The Value of Market Research to Businesses

Market Research is a systematic, objective collection and analysis of data related to a market, competition and/or a specific marketing environment.
It provides detailed, updated information about existing customers and helps to recognise new market opportunities.
Market Research is crucial as it helps to identify and understand the needs of a specific target market to provide better services and products.

Market research allows businesses to understand customer needs, expectations, and preferences, hence making it easier to tailor products or services to meet those needs.
It helps businesses to stay ahead of their competitors by providing them with crucial information about the latest market trends and challenges.
Market research minimises investment risk. Before investing, a business can get insights about the potential market, making it easier to gauge the likelihood of success.

Primary research involves collecting new data that has not been collected before. For example, surveys using questionnaires or interviews with groups of people in a focus group.
Secondary research involves the use of existing data, or data collected by someone other than the user. Common sources of secondary data for market research include reports from market research firms, government censuses, and information gathered by companies during customer interaction.

Surveys are a primary research technique which involves asking questions to respondents through methods such as questionnaires or telephonic conversation.
Focus groups involve guided conversations in small groups to understand their views, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes towards a product, service, concept, or advertisement.
Observation is a simple and compelling market research technique where the behavior of consumers is directly observed.

Market research plays a vital role in business decision making as it provides necessary information about consumers’ behaviours, market trends, and competitors’ strategies.
By using market research, businesses can make data-driven decisions instead of relying on gut feelings or assumptions.
It also helps in the planning process, making sure a business is efficiently using its resources and identifying which strategies are providing optimal results.

Market research is an expensive process, which becomes a major constraint for small businesses.
It’s time-consuming and may not always provide accurate results due to a number of externally influencing factors.
The results of market research may become obsolete by the time they are implemented due to rapidly changing market conditions and consumer preferences.