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 an Import Export company. For this purpose, the data are systematically and predominantly determined using 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.

Here is a brief overview of the article:

• Market research - what is it?
• What are the goals of market research?
• What market research uses
• The individual phases of market research
• The market research process
• The individual areas of market research
• Which market research companies are there?
• What tools does market research use?
• Do market research

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 is the basis of the marketing measures. This information supports you in choosing 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 various marketing instruments used.

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:

If 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 encoded.
• 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 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 were 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 fall back 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 institute 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 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 that is generated when consuming online, 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 made even more precise product suggestions. The company meticulously analyzes which products are particularly popular and why buyers drop out.

The research provides information on the relevant markets of a company.

The information is based on systematically and predominantly data obtained using scientific methods. Effective market research is the most important prerequisite for successful sales strategies of the company.

Market research - primary research and desk research

The tasks of market research

The successful use of all marketing instruments requires that the sales market is known down to the last detail. The information from market research is the basis for planning all marketing measures. In this way, new products can be successfully launched on the market. The data help to identify and analyze the causes of sales problems. They provide the basis for developing alternative measures to change the market situation and the likely results of the measures. On this basis, optimal marketing strategies can be developed. And finally, the results of the market research enable a realistic control of the success of the use of the marketing instruments.

The phases of market research

The market analysis determines the current market situation once or at certain intervals, while the market observation researches the current development of a market. The market forecast , the likely development of the market in the future, is worked out from the data from the analysis and observation.

The areas of market research

The marketing research is concerned with the potential customer, his needs, his purchasing power, its purchasing motives and his image of the company and its products.

As part of product research, market research determines information for the design of the individual products as a planning aid for the company's product policy: How does the potential customer imagine the optimal product properties - the product name, the performance, the quality, the design, the packaging, the brand and the price of the product? How would these properties have to be combined in order to achieve the optimal product?

The competitive researchdeals with the competition. Which providers are there for this product? Which comparable products could compete with your own product? How and under what conditions are these products offered? How do customers feel about these products?

The goals of market research are

Early and timely identification of trends, opportunities and risks in the markets relevant to the company

Limitation of the risk of wrong decisions ("flop minimization"), increase of the success of new product launches

Support of decision-making within the company, strategy development for marketing and sales

the improvement of the level of information relevant to the decision-makers with regard to the following aspects:

• Topicality
• objectivity
• precision
• relevance
• Fashion trends
• Desire for pleasure

Based on the goals of market research , market research has various subject areas in relation to which it can make research-based statements:

General market characteristics and market developments

• Customer segments
• Customer behavior and needs
• Customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Acceptance of new product developments
• Buying motives, consumer motivation (consumer insights)
• Effect of advertising material
• Competition observation, competition analysis
• Market position

Quality criteria of market research

Similar to any other research, market research must also meet certain criteria that are closely linked to the scientific method:

Objectivity (independence): independence of the results of the test procedure from the person carrying out the test (with regard to implementation, evaluation and interpretation)

Reliability (formal accuracy): absence of random errors in the experimental procedure

Validity (conceptual correctness): Validity of the results found - the most important quality criterion ("To what extent has exactly been recorded what should actually be examined?")

Representativeness (meaningfulness): results of a sample may only deviate from the true value of the population with a certain probability of error (generalizability)

Division of market research

Based on the survey objective, market research can be divided into quantitative and qualitative market research.

Quantitative market research: The goal is to find numerical values ??about the market. If only actual, objective findings are determined, one speaks of ecoscopy in contrast to demoscopy , the opinions and attitudes to certain questions (i.e. wishes, fears, plans, etc.) are determined and processed quantitatively and statistically.

Qualitative market research: The aim is, e.g. B. Determine motives for certain behavior in the market as well as expectations and attitudes (psychological market research). Opinion and motivation research is to be seen as the most important market research method that makes use of psychological safeguards (e.g. through indirect questions, exclusion of suggestive questions , distractions and control questions).

In addition to industry-specific market research, which some market research institutes specialize in, there is a rough category to distinguish it from the dominant consumer goods market research, capital goods market research or industrial market research. For some years now, the term business-to-business market research or B2B market research has become established in Germany. The methods and case numbers differ in some cases very strongly from consumer goods market research. Depending on the industry, a few companies often represent the majority of the market, so that full surveys or highly representative surveys can be carried out with a small sample.

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