2 Research techniques Market research is an important means of assessing and reducing uncertainty about the likely responses of customers to new products, new advertising campaigns, price changes, etc.
Market research can be purchased via the analysis of:
§ Secondary data (desk research)
§ Primary data (field research)中 华 考 试 网
2.1 Desk research
Features of desk research are:
§ The information is collected from secondary sources.
§ It obtains existing data by studying published and other available sources of information.
§ It can often eliminate the need for extensive field work.
§ It may not be exactly what the researcher wants and not be totally up to date, but it is cheaper and quicker than field research.
§ You do not know if the findings are accurate, or how relevant they will be to your product or service.
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There are three main types of information that can be collected by desk research:
§ Economic intelligence can be defined as information relating to the economic environment within which a company operates. It is concerned with such factors as gross national product (GNP), investment, expenditure, population, employment, productivity and trade. It provides an organisation with a picture of past and future trends in the environment and with an indication of the company’s position in the economy as a whole. A great deal of information is freely available in this area from sources such as government ministries, the nationalised industries, universities and organisations such as the OECD.中华考试网
§ Market intelligence is information about a company’s present or possible future markets. Such information will be both commercial and technical, for example, the level of sales of competitors’ products recorded by the Business Monitor or Census of Production; the product range offered by existing or potential competitors; the number of outlets forming the distribution network for a company’s product; the structure of that network by size, location and relation to the end user; and the best overseas markets for a company.
§ Internal company data is perhaps the most neglected source of marketing information. Companies tend to record their sales information for accountancy purposes or for the management of the sales force. Conversely, many companies, especially blue-chips and public services, can often be seen to produce reams of data for no apparent reason, or because ‘we always have done’. Rarely is the information collected in a form in which it can readily be used by marketing management. |
发表于 2012-2-23 17:09:42
