Market Research

In the last class, we began with an exercise of listening, we watched a video and we had that to fill up activities about the video and to make a brief writing on which to have happened.

After, the teacher explained the market research to us

Market Research

Learning objectives

- To understand the difference between primary and secondary market research
- To understand how primary and secondary market research may be used by a business to help inform its marketing decisions.


At first, we will see the first step about primary research, then secondary reseach, purpose and finally the sampling methods.


The primary research contains:

- Questionnaires
- Focus groups
- User groups
- Postal Survey
- Telephone Surveys
- Customer Interviews
- Test markets
- Technology - Internet feedback

Primary Research

– First hand information
– Expensive to collect, analyse and evaluate
– Can be highly focussed and relevant
– Care needs to be taken with the approach and methodology to ensure accuracy
– Types of question – Closed – limited information gained; Open – useful information but difficult to analyse.


Quantitative and Qualitative Information:

- Quantitative – based on numbers – 56% of eighteen year olds drink alcohol at least four times a week.

Doesn’t tell you why, when, how.

- Qualitative – more detail – tells you why, when and how

The secondary step is about secondary research which contains internal and external sources

Internal Sources consist of

- Company Accounts
- Internal Reports and Analysis
- Stock Analysis
- Retail data - till data, etc

External Sources consist of

- Government Statistics
- EU - Euro Stat
- Household Expenditure Survey
- Magazine surveys
- Other firms’ research
- Research documents – publications, journals, etc.
- Web sites: commercial & non-commercial


The Sampling Methods are based on
- Random Samples
- Stratified or Segment Random Sampling
- Quota Sampling
- Cluster Sampling
- Contact or "snowball" Sampling
- Multi-Stage Sampling


Sampling Methods:

Random Samples – equal chance of anyone being picked

– May select those not in the target group – indiscriminate
– Sample sizes may need to be large to be representative
– Can be very expensive


Stratified or Segment Random Sampling

– Samples on the basis of a representative strata or segment
– Still random but more focussed
– May give more relevant information
– May be more cost effective


Quota Sampling

– Again – by segment
– Not randomly selected
– Specific number on each segment are interviewed etc
– May not be fully representative
– Cheaper method


Cluster Sampling

–Primarily based on geographical areas or ‘clusters’ that can be seen as being representative of the whole population

Multi-Stage Sampling

–Sample selected from multi stage sub-groups

Snowball Sampling

–Samples developed from contacts of existing customers – ‘word of mouth’ type approach

The purpose consist of:

- Size of market
- Market Trends
- Forecasting
- Planning
- Evaluation of Strategies/Promotion
- Assessing Marketing Mix
- Identifying market segments
- Identifying consumer needs
- Identifying Competition
- Identifying Opportunities/gaps in the market
- Reduce Risk



Advantages of Market Research

– Helps focus attention on objectives
– Aids forecasting, planning and strategic development
– May help to reduce risk of new product development
– Communicates image, vision, etc.
– Globalisation makes market information valuable


Disadvantages of Market Research

– Information only as good as the methodology used
– Can be inaccurate or unreliable
– Results may not be what the business wants to hear!
– May stifle initiative and ‘gut feeling’
– Always a problem that we may never know enough to be sure!

Market Analysis

In the last class, we began with an exercise of pronunciation where we have to pronunciate the different letter sounds to understand the differences between longer or shorter sounds.

Then, the teacher has explained the market analysis theme.

Market Position: The questions are:

Market niche?
Market leader?
Market follower?
Market Challenger?


Market Position

- Market Niche – small part of an existing market
- Market Leader – maintain dominant position in the market?
- Market Follower – Follow the lead of the market leader – pricing, product development etc
- Market Challenger – Seek to adopt strategies to challenge market leader’s position


Market Objectives

- National Growth
- International Growth
- Ethical Objectives
- Market Share
- Consumer Focus
- Product Focus
- Image
- Social Responsibility
- Revenue Maximisation
- Shareholder Value
- Overcome Competitors

Will involve/determine some or all of the following:

– Market Penetration
– New Product Development
– Branding
– Diversification
– SWOT Analysis


Market Segments

- Age
- Religion
- Gender
- Incomer Level
- Lifestyle
- Ethnic Grouping
- Social Class
- Geographical region
- Family Circumstances
- Behaviouristic


Social Class

Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Grouping

A – Higher managerial, professional and administrative
B – Middle management, professional and administrative
C1 – Supervisory, clerical and junior management
C2 – Skilled Manual Workers
D – Semi and unskilled manual workers
E – Pensioners, casual workers, unemployed


Which Segment?

Mass Markets – high volume, low margin goods – confectionary, cars, clothing, food stuffs

Multiple Segments – appealing to wider range of groups – e.g. 4x4 vehicles – town, country, gender, lifestyle, social class?

Single Segment – often a specialised product, e.g. machinery, exclusive goods


Market Structure

- Highly Competitive
- Impefect Competition
- Oligopoly
- Duopoly
- Monopoly


Nature of the market structure determines marketing strategy:

–Pricing strategy
–Branding?
–Product Differentiation?
–Market Penetration?
–Direct Selling?

My Fourth Post

In the past class, we begin with an exercise of pronunciation where have that the sounds to differentiate between more lengths or more shorts.

After, reading a text, we refill the different departments (Marketing, Human Resources, Finance and Production) of a company and his different sub departments.

Then, We did an exercise of grammar on textual cohesion: Reference, Deixis, Pronominalization and lexical cohesion. Too, we saw the modal verbs, constructing phrases with a few verbs.

After,We saw the topic of Decision making. The summary of topic is:


Quantitative Factors

-Provide a numerical basis for decision making – reduces decisions to looking at a monetary value placed on different choices, e.g.

- But: such data provides only part of the story
- Other factors need to be taken into account, particularly the effects of decisions on stakeholder groups and their response to such decisions, e.g

Decision Trees and the process

Qualitative Factors

- Qualitative factors look to take account of these other issues that may influence the outcome of a decision.

- Can be wide ranging and especially need to consider the impact on human resources and their response to decisions.


SWOT:

–Weaknesses
–Strengths
–Opportunities
–Threats


PEST

- Might also need to factor in other external issues that might influence the decision making process which can be summarised as:
–Political
–Economic
–Social
–Technological


Human Resources Management

-Impact on a firm’s human resources is essential to consider, in particular the effects on:
–Motivation
–Morale
–Recruitment and Retention
–May be difficulty to assess and measure
–May need to distinguish between short term effects and long term

Finally, we did an exercise of vocabulary about compound nouns.

My Third Blog

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Then, I refill a text on the trends that is in the work for young men/women and those who exist nowadays.

Later, We did a list of good things that a good presentation must have how tle clothes, speak clearly and to sum-up the important things.

After, the teacher showed us a video on what it is a bad presentation publicly and the bad things that we must not do how being very nervous, to read only the puts in the text and not to explain anything and to speak rapidly without and clearly to deal nothing.

Finally, I refilled a listening which speak about the marketing mix and the characteristics of the products and the price.