Markets and Prices

Market Research

Millions of pounds are spent each year on market research. Nearly 10% of the price we pay for goods in the shops is spent on it.

What is market research? By definition, it is a systematic collection and analysis of data, which is based on the customer’s attitude, needs, opinions and motivation within the context of political, economic and social influences. Market research is always necessary, because to reduce risk, any organization needs to know about the market for a product or service it is going to launch.

Market research makes a positive contribution to business by helping in the decision-making process. There are many different types of market research. Here are the main ones:

1. Market and sales research. It estimates the size of new markets and their potential growth, identifies market segments and trends.

2. Product research. Its purpose is to investigate the customer’s attitude to new products, to find alternative uses for existing products and to generate new ideas for new products.

3. Research on promotion and advertising. It helps to choose the right advertising medium, analyses the effectiveness of advertising and evaluates present sales techniques.

The market research process is a five-step application of the scientific method that includes:

1. Defining the problem.

2. Analyzing the situation.

3. Getting the necessary data.

4. Processing the data.

5. Solving the problem.

As for the information a marketing researcher is interested in, there exist its 3 main sources:

1. Information within the company, such as sales figures, is known as internal information.

2. Information external to the company, such as government reports or published marketing reports, is known as secondary information.

3. The third information source, often characterized by market research opinion polls, is known as primary information.

Notes:

launch – выпускать на рынок (товар или услугу)

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