Market Research Methods

Lying behind all of our industry sector and research experience is a firm understanding of how to do research.

Often, conducting successful and effective market research studies involves a grasp of two very different demands:

 

• "How do we get this done?" - The practical demands of conducting research in niche and diverse markets
• "What are the best tools for getting the results we need?" - Using innovative and established research techniques to ensure market intelligence delivers real return-on-investment.

 

This section is devoted to the latter: Choosing and using the appropriate tools for successful market research.

It should come as no surprise that we've picked up a thing or two in conducting thousands of bespoke market research studies. A little of what we've learned is shared below:

 

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Infographic: Power and influence

Which information sources are the most effective for customer advocacy? Is a webinar more trusted than word-of-mouth? See which sources rank where in this guide to power and influence.

Infographic: Turning a profit

To increase the efficiency of a product life cycle, market research should be implemented at each stage, starting from pre-birth, right through to old age. Want to link to...

Infographic: Hit the bull’s-eye

B2B advertising is usually characterized by an emphasis on rational selling points. But in the end, success comes down to delivering an appealing message to the right audience.

Book: Interviewing

An awareness of consumer needs and tastes is crucial to the success of all businesses, yet many fail because they are out of touch with what their customers really want. It is, therefore, fundamental that the market research interviewer has the right skills to extract the most relevant information via the most diplomatic route. Interviewing provides a practical, succinct and user-friendly guide to carrying out effective interviews while wasting as little valuable time (and money) as possible. In focusing on this core area of market research, the author draws...

Book: Sampling And Statistics

Almost all valuable market research is conducted using samples, which makes the areas of sampling and statistics key to the market research function. Unlike the complex and highly specialist volumes available, Sampling and Statistics provides a basic, yet comprehensive and highly practical, guide to the important areas. Drawing on years of experience in the field, the authors show how, by properly selecting a sample and by choosing the right sampling method, the most representative and unbiased data about a population can be extracted. For both the...

White Paper: Forecasting & Scenario Planning

This paper considers the subject of forecasting, one of the biggest challenges faced by marketers in this fast changing world. Different Types Of...

White Paper: Online Focus Groups As A Business-to-Business Research Technique

Reliable market research data depends on numerous factors, not least well-chosen respondents, well-designed questionnaires and good quality interviews.  Arguably most importantly of all, the market ...

White Paper: Using the Focus Group in Market Research

In a hotel in the centre of London, a group of IT managers are discussing the type of information they need from a supplier of application serving software. They are all involved in the...

White Paper: How To Get Information For Next To Nothing

There is no point reinventing a wheel and there are many metaphorical wheels available to the market researcher. The expert desk researcher can quickly and inexpensively dig out data...

Article: Differing Needs – How Companies Source Research Agencies In China

As the global economic recovery continues, an increasing number of companies and organizations are commissioning research on the Chinese market. With a growing number of companies beginning to recognize the commercial importance of establishing a more detailed understanding of the Chinese market, the prospects for b2b research agencies in the country look better than ever. More than three-quarters of all research enquiries in China come from international companies, with a high proportion of enquiries originating outside of China. Multinational...

Article: Entering China

It is tempting to talk of ‘developing markets’ as a homogenous group characterised by rapid growth, low cost labour, inequality between rural and urban areas, and a rapidly growing middle class. The danger of this approach is that the substantial differences between countries such China, India, Brazil and Russia can be overlooked, leading to misunderstanding and ultimately bad business decision-making. China is distinct from other developing markets in a number of important ways, all of which have strong ramifications for marketers. To begin with,...

Article: Innovate or Die – Create Powerful Customer Insights

We are now over half way through 2011 and hopefully you are reading this with your company having survived one of the deepest recessions in history! However, there has been a lot of talk about the fear of a double-dip recession (one in three Finance Directors believe the economy will fall back into recession, according to the survey of FTSE 100 and 250 companies by Deloitte; July 2011). An evolving market It has always been assumed that marketing expenditure is one of the first things to be cut in the time of a recession and yet...

Article: How To Make Sure That Research Delivers Action

Market research is an extremely valuable tool to have at your disposal but only if the results of any research study are used in an intelligent way. In this article, we offer some tips on how to get the most out of your market research. Calculating ROI – the scourge of market researchers The truth and nothing but the truth! It is not a bad edict for market researchers, after all, we are usually hired as an independent source of facts. However, this is by no means the full story. Research is likely to cost tens of thousands of pounds and if w...

Market Sizing: Is There A Market Size Formula?

Two key questions unlock the door for the strategic plans which marketing directors have to prepare on any product or division within their company. These are: Where are we going (with the product/division)? How are we going to get there? In order to answer these questions, answers are needed to a host of supplementary questions and, within the "where are we going?" poser, market size is an important component. Knowledge of market size lies at the nub of strategic planning.

Article: The Differences Between B2B And B2C Research

The two disciplines of b2b and b2c market research, though employing many of the same research tools and techniques, both have very differing requirements, traits and skillsets. In this short article, we outline some of the core differences between b2b research and b2c research: A Different Skillset B2b market research requires a different skillset at every level of responsibility – from research director to telephone interviewer. Indeed, one of the key areas of success to many b2b research projects is the skillset and expertise of the t...

Article: Focus Groups

Focus groups have been refined over many years by consumer researchers, who in turn borrowed the tool from the social sciences. They comprise a small number of carefully selected people who, under the guidance of a leader, discuss a subject. In industrial markets, researchers may have to accept that it is logistically too difficult to bring together respondents who are widely scattered. For this reason depth interviews are and will remain (until multiple verbal/visual link ups become feasible) the most widely used qualitative research technique. There are,...

Article: Market Sizing In China

One of the main objectives for many companies when carrying out research in China is to establish the size of the market. Market size information can be used to gauge the overall size of the opportunity, to prioritize segments of the market for special attention and to inform future product development and marketing strategies. However, market sizing is challenging in any market, and the fact that many companies come to China with a low initial base of knowledge makes the market sizing process even more challenging. There is a growing demand for market...

Article: The Questionnaire In Postal Research

This article looks at some ways of maximising the response of postal research - and its practical value. A successful postal survey is one which achieves an accurate and high response. The design of the postal questionnaire is the key to that achievement and it requires the researcher to put herself into the position of the interviewee. Though she will not be present when the questionnaire is being completed, the researcher must be able to imagine the difficulties the respondent will face and take these into account in the formulation of the questions. So...

Article: Postal Surveys In Industrial Marketing Research

Postal surveys have a very bad image, so much so that by far the majority of industrial marketers dismiss them as being inappropriate as a research technique. There are two reasons for this view. First, most postal questionnaires end up in the waste bin and this implies that whatever response is generated comes from an atypical minority. Secondly, postal questionnaires do not allow a subject to be discussed in the detail that is possible in a face-to-face interview or even in one held over the telephone. Though there is some truth in both these...

Article: Dispelling Market Research Myths

This article aims to look at some of the myths surrounding the discipline of market research and set the record straight on some common misconceptions. Market Research Is An Exact Science There is no denying that techniques used in market research are drawn from science. There should, for example, always be a number of objectives to the project, and often also a hypothesis to be either proved or disproved. Research comprises the collection and analysis of primary data, from which results and conclusions are drawn. However, market research...