5 Market Research Components

Market research is simply about studying the specifics of a market by collecting data about it. It is helpful in perfecting the product, but also making a fair price for it. For the process to be carried, we need to have the following components:

1. Creating a specific intention for the research:

We can’t open a business or design a product on a whim and expect people to accept it. That is just impractical. People have their own taste which decides whether the creator will succeed. They make up the market, after all. It is highly important to know what they like and then live up to it. This can help the creator even steal a bit of the market share from the competitors. Knowing it all is the intention which must be defined in the first of the market research. This makes the next steps narrow and more organized. Also known as objective or purpose of the study, intention sets up the questions to be answered through the research. 

2. Collection of secondary data: 

Secondary data is defined as the information which already exists. Its first source for a well established business is the internal record. Consumer information can be extracted from it with much ease. For others, business literature and public census given by the government sites can be the major sources. In spite of being economical, secondary data is more likely to be outdated in some cases and because of this, it may not always portray the market accurately. 

3. Collection of primary data: 

Primary data comes directly from the public in the form of their response. For this, the business can decide to go for either surveys or experiments. The survey can be done through mails, internet, person interviews and so forth. The researcher can choose between quantitative and qualitative methods of research. Experiment, on the other hand, mimics lab tests to evaluate the cause and effect points associated with making changes to variables and seeing how potential consumers react to them.

Research instrument: This is the questionnaire to be used to start the process of gathering data. The series of questions to be used must be free of too much broadness as well as bias.  It is also important to include instructions and statements about ethical consideration.

4. Interpretation of the data:

Once the data has been collected it is important to turn them into easy to read information. Doing qualitative research here would reveal themes for the study. Quantitative research which usually provides responses in numeric form can be presented through graphics.  

To make the information easier to read, the researcher can use charts, pies and even tables. Both Excel and SPSS are convenient tools to make it possible.