Name: Ella DR. Gatbunton
Year and course: 2
nd
year BSBA-HRDM
1.Defferentiate of marketing research to business research?
Marketing Research
is the process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business.
Business Research is an important management activity that helps companies determine which products will be most profitable for companies to produce. Several steps are necessary when conducting business research; each step must be thoroughly reviewed to ensure that the best decision is made for the company.
2. What are the types of business research? Quantitative research methods
Quantitative research methods are research methods that deal with numbers. It is a systematic empirical investigation using statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. Such methods
usually start with data collection and then proceed to statistical analysis using various methods.
Following are some of the research methods used to carry out a business research.
Survey research
Survey research is one of the most widely used method to gather data especially for conducting business research. Surveys involve asking various survey questions to a set of audience through
various types like online polls, online surveys, questionnaires, etc. Nowadays, most of the major
corporations use this method to gather data and use it to understand the market and make appropriate business decisions. Various types of surveys like cross sectional surveys which are
needed to collect data from a set of audience at a given point of time or longitudinal surveys which
are needed to collect data from a set of audience across various time duration in order understand changes in the respondents behavior are used to conduct survey research. With advancement in technology, now surveys can be sent online through email or social media.
For example: A company wants to know the NPS score for their website i.e. how satisfied are
people who are visiting their website. An increase in traffic to their website, or the audience spending more time on website can result in higher rankings on search engines which will enable the company to get more leads as well as increase its visibility. Hence, the company can ask people who visit their website with a few questions through an online survey to understand their opinions or gain feedback and hence make appropriate changes to the website to increase satisfaction. Learn More: Business Survey Template
Correlational research
Correlational research is conducted to understand relationship between two entities and what impact each one of them have on the other. Using mathematical analysis methods, correlational research enables the researcher to correlate two or more variables. Such a research can help
understand patterns, relationships, trends, etc. Manipulation of one variable is possible to get desired results as well. Generally, conclusion cannot be drawn only on the basis of correlational research. For example: A research can be conducted to understand relationship between colors and gender based audience. Using such a research and identifying the target audience, a company can choose
the production of particular color products to be released in the market. This can enable the company to understand supply and demand requirements of its products.
Causal-Comparative research
Causal-Comparative research is a method based on comparison. It is used to deduce cause-effect relationship between variables. Sometimes also known as quasi experimental research, it involves establishing an independent variable and analyzing the effects on the dependent variable. In such a research, manipulation is not done; however changes are observed on the variables or groups under the influence of same changes. Drawing conclusions through such a research is a little tricky as independent and dependent variables will always exist in a group, hence all other parameters have to be taken into consideration before drawing a any inferences from the research. For example: A research can be conducted to analyse effect of good educational facilities in rural areas. Such a study can be done to analyse the changes in the group of people from the rural areas when they are provided with good educational facilities and before that. Another example can be to analyse the effect of having dams and how it will affect the farmers or production of crops in that area.
Experimental research
Experimental research is based on trying to prove a theory. Such a research may be useful in business research as it can let the product company know some behavioral traits of its consumers, which can lead to more revenue. In this method, an experiment is carried out on a set of audience to observe and later analyse their behavior when impacted with certain parameters. For example: Experimental research was conducted recently to understand if particular colors have an effect on its consumers hunger. A set of audience was then exposed to those particular colors while they were eating and the subjects were observed. It was seen that certain colors like red or yellow increase hunger. Hence, such research was a boon to the hospitality industry. You can see many food chains like Mcdonalds, KFC,etc. using such colors in their interiors, brands, as well as packaging. Another example of inferences drawn from an experimental research, which is used widely by most bars/pubs across the world is that loud music makes a person drink more in less time. This was proven through experimental research and was a key finding for many business owners across the globe.
Online research / Literature research
Literature research is one of the oldest methods available. It is very economical and a lot of information can be gathered using such a research. Online research or literature research involves
gathering information from existing documents and studies which can be available at Libraries, annual reports, etc. Nowadays, with the advancement in technology, such a research has become even more simple and accessible to everyone. An individual can directly research online for any information that is needed, which will give him an in-depth information about the topic or the organisation. Such a research is used mostly by marketing and sales people in the business sector to understand the market, or their customer. Such a research is carried out using existing information that is available from various sources, although care has to be taken to validate the sources from where the information is going to be collected. For example: A sales person has heard a particular firm is looking for some solution which their company provides. Hence, the sales person will first search for a decision maker from the company, investigate what department he is from and understand what the target company is looking for and what are they into. Using this research he can cater his solution to be spot on when
he pitches it to this client. He can also reach out to the customer directly by finding a mean to communicate with him by researching online. Qualitative research methods Qualitative research is a method which has high importance in business research. Qualitative research involves obtaining data through open ended conversational means of communication. Such a research enables the researcher to not only understand what the audience thinks but also
why he thinks it. In such a research, in-depth information can be gathered from the subjects depending on their responses. There are various types of qualitative research methods such as interviews, focus groups, ethnographic research, content analysis, case study research that are widely used. Such methods are of very high importance in business research as it enables the researcher understand the consumer. What motivates the consumer to buy and what does not is what will lead to higher sales and that is the prime objective for any business. Following are a few methods that are widely used in
today’s
world by most businesses.
Interviews
Interviews are somewhat similar to surveys, like sometimes they may have the same questions used. The difference is that the respondent can answer these open ended questions at a length and
the direction of the conversation or the questions being asked can be changed depending on the response of the subject. Such a method usually gives the researcher, detailed information about the perspective or opinions from its subject. Carrying out interviews with subject matter experts can also give important information critical to some businesses. For example: An interview was conducted by a telecom manufacturer, with a group of women to understand why do they have less number of female customers. After interviewing them, the researcher understood that there were less feminine colors in some of the models, hence females preferred not purchasing them. Such information can be critical to a business such as a telecom manufacturer and hence it can be used to increase its market share by targeting women customers by launching some feminine colors in the market. Another example would be to interview a subject matter expert of social media marketing. Such an interview can enable a researcher to understand why certain types of social media advertising strategies work for a company and why some of them
don’t.
Focus groups
Focus groups are a set of individuals selected specifically to understand their opinions and behaviors. It is usually a small set of group which is selected keeping in mind, the parameters for their target market audience to discuss a particular product or service. Such a method enables a researcher with a larger sample than the interview or a case study while taking advantage of conversational communication. Nowadays, focus groups can be sent online surveys as well to collect data and answer why, what
and how questions. Such a method is very crucial to test new concepts or products before they are launched in the market. For example: A research is conducted with a focus group to understand what dimension of screen size is preferred most by current target market. Such a method can enable a researcher to dig deeper if the target market focused more on screen size, features or colors of the phone. Using this data, a company can make wise decisions to its product line and secure higher market share.
Ethnographic research
Ethnographic research is one of the most challenging research but can give extremely precise results. Such a research is used quite rarely, as it is time consuming and can be expensive as well.
It involves the researcher to adapt to the natural environment and observe its target audience to collect data. Such a method is generally used to understand cultures, challenges
or other things that can occur in that particular setting. For example: The worldly renowned show
“Undercover
boss”
would be an apt example of how ethnographic research can be used in businesses. In this show, the senior management of a large organisation works in his own company as a regular employee to understand what improvements can be done, what is the culture in the organisation and to identify hard working employees and to reward them. It can be seen that the researcher had to spend a good amount of time in the natural setting of the employees and adapt to their ways and processes. While observing in this setting, the researcher could find out the information he needed first hand without loss of any information or any bias and to improve certain things that would impact his business.
Case study research
Case study research is one of the most important in business research. It is also used as a marketing collateral by most businesses to land up more clients. Case study research is conducted to assess the customer satisfaction, the document the challenges that were faced and the solutions that the firm gave them. Using these inferences are made to point out the benefits that the customer enjoyed for choosing their specific firm. Such a research is widely used in other fields like education, social sciences, and similar. Case studies are provided by businesses to new clients to showcase their capabilities and hence such research plays a crucial role in the business sector. For example: A services company has provided a testing solution to one of its clients. A case study research is conducted to find out what were the challenges faced during the project, what was the scope of their work, what objective was to be achieved and what solutions were given to tackle the challenges. The study can end with the benefits that the company provided through their solutions, like reduced time to test batches, easy implementation or integration of the system, or even cost reduction. Such a study showcases the capability of the company and hence it can be stated as empirical evidence to the new prospect.
Website visitor profiling/research
Website intercept surveys or website visitor profiling/research is something new that has come up and is quite helpful in the business sector. It is an innovative approach to collect direct feedback from your website visitor using surveys. In recent times a lot of business generation happens online and hence it is important to understand the visitors of your website as they are your potential customers. Collecting feedback is critical to any business as without understanding a customer, no business can be successful. A company has to keep its customers satisfied and try to make them loyal customers in order to stay on top. A website intercept survey is an online survey that allows you to target visitors to understand their intent and collect feedback to evaluate the customers online experience. Information like visitor intention, behavior path, satisfaction of overall website, can be collected using this. Depending on what information a company is looking for, multiple forms of website intercept surveys can be used to gather responses. Some of the popular ones are Pop-ups or also called
Modal boxes and on-page surveys.
For example: A prospective customer is looking for a particular product that a company is selling. Once he is directed to the website, an intercept survey will start noting his intent, and path. Once
the transaction has been made a pop up or an on-page survey is provided to the customer to rate the website. Such a research, enables the researcher to put this data to good use and hence understand the customers intent, his path and improve any parts of the website depending on the