| what is market research? | the process of gathering, recording and analysing data about customers, competitors and market trends |
| what are the two types of market research? | desk
field |
| describe desk research | secondary information that has been collected by someone else |
| describe field research | primary information that a business collects themselves |
| what are some advantages of desk research? | affordable & quick as info already exists |
| what are some disadvantages of desk research? | info may not be accurate & up to date
information isn't tailored to suit your business
info is available to competitors
info could be biased |
| what are some advantages of field research | info up to date & accurate
info specific to your business
competitors can't access this information |
| what are some disadvantages of field research? | expensive as need to hire someone to collect info
time consuming as need to collect info yourself
people may not tell truth |
| what are the methods of field research? | personal interview
postal survey
telephone survey
online survey
social networking
focus group/consumer panel |
| describe a personal interview | face to face interview with a trained interviewer held on the streets or at home |
| describe a postal survey | series of questions sent to your home through the post and sent back once completed |
| describe a telephone survey | series of questions is asked an answered on the phone |
| describe an online survey | a number of questions is displayed and answered on a website |
| describe social networking field research | business sets up a social media account to interact with customers around the world |
| describe a focus group | a group of customers is gathered to take part in a discussion about a product |
| give advantages of social networking as field research | large number of people can be reached
questions can be answered quickly
two way communication can occur between business and customer |
| give advantages of postal surveys | fairly inexpensive
can target certain market segments by postcode
people can complete survey when suits them |
| give advantages of personal interviews | you can see their body language
you can ask follow up questions & seek clarification
researcher can encourage respondent to answer certain questions |
| give advantages of telephone surveys | you can seek clarification
you can target certain dialing codes
information is obtained immediately |
| give two advantages of a focus group | multiple opinions
you can seek clarification |
| give two advantages of an online survey | website link can be sent to a number of people around the world
computer can automatically display and collate results in real time |
| give two disadvantages of social networking as field research | customers may not want to interact with social media pages
information can be viewed by competitors |
| give two disadvantages of postal surveys | gets lost or put in the bin
low response rate
no opportunity for clarification |
| give disadvantages of personal interviews | people might rush through and lie
researcher must be trained, expensive
can be time consuming, only one person interview at a time |
| give two disadvantages telephone surveys | people hang up or don't answer
large number of calls will need to be made to get many responses |
| give two disadvantages of focus groups | certain people take over the group
cost of travel and attendance
financial incentives may be needed to encourage people to take part
sample of people may not represent views of the whole population |
| give two disadvantages of online surveys | relies on respondents having internet access
no personal contact with business to clarify misunderstandings |
