Have you ever wondered why a manufacturer is so easy to guess what consumers want, knows when to offer desired product and at a certain moment offers something completely new, but so necessary for every person? It's simple - the manufacturer studies his consumer, or rather conducts it with the aim of being one step ahead of the buyer.
What is marketing research
If you give a clear and short explanation of what marketing research is, then it is the search for the necessary information, its collection and further analysis in any field of activity. For a broader definition, it is worth examining the main stages of the study, which sometimes lasts for years. But in the final version, this is the beginning and end of any marketing activities at the enterprise (creation of goods, promotion, expansion of the line, etc.). Before the product appears on the shelves, marketers research consumers, while first conducting an initial collection of information, and then desk research to draw the right conclusion and move in the right direction.
Research objectives
Before conducting research, you need to understand what problem the company has or what strategic goals it wants to achieve, in order to head it and understand how to find a solution, which means conducting desk research and field research, while initially setting certain tasks. In a generalized form, the following tasks are distinguished:
- Collection, processing and analysis of information.
- Market research: capacity, supply and demand.
- Assessment of your capabilities and competitors.
- Analysis of the manufactured product or service.
All these tasks must be solved step by step. There will definitely be highly specialized or generalized questions. Depending on the task, which will go through certain stages will be selected.
Stages of marketing research
Despite the fact that marketing research is carried out often, and they all differ from each other, there is a certain plan that everyone should adhere to, which means that the study should be carried out in stages. There are about 5 stages:
- Identifying problems, formulating goals and finding a way to solve problems. This also includes setting goals.
- Selection for analysis and problem solving using desk research. Typically, firms, based on their data, can identify what problem they have and understand how to solve it without going into the field.
- If the company does not have enough data, and it is necessary new information, then it will be necessary to conduct field research, determining the size, structure of the sample and, of course, the object of research. About these two important milestones need to be written in more detail.
- After collecting the data, it is necessary to analyze them, first by structuring them, for example, in a table, so that the analysis is easier.
- The last stage is, as a rule, the conclusion drawn, which can be in short form and deployed. These can be both recommendations and wishes of what is best done for the company. But the final conclusion is taken by the head of the enterprise, after reviewing the study.
Types of collection of information for research
As mentioned above, there are two types of information collection, and you can use both of them at once or choose only one. Allocate field research (or collection primary information) and desk research (i.e. collection of secondary information). Every self-respecting enterprise, as a rule, conducts both field and cabinet fees information, although a considerable budget is spent on this. But this approach allows you to collect more relevant data and draw more accurate conclusions.
Primary information and methods of its collection
Before you go to collect information, you need to determine how much you need to collect, and what method is best for solving the problem. The researcher participates directly himself and uses the following methods of collecting primary information:
- A survey is written, oral by phone or via the Internet, when people are asked to answer several questions, choosing some option from the proposed ones or giving a detailed answer.
- Observation or analysis of people's behavior in a given situation in order to understand what motivates a person, why he performs such actions. But there is a drawback this method- do not always analyze actions correctly.
- An experiment is the study of the dependence of some factors on others, when one factor changes, then it is necessary to identify how it affects all other binders
Methods for collecting primary information allow you to obtain data on the state of demand for a service or product at a specific time and place with individual consumers. Further, based on the data obtained, certain conclusions are drawn that can help solve the problem. If this is not enough, then it is worth conducting additional research or using several methods and types of research.
Desk research
Secondary information is already available data from various sources, on the basis of which it is possible to make an analysis and obtain certain results... Moreover, the sources of their receipt can be both external and internal.
Internal data includes the data of the company itself, for example, turnover, statistics on purchases and costs, sales volume, costs of raw materials, etc. - everything that the company has at its disposal must be used. Such desk marketing research sometimes helps to solve a problem where it was not visible and even find new ideas that can be implemented.
External sources of information are available to everyone. They can look like books and newspapers, publications of general statistics, works of scientists on the achievement of something, reports on activities carried out, and much more that may be of interest to a particular enterprise.
Pros and cons of collecting secondary information
The desk research method has its advantages and disadvantages, and therefore, when conducting research, it is recommended to use two types at once in order to obtain more complete information.
Advantages of obtaining secondary information:
- lower research costs (sometimes they are equal only to the time spent);
- if the research tasks are simple enough, and the question of creation is not raised, then, as a rule, secondary information is sufficient;
- fast collection of materials;
- obtaining information from several sources at once.
Disadvantages of obtaining secondary information:
- data from external sources is available to everyone, and competitors can easily use it;
- available information is often general character and is not always suitable for a specific target audience;
- information quickly becomes out of date and may not be complete.
Marketing information- these are numbers, facts, information, rumors, estimates and other data necessary for the analysis and forecasting of marketing activities. In this case, numbers mean the form of displaying quantitative information, facts are simplest view information (directly observed event), information is a kind of facts presented in a systematic form, rumors are unconfirmed (unverified) facts, and estimates are information based on inferences and statistical calculations.
Marketing information can be categorized into primary and secondary. The primary is information specially collected for solving a specific marketing problem based on observations, surveys, questionnaires, and experiments. Secondary information is information available to researchers and collected earlier. Secondary information is subdivided into internal ( statistical reporting, accounting, economic planning) and external (publications in the media mass media, scientific information, materials from official departments, promotional materials, information from the Internet).
Any research begins, as a rule, with the collection of secondary information. However, secondary information is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated and therefore used on initial stages marketing research for a preliminary analysis of the tasks. In addition, the secondary data is characterized by the property of information overflow. A lot of information is not always good for a researcher, since an excess of information can not so much clarify the situation as obscure it.
In order to collect secondary information on the Internet, the following are used: search engines; websites of firms operating in similar markets ("thematic servers"); sites non-profit organizations; information servers sites of agencies specializing in marketing research. Currently, intelligent search systems (ISS) are actively developing based on the concept of multi-agent systems (MAS). The use of MAS for solving problems of collecting secondary information on the Internet gives the following advantages over traditional search engines(Yandex, Google):
Parallel solution of several tasks;
Search for information after disconnecting the user from the network;
Increase in search speed and accuracy, decrease in downloads by searching for information directly on the server;
Creation of your own databases (DB), constantly updated and expanded.
Currently, there are several commercial IPS (Autonomy, Web Compass). Their main disadvantage is their poor learning ability. Therefore, the main efforts to improve such systems are aimed at developing models of knowledge representation, mechanisms for deriving new knowledge, models of reasoning and methods of training agents. One of the successful projects is the Marri ISS, which is designed to search for web pages that are relevant to queries in a specific subject area. To solve the set task, ISS Marri uses knowledge presented in the form of ontology, which is understood as an ordered set of concepts in the subject area. A new approach to the construction of ISS is the use of evolutionary methods, in particular, genetic algorithms.
In most cases, researchers are faced with the problem of collecting primary information. In doing so, questions need to be addressed regarding the way information is collected, the tools for collecting information, the sampling plan, and how to communicate with the audience.
At collection of primary data methods such as observation, experiment and questioning are used. When observation direct monitoring of the marketing environment is carried out, for example, the researcher observes and records the characteristics of the competitors' trading process, identifies the market situation, assesses the quality of the services provided, while taking a passive position. Experiment requires the selection of comparable groups of subjects, the creation of a different setting for these groups, control over the variable components and the establishment of the degree of significance of the observed differences. In this case, the goal is to identify causal relationships by screening out conflicting explanations for the results of the experiment. This method of collecting primary data often provides the most convincing information. Interview occupies an intermediate position between observation and experiment. Firms conduct surveys to obtain information about consumer preferences, the degree of their satisfaction with the services provided. If observation is best suited for exploratory research, and experiment is best suited for identifying causal relationships, then interviewing is most useful for descriptive research.
The main primary data collection tool is an questionnaire. The questionnaire contains a number of questions of interest to the researcher. In this case, the questions can be closed, i.e. assuming fixed answers, and open.
Various data collection tools are sometimes used mechanical(galvanometers, tachistoscopes) and electronic(audimeters) devices. Galvanometers record the slightest sweat discharge, which is accompanied by emotional excitement, for example, from advertising. Tachistoscopes allow exposing an advertisement to a respondent at exposure intervals from 0.01 to several seconds. Then the respondent explains the effect of advertising. The audiometers are connected to TV sets in the apartments of the respondents and record the viewing time of various channels, which makes it possible to determine the rating of various TV programs.
A sample is a segment of consumers who are meant to represent the general population. Sampling plan must meet the objectives of the research. To do this, you need to answer three questions: who to interview ?; how many potential customers to interview ?; how to choose respondents?
Any potential consumer can be included in the number of respondents. However, sometimes it is advisable to use a confidence (non-random) sample, which involves the inclusion of respondents from whom it is easier to obtain information, conditionally random, providing reliable results, or a proportional sample, providing a certain number of respondents from each group. In order for the sample to be representative (representative), it is necessary to question at least 1% of potential consumers of this product.
To ensure objectivity, it is necessary that the choice of respondents is carried out at random.
Exist different ways communication with the audience: telephone interviews; mailing list; interviewing (individual, group); Internet.
One of the main advantages of collecting primary marketing information over the Internet is that the data can be processed as it is received and does not require an additional input step. The methods by which website owners can obtain primary information can be roughly divided into passive and active.
When using the passive method, no action is required from the site visitor, since the script (script) integrated into the site structure automatically captures the visitor's IP address, processes its value and, in accordance with the information stored in the corresponding database, writes information to the report file. Thus, it is possible to find out the country and city of the visitor, the class of the provider, track the documents he has viewed, determine the time spent on studying the site and establish the fact that the visitor has reset the price list. The disadvantage of the passive method is the impossibility of obtaining the demographic data of the visitor (age, gender, education, profession).
Active methods of collecting primary data involve the placement of special interactive forms on the website with a list of questions for visitors. E-mail poll involves sending out invitations to respondents to take part in the poll. For successful implementation active methods collecting primary information, it is necessary to think over the methods of motivating respondents, since visitors must spend a certain amount of time on filling out the forms. Web surveys are used to study quantitative and qualitative composition audience.
The main problem with using Web surveys is to ensure that the data received is representative, as respondents often perceive the received messages as spam. The world practice of conducting web-surveys has developed the following algorithm for ensuring the representativeness of data:
Post announcements about the survey on the websites of the company and leading providers in the region;
Register respondents who wish to participate in the survey;
Implement the collection of information about respondents and create an appropriate database ("Internet Panel");
Collect and analyze the received questionnaires.
The lack of direct contact between the interviewer and the respondents leads to a decrease in control over the collection of primary information, due to an increase in the percentage of refusals to fill out the questionnaire and an increase in the likelihood of receiving deliberately distorted information from respondents.
In addition to web surveys, focus group methods are used to collect primary information on the Internet: focus chat and focus forum.
Focus chat is an on-line discussion between the presenter (moderator) and respondents in a common virtual space (chat). Usually up to 10 people take part in the discussion. The duration of the discussion is no more than 2 hours. Anyone can watch the discussion. Each respondent receives a username and password to enter the system. The discussion takes place under the guidance of a moderator. At the end of the discussion, respondents should be rewarded.
A focus forum is a discussion between a moderator and respondents in a delayed mode of time (off-line). At the same time, respondents answer a group of questions posted by the moderator, which are updated daily. Respondents have the opportunity to answer the questions posed during the entire survey (up to two weeks).
As a result of collecting primary data using focus group methods, a short and full reports... The disadvantages of these methods include:
The impossibility of complete control over the course and duration of the discussion;
Lack, in the case of a focus forum, the possibility of observing the non-verbal reactions of respondents to the questions posed;
Difficulty ensuring high qualifications of the moderator;
There is no guarantee of meeting certain requirements of the respondents.
Similar information.
Methods for collecting primary information.
| Parameter name | Meaning |
| Topic of the article: | Methods for collecting primary information. |
| Rubric (thematic category) | Marketing |
When conducting marketing research, primary data are obtained using the following methods of collecting information:
1. Quantitative methods, which include:
Interview- ϶ᴛᴏ oral or written request to respondents in order to identify opinions and actions through dialogue, the content of which follows from the problems of the study. Poll - as a form of collecting information, is used quite often. The following types of survey are usually distinguished:
- face-to-face survey when a researcher interviews respondents through personal contact;
- correspondence survey when the researcher is not in contact with the respondents. Correspondence polling can be carried out in the following areas: mail poll, telephone or facsimile poll, computer poll;
- structured survey when respondents answer the same questions;
- unstructured survey when the interviewer asks questions based on the responses received.
Questionnaire- consists of an introduction, main and requisite parts. The questionnaire must be identified, ᴛ.ᴇ. contain an indication of the date, time and place of origin of the survey, the name of the interviewer. This is a more “harsh” method than a survey, since it involves specific answers, from a number of proposed ones, to a specific question posed.
2. Qualitative methods- includes collecting, analyzing and interpreting data by observing what people do and say. In their implementation, the following are used: focus group method, in-depth interviews, protocol analysis, projection and physiological measurements. Qualitative methods are also divided into straight and indirect ... Direct methods are methods when the respondents are told about the objectives of the conducted research or they become obvious from the survey itself. Indirect methods are methods when the respondents are not informed about the purpose of the research.
TO direct methods relate:
In-depth interviews- an unstructured, direct, personal interview in which one respondent is interviewed by a highly qualified interviewer to determine his basic motives, emotions, attitudes and beliefs on a particular topic.
Protocol analysis- a survey method, when a respondent, placed in a situation of choosing a certain product, must make a purchase decision, during which he describes the facts, gives the arguments that influenced his choice.
Observation- a method of collecting primary marketing information by observing selected groups of people, actions and situations. Distinguish - continuous observation when data is collected for all units of the population and discontinuous observation... Observation should be - included and not included, hidden and open, field and laboratory. Field - is carried out in a natural setting, for example, the behavior of the buyer is observed in a shop, restaurant, etc. Laboratory- is carried out in an artificially created environment with the use of technical means.
With the help of observation, you can investigate the behavior of shoppers in front of a shop window or a poster, the frequency of customer visits to competitors. When conducting observations, it is extremely important to pay attention to the objects of observation, the conditions of observation, the type of observation, the frequency of observation, and the observation technique. In some cases, when observing human behavior, various types of mechanical devices are used, such as a galvanometer, an audiometer, etc.
The advantages of these methods lie in the absence of the influence of the interviewer, in greater accuracy in judging consumer behavior, regardless of the willingness to provide information, and in lower costs of obtaining information. The disadvantage is that only observables can be captured. external manifestations, without subjective moments, for example, desires. Observations can reveal exactly what the consumer is doing, but it does not allow understanding the reason why he is doing it.
TO indirect methods include:
- Projection method - ϶ᴛᴏ an unstructured, indirect form of survey that encourages respondents to express their ulterior motives, beliefs, attitudes or feelings about the problem under discussion. According to the classification adopted in marketing practice, projection methods are divided into five basic groups:
- Associative method , when using which the respondent is shown an object, and then he is asked to say about it what first comes to mind.
- Situation completion methods, where the respondent is asked to come up with the end of a fictitious situation.
- Expressive methods - when a certain situation is presented to the respondent orally or visually. He is required to express those feelings and emotions that others experience in this situation.
- Ranging - ϶ᴛᴏ a method that has more structured incentives. The respondents are given lists of characteristics of the object under study and are asked to rank these characteristics according to some criterion.
3.K causal methods used in marketing research include:
Experiment- ϶ᴛᴏ a controlled process of changing one or more independent variables to measure their influence on one or more dependent variables, provided that the influence of extraneous factors is excluded. The experiment allows you to establish how a change in one or more independent variables affects one dependent variable with the designation of cause-and-effect relationships. Experiment is an ideal tool for finding solutions to marketing problems because it provides a one-to-one correspondence between cause and effect (impact and outcome). Experiments allow you to simulate certain types of marketing activities under tightly controlled conditions. At the same time, the artificiality of the situation can make the participants in the experiment behave differently than in real life. With the help of experiments, marketing information is obtained about the relationship between the independent and dependent variables in conditions close to real, valid.
Focus group method- or a focused group interview, during which a group of about 8-12 people is recruited, in which a moderator is appointed.
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The group discusses a specific issue, and the moderator guides the development of the discussion process and sums up the results.
The following methods can be distinguished as a separate group:
Expert assessments- ϶ᴛᴏ judgments of highly qualified professionals, expressed in the form of a meaningful, qualitative and quantitative assessment of the research object. The main methods of conducting examinations are: the method of commissions, the method of "brainstorming", the method of "delphi", the method of "forecast graph", the method of scenarios.
Modeling- ϶ᴛᴏ construction of a mathematical, graphic or other model of controlled and uncontrolled factors.
Also used to collect primary information in marketing methods of internet marketing including:
Direct registration of visitors to the server,
Analysis and consideration of the interests of visitors according to the activity of interaction with the built-in search engines,
Electronic polls of visitors, interactive interaction.
Methods for collecting primary information. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Methods of collecting primary information." 2017, 2018.
The following difference can be distinguished between primary and secondary information. When planning the collection of secondary information, it is necessary to determine its sources, secondary information already exists, so you just need to know where it can be obtained. In the case of primary information, the question of the source of collection is not relevant: it can always be obtained from consumers. Here the following problem arises: by what methods is it better to collect it.
There are many different classifications of methods for collecting marketing information, however, the author in study guide"Marketing Research: Methods of Gathering Information" has been proven that it is advisable to reduce them to three main methods: observation, survey and experiment.
Methods for collecting primary information used in marketing research are shown in Fig. 3.3.
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- 1. Observation is the direct perception and registration of events by an eyewitness. For example, a marketer might collect marketing information by observing shopper behavior in stores.
- 2. The survey involves the collection of primary marketing information by directly asking respondents questions about their level of knowledge, attitude to the product, preferences and purchasing behavior. There are many types of surveys, which are combined in two large groups: oral surveys (interviews) and written surveys (questionnaires). The variety of survey types allows you to adapt it to almost any problem and situation and provides a wide application of this method in marketing research. So, the survey is used in 70-80% of cases of collecting primary information.
- 3. Experiment. During the experiment, a change in the independent variable is carried out in order to assess its influence on another, dependent variable. Usually, an experiment is carried out by identifying groups of people who are similar to each other, who, under the influence of similar factors, are given different tasks, and then the differences in the reactions of the groups are checked. In this way, the experiment allows you to identify causal relationships. An example of an experiment is trial sales of the same product at different prices.
In the diagram shown in Fig. 3.3, an interesting pattern is observed. Moving from left to right, there is an increase in the cost of information collection methods. As a rule, conducting a survey is more expensive for the enterprise than observation, and experiment is the most expensive method. At the same time, there is an increase in the reliability of the received marketing information. Thus, the experiment provides the greatest reliability and accuracy of the data obtained. Thus, the increase financial costs for marketing research allows you to reduce the risks of an enterprise in the market by obtaining more reliable marketing information.
This dependence can be visualized as follows. As you know, in entrepreneurship, when evaluating and implementing investment projects, there is almost always a direct, although not necessarily linear relationship between risk and projected profit. In the case of marketing research, which is a costly (and not profitable) project, there is inverse relationship between costs and risks. Graphically, this can be represented in the form of two intersecting lines (Fig. 3.4). For ease of analysis, the dependencies in the figure have been simplified to a linear form.
Visually, these two lines resemble the line of demand (line of investment projects) and supply (line of marketing research). Their physical meaning is also similar, since investment projects profit, as well as satisfaction of demand, and marketing research is costly, as well as the formation of supply. The graph also shows the location of the above three methods of collecting marketing information.
Observation- one of possible ways collection of primary data when the researcher conducts direct observation of people and the environment. Experiment- the method of collecting primary information, in which the researcher selects comparable subjects, creates a different environment for these groups and monitors the variable components of the main characteristics of the subjects. Based on the results of the control, cause-and-effect relationships are analyzed and conclusions are made about the primary information. Interview- a method of collecting primary information in descriptive research. The survey form is an interview that can be conducted by telephone. This is best method collection of information as soon as possible. In the course of it, the interviewer has the opportunity to explain questions that the respondent does not understand. The most versatile of all survey methods, but the most expensive of all, is the face-to-face interview. It requires careful planning and control; L.I. there is individual and group.
In practice, there are three main ways in which reporters and researchers communicate with subjects when conducting a survey:
- by phone;
- by mail;
- personal interview.
Each of these communication methods has certain advantages and disadvantages.
So, the advantages of the SURVEY (INTERVIEW) BY TELEPHONE are the relatively high efficiency and low cost of the survey, as well as the possibility. As opposed to a poll by mail, clarify the question being asked.
The disadvantages of this method include:
- the possibility of interviewing only those who have a telephone, which often does not allow ensuring the adequacy of the sample;
- relatively high probability receiving a refusal to answer (in comparison with a personal interview), especially to questions of a personal nature, as well as in connection with the need to clarify in some cases the personality of the respondent already at the beginning of the conversation;
The merit of a POLL BY MAIL, i. E. produced by mail-order questionnaires, is to eliminate any influence of the interviewer, to provide the best possible conditions for answering personal questions, and also in the relative cheapness of reaching a geographically dispersed audience.
The disadvantages of this method include:
- low efficiency;
- the possibility of not returning a significant share of the sent out questionnaires (usually more than half of the sent out questionnaires are not returned to researchers) and the resulting possibility of self-selection of respondents;
PERSONAL INTERVIEW is rightfully considered a universal and most popular way of communication with research objects, since it avoids the above disadvantages inherent in polls by mail and telephone.
The advantages of this method include:
- a relatively small percentage of refusals to answer, provided by the high qualifications of interviewers;
- relatively high accuracy surveys provided by the use of more complex and long questionnaires (than when interviewing by phone or by mail), which is due to the ability and ability of an experienced interviewer to clarify all incomprehensible questions;