Using Market Research
Using Market Research
Understanding the Use of Market Research
Gathering Data:
- Market research is crucial in gathering data about potential customers, their needs and preferences.
- It aids businesses in understanding the profile of their target customers, such as age, gender, income level, and lifestyle.
- It involves collecting information about customer behaviour including purchasing habits, brand loyalty, and responses to pricing and promotional activities.
Evaluating Market Potential:
- The information obtained through market research helps evaluate the potential of a particular market.
- It helps in assessing market size, growth rate, and profit potential.
- This aids in deciding whether entering a new market or launching a new product is a good business decision.
Developing Marketing Mix:
- Market research is vital for developing an effective marketing mix - the combination of product, price, place, and promotion strategies that a business uses to reach its target market.
- It can help identify the right product features, price levels, distribution channels, and promotional messages that will appeal to the target market.
Improving Customer Satisfaction:
- By uncovering the needs and expectations of customers, market research allows businesses to improve the quality of their products or services.
- This leads to increased customer satisfaction, higher sales and potentially larger market share.
Identifying Market Trends:
- Market research often involves studying changes in the market, such as emerging trends and customer preferences.
- This helps businesses stay up-to-date and adapt their offerings accordingly, keeping them competitive.
Mitigating Risk:
- Market research reduces the risk associated with business decisions.
- It provides evidence and information to support decisions like market entry, product development, pricing and promotion, reducing the chances of costly mistakes.
Assessing Competition:
- Market research includes studying competitors in terms of their market share, product offerings, pricing strategies, promotional activities and more.
- This helps businesses understand their competitive position and devise strategies to differentiate themselves from the competition.