No matter how small or large a market research project may be, any type of research performed poorly will not give relevant results. In fact, all research, no matter how well controlled, carries the potential to be wrong. There are many reasons why research may not give good results but a common problem is deciding whether the research is really measuring what it claims to be measuring.
There are 3 types of limitations of market research. These are Cost effectiveness, reliability and validity of data collected. Reliability is chiefly concerned with making sure the method of data gathering leads to consistent results. For example; Nivea need to make sure that in their market research that they were asking the same questions asked of each person, was the sample big enough and reflective of the people who will use/buy the product would the same results be obtained from a different set of people. Reliability estimates the degree to which a product is measures in contrast to validity which involves the degree of accuracy. In research, Nivea will want to use measurement tools that are both reliable and valid. They will want to create questions that offer consistent responses when asked multiple times as this shows reliability.
Validity asks whether the research measured what it intended to. Validity implies reliability: a valid measure must be reliable. But reliability does not necessarily imply validity: a reliable measure need not be valid. Validity is usually considered more important than reliability, because if an instrument does not accurately measure what it is supposed to, there is no reason to use it even if it measures reliably. Nivea needs to consider when carrying out their market research for a product is does the product measure what it claims to measure and is it accurate, this reduces the chances of the business making the wrong decision. If they