Market Resarch Essay

        A second method that could be used is an ‘Interview’. An interview is when an interviewer uses a set of prepared questions to find out real opinions of customers. One advantage of an interview is that you can get more detailed information than you can in a questionnaire. Another advantage is that questions can be explained into further detail, moreover packaging can be shown and persons opinions recorded. Nevertheless, they are time consuming to conduct plus the interviewer may need to travel to see people, which makes it even more time consuming and so very expensive. Besides, the responses will be more difficult to analyse, as open questions are asked. This method is suitable because, if you ask right and important questions, like ‘do you eat chocolates with nuts inside them?’ it can be very helpful. And also with chocolates, it won’t be too hard to analyse it as much as something else, because you can just add on any new ideas. In general, this method is useful if you are looking for an emotionally driven answer, which might give you more insight.

        ‘Focus Groups’ is another method that can be accustomed for market research. It is usually a group of 8-10 customers that meet to discuss a product or service they have experienced. Two main advantages of a focus group are that, it is a cheap way to gain customers’ views, and that customers are more likely to respond to this than a postal questionnaire. The disadvantages of a focus group are that firstly, customers might have their opinions changed by other members of the group. Additionally, the small number of people used, may not represent the views of the entire market. Furthermore, once the hard work is over trying to find the people willing to give their time up for the session, it is even harder to analyse the feedback, because of the open questions. This method will not be appropriate, as the product has not been made yet and therefore the contenders cannot comment on it. In conclusion, it can require several groups to get a balanced result, consequently I dislike the choice to use this method.

        Another type of method is a ‘Consumer Panel’. A consumer panel is a group of consumers, who give their opinions about a product or service over a period of time. The advantage of a ‘consumer panel’ is that you can get detailed information about a product, from which you can measure how customers’ opinions change over time. The real problem is that it is very difficult to keep the same panel of people available over a period of time. Another disadvantage is that the panel may not represent the views of the market. And yet again this method is also difficult to analyse, as it is based upon open questions. This method is suitable because every once in a while, we can have a new and improved formula of the product based on ideas from the ‘consumer panel’.

        The final method that I will mention is ‘Product Sampling’. This is when samples of a new product are tried by customers, for example taste tests in a supermarket. The easiness to set it up and carry it out, make the product sampling method very convenient. Another pro is that the public usually respond well, as they can try the product for free. On the other hand, customers may not be a representative of the whole market. As well as that, people may not say what they really think, to avoid causing offence.

An important factor that needs to be regarded is that we are a starting company, hence we have limited funds. There are a few reoccurring problems between some of the methods. For example, ‘the method is too difficult to analyse, as a result of open questions being used’. The questionnaires would solve that problem. In some methods the conversations will need to be recorded for it to be analysed. This would cost more, thus we cannot use those methods. Overall, I think that the ‘Product Sampling’ method will be the most appropriate, as it won’t be too difficult to use and we should be able to get enough responses, as chocolate is a fan favourite. We can serve the customers different flavours and show them different designs of our product.