Market Research Essay, Research Paper

Before I started to manufacture my products I had to find out if there was a market for it. This is called market research. Like any other business I had to decide what market research methods are most likely to give me the information I need.

To collect information about my project ? Scarecrow? I had to carry out some field research. Field research involves the collection of primary data-information which no-one has yet collected. It is collected specially for the particular piece of research.. Primary data is collected through direct investigation, usually in one of three ways:

? Observation,

? Experiment,

? Survey,

Observation:

Looking at and recording what people do and how they behave can be important. For instance what methods people use and to what extremes people go to have there life pest free. By observing people in there home environment it would be possible to see whether, for instance, the problem was that people were scarring the animal but not giving it an area to escape through, usually the animal is just as afraid as the person.

Experiments:

Market researchers can also use experimental techniques. To launch a new product is often very costly. Instead products could be tested on groups of consumers to see whether they are acceptable and likely to sell well.

Our main method of data collection was through the use of questionnaires. I selected ten people from our local area to which we posted our questionnaires. These were then returned and the answers which were to later become our database.

We also sent letters away to various companies who had already launched a similar product to that of our own, in the hope of gaining about customers, competitors and market trends.

The distribution of our questionnaires proved very successful. I received back my ten questionnaires which had been read and filled in. I now a wide range of answers which would prove very useful later in design my project.

My letters however did not prove to be as successful. We received very little replies and of the replies we received, very little information could be taken from them as they were all pictures and brochures.

Surveys:

A survey usually involves asking questions of respondents- people or organisations who reply to the questions asked. There are different ways of conducting surveys. A postal survey, where questionnaires are sent through the post, or a newspaper survey where readers are invited to fill in and return a questionnaire in a newspaper.

Surveys can only be useful for market research purposes if the questions asked are appropriate and you get a purposesful reply.