Planning for Market Research

Advantages:

• Addresses Specific Research Issues – Carrying out their own research allows the marketing organization to address issues specific to their own situation.  Primary research is designed to collect the information the marketer wants to know (Step 2) and report it in ways that benefit the marketer.  For example, while information reported with secondary research may not fit the marketer’s needs (e.g., different age groupings) no such problem exists with primary research since the marketer controls the research design.
• Greater Control – Not only does primary research enable the marketer to focus on specific issues, it also enables the marketer to have a higher level of control over how the information is collected.  In this way the marketer can decide on such issues as size of project (e.g., how many responses), location of research (e.g., geographic area) and time frame for completing the project.
• Efficient Spending for Information - Unlike secondary research where the marketer may spend for information that is not needed, primary data collections’ focus on issues specific to the researcher improves the chances that research funds will be spent efficiently.
• Proprietary Information – Information collected by the marketer using primary research is their own and is generally not shared with others.  Thus, information can be kept hidden from competitors and potentially offer an “information advantage” to the company that undertook the primary research.