Edlin

Richard Shane Edlin

Michael Koszalka

Marketing Management

18 August 2003

Market Research

Introduction

        “Market research is a systematic, objective collection and analysis of data about your target market, competition, and/or environment with the goal being increased understanding.”(OWBC)  In order for a company to expand and grow, some type of market research is required.  For a small business or new business venture, the need for market research is necessary to succeed.  Market research has several phases and questions that must be answered.  Sometimes the answers will lead a company to abandon an idea if the research does not support the product’s impact.  Inadequate or no research could significantly hinder a company’s growth and bankrupt a fledgling organization.

How to Research

        There are several ways to conduct research for a product or business.  No matter what approach you take, the following issues need to be considered:  demographics, environment, legal, technical, and social. (Kotler 238)  If a marketing plan includes information based on this list, a company will have a good idea how a product will perform.  Each aspect can be divided into other subsets to help individualize the correct information required for a particular service or product.  Examples of good questions are:  What is the age and gender we are trying to reach?  Who are our competitors?  What are the benefits of our product/service?  What are the trends involved in this specific market? (L. and J. McGrane)

Join now!

        To gather the required information, you must put in the time.  This is where the initial research begins.  With the growth of the Internet, finding out answers to things such as environmental impact, demographic information for the area and competitors’ traffic is just a mouse click away.  Many services will provide this information free or for a nominal charge. (ECD)  Another way to gather information is by using individualized surveys.  A specific survey can yield ideas a company may have overlooked, or even identify a consumer need that has not previously been met. (Kennedy)  Once you have a target group, ...

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