Market research is an approach of gathering data about the customers, competitors to take the advantage of all the resources and practices available in the market. This helps us in understanding customers’ needs, the latest trends, and understand the present dynamic of the market. Marketers adopt six steps of the research process for market research:
- Define the problem and objective
- Develop the research plan
- Collect the information
- Analyze the information
- Present the findings
- Make the decision
Elaborating market research process steps:
Define the Problem and objective: One should properly define the problem (neither too broadly nor too narrowly). Not all research is specific, some can be exploratory (Identify the problem and suggest solutions), some is descriptive (to quantify demand) and some can be casual (to test cause and effect relationship).
Develop the Research Plan: In this step, we develop a plan to gather all the required information and discover the cost of doing the research. We need to make decisions on the data sources, sampling plans, approach, research instrument, and contact method.
Collect the Information: This is the most expensive and error-prone step of market research. The biggest challenge is to achieve consistency as there are so many demographic variables in the market.
Analyze the Information: In this step, we tabulate the data and develop a summary to extract findings that would be of use in our research. Testing different hypotheses and theories to strengthen the conclusion.
Present the Findings: the researcher has to present the findings, the approach they followed, and their recommendations for the management.
Make the decision: After all the research work and recommendations, decisions are made. Some organizations use a marketing decision support system to help in the decision-making process.
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