Marketing

Primary research involves getting original data directly about the product and market. Primary research data is data that did not exist before. It is designed to answer specific questions of interest to the business - for example:

What proportion of customers believes the level of customer service provided by the business is rated good or excellent?

What do customers think of a new version of a popular product?

To collect primary data a business must carry out field research. The main methods of field research are:

Face-to-face interviews – interviewers ask people on the street or on their doorstep a series of questions.

Telephone interviews - similar questions to face-to-face interviews, although often shorter.

Online surveys – using email or the Internet. This is an increasingly popular way of obtaining primary data and much less costly than face-to-face or telephone interviews.

Questionnaires – sent in the post (for example a customer feedback form sent to people who have recently bought a product or service).

Focus groups and consumer panels – a small group of people meet together with a “facilitator” who asks the panel to examine a product and then asked in depth questions. This method is often used when a business is planning to introduce a new product or brand name.

In most cases it is not possible to ask all existing or potential customers the questions that the business wants answering. So primary research makes use of surveys and sampling to obtain valid results.

The main advantages of primary research and data are that it is:

• Up to date.
• Specific to the purpose – asks the questions the business wants answers to.
• Collects data which no other business will have access to (the results are confidential).
• In the case of online surveys and telephone interviews, the data can be obtained quite quickly (think about how quickly political opinion polls come out).

The main disadvantages of primary research are that it:

• Can be difficult to collect and/or take a long time to collect.
• Is expensive to collect.
• May provide mis-leading results if the sample is not large enough or chosen with care; or if the questionnaire questions are not worded properly.