Market research regards learning about your customers. Specifically, market research is identifying the needs and wants of your target customer, scope business operations to meet those needs, the manner in which to reach the customer with your offering, and broadening your product or service to include other prospective customers.

Business owners and entrepreneurs acquire information through marketing research that helps identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve the understanding of marketing as a process.

What is the Marketing Research Process

The marketing research process generally proceeds as follows:

• Define the Problem
• Assess Informational Needs
• Collect Data
• Analyze the Data
• Make Recommendations

What is Primary Research?

Primary research involves the first-hand collection of information by the entrepreneur. That is, the entrepreneur observes or actively tests a given situation to derive information. Common methods for conducting primary research include:

How to Conduct Personal Interviews?

Personal interviews with individuals who you assume to be part of a larger consumer group.

How to Conduct Focus Groups?

A focus group allows you to test an idea (product or service) on a particular group and receive their feedback.

How to Use Public Observation?

Public observation allows the entrepreneur to glean information from the general habits of individual in a given situation (such as the buying trends of teenagers in the mall).

Who Should be the Focus of Primary Research?

Primary research is used to determine who is your target market, as well as determining the preferences and characteristics of those who may or may not be part of the target market.