L1 - Market Research introduction

Objectives To be able to Define market research. Analyse the usefulness of market research. Define and analyse primary and secondary research. Define and analyse quantitative and qualitative research

Research carried out to identify the needs & wants of customers. Market research Research carried out to identify the needs & wants of customers.

Advantages of Market Research Allows planning Allows better sales than competitors Helps reduce risk of new product failure

Primary and secondary research…

2 types of market research Primary – Also known as field research. Conducted first hand for the purpose of the task at hand. Secondary – Also known as desk research. Uses other people’s research & findings to derive own conclusions.

Primary Research Main sources of primary data: Survey Questionnaire Focus groups Product tests Large companies will extensively use primary research to develop new products

Secondary Research Main sources of secondary data: The internet Books Newspapers Government-produced data

Primary Research 1st hand information Expensive & time consuming to collect, analyse and evaluate Focussed and relevant Care needs to be taken to ensure accuracy Types of question – closed – limited information gained; open – useful information but difficult to analyse

Secondary Research (Also known as desk top research) 2nd hand information Cheap and quick to collect, analyse and evaluate Can be vague, irrelevant or out of date Care needs to be taken to ensure accuracy Unlimited information gained; but difficult to assess accuracy and analyse huge quantities of data

Quantitative and Qualitative Information Quantitative – based on numbers – 56% of 18 year olds drink alcohol at least four times a week - doesn’t tell you why, when, how. (Quicker & easier to analyse than qualitative, Usually obtained from closed-ended questions) Qualitative – more detail – tells you why, when and how! (More difficult & time consuming to analyse than quantitative, Usually obtained from open-ended questions)

Task – decide which is qualitative and which is quantitative data 10 out of 20 people said they would buy green apples. 10 out of 20 people said they would buy green apples rather than red because green apples are sweeter. Most people preferred holidaying abroad. Very few people preferred to holiday in the UK as the weather is unpredictable.

Answers Quantitative Qualitative

Problems with market research Information only as good as the method used Can be inaccurate or unreliable Results may not be what the business wants to hear! May limit creativity Always a problem that we may never know enough to be sure!

L2 + 3 market research task Mars are looking to create a new type of chocolate bar aimed specifically at 14-16 year olds. They are unsure of the needs and wants of this target market. Your job is to research and to create a one page A4 written report on the following; What type of chocolate would be the most successful for this target market? What chocolate bars are people 14-16 currently eating? What is the best design for the packaging? What should be the name of this new product? What is the best way for them to promote this new product? Are there any other additional features which should be added to the product?

What type of research should we do for this?

What type of research should we do for this? You will need to create a questionnaire which you ask to at least 10 people in the target market. You will need to do some secondary research which will look at the current chocolate bars which are sold and specifically aimed at the target market. You will then need to create a one page report which uses this research to answer the five questions which have been asked of you from Mars. You may want to create some graphs from your research to show your data better. You may also want to do a focus group to give you more information in order to help your ability to answer the questions posed from Mars.