Home > Marketing research
1 Research
Research covers the search for and retrieval of information for a specific purpose. Research has many categories, from medical research to literary research.
2 Types of business research
Businesses engage primarily in four types of research:
- Marketing research - Marketing research (also called "consumer research") comprises a form of applied sociological study which concentrates on understanding the behaviours, whims and preferences, mainly current and future, of consumers in a market-based economy.
- Market research - Market research has a broad scope and includes all aspects of the business environment. It asks questions about competitors, market structure, government regulations, economic trends, technological advances, and numerous other factors that make up the business environment. (See Environmental scanning.) Sometimes the term refers more particularly to the financial analysis of companies, industries, or sectors. In this case, financial analysts usually carry out the research and provide the results to investment advisors and potential investors.
- Product research - This looks at what products can be produced with available technology, and what new product innovations near-future technology can develop. (see
New Product Development)
- Advertising research - This attempts to assess the likely impact of an advertising campaign in advance, and also measure the success of a recent campaign.
3 Types of marketing research
Marketing research techniques come in many forms, including:
- test marketing - a small-scale product launch used to determine the likely acceptance of the product when it is introduced into a wider market
- mystery shopping - An employee of the company conducting the research contacts a salesperson and indicates they are shopping for the product they sell. They then record the entire experience. This method is often used for quality control or for researching competitors products.
- store audits - to determine whether retail stores provide adequate service
- demand estimation - to determine the approximate level of demand for the product
- sales forecasting - to determine the expected level of sales given the level of demand
- customer satisfaction studies - exit interviews or surveys that determine a customer's level of satisfaction with the quality of the transaction
- distribution channel audits - to assess distributors’ and retailers’ attitudes toward a product, brandThis article is about brands in marketing. For other uses, see Brand (disambiguation McDonald's, represented by the Golden Arches, is one of the world's most famous brands A brand takes the form of a symbolic construct created by a marketer to represent a, or company
- price elasticityIn economics, the price elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of the quantity demanded of a good to its price. The formula used to calculate the coefficient of price elasticity of demand is : Price elasticity of demand is measured as the percen testing - to determine how sensitive customers are to price changes
- segmentation researchMarket segmentation is the process of grouping a market into smaller subgroups. This is not something that is arbitrarily imposed on society: it is derived from the recognition that the total market is often made up of submarkets (called segments). These - to determine the demographicA demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment. This typically involves age bands (as teenagers do not wish to purchse denture fixant), social class bands (as the r, psychographic, and behavioural characteristics of potential buyers
- consumer decision process research - to determine what motivates people to buy and what decision-making process they use
- positioningIn marketing, positioning is the technique in which marketers try to create an image or identity for a product, brand, or company. It is the 'place' a product occupies in a given market as perceived by the target market. Positioning is something that is d research - how does the target marketA target market is the market segment which a particular product is marketed to. It is often defined by age, gender and/or socio-economic grouping. Targeting strategy is the selection of the customers you wish to service. The decisions involved in targeti see the brandThis article is about brands in marketing. For other uses, see Brand (disambiguation McDonald's, represented by the Golden Arches, is one of the world's most famous brands A brand takes the form of a symbolic construct created by a marketer to represent a relative to competitors? - what does the brand stand for?
- brand name testingBrand management is the application of marketing techniques to a specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase the product's perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand franchise and brand equity. Marketers see a brand as a - what do consumers feel about the names of the products?
- brand equityBrand equity is the value built-up in a brand. The value of a company's brand equity can be calculated by comparing the expected future revenue from the branded product with the expected future revenue from an equivalent non-branded product. This calculat research - how favourably do consumers view the brand?
All of these forms of marketing research can be classified as either problem-identification research or as problem-solving research.
A similar distinction exists between exploratory research and conclusive research. Exploratory research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation. It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution. Conclusive research draws conclusions: the results of the study can be generalized to the whole population.
Both exploratory and conclusive research exemplify primary research. A company collects primary research for its own purposes. This contrasts with secondary research: research published previously and usually by someone else. Secondary research costs far less than primary research, but seldom comes in a form that exactly meets the needs of the researcher.
