Market research data

Sources of information

Secondary sources of information may be divided into two categories: internal sources and external sources.

Internal sources of secondary information

Sales data : All organisations collect information in the course of their everyday operations. Orders are received and delivered, costs are recorded, sales personnel submit visit reports, invoices are sent out, returned goods are recorded and so on. Much of this information is of potential use in marketing research but a surprising amount of it is actually used. Organisations frequently overlook this valuable resource by not beginning their search of secondary sources with an internal audit of sales invoices, orders, inquiries about products not stocked, returns from customers and sales force customer calling sheets. For example, consider how much information can be obtained from sales orders and invoices:

· Sales by territory
· Sales by customer type
· Prices and discounts
· Average size of order by customer, customer type, geographical area
· Average sales by sales person and
· Sales by pack size and pack type, etc.

This type of data is useful for identifying an organisation's most profitable product and customers. It can also serve to track trends within the enterprise's existing customer group.
Financial data: An organisation has a great deal of data within its files on the cost of producing, storing, transporting and marketing each of its products and product lines. Such data has many uses in marketing research including allowing measurement of the efficiency of marketing operations. It can also be used to estimate the costs attached to new products under consideration, of particular utilisation (in production, storage and transportation) at which an organisation's unit costs begin to fall.
Transport data: Companies that keep good records relating to their transport operations are well placed to establish which are the most profitable routes, and loads, as well as the most cost effective routing patterns. Good data on transport operations enables the enterprise to perform trade-off analysis and thereby establish whether it makes economic sense to own or hire vehicles, or the point at which a balance of the two gives the best financial outcome.
Storage data: The rate of stockturn, stockhandling costs, assessing the efficiency of certain marketing operations and the efficiency of the marketing system as a whole. More sophisticated accounting systems assign costs to the cubic space occupied by individual products and the time period over which the product occupies the space. These systems can be further refined so that the profitability per unit, and rate of sale, are added. In this way, the direct product profitability can be calculated.

External sources of secondary information

The marketing researcher who seriously seeks after useful secondary data is more often surprised by its abundance than by its scarcity. Too often, the researcher has secretly (sometimes subconsciously) concluded from the outset that his/her topic of study is so unique or specialised that a research of secondary sources is futile. Consequently, only a specified search is made with no real expectation of sources. Cursory researches become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dillon et. al³ give the following advice:

"You should never begin a half-hearted search with the assumption that what is being sought is so unique that no one else has ever bothered to collect it and publish it. On the contrary, assume there are scrolling secondary data that should help provide definition and scope for the primary research effort."

The same authors support their advice by citing the large numbers of organisations that provide marketing information including national and local government agencies, quasi-government agencies, trade associations, universities, research institutes, financial institutions, specialist suppliers of secondary marketing data and professional marketing research enterprises. Dillon et al further advise that searches of printed sources of secondary data begin with referral texts such as directories, indexes, handbooks and guides. These sorts of publications rarely provide the data in which the researcher is interested but serve in helping him/her locate potentially useful data sources.
The main sources of external secondary sources are (1) government (federal, state and local) (2) trade associations (3) commercial services (4) national and international institutions.

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Data Collection in Market Research

THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IS HERE

Data Collection in Marketing Research is a detailed process in which a planned search for all relevant data is made by researcher.

Types of Data

1. Primary Data- Primary data is the data which is collected first hand specially for the purpose of study. It is collected for addressing the problem at hand. Thus, primary data is original data collected by researcher first hand.
2. Secondary data- Secondary data is the data that have been already collected by and readily available from other sources. Such data are cheaper and more quickly obtainable than the primary data and also may be available when primary data can not be obtained at all.

Data Collection Methods

1. Qualitative Research- Qualitative Research is generally undertaken to develop an initial understanding of the problem. It is non statistical in nature. It uses an inductive method, that is, data relevant to some topics are collected and grouped into appropriate meaningful categories. The explanations are emerged from the data itself. It is used in exploratory research design and descriptive research also. Qualitative data comes into a variety of forms like interview transcripts; documents, diaries and notes made while observing. There are two main methods for collecting Qualitative data
   1. Direct Collection Method-When the data is collected directly, it makes use of disguised method. Purpose of data collection is not known. This method makes use of-
      1. Focus Groups
      2. Depth Interview
      3. Case Study
   2. Indirect Collection-Method
      1. Projective Techniques
2. Quantitative Research- Quantitative Research quantifies the data and generalizes the results from the sample to the population. In Quantitative Research, data can be colleted by two methods
1. Survey Method
2. Observation Method

Market research data

Here are five government sources of market data and statistics that may boost your market research efforts:

1. Business Data and Statistics from SBA.gov

A good place to start is SBA.gov’s Business Data and Statistics page, where you’ll find a collection of resources providing free access to information about business and economic conditions and indicators collected by the U.S. government. Whether you sell to businesses or consumers, these sites include data and statistics on income, employment, trade, and manufacturing, and plenty more.

2. The U.S. Census Bureau

The U.S. Census Bureau (www.census.gov) maintains a vast repository of information that is quick and easy to navigate, thanks to a variety of Data Access Tools. For example, with The American FactFinder, just enter a city and state and the tool will generate multiple options for viewing social, economic, household and demographic data for your town or future location.

The main site has also been newly re-launched to make it very simple to find the data you need, including a neat interactive map that shows a mash-up of economic and demographic statistics for any town, city, or state in America.

If you like what you see but are not sure how to use and interpret the data, the Census Bureau hosts seminars across the country to help business owners learn more about business and industry data on the site. Learn more.

3. FedStats.gov

If you want data but don’t know which agency maintains or produces it, head on over to FedStats.gov. This no-frills data-driven site provides access to a full range of official statistical information produced by the federal government without having to know in advance which federal agency produces which particular statistic. Data is available on wide-ranging topics, including economic and population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, energy use, and farm production.

4. Small Business Statistics

Interested in statistics about how small business is doing? The SBA Office of Advocacy conducts and publishes its own research on topics such as the small business economy.

5. EconomicIndicators.gov

For briefings on retail sales, durable goods, manufacturing, construction, new home sales, and more, Economicindicators.gov provides access to daily releases of key economic indicators from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau. This is probably your best bet if you're looking for one site that says it all.

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Market Research Tools

17 Helpful Market Research Tools & Resources

1) Think With Google: Marketer's Almanac

Price: Free

Wish you had information on how consumer behavior changes in relation to the seasons, holidays, and other special events? Think With Google's Marketer's Almanac offers interesting insights on how people browse and buy.

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Market research data

Source of Data in Research from manukumarkm

Market Research Data

There are two main methods of collecting information:

Primary research provides new data for a specific purpose

• Primary research (field research) involves gathering new data that has not been collected before. For example, surveys using questionnaires or interviews with groups of people in a focus group.
• Secondary research (desk research) involves gathering existing data that has already been produced. For example, researching the internet, newspapers and company reports.

Factual information is called quantitative data. Information collected about opinions and views is called qualitative data.

Accurate market research helps to reduce the risk of launching new or improved products.

Some businesses opt out of field research and rely instead on the know-how and instincts of the entrepreneur to ‘guess’ customer requirements. They do this because market research costs time and money. Existing business can make use of direct customer contact to help them identify changing fashion and market trends.

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