Consider the Market Research process. Before we can begin to research, we must have a set research question in mind. What are we setting out to gather information about? The more specific our research question, the higher the quality of our research will be. Once we define the question, we can begin to define the research approach (primary or secondary), the research design (or collection tool), and data collection (from our targeted pool). After the collection process is complete, we can move on to the analysis of the collected data and the final report.
Market research is crucial component of Consumer Behavior that allows companies to produce products and services that consumers actually want and not what they are perceived to want. In order to gather market data, both primary and secondary research methods are used.
Primary research can be defined as research designed and conducted by the person or group originating the request. For example, Starbucks decides to launch a new line of carbonated water, but they want to test the market before making an investment. They could either higher an external marketing research firm to compile the data, or their internal marketing research team could complete the work. Either way, the data is coming direct from a targeted audience and could be considered "fresh".
Secondary research can be defined as utilizing existing research data gathered by an external source. Data previously collected by the firm requesting research is known as internal secondary data. External secondary data is gathered by other organizations from the federal government to research firms, etc. Some even argue that secondary research should be performed before primary research in order to determine the historical nature of the current research question.
Keep in mind that it is worth the time it takes to properly craft the research question(s) before launching into data collection. Knowing what you're looking for will save a lot of time and effort when data collection begins.
In coming weeks, we'll discuss data collection tools that can assist marketers in painting a detailed picture of consumer needs. Consider what types of data you might want to see if you were commissioning a report on mp3's. What might you expect to see in the final report and why? What targeted pool of consumers would you expect to see responses from and why?