Primary Market Research Methods

Primary market research involves collecting data that is specific to a company and their needs, conducted by the company itself or a market research company contracted to provide this type of research. Examples of primary research include focus groups, surveys, field tests, interviews, and observation of consumer behavior, all of which can be qualitative or quantitative in their design. Quantitative international primary research collects data using measures that can be applied to many countries or markets within a country and lead to numerical, representative results. Qualitative international primary research, by contrast, collects data that does not allow statistical inferences to be drawn. Such measures aim instead to collect data to develop a more in-depth picture of that country or market; they don’t seek to measure the distribution of specific attributes within a population but rather aim at characterizing the facets of those attributes Kepper, 1994). We will look at a case study now to illustrate the purpose and functions of these different forms of research.