Checklist for improving your competence in research
THE MARKET RESEARCH PROCESS
Can you formulate relevant research objectives, subjects and questions? (Chapter 2.1)
Are you familiar with secondary or desk research? (Chapters 2.2.1 and 2.2.2)
Are you aware of the main free, low cost and high cost sources? (Chapters 2.2.1)
- Do you know what to find in the different forms of the CBI market surveys? (Chapter 2.2.1.2)
- Do you know how to use the CBIs market info database, export manuals and other useful publications?(Chapter 2.2.1.2)
Do you know how to do your own low cost primary or field research? (Chapters 2.2.3)
- Do you recognize what sort of field research you can do in your own country? (Chapter 2.2.3)
- Are you aware what to discover by interviews and observations during trade fairs and store checks?
(Chapters 2.2.3.1, 2.2.3.2 and 2.2.3.3)
Do you grasp the technique to sort, filter, check, understand and make relationships between all data/information that you have collected? (Chapters 2.4 and 2.5)
Can you write the summary conclusions into a brief report? (Chapter 2.6)
Can you plan your market research and reserve the necessary budget? (Chapters 3.1 and 3.3)
What can you do by yourself? Or what can your staff or trainees do? (Chapter 3.4)
Can you organise your data and information? (Chapter 3.5) RESEARCH DURING YOUR EXPORT VENTURE
Look at part 2 ‘Your research practice’.
Look at part 3 the ‘RAP’ that can be downloaded from the CBI website.
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Glossary
Apparent consumption
Rough estimation of consumption, which is calculated by the production figure and adding the imports minus the exports and inventory level in that year. This method is often used in FAO statistics.
Apparent sales
Rough estimation of sales if you know the number of companies or retail outlets in a country or region selling your product. By estimating their average sales per year, you may get a picture of what is being sold in that year.
Bookmark
A file on your computer in which you can store all the URLs of useful Internet sites which you frequently visit. In Explorer, you can create bookmarks in the ‘favourites’ which you can see on the menu bar.
Briefing
A document that confirms the requirement for, and scope of, a proposed research project. Among others, the research objective, process, planning, methodology, deliverables (e.g. report, CD Rom etc.) and cost of the project should be mentioned and agreed by both parties.
Business information providers
These are research companies and information providers offering online reports or parts of reports at a high cost. You can also buy up-to-date information reports online.
You often will have to pay in advance online by a valid credit card. Examples are Frost&Sullivan, LexisNexis, Euromonitor, Marketresearch.com.
Consumption or consumer expenditure is calculated based on a large sample survey commissioned by the National Statistics Offices (every 4 years) or large research
companies.
Consumption per capita
Consumption or retail sales in a country divided by the total national population.
Customised research
Desk and or field research done by research specialists and which are tailored to your needs or to your specific research problem.
Data
Data (primary and secondary) is the raw material from which marketing intelligence is ultimately derived. It includes all kinds of facts, complete or incomplete, in various degrees of accuracy and can be formal or informal (e.g. opinions. feeling, suspicions).
Desk research
The technique to collect secondary data from existing sources, which can be subdivided into internal (e.g. data within your company) and external sources (e.g. Trade Association, Business Support Organisation, Internet etc.).
EMP
The Export Marketing Plan, which is a useful tool that help you to organize your export venture. It can be downloaded from http://www.cbi.eu
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Field research
The collection of primary data in the target markets using interviews, questionnaires, store checks, observations, telephone interviews, product testing etc.. It focuses in on details and opinions of consumers or buyers related to your specific product. Field research is mostly done on the spot and usually follows desk research or done to verify the findings of desk research.
Industry sales
Sales figures, often provided by trade associations. These sales figures also include sales to export markets, which you will have to deduct to calculate the domestic sales.
Information
The process to filter and digest the data and convert them into patterns. During this process, you try to collect all categories, to reconcile contradictory items, to interpolate missing information, to identify inaccurate data and deepen the overall picture of your target markets.
Intelligence
Intelligence or market intelligence results from the transformation of knowledge by predicting how the market will develop and how it can be acted upon.
Knowledge
Further analyses of information by an interpretation of all relevant information in order to understand what it means.
Marketing
The process of planning and the execution of the conception, pricing, distribution and promotion of ideas, products (agricultural, consumer or industrial) and services, which is done in an efficient way and at a profit.
Marketing Information System – MIS
This is a tool to collect, verify, analyse, store and regularly feed out information to those people responsible for making marketing decisions.
Marketing mix
The unique blend of product/service, pricing, distribution and promotion strategies designed to reach a specific target market.
Market players
Domestic and foreign suppliers such as importers, manufacturers who have a
considerable share in the market. Suppliers with the largest share are the ‘main players’
who dominate that market.
Market research
The collection and analysis of information about markets, people, companies and organisations that will enable you to make better decisions for your export marketing plan.
Market segmentation
Subdividing a market into distinct categories of consumers - or consuming industries – with similar wants and behaviour patterns. A market can be also segmented into other categories e.g. by product, by season etc.
Perception
The process by which people select, organize and interpret information to form a meaningful picture.
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Portal
A starting point for research on the Internet. They usually have a subject focus, such as by product (food, ingredients, jewellery) by science or as a general starting point for research on the web (e.g. Yahoo). All information portals are designed to be
‘one-stop-shops’ for all your information needs.
Positioning
Positioning is a term used to refer to how you want consumers (or buyers) to think of your product or service relative to those of competitors.
Primary market data: In this case, you or a professional researcher collects data directly from the foreign marketplace through interviews, surveys, and other direct contact with representatives and potential buyers.
Quantitative research: This research is done to find out all general characteristics and statistics of your target group aimed at describing how large they are, in which region or country they live, their age, sex, income level etc..
Qualitative research is often used to understand more deeply your target group in terms of their culture, attitudes, feeling and motivations of using a product.
Research subject
Research subjects are relevant topics on which you have to find information. You can use these subjects to get an idea or to form a total picture of a continent or a country. Examples of subjects are: trade flows, market requirements, market size, market developments, market segments, market structure, competitors, trends, players, trade channels etc.
RAP
A plan that you have to make yourself giving you a structure and basis for monitoring and reviewing the progress in your research. The Research Action Plan is a useful E-tool that helps you to organize your market research. The RAP can be downloaded from http://www.cbi.eu
Research process
The research process is a 6-step process to structure a research project. It helps to make market research controllable, measurable and successful. In each process, you can combine searching different research subjects and use different search techniques.
Research shortlist
You make your own shortlist and start to categorize by country, by region, by product, by sector, by competitor and set your priorities of what you need first. Here you can use your research action plan as a basis.
Research technique
A method to collect primary or secondary data such as desk research or field research.
Retail sales
Total sales without sales tax by all retail outlets in a country for a product, product group or sector. Although product categories are too broad it still will be a good point of reference to compare EU countries.
Sample
The number and the characteristics of people (e.g. French young male, aged between 20 and 30 years old, living in Paris) who are selected for a field research and who should represent a percentage of your target group.
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Secondary market data: data from various sources, such as trade statistics for a country or a product. Working with secondary sources is less expensive and with the Internet, you can find much in online databases and portals such as market developments, product standards, market access, trade regulations, prices, buyers’ platforms, statistics and much more.
SWOT
Strength-Weakness / Opportunity-Threat analyses from which you set your export marketing objectives.
Tracking data:
Retail sales of specific product groups and up-to-date, measured quarterly instead of yearly. This information is collected through cash registration systems or scanners and registered by research specialists such as Nielsen, Taylor Nelson or NPD, which is reliable but very expensive
USP
Unique Selling Proposition i.e. how consumers can recognize that your product or brand is standing out by being special or different from competitive products or brands.