The market research is the search, collection, analysis and reporting of data and information related to the specific situation of the market facing a company.
Therefore, the market research can also be defined as collection, recording, systematic analysis of data on marketing issues and marketing to improve the quality of decision-making procedures and control in the marketing environment.
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Objectives of market research:
- Objective of the search: to collect information for the preliminary evaluation of the problem and its structuring.
- Descriptive objective: a description of the selected phenomena, the objects of investigation and the factors that affect their condition.
- Causal objective: to test the hypothesis of some causal relationship.
- Objectives of the tests: selection of promising options or evaluation of the correctness of the decisions made.
- Predictive objectives: forecasting the state of an object in the future.
However, the main characteristic of market research that distinguishes it from the collection and analysis of current internal and external information is that it focuses on solving a certain or set of marketing problems .
Each company independently determines the subject and scope of market research based on its existing capabilities. And also, needs for marketing information, so the types of market research conducted by different companies may be different.
Market Research Types
Firstly, it was previously emphasized that market research is a scientific analysis of all the factors that influence the marketing of goods and services. It follows that the field of application of this function is practically unlimited, therefore only those types of investigations that are most frequently found in practice are considered.
Essentially, the purpose of market research is to get answers to five main questions: who? that? when? where? and how? An implied question is: why? expanding the study to contact the field of social psychology and is sometimes distinguished as a separate area, known as motivational analysis (motivation research), that is, the study of the reasons for consumer behavior.
(Unfortunately, this term has acquired a certain undesirable connotation due to the questionable activities of some psychotherapists.)
However, these studies are often carried out in a systematic way and can be secret as follows:
1) Market Research
- Willpower of the size and nature of the market (characteristics of consumers by age, sex, income, profession and social condition).
- Resolve of the geographical location of potential consumers.
- Determination of the share of products of the main competitors in the total volume of sales in a given market. Investigation of the structure, composition and organization of the sales network at the service of this market.
- Analysis of general economic trends and other external ones that affect the market structure.
2) Sales Research
- Determination of differences in the volume of sales by specific regions.
- Establishment and revision of the limits of the sales area. Scheduling of visits to customers by sellers. Changing the efficiency of sellers.
- Evaluation of business methods and sales raise. Analysis of the competence of the distribution network in the amount of costs – benefits . Inventory of stocks of the retail network.
3) Product Research
- Analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your competitor’s products (that is, the products not only of your company, but also those of your competitors).
- Looking for new ways to use manufactured products. Analysis of ideas for new products. And also, testing of new products with the participation of consumers. Research in the field of packaging. Study of the possibilities of simplifying the product range.
4) Advertising Research
- Analysis of the effectiveness of the ads .
- Examination of the effectiveness of advertising media.
- Analysis of the effectiveness of advertising work.
5) Economic Research
- Cost-production analysis.
- Short and long-term forecast based on trend analysis.
- Price – profit analysis.
6) Export Market Research
The above list is by no income thorough, but only describes the limits of possible research activities.