Marketing research is a very potential
and a necessary tool to gauge the requirements of the market and to understand
the suitability and acceptance of a product or a service.
As I am in the process of understanding
the details and finer aspects related to marketing research, both as a part of
my academic curriculum and my interest, I would like to share some insights
into the most common uses of marketing research in the corporate environment.
In this post I have made an attempt to list out a few of them. I want to
clarify right at the start the research field is vast and the applications and
uses are enormous. What is being highlighted in this post are some of the most
common uses.
I. Sales Analysis
Research:
The following areas are by definition are included under Sales
Analysis:
1.
Measuring and evaluating the
market potential
2.
Understanding the characteristics
of the market under consideration
3.
Estimating the (probable/possible)
market share
4.
Understanding the current and
relevant business trends
Under Sales Analysis, the following studies/research can be carries out:
1.
Consumer types in the market being
targeted
2.
Market size
3.
Market location
4.
Growth in the target market
5.
Product
6.
Competitor strategies
7.
Purchasing habits in the current
market under consideration
8.
Other possible parameters
affecting a purchase
9.
People involved in taking the
decision
10. Operational
fit of the product or service in the customer’s lifestyle?
11. Current
brand preferences of the customers
The information collected during these studies can be analyzed and
it can be used to arrive at a suitable marketing decision.
II. Sales
Methods / Policies Research:
This consists of:
1. Evaluating effectiveness of current
distribution system to decide on establishing or revising sales territories.
2. Specifying and analyzing the sales
quotas, target market territory boundary design, sales force compensation, distribution
cost etc.
3. Assessing the efficiency and
effectiveness of various promotional activities.
III. Product Management Research:
The following are researched
under this category:
1.
Using the research information to
create new products and manage existing products.
2.
Analyzing the markets feedback on
the competitor’s offerings.
3.
Defining market segments based on
the analysis.
4.
Analyzing the customer’s feedback
on the current product offerings and collating the desire and specification
given by customers, and also the acceptance for the current product.
5.
Perception of brands in people’s
minds, helping the companies to reposition their brands as required.
6.
Simulated test marketing (STM) –
for monitoring the performance of a test brand.
7.
Research on pricing, packaging,
availability etc.
IV. Advertising Research:
The following fall in this category:
1. Evaluating the relative
effectiveness of different media (e.g. print, digital etc.) for certain
products or services – to analyze their impact and effectiveness.
2. Testing of advertisements to get a
feedback from the audience in the targeted segment. Multiple copies of the ads
are shown to find out the most effective advertisement (prior to releasing the
ad campaign on full scale).
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of the
ad after its mass release.
V. Corporate Research
Corporate research is done quite frequently to understand the perceived
image of the organization. This may include the following:
1.
Social values research
2.
Political studies
3.
Customer service studies
VI. Syndicated Research:
Market information is being continually
being gathered by research agencies at the behest of organizations and this information
is usually sent in a monthly/quarterly basis. This type of research is quite prevalent
in the retail sector, pharmaceutical sector.
TV program/channel viewership and readership of newspapers and magazines
is also collected this way.
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