It is important to conduct a comprehensive market research before introducing new products to the market. The first stage in preparing a market research plan should be identification of the main purpose and objectives of research. This should be followed by determination of research methods and the various tools that will be used to collect data during the research process (Smith and Albaum, 2010). Like any other market research plan, a marker research plan for the company’s new line of lip balms for men and women must include a clear identification of research methods. Both primary and secondary sources of data will be used in the market research for the company’s new line of lip balms.
Primary market research involves finding answers to specific questions that encourage comprehensive understanding of the market. Primary research is conducted directly by the researcher and allows doe investigation of issues of specific business interests. On the other hand, secondary research involves retrieval of data from information that has already been published from previous marker research. In this case, secondary research will be conducted first, followed by primary research. Information gathered from secondary sources will be useful in uncovering all kinds of demographic information, including spending patterns and detailed income. This data gives room for the use of primary research where questionnaires can be sent to study samples in order to understand consumer behavior (Smith and Albaum, 2010).
The primary purpose of marketing research tools is to assist a company with the decision making process. The tools that will be used to collect data for primary market research in this case include face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, central location intercepts, online forums, and structured surveys. The tool to be used will be chosen depending on participant’s location and availability of the specific tools. The tools that will be used to collect data for secondary research in this case include published market reports, government publications, sales statistics, and competitor market literature. These tools for secondary market research will be appropriate for the market research because they will allow quick retrieval of information for the topic questions being analyzed (Smith and Albaum, 2010).
There are two possible challenges that might be encountered when conducting market research (Smith and Albaum, 2012). First, the researcher might experience difficulties in comprehending buyer or consumer behaviors and attitudes. It is always difficult to understand the exact reason why buyers or consumers purchase specific products. Since determination of how and why customer purchase might be difficult, the researcher may fail to reveal any necessary innovative breakthroughs and strategies for competitive advantage (Smith and Albaum, 2012).
Second, gaining relevant information from improperly chosen primary and secondary data sources may be difficult. Market research has become proliferated over the recent past and many published reports tend to mislead market researchers. For secondary market research, one has to analyze large volumes of reports in order to gain a good insight into consumer behavior. These two challenges will however be solved if the researcher becomes keen enough when conducting the study. The first challenge of inability to effectively understand the exact reasons why customers buy goods will be solved by using qualitative research that is associated with personality creation methodology. The second challenge of the possibility of obtaining misleading information will be solved by blending the power of both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies involving primary and secondary research (Smith and Albaum, 2012).
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