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   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