Marketing Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Marketing Research - Essay Example The Market Research Society of UK gives the definition as: 'the collection and analysis of data from a sample of individuals or organizations relating to their characteristics, behavior, attitudes, opinions or possessions. It includes all forms of marketing and social research such as consumer and industrial surveys, psychological investigations, observational and panel studies (MRS, 1994) 1. Exploratory Design: This is used to discover the general nature of a problem and variables associated with it. It helps in formulating of relevant hypotheses. This uses primary techniques like focus groups, in-depth interviews and observational studies and also uses secondary data, non-probability samples, case analysis and subjective analysis of the resultant data. They are generally qualitative in nature. 2. Descriptive Design: They focus on the accurate description of the variables under consideration. They use questionnaires and surveys. They are used for determining consumer profile and their product usage studies, price and attitude surveys, sales analysis, media research etc. They are quantitative in nature. 3. Causal Designs: They try to establish the nature of relationship between two or more variables under investigation. The direction of the Causal link is very important. The example of their uses may be measuring the effectiveness of advertisement in terms of sales or study of price elasticity of demand etc. Marketing Research Process: The Marketing Research Process can be divided in the following stages: 1. Define the Problem: The first and most crucial stage of the process is defining the problem and providing the necessary information to the Research team which will help them prepare a proper design plan. This stage helps the organization to assess its current position, to define its information needs and to prepare it to make informed decisions about its future. The information provided helps the market researchers with in-depth understanding of the situation. It is important for the market researcher to interview the staff commissioning the study and any other persons who can shed some light on the situation. This helps in forming the Market Research questions, which will lead to forming sub questions. The success of the research depends solely on understanding the problem and defining the questions and sub-questions for which answers are sought by the research. For our case of Hobbit's Choice the basic problem identified is the feasibility of a fine, upscale restaurant featuring the finest entrees, drinks, and desserts in an elegant atmosphere. 2. Decide Research Plan: At this stage the researchers decide in which category his research should fall into. In our case the Hobbit's choice, we have to first find out whether the research will fall into Qualitative or Quantitiative category. In Quantitative category the research is designed to elicit