Preparing a Market Study

This part of the Principles of Marketing Tutorials provides information and guidelines that professionals and students should consider when presented with the task of researching a market. What follows is NOT a marketing plan. Rather what follows is a market study, a component within the larger marketing plan. (For more information on developing a marketing plan see the How to Write a Marketing Plan Tutorial.) Thus, the information provided should not focus so much on what is being planned but on what has been learned about the market.

However, you can allude to what you plan to do in order to set the stage for why you are collecting certain types of data. For example, you can say "Product X is planned to target a specific segment of the XYZ market, consequently, we have investigated certain aspects of this market." Those interested in following these guidelines should not limit themselves to what is shown. Feel free to include more if it is appropriate.

The guidelines apply to almost all products and services. Additionally, these guidelines can be adjusted in order to be used as a study of a company as a whole and not just products/services. Please note this is an ever evolving set of guidelines so you may want to check back on a regular basis for any updates.