Market Research Example

“Mexican People and other languages”

Next, We  show you an example of market research.

In this research a face to face questionaire was used to people who live in México and are older than 18 years old. The research was done between January 26^th and January 29^th and it contains only 7 questions.

The main results are:

The percentage of adult people who speak another language has swollen (increased) 4% in the last 6 years (In 2007 (it) was 9%, Now (now it) is 13%).

We can see a difference in age range, 19% of adult  people who are younger than 30 years old declare to speak another language, while  6% of adult people who are older than 50 years old declare it.

In the north of the country  1 of each 5 adult people declare to speak English language, on the other hand, in the south of the country it's 1 of each 25 adult people.

In spite of every instant more Mexicans affirming to understand the English Idiom, it is a long time until we will say that there are a majority group who speak English fluently.

Source of Information: Consulta Mitofsky, Section “Mexico Opina”, Web Site: www.consulta.mx  November 2013.

Market research in organizations

Market research is extremely important in organizational capacity for decision making. It is a tool that permits a perspective of the environment with which to have a better understanding of the consumers' preferences, motivations and behavior.

Today, many of the largest companies in the world invest millions in research to avoid risks. The market research provides information and the companies have realized that it is vital to stay one step ahead to the competitors. Advertising, price, package, features and other items of the product, are simple results of applied research to decision making; it provides a simulation of the reality, without the need to spend a stratospheric amount of money. However, it is very important that the information obtained has reliability and a correct interpretation, because there isn´t worse enemy for decision making in a company than a wrong or misinterpreted research. You should also take in consideration the time of the study, because it always reflects the time when it was made. Neither can we say that all research is accurate at 100%, there will always be an inherent statistical margin of error. A market research is a photograph of the environment itself, but the quality of it, will depend of variables such as the methodology used, the selected sample, analysis, measurement instrument and other things.

However and despite the risks, it will always be better to make a market research for the companies, because the benefits are very superior to the disadvantages.

What's it for???

Market Research Usages

The market research is used for getting information and making correct commercial decisions. Its main objective could be split into many objectives by areas or activities.

Next, we mention some usages of this tool:

The market research is used for developing and testing new products and also to predict consumer’s preferences in relation to how the product is used.

The preferences mentioned before, are called “Consumer Behavior”, this is another  way that the market research is used.

Perhaps, the most profitable usage is to analyze all sales activities. In this case, we can estimate the demand of our products and predict the sales for the next months.

Finally, we can use market research  for evaluating and testing the advertinsing performance.

We can enumerate a lot of usages or benefits, a Market Research could solve any problem, question, or doubt that we have of our market or our product.

Soon, we will post an example of market research, where we will show  how the question are resolved.

Types of survey

There are three principal types of survey that are divided in relation to the way of asking.

1.       Face to face survey

Consists in personal interviews with each respondent. They have the advantage of being controlled and guided by the interviewer. It also usually provides more information than other methods (phone and email). The principal disadvantages are the time it takes to collect data and the very expensive costs.

2.       Telephone Survey

This type of survey involves a telephone interview with each respondent. Some of the advantages are : 1) It can cover a large number of people in less time than the personal interview, 2) their costs are often lower and 3) It is easily administered (today, there are specialized softwares for managing telephone surveys. However, the principal disadvantage is that the interviewer has minimal control over the interview.

3.       Internet Survey

This type of survey consists in placing a questionnaire on a website or send emails to a predefined panel. Some advantages of this method are: 1 ) the extensive coverage we can get (even thousands of respondents in several countries and at the same time), 2 ) saving time, low costs and the use of audiovisual media during the survey. Some disadvantages are: you can not always verify the identity of the respondent.

Market Research Benefits

Nowadays, a few people know which is the best benefit of making a Market Research and they make decisions even without knowing the consequences. Sometimes, you could lose the opportunity to be a great brand.

Below, we enumerate some market research benefits:

1.       Market Research is a simple guide which helps us to keep a good communication with our old and new costumers.

2.       A good Market Research produces as a result a good advertising campaign, and then each consumer knows the key information about our brand (or product), and they choose our brand.

3.       The market research helps us to identify the market opportunities and know where our rivals are.

4.       The market research help us to take less risks, if the results show us that we should not continue the plan. So, we can adjust it on time, without we wasting money or effort.

5.       The market research helps us to identify problems in the future.

The most important benefit is that you know the market's needs.

How to make a good market research

First, propose the problem and define the objectives.

Then, formulate a hypothesis and choose the methodology.

The main points included in a methodology are:

• Scope, for example, regional or national
• Target, for example, women from 20 to 30 years, with children
• Measuring instrument, for example, surveys or focus groups. In case you choose surveys, you must select the best way to reach your target: telephone surveys, face to face surveys or online surveys in a webpage like: www.surveymonkey.com
• Research Duration
• Sample Distribution

Next, apply the measuring instrument.

After that, capture the data in a program like Excel or SPSS and analyze the information to contrast the hypothesis.

Finally, make a presentation with the conclusions.