Types of research - Market research is the collection of information or data to better understand what is happening in the market place.
Types of research
Market research is the collection of information or data to better understand what is happening in the market place. 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 general types of research:
* Primary or field research
* Secondary or desk research
Primary or field research
Obtaining new data for a specific purpose. The marketing department of a firm or a specialist research organisation can provide this. Typically, the data is gathered by face-to-face interviews, by telephone or by post, using questionnaires. This is called a survey. Sometimes potential consumers are asked to test products, and their responses are recorded.
Field research has the advantage that the firm itself has control over the whole process. The disadvantages are that it takes longer, and costs more.
Secondary or desk research
This is the use of existing data that has already been collected. 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.
The research process
Marketing departments need to have information so they can get their marketing mix right. For example, they will want to know what similar products already exist and how much they cost. They will also want to know whether consumers will want to buy their new product, and what they think about it. The process for doing this is as follows:
. Identify a problem
2. Set objectives
3. Gather data
4. Analyse data
Terms
Data Information
Desk research Gathering secondary or existing data
Field research Gathering primary or new data
Sample group The group of people being questioned
Trends Shared views or behaviour.
What is Desk research
Desk research is getting data from existing secondary sources, such as journals and reports. Field research is finding out new information about your consumer's needs. This could be through a survey using questionnaires, or getting them to try out your products and recording their opinions.
The marketing process
A firm will gather information about the marketplace (e.g. whether house prices are rising or falling), and then research consumers' needs. From this, it will identify who its market is, and then put together a marketing plan based on the findings. The marketing mix will be central to this, and finding the right balance in each of the 4Ps is very important. The firm can then review and adapt their plan when they need to. You should remember the following points:
* Although marketing is consumer-orientated, the main aim is still to ...
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The marketing process
A firm will gather information about the marketplace (e.g. whether house prices are rising or falling), and then research consumers' needs. From this, it will identify who its market is, and then put together a marketing plan based on the findings. The marketing mix will be central to this, and finding the right balance in each of the 4Ps is very important. The firm can then review and adapt their plan when they need to. You should remember the following points:
* Although marketing is consumer-orientated, the main aim is still to be profitable.
* A good marketing manager will try to differentiate their product (i.e. make their product stand out against similar competitive brands).
* Whatever pricing decision is made, the most important factor is to break even.
* Making it as easy as possible for the customer to buy the product will help sales to increase.
For My business I would
I would advertise in the local newspaper, as it is cheaper than other forms of advertising, and would reach my intended target market, most of which would probably be local. I would also use a discount voucher scheme as a form of sales promotion. It would give a 10% discount to our customers on any future purchases of our products. This should lead to increased sales of the rest of our product range, as well as making our boot more attractive to consumers in terms of value for money.
Out of the 4Ps I would mostly use the Price
the form of price is:
No matter how good the product is, it is unlikely to succeed unless the price is right. This does not just mean being cheaper than competitors. Most people associate a higher price with quality, so you would expect to pay more for a Rolls Royce than for a Lada. On the other hand, is one cola worth more than another, and if so, how much?
As a rule, a producer of luxury or medical products will use skim pricing or premium pricing initially, in order to maximize its profits. This is useful, as it helps them to recover expensive research and development costs quickly.
Example For fmcg's (fast moving consumable goods) like colas, penetration pricing is usually used. The firm will want a large share of the market; so will settle for a small profit on each item. In the long term, they hope that the turnover, and therefore their profits, will be high.
The simplest method of all is cost-plus pricing, where a firm adds a profit mark-up to the unit cost.
what is customer services and why do companies use it?
Customer service is the provision of care to customers from pre-service to
after sales service. It may be face-to-face, over the telephone, written or via new technology using e-mail and the Internet. Companies use customer care to create an overall impression of an organisation that puts the needs of the customer first, to ensure quality and increase sales over competititors. Increasingly, businesses have customer services departments or customer services desks whose job is to ensure the efficient process of delivering customer care, including provision for those customers with special needs. Many companies now produce literature, which outlines their Customer Care Policy or Charter; this may include their policy on refunds, warranties, after sales service and how to make a complaint.
Market research aims
* advertising
* after sales service
* design
* delivery and distribution
* packaging and presentation
* pricing
* promotion
* research
* quality control and assurance
* testing
Market research allows the company to collect and analyse information on a variety of important issues, such as consumer needs and expectations. By collating this information the business can decide what it wants to produce and how it will produce and sell its products.
By using marketing the business is looking outwards and can assess the behaviour of rivals and also take note of the opinions of other important groups, such as pressure groups.
Most businesses develop a marketing plan, which normally involves:
* developing clear marketing strategies
* monitoring consumer opinions and responses
* analysing sales
* adapting to changes
* reviewing how the consumer perceives the products the business sells
* reacting to changes and expected changes
To produce such a plan the business must:
* carefully analyse what it is currently doing and why
* really know the market(s) in which it operates
* know what resources it has at its disposal
Normally marketing plans/strategies will concentrate on certain prime targets. These will be:
* to consolidate and /or increase market share
* reacting to changes in the market
* seeking ways of breaking into new markets or segments
There are various types of research and these are:
* Market - which concentrates on analysing the potential for those products/services you already produce, forecasting the possible demand for future products, forecasting sales, studying market trends, analysing market characteristics, looking for the reasons why companies have specific market shares.
* Product - which concentrates on how customers/consumers will react to proposed new products or developments, comparing the strengths and weaknesses of competitive products, researching various forms of packaging and presentation, forecasting how current products will have to change to remain fresh with consumers, testing marketing plans.
* Price - which concentrates on analysing price responsiveness (elasticity), looking at which products make a contribution to profits and how much, how customers view certain prices and 'price points', deciding how credit and the ways available for purchasing products affect consumer demand
Some companies also research customer perception of sales and advertising campaigns and which forms of product distribution work best for certain products.
Market Research involves BOTH Primary and Secondary data. The first refers to information that does not already exist. Its collection can therefore be expensive and time-consuming. However, it should be accurate and relevant to the business involved. The second refers to information that has already been collected. The data is comparatively cheap to acquire but might not be accurate or exactly that required by the business.
There are two types of research, which we call field and desk. The first, field research is based on the collation of primary data and therefore involves actually asking people or researching something new. It can take many forms, which include: surveys, observations, loyalty cards, panels and group discussions and market testing. Desk research concentrates on using data, which has already been collected. It can be collected by using information already held by the firm, using official information and records, asking for access to information stored by professional bodies and by searching publications such as newspapers.
Links to surveys
* cost
* speed of collation
* accuracy
* reliability
* age of information
* any special characteristics of the market
Market Segmentation
There are various ways to segment your market. These may include:
-Demographically - according to the age structure of the population
-Geographically - by country or region or area
-Behaviouristically - according to the nature of the purchase, the use the product is put to, the l oyalty to the brand and so on
-Benefit - according to the use and satisfaction gained by the consumer
-Socio-economically - according to social class and income levels
The Marketing Mix
The marketing mix is the balance of marketing techniques required for selling the product. It's components are often known as the four Ps:
-Price - the price of the product - particularly the price compared to your competitors - is a vital part of marketing. There are two possible pricing techniques:
-Market skimming - pricing high but selling fewer
-Market penetration - pricing lower to secure a higher volume of sales
-Product - targeting the market and making the product appropriate to the market segment you are trying to sell into
-Promotion - this may take the form of point of sale promotion, advertising, sponsorship or other promotions.
-Place - this part of the marketing mix is all about how the product is distributed. Current trends are towards shortening the chain of distribution.
