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Market Research Guide
 
 
 
I.  The Importance of Market Research
 
Daily operations:
Companies are impacted by foreign competition through the price of their resources and the demand of their products.  Market Research provides the insight to improve daily operations and save costs.
 
New Product Development:
Nine out of ten products fail.  One major reason for such a high rate of failure is the lack of information from consumers or lack of knowledge about the market.  Though an innovation may offer consumers more benefits, it may not appeal to consumers in context of existing products. Market Research helps to minimize risks in business decisions.
 
Competitive Movements:
Market Research and Competitive Intelligence (CI) allow managers to track competitive developments and to develop strategy accordingly.
 
Strategic Planning:
Capturing market opportunities is essential for managers.  In planning for a company’s development, executives use Market Research to add credibility to organizational plans.
 
 
II.  Global Market Research vs. Domestic Market Research
 
Domestic Market Research observes opinions in a particular area.  As such, the discipline pays close attention to local and national markets and analyzes such information in context of geographic, income and ethnic considerations for the region of study.
 
Global Market Research consists of conducting market research in another country or conducting multi-country studies.  It analyzes cultural differences and economic factors that influence purchasing decisions and opinions.  Indeed, the global markets are a tempestuous sea of risks and opportunities for many
companies.  Choosing to take a company global is often a necessity, but if projections of demand are inaccurate or if there is inadequate information on a Market, companies may suffer.
 
Emerging markets composed of about 4 billion total consumers currently represent a market value of $5 trillion.  From the most-considered BRIC countries to peripheral markets like Thailand, Turkey and Malaysia, companies not only need market data on their competitors but insight into the DNA of their competitors. They need to know recent competitive actions and need to possess the ability to gauge a competitor’s possible future actions.  They certainly need to know their vulnerabilities and know potently their strengths.  Companies need this insight to carefully capture opportunities and maneuver through the rapid transformations in the global economy.  
 
 
III.  Business-to-Business Market Research
 
This market research studies the interactions among organizations, how they interact and their purchasing patterns.  The Business-to-Business market far exceeds the size and value of the consumer market, yet it is often overlooked in thinking about market research. A reason for this is the rigor in fieldwork in doing B2B research, in terms of reaching respondents who can be more reluctant to respond to surveys and interviews than consumer respondents.  Methodologies often include face-to-face in-depth interviews, focus groups, telephone interviews and online panel surveys.  
 
 
IV.  Consumer Market Research
 
Companies need to know what consumers are thinking in order to properly position themselves and strategically function in the marketplace. It seeks to gauge the opinion of customers and employees to gain the insights to be able to act.  Like Business-to-Business research, Consumer market research can be both qualitative or quantitative.  Global consumer market research poses many challenges to researchers with changes in cultures, different macroeconomic forces impacting behavior and varying attitudes and perspectives.
 
 
V.   Potential benefits of Market Research
  1. •Gain a competitive advantage through penetration of untapped markets
  2. •Identify new and competing technologies
  3. •Segment current and potential new markets
  4. •Reposition your business vis-a-vis your competitors
 
 
VI.  Buyers of Market Research
 
The typical profile of a Market Research buyer is a VP of Marketing or a management executive who recognizes a problem or need for more information and embarks on a process to locate such information.  Other buyers of Market research include market research subcontractors, university professionals and governmental organizations, among others.
 
 
VII.  Various Research Methodologies
 
A distinction exists between primary and secondary research.  Primary research is the situation in which a researcher goes to the source in directly contacting people directly involved or accessing the most relevant information on a topic.  On the other hand, secondary research involves analyzing materials present in the market at the time of research (e.g. newspapers and databases) and analyzing that information in context of market and economic conditions.
 
Various methodologies exist to provide the most effective means to discover information.  These methodologies are chosen based on the type of respondent and the project’s objectives.
 
  1. •Focus groups
  2. •Telephone Surveys
  3. •In-depth Interviews
  4. •Online Surveys
  5. •Mail Surveys
  6. •Taste testing
  7. •Executive interviews
  8. •Mystery shopping
  9. •Sensory methods
  10. •On-site interviews
  11. •Secondary research
  12. •Brand switching
  13. •Brand / perceptual mapping
 
Indeed online research methodologies are being used more and more often because of their attractive cost and the convenience in conduct online surveys.  However, face-to-face and telephone methodologies still remain popular in monitoring the quality of research surveys.
 
 
VIII.  Sample research studies
  1.  
  2. The following are several common research studies conducted by market research firms.
  3.  
  4. •Market Entry/Market Feasibility: Analyze a company’s entry into foreign markets
  5. •Market Sizing: Gauging Market demand
  6. •Customer / Employee Satisfaction Studies:
  7. •Business-to-business research: Researching business that only do businesses with other businesses (e.g. surveying distributors)
  8. •Business Intelligence: Analyzing market opportunities
  9. •Competitive Intelligence: Analyzing and tracking competitive movements
  10. •Attitude and Usage Studies
  11. •Market Segmentation Studies
  12. •Distribution Channel Studies
  13. •Purchasing Trends / Patterns
  14. •Advertising Research & tracking
  15. •Brand equity studies
  16. •Ethnographic market research
  17. •Marketing effectiveness
  18. •Concept testing
  19. •Customer or Employee Satisfaction research
  20. •Customer Satisfaction Surveys
  21. •CVA (Customer Value Analysis)
  22. •Gap Analysis
  23. •Strategic Partnership / Alliance Studies
 
 
 
IX.  Choosing the right market research firm
 
Step 1: Search for market research firms that specialize in your research needs
 
Step 2: Provide a Request for Quotation (RFQ), Request for Information (RFI) or Request for Proposal (RFP) based on your research needs
 
Step 3: Evaluate proposals / prices in terms of the organization’s budget and needs.  Ask questions about the final deliverables.  Research firms have various specialties and one proposal will likely better accommodate research objectives.
 
 
 
X.  Competitive Intelligence
 
Competitive Intelligence (CI) is the collection and analysis of data about another entity or enterprise.  The discipline adheres to strict ethics of the Society of Competitive Intelligence (SCIP).  According to SCIP, the discipline must:
 
  1. • To continually strive to increase the recognition and respect of the profession.
  2. • To comply with all applicable laws, domestic and international.
  3. • To accurately disclose all relevant information, including one's identity and organization, prior to all interviews.
  4. • To avoid conflicts of interest in fulfilling one's duties.
  5. • To provide honest and realistic recommendations and conclusions in the execution of one's duties.
  6. • To promote this code of ethics within one's company, with third-party contractors and within the entire profession.
  7. • To faithfully adhere to and abide by one's company policies, objectives and guidelines.
 
Competitive Intelligence strives to make companies more competitive through ethical means.
 
 
XI.  Market Intelligence & Information Resources
 
Market Intelligence is the collection and analysis of information on a market and the interactions between a market and players therein.
 
Free global data information:
  1. •Census population data
 
Regional information: A starting point
Middle East: Zawya, AME
North America: Google Finance, Hoovers, Bloomberg
Asia: Japan Inc.,
Europe: EuroStat
Eastern Europe: SIS Eastern Europe Blog, SIS Country Profile
Latin America: Latin News
Australia: MIC
 
 
  1. Market Intelligence Articles from the SIS Worldwide Intelligence Library:
 
  1. Advertising
  2. Russia: What language does advertising speak?
  3.  
  4. Brand Imaging
  5. Russia: Competitive Branding
  6. Russia: Reputation
  7. Brazil: Branding National Assets
  8.  
  9. Business Development
  10. Turkey: Setting Up Business in Turkey
  11.  
  12. Customer Research
  13. India: The Voice of Consumer in Indian Retail
  14.  
  15. Emerging Markets
  16. Brazil Competitive Intelligence: B2B strategy
  17. Russia: Large Scale Research
  18. Nigeria: Overview of Market Research
  19. Nigeria: African Cultural Differences and Their Importance
  20. China & India: Marketing Research
  21. Nigeria: The Necessity of Branding
  22. China: How to Deal with Clients Holding Delinquent Accounts
  23. China: Finding Suppliers Suitable for Production Status & Long-term Development
  24.  
  25. Fragrance
  26. Russia: Luxury Perfume
  27. Russia: New Perfume Line
  28.  
  29. Japan
  30. How to Craft Research for Japan; Culture Matters!
  31.  
  32. Market Entry and Opportunity
  33. Russia: Demand & Supply
  34.  
  35. Market Research
  36. Russia: Marketing Research
  37. Russia: Projective Methods
  38. China: Qualitative Research in China: Problems and Solutions
  39.  
  40. Middle East
  41. Saudi Arabia: An eye on the Arab world: MNP in Saudi Arabia!
  42. An eye on the Arab World
  43.  
  44. Pharma
  45. Russia: Free Medicine
  46.  
  47. SIS
  48. Facebook & Social Networking sites in Market Research
  49. China’s Generation Y emerging on the world’s stage
  50. Global Competitive Intelligence Blueprint — As featured in SCIP
  51. The Integration of Market Research and Competitive Intelligence
  52. Blueprint for Researching Emerging Markets
  53. Global Competitive Intelligence in Emerging Markets
  54.  
 
XII.  Internet Market Intelligence
 
Increasingly, companies are looking to the web to gain instant feedback to information about products or consumer sentiments. For instance, a company can determine if netizens, or those who use the web, are reacting positively to new product offerings.  Based on this information, managers can act and adjust accordingly.  While Blogs and discussion boards are not considered market intelligence, they can provide inspiration to some researchers on underlying trends and opinions.
 
  1. Logistics
  2. Railroad
  3. Energy
  4. The Ethanol Industry
  5. Basic Materials
  6. Steel & Aluminum
  7. Aeronautics
  8. Aeronautics
  9. Information Technology
  10. Green IT
  11. Chemicals
  12. India Enzymes
  13. Insurance
  14. China insurance market