Marketing research is the process of gathering information about a market, analysing it and interpreting it to better understand what is happening in the market place. Although the term market researchis often used to mean the same thing, technically it only refers to research into a specific market. Consumer research - used to discover behaviour patterns (how people act) and customer needs - is an essential element of marketing research. Motivation research investigates the psychological reasons why individuals buy specific types of merchandise, or why they respond to specific advertising appeals. A firm's marketing department needs to know about economic trends, as well as consumers' views. Based on this information, they can put together a marketing plan, which will meet their own needs as well as those of their consumers. There are two main methods of consumer research:
- desk (desktop) research or secondary research: an analysis of the information you can find easily without leaving your desk. It can be anything from a company's own sales statistics to Department of Trade and Industry reports. Other secondary sources of information include journals, company reports, government statistics, and surveys published by research organisations. Traditionally, these have been paper-based, but more and more information is now available on CD-ROM or on-line through the Internet. Desk research has the advantages of being cheaper and quicker than field research. The disadvantages are not knowing if the findings are accurate, or how relevant they will be to your product.
- field research or primary research: involves talking to people and finding out what they think about a market, a product, a business sector, etc. It is usually carried outby market research institutes. It has the advantage that the firm itself has control over the whole process. The disadvantages are that it takes longer and is more expensive.
Consumer research can be either qualitative or quantitative. In qualitative research, small group discussions or in-depth interviews with consumers are used to understand a problem better. Quantitative research involves collecting, or gathering, large samples of data(for example, on how many people use different products), followed by statistical analysis - examining, or analysing,the data. Quantitative research is often used to investigate the findings from qualitative research.
Note: The singular noun is (an) analysis, and the plural is analyses. Data is used as both an uncountable noun and as a plural noun. The data is interesting. The data show interesting trends. The activity of analysing data can also be referred to as mining data.
Research methodology includes the following:
Focus groups: small groups from the target group plus one moderator to mediate or run the session. The moderator prepares questions for the session.
Package test: used to test ideas for new packaging, could be in a focus group.
Taste test: used to test what consumers think, about new flavours.
Home test: consumers try the products at home, in a real situation.
A self—administered questionnaire is completed (or filled in) by the respondent, and an interviewer-administered questionnaire is filled in on behalf of the respondent by an interviewer.
Telephone surveys are carried out by telephoning the respondent and asking questions. A mail survey is mailed to the respondent, who completes it and posts it back. Online surveys are administered on the internet.
Mystery shopping: a person poses as a consumer and checks the level of service and hygiene in a restaurant, hotel or shop.
Omnibus surveys: a market research institute carries out (or conducts) research for several companies at the same time. A long survey is given to respondents some institutes have a panel of existing respondents who are accustomed to answering the surveys.
7.6 Answer the question: In market research, what is the difference between desk research and field research? Give two examples of each.
7.7 Match the types of research in the box with the research problems below.
desktop + secondary motivation + primary
qualitative + field quantitative + primary
1 The R&D department want to know why people buy mobile phones so that they can develop a new model that answers all the major needs.
2 The design team want to know how consumers feel about the new layout of the company website before they finalize and launch the new homepage.
3 A manager wants to have financial data on her company, her competitors and the economy in general.
4 The marketing team want to have a lot of data on their consumers: age, shopping habits,email address, etc.
7.8 Complete the sentences.
1 A lot of marketing research institutes carry out ….. surveys. They ring people at home and ask them questions.
2 A ….. is a small discussion group, led by a ….. who asks questions to get detailed and qualitative information.
3 A marketing research institute may prepare a lengthy ….. survey which it posts to consumers at their homes. These ….. surveys have questions from several different companies on them.
4 Some questionnaires are completed by the ….. (self-administered questionnaires) and some are completed by the interviewer (............................................................................ - ….. questionnaires).
5 ….. surveys are usually carried out in-store to assess the levels of
service quality and cleanliness.
6 A ….. test is designed to find out what consumers think about packaging, and a …..test is to find out what they think about the flavour of a product.
7.9 Read the extract from a survey and correct any mistakes in the sentences below.
Thanks to the 17,159 blog readers who responded to our survey!
This survey shows that blog readers are older and more affluent than most optimistic guesstimates: 61% of blog readers responding to the survey are over 30, and 75% earn more than $45,000 a year.
Moreover, blog readers are even more cyber-active than we'd hoped: 54% of their news consumption is online. 21% are themselves bloggers and 46% describe themselves as opinion makers. And, in the last six months, 50% have spent more than $50 online on books, and 47% have spent more than $500 online for plane tickets.
Blog readers are big media consumers: 21% subscribe to the New Yorker magazine, 15% to the Economist, 15% to Newsweek and 14% to the Atlantic Monthly. They are also far more male - 79%! - than we expected, versus 56% of NYTimes.com's readers.
1 Three quarters of the respondents earn more than $45,000 a year.
2 Almost half of their news consumption is online.
3 A mere 79% of respondents are male.
4 One out of two respondents has spent more than $50 online on books.
5 The survey suggests that all bloggers are over 30.
7.10 Cross out the incorrect sentence in each group.
1) a We carried out the research last week. b We conducted the research last week. с We collected the research last week.
2) a The respondents completed a questionnaire. b The respondents analysed a questionnaire. c The respondents filled in a questionnaire.
3) a We must run the data quickly. b We must collect the data quickly.: c We must gather the data quickly.
4) a It can take a long time to mine data. b It can take a long time to carry out data. с It can take a long time to analyse data.
5) a We are filling in three focus groups. b We are mediating three focus groups. с We are running three focus groups.
7.10 Linking ideas. Study the following examples:
1 Besides organised crime and corruption, terrorism is also a grave cause of concern among executives.
2 The company is losing direction. Furthermore, its core products are losing appeal.
3 Sophisticated fraud as well as corruption and organised crime are seen as
the driving factors behind the increase in risks.
4 Their financial situation is precarious. Moreover, there has been recent bad press about poor working conditions in their overseas factories.
5 There are financial risks involved in addition to legal and operational
ones.
Cross out the two explanations which are not correct:
The words in italics are used to
a) reinforce an idea, add information
b) contrast ideas
c) express the cause of something, the reason for something
Note: 'furthermore' and 'moreover' are formal words; they often occur at the beginning of a sentence.
Match the following sentence and phrase halves. Notice how the linkers are used.
| 1 To keep up with the competition, we have to expand our services arm. | a) Besides, item N035-C1 was damaged during transport. |
| 2 So far we have only received three of the five filing cabinets we ordered. | b) in addition to the hefty repair charge. |
| 3 She will be responsible for developing existing business leads | c) as well as a diverse range of agricultural supplies. |
| 4 We don't think the risk of terrorism is very great. | d) Furthermore, we must get the whole firm back on a steady growth track. |
| 5 All our retail outlets sell pet foods and gardening supplies | e) in addition to searching out new sectors for growth and development. |
| 6 They had to pay a postage and packing fee | f) Moreover, the government appears to control the area firmly. |