4.4 Market research

• Evaluate why and how organizations carry out market research

• Market research reduces uncertainty and supports marketing decisions

• Apply surveys, interviews, focus groups, and observations

• Primary research collects new data for a specific business purpose

• Apply market analyses, academic journals, government publications, media articles, and online content

• Secondary research uses existing data from internal or external sources

• Distinguish qualitative and quantitative research

• Qualitative research explores opinions and reasons; quantitative research measures numerical patterns

• Apply quota, random, and convenience sampling

• Sampling method affects representativeness, cost, speed, and bias