Consumer Research Testing
- Consumer research is the investigation into the driving forces behind consumer behavior, consumer psychology and purchase patterns. Its objective is to determine the best and most efficient ways to establish a relationship with the consumer, in the hopes that the consumer will buy a product. Marketing practitioners do not approach consumer research with the open-ended goal of learning more about a particular market. Rather, they begin research for the purpose of gaining insight into a specific problem or to obtain an answer to a specific question. Therefore, consumer research can be viewed as the process of investigating a specific group of consumers for a specific reason.
- Consumer research is considered proprietary research because the research results are owned by the sponsoring company and are most often highly confidential. It is also called primary research because the researcher custom-designs and conducts the research project on behalf of the sponsoring company. For example, a company may need to know consumer preference for a new pizza topping or for a new "jumbo"-size pizza. Primary research is in contrast to secondary research that uses information from available, secondary sources such as the U.S. government.
- Consumer research is usually defined as either qualitative or quantitative. In qualitative studies, the researcher physically interacts with respondents to observe and record behavior. It is called descriptive research because the researcher "describes" observed behavior that is gained through verbal communication visuals or electronic devices. Qualitative data is anecdotal or "soft" data by nature. It does not allow quantifiable statistical inference to large populations from small group observations. It is frequently used by marketers, however, in making "judgment" decisions about large group behavior.
Unlike qualitative research, quantitative research is "hard" research that relies on the probability theory of "laws of large numbers." It requires the collection of data that can be reliably used to make statistical inferences about the population universe as a whole. - Researchers have a multitude of tried and tested tools available to conduct consumer research. The focus group is by far the most popular of qualitative methodologies. Focus groups are used extensively for new product introductions and for the modification of existing products. Consumer surveys and personal interviews are frequently used in qualitative studies where the sample size is small and in quantitative studies where the sample size is large. With the Internet now available to the majority of households, online research methods have increased in use. Most marketers tend to rely more on qualitative studies simply because they cost less.
- All consumer research methodologies have associated biases that are unique to whatever methodology is selected. For example, focus groups have a collection of biases related to the fact that they are essentially social gatherings. Surveys and personal interviews have biases that could be the result of the wording of questions or interviewer bias. It is important for the marketer to be aware of possible bias-tainted results and conclusions related to the research methodology selected. Although research bias is an inevitable byproduct of consumer research, marketers attempt to adjust for bias either on the front-end when designing the research methodology or on the back-end when interpreting the findings.
