also highlight the salient features of different research types. There are several types of research methods for market research. But their selection depends upon the organisational needs and objectives. There are two different categories namely primary, and secondary. Let us discuss them in detail to clarify things further.
Primary Research
Primary research utilises both quantitative and qualitative methods for gathering data and information. Companies conduct primary market research to know about the needs of their customers. It is also used for spotting the preferences of customers directly. Primary research aims to gather two types of information. These include exploratory and specific domains.
Exploratory Research
Exploratory research encompasses open-ended questions. These are structured, and designed in an interview format. Most of UK dissertation writers use it because the sample size for this type of research is small. Whereas the results generated through this type of market research determine the nature of a problem. This type of research seeks to identify the unexplored issues.
Specific Research
Specific research methods further investigate problems identified by exploratory research. Exploratory market research determines the nature of the problem. Whereas specific research pinpoints the specific problems. It tries to find solutions for the issue that is identified.
Focus Groups
Qualitative market research utilises focus groups that represent a company’s target market. Companies create online surveys for gathering opinions about a product, or service’s launch. These surveys collect information remotely without interacting with the members personally. It also allows registering the responses of many people in a short period of time.
One-to-one interviews
Qualitative market research encompasses interviewing people personally by asking them open-ended questions. They are based on one-on-one conversations with a selected group of people who represent the organisation’s target market. This type of research has huge benefits for a company in terms of gathering insights about consumer behaviour.
Ethnographic Research
Ethnographic market research allows companies to understand market dynamics, and preferences in depth. This research encompasses understating consumer preferences of a large community. This is the community situated within a particular area. It is time-consuming, though it pays off in the long run.
Secondary Research
Secondary market research analyses the established body of knowledge about market preferences. This type of research collects information, and data published within the following domains;
- Newspapers
- Company websites
- Journals
- Books
- Magazines
- Government reports
- Agencies
- Non-governmental organisations
It only helps companies understand the prevalent market dynamics. It does so while providing useful lessons from previous successes, and failures. Secondary research can be the basis for conducting primary market research as well. It can serve as a knowledge base for primary research activities. This is because it provides contextual/theoretical background as a base. Yet companies seeking to gather information about the possible impact of a product or service’s launch should rely more on primary research. This is because it is more useful in generating results that can inform its decisions.
Branding Research
Branding research is useful for understanding the perception of a company’s brand and business ideas compared to its competitors. This type of market research can help inform a company’s decisions which can further improve the overall branding image. The following tools can be utilised for conducting branding research;
- Interviews.
- Focus groups.
- Brand awareness surveys to identify brand positioning, brand loyalty, and brand value.
Brand research aims to achieve the following objectives;
- To analyse the performance of a company’s brand when compared to its competitors.
- Areas that require improvement in the aspect of brand promotion.
- Enhance brand values, and brand image.
Customer Research
Customer research is also an important type of market research that companies conduct for comprehending their influence on targeted customers, and for registering their grievances. Further, it aims to achieve the following objectives;
- To analyse, and enhance customer satisfaction.
- Understand customer loyalty, and align further improvements accordingly.
- Analyse, and understand the preferences of different customers.
- Increase the rate of customer retention.
Conclusion
Market research aims to analyse, and understand the associated variables. These are the ones that affect consumer decisions, and brand selection. They also affect possible impact of a product launch/product discontinuation. This article has highlighted some important types of market research. These are useful for companies so that they can understand the market dynamics. Primary research is recommendable for companies seeking to comprehend the attitudes of people that they wish to target for a new product or service’s launch. If you feel any issue in market research, you can get research paper help from the best writers.
