Answer :- Market research is an effective way to learn about potential customers, their opinions, habits, trends and future plans. It is used to determine the geographic area of a business and demographic characteristics of customers such as age, gender, income and educational level.
Marketing research helps a firm identify and solve problems, identify and evaluate market opportunity and develop the effort needed to exploit it.
Steps of the Marketing Research Process
1. Identify and Define the Problem/Opportunity – This is the first step in finding a solution; a poor diagnosis will lead to an ineffective solution.
2. Conduct a Preliminary Exploration – Confirming a rejection, the problem as stated by the decision maker is a crucial phase of the research project. In order to do this the researcher must talk to knowledgeable persons both inside and outside the firm. This often gives the researcher a new perspective on the problem.
3. Determine Research Objectives – The earlier steps have given the researcher a better understanding of the problem, and he or she can now begin to formulate hypothesis to fit it. Hypothesis are tentative explanations of a problem, formulated on the basis of weight and knowledge about the problem. The hypothesis may prove to be either right or wrong.
4. Determine Data Needs – Researcher use primary and secondary data. Primary data are originated and collected for a specific problem. They must be generated by original research through observation and/or inquiry. The advantage of such data is that