5.04 Discuss the Consumer Research Process

Consumer Research Consumer research is used to gather information in order to know what consumers want and need. Research is important because consumer trends change.

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research Define the focus of the research. What types of information need to be gathered? What questions need to be answered? Define which type of research design will be used. Exploratory Used when the problem is not defined Descriptive Used to gather information regarding a target market Causal Used to demonstrate the cause and effect relationship

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research (continued) Collect data. Primary data Secondary data How to obtain feedback Personal observation Focus groups Questionnaires

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research (continued) Determine sample. A sample is a group of people representative of the population. Sampling helps make generalizations about a group of consumers. Administer the survey Analyze and interpret the results of the survey.

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research (continued) Recommend solutions. Report the findings from the survey. A findings report should include: Title page Acknowledgements Contents Charts, tables and graphs Introduction Review of information

Steps for Conducting Consumer Research (continued) Data collection used. Findings Recommendations Conclusions Appendices Bibliography Implement Solutions

Design a Questionnaire Methods of administration include: Mail Telephone E-mail Websites Personal interviews

Contents of Questionnaire Include: Number of questions Availability of information Format Open-ended Closed-ended

Contents of questionnaire (continued): Question wording Short Unambiguous One question per statement Specific and clearly defined Layman’s terminology Sequence Begin with broad questions Group similar topics together Consider skip patterns

Contents of questionnaire (continued): Physical characteristics Simple to complete Headings for each section Easy to understand Enough room for responses to open-ended questions