Assess Available Information
Assess the information
that is immediately available. It may be that current knowledge supports one or
more hypotheses, and solutions to the problem may become obvious through the process
of defining it. Weigh the cost of gathering more information against its potential
usefulness.
Gather Additional Information
Before considering
surveys or field experiments, look at currently held information: sales records,
complaints, receipts, and any other records that can show where customers live and
work, and how and what they buy. One small business owner found that addresses on
cash receipts allowed him to pinpoint customers in his market area. With this
kind of information he could cross-reference his customers' addresses and the
products they purchased to check the effectiveness of his advertising. Customers'
addresses tell much about them. Lifestyles and buying habits are often correlated
with neighborhoods.
Credit records are an
excellent source of information, giving information about customers' jobs,
income levels, and marital status. Offering credit is a multifaceted marketing
tool with well-known costs and risks. Employees may be the best source of
information about customer likes and dislikes. They hear customers' minor
gripes about the store or service the ones customers don't think important
enough to take to the owner. Employees are aware of the items customers request
that you do not stock. They can often supply good customer profiles from their day-to-day
contacts.
Secondary Research
Secondary research
exploits published sources like surveys, books, and magazines, applying or
rearranging the information in them to bear on the problem or opportunity at hand.
A tire sales business owner might guess that present retail sales of tires is
strongly correlated with sales of new cars three years ago. To test this idea,
it's easy to compare new car sales records with replacement tire sales three
years later. Done over a range of recent years, this should prove or disprove
the hypothesis and help marketing efforts tremendously.
There are many sources
of secondary research material. It can be found in libraries, colleges, trade
and general business publications, and newspapers. Trade associations and
government agencies are rich sources of information GALES' Directory is
available at any public library.
Sources of Secondary Research
ASAE Directory of
Associations Online
Ask a Librarian U.S.
Library of Congress
Bureau of Labor
Statistics
Business Research Lab
Center for Business
Women's Research
Economic Statistics
& Research
Fedstats.gov
Internet Public
Library
Population &
Demography Resources
Primary Research
Primary research can
be as simple as asking customers or suppliers how they feel about a business or
as complex as surveys conducted by professional marketing research firms.
Direct mail
questionnaires, telephone surveys, experiments, panel studies, test marketing, and
behavior observation are all examples of primary research.
Primary research is
often divided into reactive and non-reactive research. Non-reactive primary
research observes how real people behave in real market situations without influencing
that behavior even accidentally. Reactive research, including surveys, interviews,
and questionnaires, is best left to marketing professionals, as they can
usually get more objective and sophisticated results. Those who can't afford
high-priced marketing research services should consider asking nearby college
or university business schools for help.
No comments:
Post a Comment