Probably the most important impact of the internet on marketing research is that it has taken it from the realm of academic studies, with set subject pools and relatively rigid experimental conditions, into the realm of real life, with people interacting with one another on the level of regular day-to-day interactions. While it is obviously possible to still apply controlled, scripted situations to marketing research, the more effective way is to find methods of collecting and evaluating data gathered in the more natural environment of virtual interactions.In some ways, this makes marketing research harder, as new techniques must be developed, and as with many new innovations, there is a large ratio of failure to be expected. In other ways, however, this makes marketing research easier, particularly because, thanks to such developments like social networking sites, gathering the necessary data for marketing research has almost become ‘one-stop shopping’. Marketing researchers are now able, with a fairly large degree of accuracy, to gather enough information to determine how successful a product or service is going to be, who are the existing and potentially future competitors, how long the various levels of market demand will last, what the best distribution channels will be, what type of an advertising campaign will be most effective, how big an advertising budget to allocate to each particular product launch, and what the next step is going to be in terms of either phasing out the product or service or changing/enhancing it to maintain demand.The Internet also allows marketing research to proceed alongside the partial implementation of the actual marketing campaigns by creating various low-cost advertising options. For example, while creating a YouTube ad is one step in a marketing research effort, driving viewers to the ad is another matter. Unless one has a very wide social network to which an e-mail can be sent informing them of the ad creation, the low-cost way to have people view the ad in large numbers is by utilizing pay search engines or pay-per-view (or pay-per-click) advertising websites. There is even a way to reduce message dilution if one is willing to pay a little more for a targeted audience based on the demographic information that some of the advertising sites. Even without it, however, there is an excellent chance to ensure thousands of views for one’s ad while spending a very small fraction of what it would cost to purchase the cheapest broadcast media advertisement. The response from such a method may be minuscule, but since the expenditures are so low, the actual ROI can potentially be higher than that of a TV ad, for example.The advantage of such a method, however, is not in the low cost of running an ad with an Internet advertising company, but rather in the long-term benefits acquiring a large number of views offers. Firstly, through the functionality specific to YouTube but also available on other social networking sites, an ad with a drastically increased number of views can make it into the various merit categories on the website’s main page, such as ‘most popular this week’ or ‘most advanced in views’ and thus attract attention of all users without the effort of attracting them through an e-mail campaign or further paid online advertising. Furthermore, since YouTube allows members to comment on every video they view, an ad on YouTube can generate large amounts of feedback. It is unlikely that all of this feedback will be useful, but sometimes even one useful comment can allow a marketer to make the adjustments that would greatly benefit the campaign once it is ready to be launched fully.Another great innovation that the Internet has created is online surveys. Marketing research has been conducted using surveys in the past as well, either through direct mail or utilizing focus groups. Online surveys represent a significant advantage over both methods, both in coming up with the needed target audience and with reducing operational costs for such research. The best way to ensure that people will actually participate in a survey is to offer them some sort of an incentive. Money is the most common and most effective incentive, but sending money to people ahead of their actually completing a survey, and without a way to guarantee that the survey actually will be completed, is a sure way to increase one’s research costs without adding data. On the other hand, offering compensation at some later date, after the survey has been completed, sent, and processed, may be too much of a delay in compensation to provide enough incentive for an individual to complete the survey. Online surveys rectify both scenarios by allowing compensation to be processed automatically upon the successful completion of a survey. On one hand, the marketing researcher does not suffer an unnecessary expense of awarding compensation and receiving no data. On the other hand, the person filling out the survey does not have to wait for compensation and is likely to be more ready and willing to complete this survey, as well as any future surveys from the same marketer.Another important element of conducting a survey is coming up with the target audience that most accurately fits the profile of a consumer needed for this particular survey. With a focus group, such target audience concentration can be achieved, but the need to deal with actual people in a physical environment limits the actual size of this audience; such things as renting a space and purchasing supplies – including, in some cases, refreshments – would have to be added to compensation to the participants as the costs of conducting a survey. With an online survey, the vetting process can be conducted at the beginning of the survey by requiring the participant to answer demographic questions, as well as others pertaining to this particular survey, such as recent purchasing activities, for example. With the system programmed to exclude participants who give certain answers, these individuals can be vetted out with just a few minutes of their time taken – and often even less than that. Such an approach would cost the researcher nothing, and if the disqualified participants were offered to participate in future studies or given token compensation, such as an entry into a sweepstakes, they might actually continue to participate in future studies, some of which may need people with their demographic specifics. This allows the marketing researcher not only to choose the best possible targeted audience for a particular survey, but also to retain the pool of potential respondents for future use.In the future, as the Internet itself develops, it is likely to play an ever-increasing role in marketing research. It is not only possible but practically inevitable that marketing itself will change in the foreseeable future, with more emphasis on individual communications, social networking, and viral marketing. The best examples of the changing marketing environment right now probably can be found in the movie industry, with such films as “Snakes on a Plane” and “Cloverfield” being marketed exclusively through the Internet and relying to a great degree on social networking websites spreading the word. The relative box office success of both films shows that this approach is viable and, with some adjustments, can be used by other industries as well.

Back in 2009, our company conducted a survey amongst research buyers that focused on the strategic relevance of market research. At the time, the outcome was that roughly 40% of buyers did not think that senior management in their organization was convinced of the relevance of MR.Now, 5 years later, we have started a wide discussion on ‘the future of market research’. We interviewed close to 100 individuals on their ideas about the future of market research and the outcome of these discussions is telling. When asked about what future ‘threats’ the industry has to face, the response focuses on new technologies: big data, mobile and social media. The only non-technical threat on the list is still the strategic relevance of market research.So what makes research relevant? Surely, the answer to this question must be that market research is relevant when the results are actively used.When results are not used they have no effect and therefore can’t be relevant in any shape or form. At this point it is important to stress that this effectiveness has nothing to do with the quality of the research. Also excellent research is irrelevant when the results are not actively used. It is against this background that we ask the question if the industry is not so focused on the quality of the research, that it disregards the effectiveness and thus leaves itself open to the danger of becoming irrelevant.Going back to our recent interviews, we must conclude that the industry’s main worries are in the area of ‘survey conducting’ and much less in the area of ‘survey reporting’. In the end, big data, social media and mobile will significantly change the rules of the survey game, but just as in any other form of more traditional data collection, the results coming from these new ‘vehicles’ will only be effective and thus relevant when they are actually used.Market research is only actively used, when the right people get the right information at the right time.Assuming this makes sense, MR professionals should ask themselves three basic questions if they want their research to be relevant:- Who will be using this information?- Which part of the information is most relevant to them and in what format do they need it?- When do they need the information and with what frequency?If these questions remain unanswered before survey results are fed back to users, the reporting side of the study has not been taken seriously and, as a result, it runs a very high risk becoming strategically irrelevant.As I am painting with a very broad brush here, I will make an over-simplified division between two different types of market research: first of all, there is the type of research where the effectiveness is very dependent on the speed and diversity of the delivery (think of client satisfaction or NPS trackers etc.) and secondly, there is the type where the effectiveness depends more on the quality and depth of the analysis (think of brand positioning, market segmentation etc.).If MR agencies want to compete on speed and diversity of data delivery, they will have to change the outdated work-process of mass-tabulation combined with manual MS Office based reporting. This process is simply not dynamic enough to compete with the ‘new kids on the block. These new-comers, who offer automated high-speed delivery at low cost, have their weak points as well, of course. They often lack any sense of data handling and management, thereby pushing specialized responsibility to the client with often glaring and painful misinterpretations as a result.The second type of research depends more on the depth of the analysis and often relies on a detailed understanding of a specific market. Here we see a strong growth of consultancy based MR business, where the relevance of the results is guaranteed by a consultancy based implementation phase. If MR agencies want to compete in this segment, they will have to free up much more time in the work-process than they currently have, in order to collect sufficient creativity and insight to offer comparable advice. Consultants offering MR also have their weak spot. Quite often, they lack the knowledge and experience of modern-day data collection and still think they can gain some sort of ‘truth’ by asking respondents 95 boring questions.So the question is not if Market Research is losing its relevance. The question is if MR agencies are losing the battle because they refuse to use the weapons they need to defend themselves. The industry must wake up and asses the real enemy: not big data, not social media or mobile platforms, but its own inertia, its fear of change. Market Research must become much more dynamic in order to survive.Concluding, I think that traditional market research lacks focus. However huge the shift in methods of data collection might be in the coming 5 years, this is not the only responsibility of the industry. If MR agencies want to survive, they will need to change their work process in order to become more dynamic so they can pay full attention to the effectiveness of their work and ensure that the research they conduct is actually used by the client. The relevance of research depends fully on the quality, speed and diversity of the reporting process, an aspect of research services that has been and still is, more an afterthought than a key Unique Selling Point.

Need meets Demand and Product meets the Needs – Products and concepts of innovative nature are difficult to be researched, owing to their intangibility. An experienced Researcher can help with this by bridging the gap between the new product development opportunities and the unmet needs of the buyer or the potential users by educating the Target audience and planting the seed for it.Marketing research may be regarded as an experiment that can be unsuccessful if not conducted under the right and suitable conditions. Bottom-up approach of Needs Assessment and Concept Screening is more successful that the top-down approach of trying to fit and create acceptance of a new product or concept into the current market.Concept Development to Product Launch – Market Research can be a part of the Product development at various stages from Egg implantation into the mother’s womb to the final Delivery of the baby.Time is Money – Timely market research with high budgets can sometime prove much productive than a long-term but well-budgeted qualitative market research, because of an early launch and the first mover advantage.Customer is the King – Retaining the existing market share and the users is very important and critical to an organisations health and wellbeing. Research helps in listening to consumer demands, invest in product development, innovation and improvement; and thus, make the customer feel important by being heard; which in turn rewards you with customer loyalty and an increased customer base.Penetrating New Markets – Qualitative Market Research helps find new markets for some old products or helps develop strategies for brand re-positioning or, rejuvenates the product life cycle by helping study the underlying needs of consumers.Elimination of Ideas with no potential Returns – Research can help reduce the risks of potential hefty investments in future at a very nascent stage, by identifying the market and bouncing it off the identified target audience and focus groups. Thus, it can be a very strong reason to choose the right Market research organisation today… to avoid wrong turns and unseen accidents.A Research Analyst is at the core of market research and has to use self-analysis, expertise and judgement; in addition to other qualitative research tools available for planning a successful launch of a New Product. These analysts act as moderators of an idea, rather than be a part of it at every step. They help testify, verify and put your beliefs on the right track.

Market Research is an exhaustive organized process where informative and relevant data is collected for a market/ product or a service. This data is used to study and analyse current market scenario and build future projections which can be used for business planning and strategic moves.Market Research: Benefits- Assists in future planning of the business. E.g.

Should the company expand its product line

Will the product be profitable
– Makes Decision Process easier- Gives factual information (thus breaking business myths/ and individual perceptions)- Reduces risks- Assists in identifying competitive edgeSmall or big all enterprises can and should take strategic decisions after conducting a market research in the related field.Market Research: MethodsThere are broadly two types of research1. Quantitative ResearchIn this process numerical data is generated which measures the market’s phenomena and demands. This is used for statistical analysis using various mathematical and computational techniques. It quantifies attitudes/opinions/behaviour on a sample and is then extrapolated for the full sample. This is usually conducted through surveys and questionnaire.2. Qualitative ResearchIn this more insights and understanding is measured for the topic. It explores various options and gathers opinions. This kind of data is collected through interviews, group discussions etc. The insights are then used to explore various business decisions.Market Research: AnalysisThis is the trickiest part as data collected has to be strategically used in gaining intellectual analysis. Business experts and market research analysts are very well acquainted to do this work.It is very exhaustive work and various techniques & tools are used to get useful conclusions. Interestingly the same data can be used to make different inferences depending on the research needs and goals. Some common data analysis types are briefed -Data mining – this technique focuses on modeling and discovery of knowledge discovery for predictive purposes. This method is not useful for descriptive purposes.Business Intelligence – this technique focuses on business related information covering data analysis that relies on data aggregation.Statistical applications – it can be

Descriptive statistics

Exploratory data analysis also called EDA (discover new features)

Confirmatory data analysis also known as CDA (confirms the existing hypotheses about the data)

Predictive analytics focuses on application of statistical models for predictive forecasting or classification e.g. market growth in 2022- with data available for 2015

Text analytics uses statistical, linguistic, & other methods to pull out data and classify the information received from text sources.
This analysis is then constructively used in the business planning bringing a profitable inclination towards the decisions taken. Business planning plays a major role which reflects the survival of the business.

Launching your product? Want to know what the market is all about now? What does the data say about the current market status? Is it a good time for your product to be launched? Will the audiences perceive your product? How different it is from other products? These questions might arise in your mind always. For that there is a solution which is called Market Research.
What is MarketResearch?
It is the process of assessing the market for the launch of new products with conducting a thorough research directly with the consumer. This lets the company to identify its target market and gather statistics and data from the opinions gathered from consumers regarding the product. Market Research are mostly done by the companies itself or through third parties who are experienced in the market research field. A lot of marketing strategies can be used for market research such as surveys, product testing and directly approaching the consumer groups for their opinions regarding the product.
Now the question is What is the need for MarketResearch?
The purpose of doing market research is to assess the market related to the product or service to gather results how the consumers will react to the product. The companies may try to find out what the consumer likes and what not and where does their product stand between these and how to make it better so that the consumer perceives it. They can remodel the product according to that and bring about changes to the actual product so that it fares successfully in the market after its launch.
How is market research done?
MarketResearch requires a lot of strategies and plans to be implemented to bring out fair amount of results for the company. The companies develops variety of steps with proper planning. It gathers information regarding the market and the company must analyze the data that has been collected to look after the relevant data that can be used later on to bring modifications to the product.
What is the use of Market Research results?
The company which is planning to launch its new product must conduct the market research to find out consumers views and also data regarding the product. These data helps the companies bring changes to the new products. If the company thinks that any alterations is required to bring to the product which may result in bringing success to the product right before or after the launch. To catch the consumers eyes the companies use this data and statistics to make sure the product is worth showing interest for and the consumers will be in benefit.What is the Role of GigIndia in MarketResearch?
GigIndia is the ultimate place for finding people for conducting market research because GigIndia specializes in marketing strategies which is helpful for businesses to become successful and get best results in returns as GigIndia has a huge student workforce who can perform the tasks given to them. Apart from that GigIndia plans everything from how to conduct the surveys, provide test samples to the consumers and also gather their thoughts over certain products and they compile all the information regarding the market research programme and sends them to the company to make sure they find it useful in bringing out any changes by the help of these results.
Nowadays market research is one of the most important tools for every business because it ensures you about the market scenario going around nowadays in the market and having consumers thoughts over a product gives you the proper results as what is the good factor and what is the bad factor about the product. So it is always recommended to conduct a market research always before launching a product in the market and for that GigIndia is the best place to work with.

Market Research is a fascinating and evolving sector. With the advent of new marketing channels over the past few years, consumers have more choices than ever before. It is pivotal to shaping and influencing consumer decisions along with informing future developments and innovation. Consumers have acquired more control due to social media and digital marketing. Brands are trying to make sure their marketing efforts are in line not only with what the customers want but also with how they think. Traditionally in its crudest form consisted of quantitative and qualitative research. Today, due to the increasing sophistication of the marketplace, the options for the scope of marketing research jobs has increased and the opportunity for career development significantly improved.If you are considering a job in market research, it is best that you know what exactly the job is about and why it makes for a great career choice.What Is Market Research? It goes without saying that every product or service that is launched for a particular market will have a defined target audience. Traditionally key attributes of the target audience have included the likes of age, gender, location etc. Today, these attributes may be overlaid against pricing points, emotional points, media consumption, promotions etc. Understanding your market is the key to ensuring the success of your product/service. It is all about acquiring that understanding by gathering information using primary and secondary research and then translating the findings into actionable recommendations. Not only does it offer better insight of the market, it is also crucial in improving the overall decision-making capabilities of an organisation.Market research is crucial in predicting the success rate of any product/service, and in suggesting improvements that maximize the chances of success.Why Choose Market Research as a Career?As mentioned in the beginning, new marketing channels and platforms are putting more control in the consumers’ hand, which means marketing has become a two way street. It is fascinating as it can have such a powerful influence on our lives and is a discipline that is often involved right from the start when a new product of service is being developed.Trends like globalisation, social media marketing, and better utilisation of Big Data are contributing to the growth of this sector, and it appears that the scope will only improve in the coming years.Now, unlike many other booms we witnessed in that past few years, this is not a temporary buzz. Your career path depends on the route you choose to take when you enter the field as a market researcher. You can work with a research organisation that solely offers this service to their clients. You can work with a major brand as a key member of their own market research team; most multinational manufacturers have their own teams dedicated to market research.