Market Research is vital to any well-planned advertising or marketing campaign, and thoroughly collected and documented market research facts can mold business plans, predict business trajectories, and can significantly alter business models based on the types of research procured.
Marketing research can take several different forms and can be defined by the target market (consumer marketing research vs. business-to-business marketing research) or by the method in which the research is conducted (qualitative vs. quantitative marketing research.
Consumer market research focuses on gathering data in order to glean a general understanding of consumer preferences, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers in order to predict potential future behavior.
Business-to-business market research is typically commissioned from one business to another and is meant to assess business-to-business and market trends, give insight in to upcoming opportunities, projections, and the best marketing strategies.
Qualitative market research is used for exploratory purposes to gage and ascertain the mood of a small number of respondents. Qualitative market research can be done in focus groups, in-depth interviews, and projective techniques.
Quantitative market research draws on responses from a much larger population and is used to test a very specific hypothesis. Examples of quantitative market research include surveys and questionnaires.
Market Research is critical to nearly every business, regardless of whether they work directly with consumers or with other companies. This week’s posts will explore emerging trends in market research, and how users can integrate interactive voice response applications into their market research methods effectively and efficiently.
