Understanding markets and customers

Market research- systematic and objective collection, analysis and evaluation of information that is intended to assist the marketing process. It is undertaken for:

• Descriptive reasons
• Explanatory reasons
• Predictive reasons
• Exploratory reasons

Primary market research- collection of information first hand fo r the specific purpose of the initial user. Examples are- experiments, observations, focus groups and surveys.

Benefits-

• Direct link to research as gained for it
• Reliable

Limitations-

• Can be time consuming
• Can be expensive

Secondary research- using information that other people have gathered. Examples are- government publications, newspapers, magazines, company reports, competitors, market research organisations.

Benefits-

• Less time consuming
• Can be less expensive

Limitations-

• Lacks reliability
• Might not link directly to your research

Qualitative research- collection of information based on subjective factors such as opinions and reason. Words.

Benefits-

• Gives insight
• Highlight issues they're unaware of
• Explains thinking behind actions

Limitations- 

• Expensive
• Difficult to analyse and generalise

Quantitative research- collection of information based on numbers.

Benefits-

• Easy to generalise and summarise
• Easy to compare
• Able to identify trends

Limitations-

• Shows what but not why
• May mislead, lacks reliability and validity if sample is too small

Market Mapping- analyses markets by looking at specific features that distiguish different products or firms. Shows the positions in relation to market and can identify…