THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Why conduct market research?
Market research plays an important part in the success of many businesses. Just guessing what customers are thinking or how they perceive the strengths and weaknesses of your company and your competitors can lead to missed opportunities and costly mistakes. Research from a professional, impartial company translates customer opinions and market realities into actionable data for your business.Is talking with customers enough?
Depending only on casual contact with customers can be misleading. Most often, the customers who contact your company are polarized - either they love or hate something about your products or services. In reality, most customer's opinions are somewhere between these two extremes. Rather than the skewed perspective that casual customer contact can provide, market research accurately reveals the thoughts and motivations of your target consumers on neutral ground, where you set the agenda. Conducting research leads to better understanding of customer [or potential customer] behavior and perceptions. Research helps eliminate risk, increases the likelihood of success, and identifies actionable opportunities that may otherwise have gone uncovered.How do you get started on a research project?
The most basic step in the research process is deciding what you need to know. This is sometimes not as easy as it sounds. Market Trends Research recommends beginning with individual and/or group brainstorming sessions. Suspending judgment for a moment, write down everything, no matter how large and small, that would help in achieving your objectives. Sometimes this is easier to do in several sessions a few days apart. If your company finds that an outside facilitator would be helpful in this process, Market Trends Research is available to lead these individual and group brainstorming activities.The second step is selecting the target audience(s) for the research. Depending on the topic and methodology, the target could be defined by gender, age, geography, product usage, occupation, decision-making capacity within a business, or any number of other factors.
Market Trends Research will be pleased to discuss the various options in selecting the target audience(s) for your research project.
Deciding on the Research Methods
The most direct way to determine the appropriate research methods is to first think about the conclusion of the study. When the research has been completed, will it be imperative to have:Numerical results [i.e. "67% of current customers and 41% of non-customers can recall the theme of our recent advertising campaign."], that are statistically valid,
OR
Is in-depth knowledge about how and why customers and prospects believe and behave as they do equally or more important [i.e. "The main reason that customers did not recall the theme of our recent advertising campaign was that they confused it with a message from a competitor?"].
OR ARE BOTH EQUALLY IMPORTANT?
If numerical results are critical, a survey is the recommended research method. Surveys are quantitative research, excellent at determining how many and what percentage of persons feel a certain way. They are not as adept at determining why those attitudes, feelings, and behaviors exist, and how to change them.
If a deep understanding of attitudes, feelings, and behavior is crucial, qualitative research [such as focus groups or individual interviews] is recommended. It highlights the human dimension or beliefs and decision-making. While surveys more accurately reflect the rational mind, focus groups bring out the emotions and the thought process involved in forming attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.
Most companies find that they benefit from both types of information and choose to include both quantitative and qualitative research in their plans.
Of course it is not necessary for your company to select the kind of research it requires. Market Trends will work closely with you to help determine your objectives and select the research methods that are most appropriate for your requirements.
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