Many companies conduct market research to gain knowledge and understanding about current customer behavior and culture, competitors, and market trends. There are different techniques that companies can use to obtain valuable research, and each technique has its own unique application. There are many research tools that are used by companies to gather primary and secondary research for marketing decisions. Primary and secondary research techniques have different characteristics and achieve different objectives, and are used when applying qualitative and quantitative approaches. Furthermore, certain research tools are used for these approaches for various reasons.
Primary and Secondary Research Tools
When a company conducts primary research, the information that is gathered is new and original, and is generally undertaken by researchers that that have collected secondary data. A popular market researching tool is a survey through personal interviews (Aaker, Kumar, & Day, p. 271, 2007). This form of primary research involves a researcher, interviewer, interviewee, and the interview environment. These interviews could be conducted face-to-face or via online. Door-to-door interviews are also very effective ways to gather information because of quick feedback from the respondent, special questionnaires, and it allows the participants to feel comfortable in their own environment.
Another primary research tool is the use of mall intercept surveys (Aaker, Kumar, & Day, p. 247, 2007). These surveys are often conducted in shopping malls and are somewhat inexpensive. Mall intercept surveys allow companies to save money on their research efforts because researchers do not have to travel to find shoppers for interviews. Spe...
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...uable information are primary and secondary data. The tools that are used for conducting primary and secondary research provide companies with quantitative and qualitative types of data. There are many research tools that are used by companies to gather primary and secondary research for marketing decisions. Primary and secondary research techniques have different characteristics and achieve different objectives, and are used when applying qualitative and quantitative approaches. Furthermore, certain research tools are used for these approaches for various reasons.
Works Cited
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The methodology of this research project included both qualitative methods and quantitative methods. The qualitative methods were used for primarily background information and specific examples of respondents that would be considered part of the target market. The quantitative methods included a distributed survey and a collection and analysis of the results using statistical software.
Marketing research has become a very important part of small businesses and large corporations gaining information about their customers and how they feel about their products and services. According to Philip Kotler, "Marketing research is systematic problem analysis, model building and fact-finding for the purpose of improved decision-king and control in the marketing of goods and services (Kotler & Keller, 2012)”. The initial step in the marketing process is to identify the problem the company is having and then decide the way the marketing team would like to conduct the research. The marketing team will devise a plan on how to gather the information and set a budget for the research project. In the planning of how they will conduct the
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Primary research is new data that is gathered by conducting different methods of marketing research.
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Primary marketing research is collected for the first time if the company has enough money to finance it, but in most case it is the second more accurate one. It is original and collected for a specific purpose, or to solve a specific problem. Primary research delivers more specific results than secondary research, more expensive and time consuming, which are an especially important consideration when the company is launching a new product or service. There are many ways to conduct primary research. By customizing tried-and-true approaches, focus groups, surveys, field tests, interviews or observation, you can gain information about your target market. Primary research is generally based on sampling techniques and requires statistical methodologies. The sample size could be as small as 1 percent of the market and thus the information and results gathered are highly accurate.
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On the other hand, weaknesses existed. The primary research was the most difficult and frustrating sector, for it was difficult to keep in touch with the potential competitors; hence, a chance to learn more and analyse deeper from the potential competitors was missed. To conclude, the result and analysis of primary and market research which was based on the questionnaire was not convincing enough, and it was the main sector which needed to improve in the future.
Philip Kotler; Kevin Lane Keller (2009): “Marketing Management”, 13th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, pg 61-62