Market research – what is it?
What does market research mean? Market research is a means of marketing to obtain information about the relevant sales market or the sales markets of a company. For this purpose, the data are systematically determined using primarily scientific methods. Effective market research is an important factor when it comes to developing a successful sales strategy for a company and thus increasing sales and – ideally – company profits.
What are the goals of market research?
In order to use a marketing instrument successfully, it is necessary to know the sales market down to the smallest detail. Thus, the information that can be obtained from market research forms the basis of marketing measures. According to sportingology, this information helps you choose the right marketing measures, be it for a new product launch or as a sales support measure for a product that has already been launched. With the data that is determined by market research, the causes of sales problems can also be identified and analyzed.
Based on market research, it is therefore possible to develop optimal marketing strategies. And finally, the results of the market research also enable a realistic control of the success of the use of the various marketing instruments.
What market research uses
With the tools of market research, the decision-making quality in the company with regard to sales promotion can be decisively improved. In detail this means:
- The early and timely identification of trends, opportunities and risks in the relevant markets.
- The minimization of the risk of wrong decisions
- Support for decision-making within a company
- The improvement of the level of information for the decision-makers in relation to:
- Topicality
- objectivity
- precision
- relevance
- Fashion trends
- Desire for pleasure
The individual phases of market research
How do you do market research? Market research is usually carried out as follows: The current market situation is determined by market research. This can be done either once or at regular intervals. While the market is being observed, the current market development is analyzed and the market forecast is created from the data from the analysis and the observation – i.e. the likely development of the market in the future.
The market research process:
Once those responsible have agreed on a market investigation, it must be specified in advance what exactly is to be investigated. Only those who ask the question precisely and precisely will receive a suitable answer.
- The problem is formulated
- The study design is determined
- The sources of information are determined
- Who does the market research? – the definition of the executing.
- The data collection method is determined.
- The sample is selected.
- The survey instrument is designed.
- The data collection is carried out.
- The data is edited and coded.
- The data is analyzed and interpreted.
- The research results are presented.
The individual areas of market research
In sales research, the person carrying out the research deals with the potential customers, their needs, their purchasing power and their motivation to buy. In addition, an attempt is made to find out what image the respondent has of the company and its products or services. So you can have the image of your own brand examined in a market study.
As part of product research, market research determines the information for product design as a planning aid for the company’s product policy:
- How does the customer imagine the optimal product properties.
- How does this imagine the product name.
- What does he think of the performance, the quality, the design and the packaging?
- What are his thoughts on the price of the product?
- How do all these properties have to be combined in order to create the optimal product?
Competitive research is then about the competitors. That means the market research looks exactly at:
- Which providers are already available for the product.
- Which products are comparable and could compete with your own product?
- How and under what conditions does the competition offer these products?
- What do customers think about these products?
Which market research companies are there?
As a rule, the large companies have their own market research department. In smaller companies, on the other hand, there are those responsible for marketing, the so-called product managers. They usually do their market research “on the side”. But even in large companies, the market research projects are not always carried out themselves. Here, too, the marketing departments usually commission specialized market research companies to carry out studies.
The market research companies and institutes are usually commissioned by the companies because they have better methodological knowledge. They also have the necessary experience to correctly interpret the results. Of course, costs also play a role, for example a market research company usually has its own call center. In addition, there is also better objectivity and the associated acceptance in science. There is also the advantage of the specific material and personnel capacities of the market research company.
In 2011, according to ADM, global market research sales amounted to around 24.15 billion euros, and sales in Europe alone were 10.18 billion euros. Germany and Great Britain occupy the two top positions in Europe with a share of sales of 23% each, followed by France with 19%.
The top 10 market research companies worldwide
In terms of sales, the following global companies are top in terms of market research. Internationally active companies often rely on the global players in the industry because they can carry out their market research in different countries in parallel. Local peculiarities and cultural differences can thus be ideally taken into account. In this way, the regional characteristics of the consumers do not falsify the result.
- The Nielsen Company
- Kantar Group
- IMS Health
- Association for Consumer Research
- Ipsos Group
- Synovates
- IRI
- Westat Inc.
- Arbitron Inc.
- JD Power and Associates
The largest market research institutes in Germany
There is also a corresponding ranking list for the German market. After all, there are many companies that operate exclusively in the local market. It is sufficient to entrust the market research to a company that offers its services exclusively in Germany. In contrast to the largest providers in the industry, the smaller market research institutes in Germany do a good job when evaluations are required especially for local customers.
- Society for consumer research for short GFK SE
- TNS Infratest
- AC Nielsen
- Ipsos
- Maritz Research
- Pysma Group AG
- Kleffmann Group
- GIM Heidelberg
- ICON added value
- LDB group
What tools does market research use?
Depending on the scope of the study, several tools are used as part of a market survey. In addition to the classic surveys (also online if desired), it is above all data mining that has recently become more and more important within market research institutes in Germany. By analyzing the amount of data generated by online consumption, companies can gain many useful and insightful insights. One of the pioneers in data mining is without a doubt the online retail giant Amazon.
The enormous amount of data that the online retailer collects during a purchase is used profitably. In this way, customers can be given even more precise product suggestions. The company meticulously analyzes which products are particularly popular and why buyers drop out.
