4.4.2—Primary market research

Primary research collects new data directly for the business’s current question, using methods such as surveys, interviews, observation or product tests.

It can be specific and current but costs time and money and may suffer from non-response or interviewer bias. The method should match the behaviour or opinion being measured.

Ask whether the data is new, directly collected and fit for the decision; then examine who was reached and who was missed.

A café observes queue times and interviews recent customers before changing its ordering system; this is primary evidence tailored to the decision.

Primary does not mean automatically accurate; poor design can make new data misleading.

Match each authorized primary method to the information need: surveys collect standardized answers efficiently from many respondents; interviews probe individual reasons in depth; focus groups reveal interaction, language and reactions among a moderated group; observations record actual behavior rather than claimed behavior. Surveys can be shallow, interviews and focus groups costly or moderator-sensitive, and observations cannot always reveal motives.