1. The Role of market research To identify what the consumers’ needs are and then try to meet them. Firms carry out market research If businesses fail to ask customers what they want, they risk producing products consumers do not want. There research can reduce chance of failure

2. Types of market research 1. Primary research (field) 2. Secondary research (desk)

3. Which type of research to use? Depends on: 1. How much money you have 2. How quickly you need information 3. How specific it needs to be

4. PRIMARY RESEARCHSECONDARY RESEARCH METHODS Surveys Interviews Focus groups Consumer panels Observation Product sampling Text books Government publications Newspapers Internet Other company information ADVANTAGESYour competitors do not have this information Is specific to your requirements Is relatively inexpensive Is available at short notice DISADVANTAGESCan be extremely time consuming Might not be able to find the specific information you need Is the most expensive of the two methods Information may be out of date or inaccurate

5. Qualitative and Quantitative Qualitative data is all about people thoughts and opinions (eg comments from a focus group) Quantitative data is more scientific data – data that you can show numerically. For example results from a questionnaire (percentages)