Qualitative Market Research and quantitative market research are the two effective tools to capture data about market .Whereas quantitative research operates by capturing bulk data from a large sample of population, qualitative research operates by conducting in-depth study of the market. The data is obtained from a somewhat small group of respondents and this data is not analyzed with typical statistical techniques. In this way it is significantly different from quantitative research in where large groups of respondents submit data that is then statistically analyzed.
Qualitative Research studies a market through deep rooted research and explores the existing market trends to help marketers to take business decisions. The methods used in this are used mostly for problem definition and hypotheses generation.
As the number of respondents is low, the results obtained from qualitative research cannot generalize the entire spectrum of population. But they are widely used by researchers to arrive at a detailed understanding of the market spectrum.
The approach used in these methods can either be direct or indirect .In direct approach the purpose of research is clearly stated and exposed to the respondents, the questions are directly asked and precise but sometimes indirect approach can also be used. However experts sometimes have ethical misgivings regarding the amount of deceit sometimes used in this approach. All respondents therefore after completion, attend a session in which they are debriefed. The true and actual purpose of the research is revealed to the respondents.
In-Depth Interviewing
In-depth interviews are most widely used for qualitative research in many business markets. This method is a one-on-one interaction between the interviewer and the respondent where the interviewer tries to find out the customer's particular preference and individual opinions. In-Depth interviews almost always take place in person. The added advantage here is that the researcher may visit the respondent's workplace or meet them in some other type of environment. In this way he also gains an insight into business culture .Sometimes in depth telephone interviews, or online interviews can also be conducted. This is specially done when multi national survey has to be administered.
Group Discussions
In a group discussion, the researcher generally plays the part of a moderator while different customers participate in a discussion. Group discussions can be very successful in to gain in depth understanding of customer’s requirement and also encourage creative ideas from participants. Although focus groups are seldom used as busy executives have no time for them and also they are too expensive.
There are many methods and ways to conduct market research. The methodology of business research can be categorized in the following five ways which are namely: surveys, focus groups, personal interviews, observation, and field trials techniques chosen to conduct these depend upon the type of data needed and how much money is sanctioned to conduct the business research.
Surveys. Surveys involve straightforward and concise questionnaires. These questionnaires can be analyzed to study the sample group representing the target market. The larger your sample, the more representative is the survey of the existing market sentiment.
In-person surveys. In person surveys are interviews conducted one-on-one which are generally conducted in higher traffic areas like shopping malls, colleges, schools etc locations. They represent the people’s opinion about the product samples, advertising or packaging. In person survey guarantee on the spot feedback and can sometimes generate a response rate of greater than 90 percent, but they are expensive as they require hiring of people. The cost of in-person interviews can sometimes run as high as $100 or more per person interviewed.
Telephone surveys. Telephone surveys tend to be the expensive alternative to in-person surveys, but are costlier than the e-mail surveys. It has increasingly become difficult to conduct telephone survey due to increased resistance to telemarketing. Yield response rates of fifty to sixty percent are generally achieved in telephone surveys.
Mail surveys. Mail surveys represent a comparatively inexpensive and easier way to reach a broader audience. Although they are cheaper than the in-person and the phone surveys, their response rates can be as low as three percent to fifteen percent. But due to cost effectives despite lower return rates, mail surveys tend to remain popular as a means of marker research.
Online surveys. Online surveys generate response rates that are unpredictable and participant data that is unreliable. The results are so because the participants are random and not a true representative of the target population.
Focus groups. In focus groups, moderators target the audience with a series of scripted questions to involve them in a discussion. It is conducted at neutral location with video conferencing facility. It lasts for an hour or two.
Personal interviews. Personal interviews include open-ended and unstructured questions that last for an hour or more and are usually recorded.
Observation. Individual response to surveys and the focus groups are not true representative of people's actual behavior. When an attempt is made to observe consumers, researchers start by videotaping the consumer in stores, at home or at work it gives a very accurate portrayal of consumer usage habits plus their shopping patterns.
Field trials. In field trials, new products are placed in a select number of stores to test consumer response in real-life selling environments. This can help businesses to adjust prices, improve packaging or make modifications to their products.
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