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Marketing Research Tools Essay example

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Marketing Research Tools
Before launching or expanding a business venture, there needs to be an understanding of the industry, its competitors, and its customers. Market research is vital in assisting companies in the decision-making process and their marketing direction. Data from marketing research is important because it provides companies with ways to identify opportunities, identify market potential, minimize chances of loss, devise effective marketing strategies, gauge customer satisfaction, and serve as an evaluation tool.
A wide-range of marketing research tools is available to market researchers and organizational decision makers. The following focuses specifically on data collection methods for conducting both primary and …show more content…

“Exploratory research is open-ended method that assists in defining a specific problem, and usually involves detailed, unstructured interviews in which lengthy answers are solicited from a small group of respondents” (Entrepreneur Media, Inc. 2012, para 1). Specific research involves a more precise approach “used to solve a problem that exploratory research has identified” (Entrepreneur Media, Inc. 2012, para 1). The structure of these types of interviews are much more formal than those used in exploratory research. Data collection tools used in primary research can include: consumer interviews or surveys, focus groups, observations, or field tests (such as employing a test-market).
“Primary research delivers more specific results than secondary research, which is an especially important consideration when you're launching a new product or service” (SFGate, 2012, para 3). This type of research is used to find answers to a predetermined problem using “statistical methodologies that involve sampling as little as 1 percent of a target market” (SFGate, 2012, para 3). The main downside of primary market research over that of secondary is that is expensive to conduct.
Secondary Market Research
Prior to conducting primary research, companies should first obtain secondary data from all available sources that pertain to the interests of the subject. Companies conducting secondary market research focus on collating sections of research

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