There are 3 types of market research that every marketing manager should be aware of. Listening to its market and anticipating consumer expectations are two key success factors, well understood by many global groups (Coca-Cola, Allianz, L'Oréal, Danone, Orange, Toyota, etc.), attests to this. 'excellent financial health of their brands, not to mention the famous GAFAs which are widening the gap with their direct competitors. Overview of the three main types of market research possible and available in Reunion.
To stay ahead, we need to have reliable consumer information
to make the best decisions, strategic and op eration tional. Carrying out
market research means listening to the consumer , but you still have to conduct
the necessary study!
Studies to measure
The goal is to have data on your market . For example :
• The
number of buyers of a particular product
• The
purchasing frequencies of your brand and your competitors
• The profile
of the different categories of clienteles
• The
measure of your notoriety
In order not to be mistaken, we need the most precise
measurement possible , hence the establishment of a study with a representative
sample of the entire population with a sample size as large as possible because
we wants to estimate the measured variables reliably.
The greater the number of interviews, the more statistical
precision is gained . The only problem
is that you have to multiply the sample by 4 if you want to double the
statistical precision, which considerably increases the cost of the study. This
is the reason why we are looking for a sample size / budget compromise.
In Réunion, this type of study is carried out with a minimum
of 500 interviews (maximum margin of error +/- 4.5%), and ideally 1000
interviews (maximum margin of error +/- 3.1%).
Editor's note: the maximum margin of error indicates the
confidence interval. With 1000 interviews, this means concretely that your
notoriety measured by study at 50% is actually between 50 +/- the margin of
error, that is to say between 46.9% and 53.1%).
Studies to understand
The aim here is to analyze:
1) Behaviors
2) Motivations
3) Opinions: brand assessment, image and positioning
diagnosis, marketing segmentation and typology, consumer uses and attitudes,
prioritization of choice criteria , exploration of expectations, satisfaction
study ...
There are 2 methodological approaches to “understand”:
A) The qualitative study
The first consists of carrying out a qualitative study (consumer
meeting or in-depth individual interview), the objective being to collect the
spontaneous discourse of the interviewees in order to decipher the explanatory
reasons for their actions and their opinions.
Thus, we let people express themselves freely even if we
“drive” them according to an interview guide. Exploratory techniques such as
role plays and other psychologically related methods are used to get all the
answers to the question.
Why ? Most often, conducting 3 to 4 groups of ten consumers
or a dozen in-depth interviews is sufficient to bring out the key motivating
factors.
B) The quantitative study
The second approach consist in carrying out a quantitative
study making it possible to answer the other key questions on the marketing
strategy: Who? What ? Where ? How much ? How? 'Or' What ?
It doesn't need as large a sample size as for a study to
understand, because it's about explaining key phenomena in your market . A
survey of 300 to 400 people made up of your core target is sufficient. But who
is your core target?
Quite simply the people corresponding to the profile of the
target that you consider to be a priority
for the problem that you wish to analyze.
This sample size is ideal for carrying out multivariate
analyzes (statistical analyzes carried out by specialized software) such as for
example: typologies which then make it possible to target your marketing
actions according to each group of consumers that will have been
identified. Which is obviously much more
effective than doing undifferentiated marketing.
Making a typology means drawing up a map of your market with
a consumer vision
We constitute groups of people who have behaviors and
opinions that are homogeneous within this group but heterogeneous with the
other groups , a bit like the game of the 7 families. Thus, we better
understand the specificities of each "family" and then develop
policies and actions targeted and adapted to the key words and values of each
"tribe": development of a specific offer, adapted messages, presence
on the preferred media, adequate commercial promotions ...
Studies to decide
The problem is no longer the same, it is a question of
choosing between several hypotheses those which will have the best performance
:
• adopt the
best packaging
• choose
between several advertisements or visuals of a prospectus
• determine
the best promotion among several mechanisms
• select
the best recipe, define the optimal price
• Determine
the cost of customer acquisition
• etc
To make these tactical and operational decisions on
variables in your marketing mix, the goal is to eliminate the leads that are
not working well enough and to designate the one that will contribute to the
success of your offer. We are therefore in the world of tests which do not
require a large sample size but on the contrary to interview only those who are
concerned by your problem (your customers, buyers of competing brands, etc.).
Indeed, what we want is to compare the performance of
several options and we then constitute as many samples as there are hypotheses
to evaluate by interviewing 80 to 120 people each time.
To conduct these different types of study, several
methodological approaches are possible:
1) By phone
2) Face to Face (in the street, in the dining room, at home)
3) And now by Internet via Access Panels