Eleven Steps of the Marketing Research

Marketing Research
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Marketing Research
The eleven steps of the marketing research process include;
Establishing the need for market research. Involves identifying the importance of the research in comparison to the time and money required. In this step, the company considers whether the cost outweighs the value of the research.
Defining the problem. Failure to accurately define the problem can result in wastage of resources. The research should, therefore, be specific to finding solutions to the problem. Alternatives should also be considered at this stage.
Establishing research objectives. These objectives guide the researcher on the critical points that should be considered when conducting the research.
Determining the research design. The research can either be casual, explorative, or descriptive.
Identify the types and sources of information. The two types of information are secondary and primary. Secondary information is the data that is already collected, while primary information is the data obtained from the issue being researched.
Identifying the means of accessing data. The methods through which data can be accessed include observations, online search, and surveys, among others.
Designing forms for data collection. The forms can either be questionnaires or observation forms.
Determining the size and plan of the sample. The sample size entails the number of elements of the target population that should be included in the research, whereas the sample plan provides information on the means by which the sample elements can be drawn from the overall population.
Data Collection. An essential consideration in this step is the possible errors in the data and how to eliminate these errors.
Data Analysis. The process involves keying in the information into computer files and checking for errors before coding the data.
Preparing and presenting the data. The final step is to present the results to the client.
The sample ensures that the sample is representative of the population, whereas the sample size determines the accuracy of the results.
Causal research design is a method of research that is used to measure the relationship between two variables. Such relationships are investigated using experiments (Burns, Veeck, & Bush, 2017). Causal research is exceedingly important, especially for businesses, since it helps companies determine the possible causes of changes occurring in the business environment. Because of the uncertainty of the current business environment, determining the factors that influence changes in such an environment are crucial for companies since it can provide answers to critical questions such as why sales are reducing, why customers’ preferences are changing, and why certain products sell more than others. An example of causal research would be an experiment conducted by a retail company to determine the effectiveness of its virtual assistant, newly installed in the company’s brick and motor stores. The company selected five stores with much consideration on the location and size of the stores. The validity of this experiment will be determined by the control of extraneous variables so that ...