Market research is essential when developing and introducing new products and services. Imagine you are creating a new product or service and think about what you need to know.
Answer the following three questions:
1. How would you conduct quantitative and qualitative research?
2. What results would you be looking for before you release the product or service for general public use?
3. How could research help guide you as you promote the product?
Expert Answer
Solution:
A qualitative research is conducted when the answer for any question is not simple “yes” or “no”. It means the answer is descriptive in nature. It means that the data is gathered from scattered sources and the results are drawn from a thorough study of that data.
- Conducting qualitative and quantitative research:
There are no concrete steps as to how to conduct a qualitative research; it could be customized in case to case basis.
- The first step in collection of any data would be the subject matter. Once has to clearly draw the subject on which the research is to be conducted.
- After the first step, second would be finding the source how information could be gathered. There could be various ways, few would be direct and others indirect.
- Direct source would be like information available in literary. Books, magazines, past researches, search engines etc.
- Indirect source could be interviewing people, visiting places and also one’s imagination on the given topic.
- Once the information gathered from both direct and indirect sources a penned down, data analysis should be done. Not all the information collected would be useful for our research, and this would be understood only after analyzing the data collected.
- During analysis process we need to filter the required data from the crude data collected.
- And then we need to study it to know if synchronizes with the requirements; else the reason for conducting research is defeated.
- And once the required data is separated from the crude information, it should be collated in an organized way. The process is over.
2. Any product is designed keeping in mind the requirements of the customers and the demand for it in the market.
A product could be an improvement of an already existing good or service in the market or others would be a new idea altogether.
While improvising any existing product, how the attributes of the existing product could be enhanced should be considered.
The material input and the finance to back it should be measured.
If the cost involved in improvising is more than the creation of the product itself it does not make in any sense.
If a new concept is to be brought up it would a little tedious job as customers would be made aware of what the product is all about, need to train as to how it should be used and how it fulfills their demands.
3. Research is a very valuable tool for any step of the product cycle. Be it to launch a new product or improving an existing product, none could be achieved without understanding the habits, needs, willingness to spend, loyalty towards other brands, competitors price for similar products, range of parallel products, other alternative to our products etc. all these aspects could be brainstormed and concluded through market research. It is a vital guide in the product life cycle.