1. Market Research and Testing The Key To Business Success Revised June 2010

2. What is Market Information?  Data collected during the marketing research process, including: Company and Competitor Records Customer profile data  Buying behavior  Shopping patterns  Demographics and lifestyle research  Government data  Market research reports produced and sold by research firms  Used to identify marketing opportunities, solve marketing problems, implement marketing plans, and monitor marketing performance  Helps businesses plan their future operations to increase sales and profits  Answers the what, where, how, and at what price the products should be produced

3. Marketing Research  Involves the marketing function that links the consumer, the customer, and the public to the marketer through information  Involves the methods used to gather information, analyze it, and report the findings related to marketing goods and services  Marketing research can apply to any aspect of marketing  Type of research used depends on the problem to be solved: Attitude Research Target Market Research Media Research Product Research

4. Attitude Research  Also known as opinion research  Designed to obtain information about how people feel  By using random samples of the population and interviewing techniques, results can be generalized to the total population  Tells us people’s opinions on: Politics and elections Business Economy Social issues Public policy

5. Target Market Research  Involves the systematic gathering, recording, analyzing, and presenting information related to the marketing of goods and services  Research is needed before a product is put on the market and also during the life of the product  Can tell us about: Market Analysis: Particular consumer and industrial markets Sales Forecasting: Future sales estimates Economic Forecasting: Future economic conditions

6. Media Research  Focuses on media selection and frequency  Measures the effectiveness of an ad’s message and placement  Can help determine which media mix works best  Tells businesses: Consumer Panels: How effective was the print media sent into the home? Ratings: How effective was the use of broadcast media? Online Advertising: Systems are under development to evaluate this type of promotion

7. Product Research  Evaluating product design, usage, and consumer acceptance of new and existing products  Research is also conducted to collect information about competitive products  Product research focuses on: New Product Acceptance  Product testers  Test markets  Product rating boards Existing Product Research  Satisfaction questionnaires  Industrial markets  Consumer markets

8. The Market Research Process  Step 1: Define the Problem What is the problem? How can it be solved? Which problems are the highest priority?  Step 2: Obtaining Data Collect and examine primary and secondary information in terms of the problem being solved Secondary data can be obtained by a number of agencies Primary data can be obtained by surveys, observations, and experiments

9. The Marketing Research Process  Step 3: Analyzing the Data Compiling, analyzing, and interpreting the results of primary and secondary data  Step 4: Recommending Solutions Presented in a well-written report Recommendations must be clear and supported by research data  Step 5: Implementing Solutions