When it comes to marketing, there are various ways that you can get information about your customers. You can interview them directly or observe their behavior in the real world. But the best way to understand your audience is through consumer research! Here are types of research, so you know what’s available for your business:
Quantitative Research – this is the type of research that you’re probably most familiar with. Quantitative Research involves collecting data through surveys, polls, and experiments.
Experiments – this type of research helps businesses figure out what’s likely to make consumers buy their product or not. There are many different types of experiments (A/B testing, for example). Still, they all help marketers better understand consumer behavior by taking human variables out of the picture as much as possible!
Qualitative Research helps marketers understand why people like certain products by asking questions about specific aspects (e.g., durability, performance). It can also assess the effectiveness of new advertising campaigns.
In-depth interviews – this qualitative research can help you understand why consumers do or don’t like a product. It’s also helpful for refining your target market and developing new ideas for products!
Action Research – Action research is something you can use to test out a specific marketing strategy. It involves taking action and then evaluating the results, so it’s best for marketers already familiar with their target audience!
Field testing – this type of consumer research helps you get direct feedback from your users about new products or implementation ideas that they’ve seen. This kind of “real world” testing is one of the most important aspects of good marketing because it gives businesses insight into what consumers want!
Sensory Research – Sensory research is about determining what your customers like through their senses (e.g., sight, smell). It’s imperative in the food industry because it helps companies change recipes or ingredients that will increase consumer appeal!
Focus groups – this type of sensory research involves bringing together people familiar with a product and getting their feedback on new products/ingredients before they’re released to the public. This kind of qualitative data can help you improve your product tremendously!
Advantages of consumer research;
– Asking questions (qualitative research) – helps marketers identify why people like certain products and the reasons behind their behavior. It’s also great for refining a specific product or targeting new markets!
– Observing customers in public places (observational research) – this type of consumer research is an excellent way to discover who your potential audience might be, where they shop, what time they visit stores, etc. This can help inform future marketing strategies as well.
– Surveying consumers online/offline about their buying habits/likes/dislikes – quantitative data doesn’t have to come from surveys alone. Still, it requires that respondents be selected randomly so that the results are as accurate and unbiased as possible.
– Testing products with consumers (action research) – this type of consumer research helps test different marketing strategies to see what works best before it’s implemented on a broader scale!
– Seeing how consumers use your products (sensory research) – this type of consumer research is essential for the food industry because it helps you make changes to improve taste or ingredients before they are released publicly.
Disadvantages of research;
Research methods only tell businesses what people think but not why, so marketers need other types of data like observational studies or focus groups to understand their motivations. These qualitative data require additional fieldwork, which means more money spent on recruiting participants, conducting meetings/interviews, and analyzing findings!
Consumers shouldn’t have to wait until companies like NetBaseQuid release products to see how effectively they’ll solve problems. Businesses should regularly conduct research throughout the development process to better understand their market and make informed.