Market research

Short description: Type of business activity

See also: Finance:Market analysis

Marketing

* Marketing
* Marketing management

Key concepts

* Distribution
* Pricing
* Retail
* Service
* Activation
* Brand licensing
* Brand management
* Co-creation
* Corporate identity
* Dominance
* Effectiveness
* Ethics
* Mystery shopping
* Promotion
* Research
* Segmentation
* Strategy
* Account-based marketing
* Digital marketing
* Product marketing
* Social marketing
* Influencer marketing
* Attribution
* Annoyance factor

Promotional content

* Advertising
* Branding
* Corporate anniversary
* Direct marketing
* Loyalty marketing
* Mobile marketing
* On-hold messaging
* Personal selling
* Premiums
* Prizes
* Product placement
* Propaganda
* Publicity
* Sales promotion
* Sex in advertising
* Underwriting spot

Promotional media

* Behavioral targeting
* Brand ambassador
* Display advertising
* Drip marketing
* In-game advertising
* Mobile advertising
* Native advertising
* New media
* Online advertising
* Out-of-home advertising
* Point of sale
* Product demonstration
* Promotional merchandise
* Visual merchandising
* Web banner
* Word-of-mouth

* v
* t
* e

Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need.[1] It is an important component of business strategy[2] and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Market research helps to identify and analyze the needs of the market, the market size and the competition. Its techniques encompass both qualitative techniques such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnography, as well as quantitative techniques such as customer surveys, and analysis of secondary data.

It includes social and opinion research, and is the systematic gathering and interpretation of information about individuals or organizations using statistical and analytical methods and techniques of the applied social sciences to gain insight or support decision making.Cite error: Closing `</ref>` missing for `<ref>` tag[3] sometimes these are handled informally.[4]

The field of marketing research is much older than that of market research.[5] Although both involve consumers, Marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes, such as advertising effectiveness and salesforce effectiveness, while market research is concerned specifically with markets and distribution.[6] Two explanations given for confusing Market research with Marketing research are the similarity of the terms and also that Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research.[7][8][9] Further confusion exists because of major companies with expertise and practices in both areas.[10]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Market research for business/planning
* 3 Data collection
* 4 International influence from the Internet
* 5 Research and market sectors
* 5.1 Market research for the film industry
* 6 Insights industry
* 7 Small businesses and nonprofits
* 8 Academic journals
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 External links

## History

The Gallup Organization helped invent the public opinion poll; today, "Market research is a way of paying for it."[11]

## Market research for business/planning

Market research is a way of getting an overview of consumers' wants, needs and beliefs. It can also involve discovering how they act. The research can be used to determine how a product could be marketed. Peter Drucker believed[12] market research to be the quintessence of marketing. Market research is a way that producers and the marketplace study the consumer and gather information about the consumers' needs. There are two major types of market research: primary research, which is sub-divided into quantitative and qualitative research, and secondary research.

Factors that can be investigated through market research include:

* Market information: Through market information one can know the prices of different commodities in the market, as well as the supply and demand situation. Market researchers have a wider role than previously recognized by helping their clients to understand social, technical, and even legal aspects of markets.[13]
* Market segmentation: Market segmentation is the division of the market or population into subgroups with similar motivations. It is widely used for segmenting on geographic differences, demographic differences (age, gender, ethnicity, etc.), technographic differences, psychographic differences, and differences in product use. For B2B segmentation firmographics is commonly used.
* SWOT analysis: SWOT is a written analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats to a business entity. A SWOT may also be written up for the competition to understand how to develop the marketing and product mixes. The SWOT method helps to determine and also reassess strategies and analyze a business's processes.
* PEST analysis: PEST is an analysis about external environment . It includes a complete examine of a firm's Political, Economical, Social and Technological external factors, which may impact firms' objectives or profitability. They may become a benefit for the firm or harm its productivity.
* Brand health tracker: Brand tracking is way of continuously measuring the health of a brand, both in terms of consumers' usage of it (i.e. Brand Funnel) and what they think about it. Brand health can be measured in a number of ways, such as brand awareness, brand equity, brand usage and brand loyalty.

Another factor that can be measured is marketing effectiveness. This includes:

* Advertisement research
* Audience research[14]
* Choice modelling
* Competitor analysis
* Customer analysis (Segmentation of target customers)
* Marketing mix modeling
* Product research
* Risk analysis
* Simulated test marketing

## Data collection

Main article: Data collection

"Rigorous sampling methodologies combined with high-quality data collection" is what the magazine Advertising Age considers the backbone of market research.[15] Data collection can be done by observing customer behavior through in-situ studies or by processing e.g. log files, by interviewing customers, potential customers, stakeholders, or a sample of the general population. The data can be quantitative in nature (counting sales, clicks, eye-tracking) or qualitative (surveys, questionnaires, interviews, feedback). Aggregating, visualizing, and turning data into actionable insights is one of the major challenges of market research and today, text analytics affords market researches methods to process large amounts of qualitative information and turn it into quantitative data, which is easier to visualize and use for formalized decision making.[16]

Data collection can use larger audience samples than the few hundred or thousand typically used in market research.[17] Also required is the (at least passive)[18] cooperation of those being surveyed;[19] trust[20] is also helpful.[21] Translation is an essential comprehension tool for global consumers and is not a simple act of replacing words in one language with words in another.[22]

Some data collection is incentivized: a simple form is when those on the road contribute to traffic reporting of which they are consumers. More complex is the relationship of consumer-to-business (C2B), which sometimes introduces reliability problems.[23] Other data collection is to know more about the market,[24] which is the purpose of market research.[25]

## International influence from the Internet

The international growth of available research both from and via the Internet[26] has influenced a vast number of consumers and those from whom they make purchases.[27] Although emerging global markets, such as China, Indonesia and Russia are still smaller than the US in B2B e-commerce, their internet-fueled growth factor is stimulated by product-enhancing websites, graphics, and content designed to attract corporate and consumer/B2C shoppers. Estimates for 2010 show between US$400 billion and $600 billion in revenue was generated by this medium.

A report titled "Global B2C E-Commerce and Online Payment Market 2014" indicated a decrease in overall growth rates in North America and Western Europe, even as absolute growth numbers rose.

The UK Market Research Society (MRS) listed the top social media platforms primarily used by millennials are LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

## Research and market sectors

Regarding details for worldwide corporate market research, "most of them are never written about because they are the consumer research done by the country's manufacturers."[28] Also less written about is tailored translation approaches based on the expertise or resources available in the local country.[22] To mitigate implicit and unconscious bias in market research design, researchers have suggested conducting bias testing via interviewer-moderated technology-aided, unmoderated methods.[29]

Market research data has loss prevention aspects; that less than 60 percent of all proposed modifications and new products are deemed failures.[28] When information about the market is difficult to acquire, and the cost of "going ahead with the decision" to offer the product or service is affordable, the research cost may be more profitably used "to ensure that the new line got the advertising send-off it needed to have the best chances of succeeding."[30]

As measured in revenue, US based Amazon is the worldwide E-Commerce leader.[31]

### Market research for the film industry

The film industry is an example where the importance of testing film content and marketing material involves:

1. Concept testing, which evaluates reactions to a film idea and is fairly rare;
2. Positioning studios, which analyze a script for marketing opportunities;
3. Focus groups, which probe viewers' opinions about a film in small groups prior to release;
4. Test screenings, which involve the previewing of films prior to theatrical release;
5. Tracking studies, which gauge (often by telephone polling) an audience's awareness of a film on a weekly basis prior to and during theatrical release;
6. Advertising testing, which measures responses to marketing materials such as trailers and television advertisements;
7. Exit surveys, that measure audience reactions after seeing the film in the cinema.[32]

## Insights industry

Market research is an industry that overlaps with and is often referred to as the "insights" industry.[33] However, the distinctive methods and techniques of market research not always correspond to the digital-first approach of insights vendors. The emergence of insights focusing on data analytics rather than fieldwork is competing with market research for managerial attention and funding. Current research with market research practitioners shows two pressing concerns for the industry: online data commoditization and the increasing distance between market researchers and top management within client organizations. Both concerns boil down to the risk they perceived of market research becoming a legacy activity of the marketing department rather than the cornerstone of business strategy.[33]

Market research aims to produce so-called "actionable knowledge" that firms find useful in their operations:[34]

1. Framing managerial anomalies: an anomaly is a puzzle or a perplexing situation that the market research report is meant to solve.
2. Loading instruments with meanings: translate observations of commonplace social practices into the marketing ontology.
3. Signposting prescriptions: guide an intended reading to reduce interpretive flexibility.

## Small businesses and nonprofits

Small organizations and non-profits can derive needed information by observing the environment of their location. Small scale surveys and focus groups are low cost ways to gather information from potential and existing customers and donors. While secondary data (statistics, demographics, etc.) is available to the public in libraries or on the internet, primary sources, done well, can be quite valuable: talking for an hour each, to twelve people, two apiece from six potential clients, can "get inside their minds.. get a feel for their needs, wants and pain. You can't get that from a questionnaire."[35]

## Academic journals

* International Journal of Market Research
* Qualitative Market Research
* Marketing Theory

## See also

* ESOMAR - European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research
* Marketing Research Institute International
* Insights Association
* Mystery shopping
* Nielsen ratings

## References

1. ↑ Campbell Robertson (August 1, 2006). "Nielsen Brings a New Marketing Strategy to Broadway". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/arts/01niel.html.
2. ↑ McQuarrie, Edward (2005). The market research toolbox: a concise guide for beginners (2nd ed.). SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4129-1319-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=qYW8vE0nx4gC. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
3. ↑ Alex Burke (17 December 2011). "What Is Formulated Marketing?". https://smallbusiness.chron.com/formulated-marketing-36473.html. "Marketing is a business process that .."
4. ↑ Susan J. Hart; John R. Webb; Marian V. Jones (1994). "Export Marketing Research and the Effect of Export Experience in Industrial SMEs". International Marketing Review 11 (6): 18. doi:10.1108/02651339410072980. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/02651339410072980/full/html. Retrieved August 28, 2022. "Size of firm seems to be related to the use of informal market research".
5. ↑ Lockley, Lawrence C. (1950). "Notes on the History of Marketing Research". Journal of Marketing 14 (5): 733–736. doi:10.2307/1246952. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1246952. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
6. ↑ McDonald, Malcolm (2007). Marketing Plans (6th ed.). Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-8386-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=os0K20MsepoC. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
7. ↑ "Market Research END-TO-END Benefits". September 6, 2014. https://www.slideshare.net/eminenture/market-research-38765720. "Because Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research, it is easy to see why the two terms are often confused."
8. ↑ Claessens, Maximilian (January 9, 2018). "Difference between Market Research and Marketing Research". https://marketing-insider.eu/difference-between-market-research-and-marketing-research.
9. ↑ "Difference Between Market & Marketing Research". September 24, 2019. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/market-research-v-marketing-research. "Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research"
10. ↑ "NAPCS Product List for NAICS 54191: Marketing Research". United States Census. https://www.census.gov/eos/www/napcs/finalized/web_54191_final_reformatted_edited_US082208.pdf. "data collection services for marketing research and public opinion surveys, by methods other than ... data collection services provided as part of a market research services package that includes"
11. ↑ Lisa Belkin (March 6, 1990). "Gallup Shifts Emphasis Toward Market Studies". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/06/us/gallup-shifts-emphasis-toward-market-studies.html.
12. ↑ Drucker, Peter F. (1974). Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. Australia: Harper & Row. pp. 64–65. ISBN 0-06-011092-9. https://archive.org/details/managementtasksr00dru_v3l. "There will always, one can assume, be need for some selling. But the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be needed then is to make the product or service available..."
13. ↑ Diaz Ruiz, C. A. (2013). "Assembling Market Representations". Marketing Theory 13 (3): 245–261. doi:10.1177/1470593113487744.
14. ↑ Carol Vogel (December 20, 1992). "Dear Museumgoer: What Do You Think?". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/20/arts/dear-museumgoer-what-do-you-think.html.
15. ↑ John McDonough; Karen Egolf (2015). The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising.
16. ↑ Espinoza, Fredrik; Hamfors, Ola; Karlgren, Jussi; Olsson, Fredrik; Hamberg, Lars; Sahlgren, Magnus (2018). "Analysis of Open Answers to Survey Questions through Interactive Clustering and Theme Extraction". Proceedings of the 2018 Conference on Human Information Interaction&Retrieval - CHIIR '18. pp. 317–320. doi:10.1145/3176349.3176892. ISBN 9781450349253. http://kth.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1185949&dswid=-9597. Retrieved February 21, 2022.
17. ↑ "When Data Science and Traditional Market Research Collide". MarketCast. November 24, 2020. https://marketcast.com/when-data-science-and-traditional-market-research-collide/.
18. ↑ Natasha Singer (November 2, 2019). "The Government Protects Our Food and Cars. Why Not Our Data?". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/02/sunday-review/data-protection-privacy.html. "because Congress has never established an agency to"
19. ↑ Stuart Elliott (August 23, 1993). "The latest in market research: videogenic self-analyzing shoppers.". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/23/business/media-business-advertising-latest-market-research-videogenic-self-analyzing.html.
20. ↑ Shira Ovide (July 21, 2020). "Beware the 'But China' Excuses". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/21/technology/us-china-technology.html. "it’s hard to know when to believe them."
21. ↑ Sandy Parakilas (November 19, 2017). "We Can't Trust Facebook to Regulate Itself". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/opinion/facebook-regulation-incentive.html. "prioritized data collection over user protection and regulatory compliance"
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Sha, Mandy; Lai, Jennie (April 7, 2016). "A case study of improving and evaluating consumer survey translation" (in en). Translation & Interpreting 8 (1): 86–100. doi:10.12807/ti.108201.2016.a06. ISSN 1836-9324. https://www.trans-int.org/index.php/transint/article/view/438.
23. ↑ Sapna Maheshwari (November 28, 2019). "When Is a Star Not Always a Star? When It's an Online Review". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/business/online-reviews-fake.html. "Customer reviews are incredibly important in e-commerce, but they can be unreliable or downright dishonest."
24. ↑ "How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers' Buttons". The New York Times. April 2, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/04/02/technology/uber-drivers-psychological-tricks.html. "Faster pickup times mean more idle drivers ... armies of underemployed people looking for extra hours"
25. ↑ Karen Weise (December 19, 2019). "Prime Power: How Amazon Squeezes the Businesses Behind Its Store". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/technology/amazon-sellers.html.
26. ↑ Kuba Kierlanczyk (February 4, 2016). "A Brief History of Market Research". Kelton Global. https://www.keltonglobal.com/perspectives/a-brief-history-of-market-research.
27. ↑ Eric Pfanner (June 22, 2008). "Market research is getting a makeover". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/business/worldbusiness/23iht-research23.1.13861329.html.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Philip H. Dougherty (November 16, 1975). "Market Research Is Now a National Pastime". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/16/archives/market-research-is-now-a-national-pastime.html.
29. ↑ Geisen, Emily; Sha, Mandy; Roper, Farren (2024). Bias testing in market research: A framework to enable inclusive research design (published January 3, 2024). ISBN 979-8862902785. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRGN8RNT.
30. ↑ Alan R. Andreasen (July 1983). "Cost-Conscious Marketing Research". Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/1983/07/cost-conscious-marketing-research.
31. ↑ "E-commerce worldwide - statistics & facts" (in en). https://www.statista.com/topics/871/online-shopping/#topicOverview.
32. ↑ Drake, Philip (2008). McDonald & Wasko. ed. Distribution and Marketing in Contemporary Hollywood. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 63–82. ISBN 978-1-4051-3388-3. https://archive.org/details/contemporaryholl0000unse/page/63.
33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Diaz Ruiz, Carlos A. (March 20, 2022). "The Insights Industry: Towards a Performativity Turn in Market Research". International Journal of Market Research 64 (2): 169–186. doi:10.1177/14707853211039191. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14707853211039191. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
34. ↑ Diaz Ruiz, Carlos; Holmlund, Maria (October 2017). "Actionable marketing knowledge: A close reading of representation, knowledge and action in market research". Industrial Marketing Management 66: 172–180. doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2017.08.005.
35. ↑ Graham Kenny (January 17, 2019). "Customer Surveys Are No Substitute for Actually Talking to Customers". Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/01/customers-surveys-are-no-substitute-for-actually-talking-to-customers.

## External links

* Small Business Administration: Market research and competitive analysis

* v
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Social survey research

Data collection|

* Collection methods
* Census
* Sampling for surveys
* Random sampling
* Questionnaire
* Interview
* Structured
* Semi-structured
* Unstructured
* Couple

Data analysis|

* Categorical data
* Contingency table
* Level of measurement
* Descriptive statistics
* Exploratory data analysis
* Multivariate statistics
* Psychometrics
* Statistical inference
* Statistical models
* Graphical
* Log-linear
* Structural

Applications|

* Audience measurement
* Demography
* Market research
* Opinion poll
* Public opinion

Major surveys|

* Afrobarometer
* American National Election Studies
* Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
* Eurobarometer
* European Social Survey
* Gallup Poll
* General Social Survey
* HILDA
* International Social Survey
* Latinobarómetro
* List of household surveys in the United States
* National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
* New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study
* World Values Survey

Associations|

* American Association for Public Opinion Research
* European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research
* International Statistical Institute
* Pew Research Center
* World Association for Public Opinion Research

* Category
* Projects
* Business
* Politics
* Psychology
* Sociology
* Statistics

* v
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Media manipulation

Context|

* Bias
* Crowd psychology
* Deception
* Dumbing down
* False balance
* Half-truths
* Machiavellianism
* Media
* Obfuscation
* Orwellian
* Persuasion
* Psychological manipulation

Activism|

* Alternative media
* Boycott
* Call-out culture
* Cancel culture
* Civil disobedience
* Culture jamming
* Demonstrations
* Deplatforming
* Guerrilla communication
* Hacktivism
* Internet
* Media
* Occupations
* Petitions
* Protests
* Youth

Advertising|

* Billboards
* False
* Infomercials
* Mobiles
* Modeling
* Radio
* Sex
* Slogans
* Testimonials
* TV
* Criticism of advertising
* Annoyance factor

* Censorship
* Media regulation

* Books
* Broadcast law
* Burying of scholars
* Catch and kill
* Corporate
* Cover-ups
* Euphemism
* Films
* Historical negationism
* Internet
* Political
* Religious
* Self

Hoaxing|

* Alternative facts
* April Fools'
* Fake news website
* Fakelore
* Fictitious entries
* Forgery
* Gaslighting
* List
* Literary
* Racial
* Urban legend
* Virus

Marketing|

* Branding
* Loyalty
* Product
* Product placement
* Publicity
* Research
* Word of mouth

News media|

* Agenda-setting
* Broadcasting
* Circus
* Cycle
* False balance
* Infotainment
* Managing
* Narcotizing dysfunction
* Newspeak
* Pseudo-event
* Scrum
* Sensationalism
* Tabloid journalism

Political campaigning|

* Advertising
* Astroturfing
* Attack ad
* Canvassing
* Character assassination
* Charm offensive
* Dog-whistle politics
* Election promises
* Lawn signs
* Manifestos
* Name recognition
* Negative
* Push polling
* Smear campaign
* Wedge issue

Propaganda|

* Bandwagon
* Crowd manipulation
* Disinformation
* Fearmongering
* Framing
* Indoctrination
* Loaded language
* Lying press
* National mythology
* Rally 'round the flag effect
* Techniques

Psychological warfare|

* Airborne leaflets
* False flag
* Fifth column
* Information (IT)
* Lawfare
* Political
* Public diplomacy
* Sedition
* Subversion

Public relations|

* Cult of personality
* Doublespeak
* Non-apology apology
* Reputation management
* Slogans
* Sound bites
* Spin
* Transfer
* Understatement
* Weasel words

Sales|

* Cold calling
* Door-to-door
* Pricing
* Product demonstrations
* Promotion
* Promotional merchandise
* Telemarketing

Related|

* Media franchise
* Influence of mass media
* Media bias
* Concentration of media ownership
* Media ethics
* Media bias in the United States
* Media proprietor
* Media ecology
* Media democracy

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