Mastering Market Research: Types, Steps, and Benefits

There are typically two types of market research methods, primary market research and secondary market research. Let us have a look at these Market research methodologies in detail.

  1. Primary market research 

Primary research is a research study where the organization itself gets in touch with the target customer and gathers relevant insights and information from them about the market. The data gathered from primary research can either be qualitative or quantitative in nature. 

Primary research helps organizations gather two kinds of information. Exploratory research has more open-ended questions that allow the researcher to explore the topic deeper and in detail. Whereas, specific market research focuses on solving the problems that were identified from the exploratory research. 

Primary research serves two main purposes:

Exploratory Research: This involves open-ended questions to delve deeper into a topic and gain a detailed understanding.

Specific Market Research: This focuses on solving specific problems identified during exploratory research.

Sub-types of primary research data collection methods include:

• Focus groups – participants are asked to respond to it. There is no intervention of any kind or anyone in this research. The data collected is representative of the entire target population. 
• Personal interviews –  one-on-one interview is the traditional way of gathering information but is also more effective. The interviewer can ask open-ended questions in any way he wants to get to the bottom of the research topic and collect valuable data in real time. 
• Ethnographic research – this is a special type of research that does not include any conversation or data give and take. The researcher just adapts to the participants’ environment and keeps on observing their behavior and responses in their natural habitat. 

  2. Secondary market research 

Secondary market research refers to studying the market through the material and sources that are already available publicly. This research makes use of someone else’s primary research. The materials can be newspaper articles, magazine articles, research papers, Internet articles, information about government and non-government agencies, and so on. 

Sources of secondary market research data include:

• Public sources-  public sources of information like libraries are the best source of gathering information on various fields in the market with a verified factual background. 
• Commercial sources –  these sources include newspapers, magazines, television media, journals, and so on can be some of the best sources to collect market research data.
• Educational institutions – educational institutes carry out the most research on various topics. Using these research papers that are publicly available, for your market research can be proven an efficient data source. 

The choice of Market research methodologies depends on the research objectives, available resources, and the nature of the information being sought. Often, a combination of these methods is used to gain a comprehensive understanding of the market and its dynamics.