Introduction to marketing free essay sample

Market Research is the process of gathering, analysing and interpreting information about a market. You can be talking about a product or service to be offered for sale in that specific market and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service. Market Research Includes: †¢Primary Research †¢Secondary Research †¢Quantitative Research †¢Qualitative Research †¢Uses of Market Research †¢Limitation of Market Research Primary research: This is where there is no data available for the researcher so they have to start from scratch. This means that the company needs to design questionnaires, collect data from respondents and then analyze the answers. Secondary Research: This process involves collecting data from either the originator or a distributor of primary research. The main way to gather secondary research is usually to look at the sales records and other records of competitors that have been around for longer to obtain an understanding of the market that you are going into, in other words, accessing information already gathered, old sales reports, accounting records and many others, falls under the heading of secondary research. We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction to marketing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Quantitative research is when companies create surveys and customer questionnaires. This can help small companies to improve their brand, products and services by enabling the public to take the decisions. It is important to survey people in fairly large numbers to get a better statistics and probability that people really want the service or the product, or if the company needs improvement in some areas. Qualitative research: aims to gather an in-depth understanding of human behavior and the reasons that they act with such. This method investigates the why and how of decision making, not just what, where and when. This data is based on opinions rather than facts and figures this can also help make a link between the business and the customers. Uses of market research: The purpose of market research is to gather data on customers and potential customers. The collected data aids business decision making. This therefore reduces the risks involved in making these decisions. This information can be used to design new innovative products, help create a comfortable and friendly environment etc. Limitation of Market Research: No matter how small or large a market research project may be, any type of research performed poorly will not give relevant results. In fact, all research, no matter how well controlled, carries the potential to be wrong. There are many reasons why research may not give good results but a common problem is deciding whether the research is really measuring what it claims to be measuring. There are 3 types of limitations of market research. These are Cost effectiveness, reliability and validity of data collected.