Marketing Foundations Tutorial 2: Market Research
General notes about Market Research
Market research results in decisions that take the form of marketing plans
and strategies
Market research begins with an issue, discovers information, allows
informed decisions about how to respond, and ultimately results in
outcomes that match the marketing goals (You need to focus on creating
really effective questions to get really interesting results)
The effectiveness of market research undertaken is evaluated in order to
prove a return on the investment
- Captured by marketing metrics such as brand awareness and product
sales
Secondary data should be collected before primary data in market research
Primary data
Data collected by the investigator (i.e. you) from first hand sources
Methods of collecting primary data include surveys, interview or
experiments
Advantages of primary data:
- Get more insights than secondary data
- Specific to your data’s needs
Disadvantages of primary data:
- Expensive
- Time consuming
- Requires people who are trained in deciphering data
Secondary data
Data that has been collected by someone other than the investigator
Can be obtained from sources such as:
- government census reports
- administrative data
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, Advantages of secondary data:
- Saves a lot of time
- Saves money
Disadvantages of secondary data:
- May not be relevant (If you take it from Wikipedia, it may not be
relevant)
- Not timely (It could be older data, e.g. data from 2006)
- May be subject to bias – Who did the research and how? (If you ask
how many people have twitter
Internal Secondary Data
Internal secondary data: Data that exists and is stored inside your
organisation
Examples include:
- Sales force records
- Transactions
- Competitor activities
External Secondary Data
External secondary data: Data that is collected by other people or
organisations from your organisations EXTERNAL environment
Examples include:
- Government Output
- Academic Knowledge
- Company reports
Exploratory and Conclusive Research
Exploratory research: Aims at providing insights and understanding of
issues faced by a research
Conclusive research: Provides information that is useful in reaching
conclusions or decision making
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General notes about Market Research
Market research results in decisions that take the form of marketing plans
and strategies
Market research begins with an issue, discovers information, allows
informed decisions about how to respond, and ultimately results in
outcomes that match the marketing goals (You need to focus on creating
really effective questions to get really interesting results)
The effectiveness of market research undertaken is evaluated in order to
prove a return on the investment
- Captured by marketing metrics such as brand awareness and product
sales
Secondary data should be collected before primary data in market research
Primary data
Data collected by the investigator (i.e. you) from first hand sources
Methods of collecting primary data include surveys, interview or
experiments
Advantages of primary data:
- Get more insights than secondary data
- Specific to your data’s needs
Disadvantages of primary data:
- Expensive
- Time consuming
- Requires people who are trained in deciphering data
Secondary data
Data that has been collected by someone other than the investigator
Can be obtained from sources such as:
- government census reports
- administrative data
Page 1
, Advantages of secondary data:
- Saves a lot of time
- Saves money
Disadvantages of secondary data:
- May not be relevant (If you take it from Wikipedia, it may not be
relevant)
- Not timely (It could be older data, e.g. data from 2006)
- May be subject to bias – Who did the research and how? (If you ask
how many people have twitter
Internal Secondary Data
Internal secondary data: Data that exists and is stored inside your
organisation
Examples include:
- Sales force records
- Transactions
- Competitor activities
External Secondary Data
External secondary data: Data that is collected by other people or
organisations from your organisations EXTERNAL environment
Examples include:
- Government Output
- Academic Knowledge
- Company reports
Exploratory and Conclusive Research
Exploratory research: Aims at providing insights and understanding of
issues faced by a research
Conclusive research: Provides information that is useful in reaching
conclusions or decision making
Page 2
