What is Market Research?
Market Research is the study of consumer behavior, focusing on needs, interests, and preferences. The field finds insights that define “the voice of the consumer.” Market insight professionals pride themselves on bringing empathy for the consumer to business decisions, and understanding their needs (both met and unmet). We often hear of MR being used for decision-making because it aligns business goals with the needs of customers.
MR is a mixture of both a creative and analytical competency, it blends together a qualitative understanding of people through interviews and other forms of observation and human interaction, with the application of data analysis, which forms the quantitative piece. It should be based in sound scientific procedures and methods based in statistical or research-based analysis. In fact, MR relies on data in different forms to understand consumers more clearly. It aims to provide a picture of the consumer and truly understand their motivations. Research design can take many different forms such as surveys, observations, and focus groups. The field also relies on a wide wealth of existing research and data, some which are publicly available, and others which can be purchased for a particular industry (syndicated data).
Market research is based on behavioral research and many practices in the field were first used in psychological studies. Tools like the Likert Scale were developed to study human behavior in different contexts, mainly to measure attitudes (McLeod 2019) and provide a reliable tool to study complex human behaviors. In a way, Market Research is the intersection between business and psychology. For this reason, it is important to obtain data ethically and ensure ethical boundaries are followed in any market research endeavor.
Why should Market Research matter to companies?
Market Research helps drive innovation through consumer adoption of new products and technologies by understanding their unmet needs. One aspect of the field is understanding target customers, and more specifically consumer segments to market your product or service effectively. Seeing it another way, it is putting your product or service in front of the audience that needs and/or wants it. And other times, it is convincing your target audience that they need a product or technology to solve a problem, and that product doesn’t even exist yet in their life. Perhaps they haven’t even dreamed it up yet or imagined it as useful in their life. That’s where Market Research comes in, it can tell you who your customer is - what they care about - and how to reach them.
Sometimes, it takes several forms of a new product to emerge before consumers find how it is useful in their daily lives. But what if we could change that?
Market research allows us to take those insights about consumer behavior, and find ways of making innovations relatable, accessible, and applicable to solving consumer problems. Market Research analyzes the market itself - opportunities for growth, threats from competitors, and areas for innovation. It also considers our habits and deep-seated behavior and barriers to entry of new technologies or products.
The modalities of the trade are both qualitative (focus groups, in-depth interviews, and ethnography) as well as quantitative (different types of surveys, casual research, sales data, market data, etc) It can also include secondary data or existing data or research that is collected for purposes other than the task at hand. It can include government data (IE census data), organizational data, white papers, reports, etc.
Another important component might be non-custom, syndicated research, or data collected by market research firms for a specific industry, but not custom for the client. Generally, syndicated data includes trends and analysis of particular products or services, to suit the needs of particular types of industries, and their target customers. It can include panel data, such as those provided by large companies like Nielsen, IRI, and Spins. Compiling this data can be difficult on the scale these companies do it, as they have relationships with major retailers that allow for it.
A different form of Market Research encompasses companies that do “social listening.” These companies focus on listening to the voice of the consumer via social media - their ability to catch an emerging PR crisis or measure the efficacy of a marketing campaign is key. A top player in this space is Brandwatch.
Why did I began a career in Market Research?
I get asked this question all the time. I was drawn to the field of Market Research after seeing the influence the field has on propelling innovation, diversity and inclusion in Marketing and community building. Another thing people often ask is what led me to market research after being involved in content development. The truth is, content marketing and market research are very intertwined. Both fields work to understand target audiences and draw on insights to create content that speaks to consumers.
From a human perspective, I wanted to make marketing more inclusive - to be part in helping change people’s daily lives and experiences, and to figure out where companies missed the mark, and where they could improve in meeting people’s expectations and wishes.
Today, more than ever, consumers have the power to research every aspect of a company. People want to buy products they believe in - and an organization’s story and core values is just as important as its products. We live in the age of change, and that includes things such as innovation, social justice, environmental and other initiatives that companies must embrace to ride the train of progress - without market research companies often fall behind the mark of what consumers want to see and need to solve problems in their daily lives. Market research allows us to not only tap into these changes but actively participate in them. Rather than following a trend - we can shape the future and grow in our relationship with customers by being the innovators in our field. This allows us to serve the people that come along on the journey to support us, while growing a vision.
