Market Research: Primary Data

Two Types Qualitative Research Quantitative Research election polls measures reactions, feelings – things that aren’t easily quantifiable Quantitative Research data that can be measured collected by surveying a representative sample predict results of entire market based on sample election polls

Gathering Primary Data Test Marketing Movies Food

Internal Information Sources Sales Records Inventory Production Records Data Mining

Surveys Planned set of questions used to gather data Ways to administer surveys Phone Written Web

Survey Questions Closed ended questions Open ended questions yes/no, mult. choice, rate on a scale easy to answer, easy to score, easy to interpret data Open ended questions allow respondents to provide own response time consuming to answer and interpret, difficult to extract meaningful data

Random Sample Surveys must be from a random sample every member of the target-market population must have the same chance of being selected for the survey If the sample does not accurately represent the target-market, the results will be misleading and biased If the results are truly random, then the results of the study can be projected on the entire market.

Observation Recording a person’s actions in a particular scenario, without direct interaction Can be more accurate than surveys less outside influence less self-consciousness truer representation of the person’s attitudes Eye-tracking Photography

Focus Groups Small group discussion Moderator guides discussion