Market research

See also: Market analysis
Marketing
Key concepts
Promotional content
Promotional media
Research

Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need.[1] It is an important component of business strategy[2] and a major factor in maintaining competitiveness. Market research helps to identify and analyze the needs of the market, the market size and the competition. Its techniques encompass both qualitative techniques such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnography, as well as quantitative techniques such as customer surveys, and analysis of secondary data.

It includes social and opinion research, and is the systematic gathering and interpretation of information about individuals or organizations using statistical and analytical methods and techniques of the applied social sciences to gain insight or support decision making.[3]

Market research, marketing research, and marketing are a sequence of business activities;[4][5] sometimes these are handled informally.[6]

The field of marketing research is much older than that of market research.[7] Although both involve consumers, Marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes, such as advertising effectiveness and salesforce effectiveness, while market research is concerned specifically with markets and distribution.[8] Two explanations given for confusing Market research with Marketing research are the similarity of the terms and also that Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research.[9][10][11] Further confusion exists because of major companies with expertise and practices in both areas.[12]

  1. ^ Campbell Robertson (August 1, 2006). "Nielsen Brings a New Marketing Strategy to Broadway". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  2. ^ McQuarrie, Edward (2005). The market research toolbox: a concise guide for beginners (2nd ed.). SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4129-1319-5. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  3. ^ International Code on Market and Social Research (PDF) (4 ed.). ICC/ESOMAR Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 3, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2009.
  4. ^ "Commercial Item Handbook" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 6, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2020. market research is a business operation
  5. ^ Alex Burke (17 December 2011). "What Is Formulated Marketing?". Hearst Newspapers. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020. Marketing is a business process that ..
  6. ^ Susan J. Hart; John R. Webb; Marian V. Jones (1994). "Export Marketing Research and the Effect of Export Experience in Industrial SMEs". International Marketing Review. 11 (6): 18. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.461.857. doi:10.1108/02651339410072980. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022. Size of firm seems to be related to the use of informal market research
  7. ^ Lockley, Lawrence C. (1950). "Notes on the History of Marketing Research". Journal of Marketing. 14 (5): 733–736. doi:10.2307/1246952. JSTOR 1246952. Archived from the original on August 16, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  8. ^ McDonald, Malcolm (2007). Marketing Plans (6th ed.). Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-8386-9. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  9. ^ "Market Research END-TO-END Benefits". September 6, 2014. Archived from the original on August 21, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2020. Because Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research, it is easy to see why the two terms are often confused.
  10. ^ Claessens, Maximilian (January 9, 2018). "Difference between Market Research and Marketing Research". Archived from the original on July 22, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020.
  11. ^ "Difference Between Market & Marketing Research". September 24, 2019. Archived from the original on July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2020. Market Research is a subset of Marketing Research
  12. ^ "NAPCS Product List for NAICS 54191: Marketing Research" (PDF). United States Census. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 17, 2012. data collection services for marketing research and public opinion surveys, by methods other than ... data collection services provided as part of a market research services package that includes