HBNF02 - MARKETING
Lecture 7: Marketing Research
• INTRODUCTION
• PURPOSE OF MARKETING RESEARCH
• SOURCE OF BUSINESS INFORMATION
• MARKETING RESEARCH
• TYPES OF MARKETING RESEARCH
• MARKETING RESEARCH PROCESS
• PROPOSAL AND RESEARCH PLAN
• USES OF MARKETING RESEARCH
INTRODUCTION
• Today's consumers have a lot of power
• They can research product or service and make purchase decisions entirely on their own
• Therefore, gaining marketing insights is crucial for marketing success
• Done through market survey, a product-preference test, a sales forecast by region, or an advertising evaluation
• It’s the job of the marketing researcher to produce insight into the customer’s attitudes and buying behavior
• If marketers lack consumer insights, they often get in trouble
• With market research, companies can figure out their target market and get opinions and feedback from consumers in real-
time
• Market research allows firm to get information from a larger sample size of the target audience
• The information could be about a target market, consumers, competitors and the industry as a whole
• This is the foundation of any successful company
• The research has a number of different purposes – from identifying a new market to launching a new business
PURPOSE OF MARKETING
RESEARCH
• Businesses need accurate and up to date information because the business world is always
changing
Changes in:
• Technology
• Customer tastes
• Competitor products
•Economic condition
Marketing research can help to:
• Gain a more detailed
understanding of
customer needs
SOURCES OF BUSINESS
INFORMATION
• Who are our customers? • Internal company information
• How do a customers make • Sales, orders, customer profiles, customer
buying decision in the market? contact
• How well is the product sell?
• Marketing intelligence
• What does the competitor do?
• Everyday information about the
• How can/ should firm respond
developments in the
to changes in the
marketplace? market
• Suppliers, customers and
distributors
• Market Research
MARKETING RESEARCH
• Defined as the process of evaluating the feasibility of a new product or service, through
research
conducted directly with potential consumers
• It is a systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to
a specific marketing situation facing the company
• This method allows organizations or businesses to discover their target market,
collect and document opinions, and make informed decisions
• Can be conducted directly by organizations or companies or can be outsourced to
agencies that have expertise in this process
• Planning and conducting market research is a critical component of any business
• The primary purpose of conducting market research is to understand or examine the market associated
with a particular product or service, to decide how the audience will react to a product or service
• The information obtained from conducting market research can be used to tailor marketing/ advertising
activities or to determine what are the feature priorities/service requirements (if any) of consumers
• Used to help business owners make more informed decisions about the company’s strategies,
operations, and
potential customer base
• Many companies use market research to collect and assess data about a target market or consumer to better
understand their ideal audience
• Depending on the purpose of the research, one can choose either of the 2 main types of market research
• These are primary research and secondary research
TYPES OF MARKETING RESEARCH
Primary research
• Refers to any research that a person, company or a person/company conducts or hires another company
or individual to conduct
• This type of research requires data from the direct source in doing the research
• Will have first-hand information that the firm gather themself, or with the help of a market research firm
• It involves reaching out to the target market, asking them questions, collecting data, and analyzing the
information gathered
• Based on the data, strategies are devised, decisions are made, and policies are created
• Primary research helps firm explore issues, dig deeper, and ask specific questions that are relevant to
what firm are looking for
• Because it takes more time and effort, it may also cost a bit more than secondary research but it is
more
effective and helps firm gain a solid picture of what’s going on
Sources of Primary Market Research
• Primary research is often more expensive and time-consuming
•But it is the best way to get the information that the business
needs The most popular primary research tools are:
Customer surveys
• Surveys conducted via phone, in person, on paper or using an
online survey software like SurveyMonkey, are
hugely informative
• It’s a list of questions crafted in a way that gives the best possible
insight into how a customer feels about firm
product or service, brand and the experience the business provide
• It can be as broad or as specific as you want
In-depth interviews
• Carried out either by phone or face-to-face, in-depth interviews give marketer an opportunity to ask more
probing questions
Focus groups
• A focus group is an organized session with a group of 6-8 people that share some common
characteristics
• These characteristics include age, location, buying habits, etc
• They will participate in a discussion of a predefined topic led by a moderator
• It’s an expensive but effective method of getting feedback on bigger scale upgrades, product
features or new products.
Observation
• It involves watching or video-recording how consumers interact with a product or service in a natural
setting
• Although a time-consuming method, it has the advantage of providing unbiased research
• This is because consumers are not under any pressure and will behave naturally
Secondary research
• Often referred to as ‘desk research’, secondary market research is best suited for gathering broad
insights into market trends
• Using somebody else’s primary research for the firm business purposes
• Research that is already conducted, organized, and published is often used by small businesses to
gauge market trends, current economies, and to devise plans
• Is information and data that has been gathered by others and is publicly available either online or
offline
• This could be data published in newspapers, reports, journals and so on, or information freely
available online
• This helps to predict and analyze the current situation in terms of competition
• The downside is that everyone has access to this information and they will have had no
control over
Sources of Secondary Market Research
• When conducting market research to better understand industry trends and broader shifts, secondary
research is often a good place to start
• Some of the most useful sources include:
• Industry associations and trade groups – most associations publish annual outlooks
• Trade journals specific to the firm industry
• Government reports - such as the Census or annual federal procurement results
• Industry analysts – these individuals monitor the performance of public companies in the industry
• University faculty members – see what research reports they may have published
• Websites – while Wikipedia isn’t a reliable source, there may be others that lead firm to reputable
sources and
reports
• Competitor websites and materials – to convince potential customers to buy from them, they may share
useful statistics and reports
• The purpose of market research is to provide information that will assist firm in making better decisions, to
help company be more successful
• Types of information collected through both primary and secondary sources can be either
qualitative or quantitative
• Qualitative information helps firm gain a better understanding of how people feel about
certain topics
• Firm can ask them what they think and how/why they make choices that they do
• The best sources to collect qualitative information include in-depth interviews, focus
groups,
and direct observations
• Methods are used by organizations to conducted structured market research by using online
surveys, questionnaires and polls to gain statistical insights to make informed decisions
• Quantitative information is statistical data and tends to be more structured
• Closed question Questionnaires and surveys fall under this type of information
• Primary market research usually use a combination of both Qualitative and Quantitative
Research
PROPOSAL AND RESEARCH PLAN
• Market research involves asking the right questions, in the right way, to the right people
• This gives business directions and helps them stay on top of what the customers want, and
how much they're willing to pay for it.
• When firm undertake market research, they can use the findings in two ways:
Start a new business and write your marketing plan
Measure the success of your current marketing plan
• Market research involves asking the right questions, in the right way, to the right people
• 5 steps to follow
1. Define your research objective
• The first step in the market research process is to define the research objectives
• Ask yourself:
• What is the key information you would like your research to uncover?
• What do you want to know about your customers or your market?
• By defining your research aims, you'll be able to keep your research focused and
effective.
• For example, firm might want to decide whether to launch a new product or
service
• The research process would then be to assess whether the market will accept the new
product or service, and how much they'll be willing to pay for it
2. Develop your research questions
• Once objectives had been identified, come up with a list of research questions for your market, customers and
competitors. For example:
Questions for your market:
• What are your market's key demographics (for example, as age and gender)?
• If you're starting a new business or product, how will your entrance affect the market and customers?
•Does the region where you operate have a stable
economy? Questions for your customers:
• Who are your target customers and how do they behave?
• Where are they located?
•What's the profile of an ideal customer for your
business? Questions for your competitors:
• What's the profile of a typical competitor for your
business?
• What are your competitors' main strengths?
• What are your competitors' main weaknesses?
3. Gather your research
• There are 2 types of data collection, and both are based on asking questions:
• Qualitative information is more investigative and involves a fewer number of respondents (focus groups
and in-depth interviews).
• Quantitative information is used to draw specific conclusions and involves a large number of
respondents
(surveys and questionnaires).
Some common methods for data collection include:
• telephone polling
• mailed questionnaires
• online surveys
• personal interviews
• Firm can conduct a simple 'yes or no' survey over the phone, but might need a face-to-face meeting to
understand personal choices such further
4. Interpret the findings
• This step is about organising the results and interpreting the findings
• Basically, what have the firm discovered?
• Keep the r research objectives front-of-mind when organising and grouping the data
• Look for ways that can improve the data organisation – this will make it easier to come to a conclusion
down the track
• Identify any major trends – consider using lists, tables, diagrams and mind-maps to organise the data
• Use the marketing plan to analyse the data to determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats (SWOT)
• Can include a SWOT analysis as part of the business plan
• One of the most important steps in the market research process is interpreting the findings
• What is the research telling you?
• By answering this question, you'll be able to understand what the research has uncovered
5. Draw conclusions and make decisions
• Once firm have the findings, ask:
• What do your findings mean for your business?
• What are you going to do about it?
• Any conclusions you reach should align with your research objectives and your
goals for your business
Review all the data collected:
• Ensure there aren't any gaps in your data
• Examine the major trends or problems in your industry or market
• Analyse any strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
• Use the research to decide on the tactics that will make up the firm marketing mix
Further reading
• https://www.mightyforms.com/it/blog/types-of-
market-research
• https://business.vic.gov.au/business-
information/marketing-and-sales/increasing-sales-
through-marketing/do-market-research
• https://hbr.org/2012/08/using-market-research-
just-for-marketing
• https://www.greenbook.org/mr/market-research-
leaders/harvard-business-review-and-market-
research-what-do-opinion-leaders-think-of-our-
industry/
DISCUSSION
Due to the pandemic, tourism industry has been greatly affected as they
are facing threat of having to close down the business. Brunei tourism
industry is also affected by this pandemic. Imagine if you are working in
one of the tour company in Brunei, propose an appropriate marketing
research in reviving your tour company business and include as well how
will you collect the data in order to solve your problem?
