A3 Appropriateness of choice of research
Cost. When conducting market research, costs are going to be incurred. The question is, what is an appropriate amount of money to spend based on the benefits that are likely to be achieved. Staffing costs are often overlooked. Sending out an online survey may be free but how about the person who designed that survey? How about the person that analyses the results? If you want these jobs done well, money needs to be spent. When inviting people in for an interview or focus group, a room needs to be paid for, staff need to be paid and the respondents may need to be renumerated for their time and travel expenses. A lot of secondary research is free such as viewing competitors' websites and news articles. However, when a business wants to analyse industry data such as market shares and trends, this often has to be paid for. Market research agencies such as Mintel can provide great data but they charge high fees
Accuracy. Market research leads to a business making decisions on the future based on past trends and predictions. This often means investing money into products and promotional campaigns. What if the market research data was wrong? A business could end up investing large amounts of money developing a product that doesn’t sell or a promotional campaign that is unpopular. There is no guarantee that market research can ever be 100% accurate but there are steps that can be taken to make them as accurate as possible.
Having a clear goal or focus of the research
Large sample sizes that reflect the characteristics of the population.
Ensuring data collected is as up to date as possible
Appropriate questions
Removing any bias from questioning
Follow up on any findings to establish meaning.
Timelines of how soon the results of the research are needed will have an impact on the method used. Secondary research is very fast as it already exists. However it may not be completely relevant and it could be expensive if research agencies are used. Questionnaire results can be collected and analysed faster than other methods of primary research. However, longer methods such as one 2 one interviews yield more in depth answers.
Response rates refer to the number of people who respond to market research in comparison to the number of people requested. Methods to improve response rates include giving participants something in return such as money or a gift, getting them to understand the value in their participation and making participation quick and easy
