Market research methods could be either qualitative or quantitative. Quantitative market research conducted by market research companies for clients, involves a huge number of consumer respondents and the results derived out of the research are a representation of the entire population.
Conducting a group discussion, headed by a trained moderator, with the focus group, carries out qualitative market research. The market research companies can also carry out personal interviews as a means of qualitative market research.
Qualitative market research broadly has two advantages:
· The interviewer can ask the respondents the questions personally. This will help him understand the customer and his needs better. It gives him detailed information about the consumers.
· The consumers can interact well in a group and can express their expectations from the product freely. It also contributes in removing a veil from the issues not anticipated by the marketing team.
Market research companies believe that qualitative research methods, employed by the market research firms are at times not reliable indicators of the population demand and needs. It cannot be used for evaluating pre-existing ideas. The results must not be trusted to identify the feasible possibilities.
Market research companies use Qualitative market research methods only for these two uses:
· To draft a list of concepts and ideas · To ask the question to the consumer in such a way that he interprets it correctly
Following are the advantages of qualitative market research technique as pointed out by market research firms:
The results obtained from the research are fairly reliable. It can be used to judge which idea, product or concept is better than the other.
The people answering the questions can be taken as representatives for the entire population. The taste, preferences and attitudes of the entire population can be judged by simply interviewing a small section of the population.
The main disadvantage of qualitative market research is that, you can measure issues only if you know about the issues prior to carrying out the market research.
Therefore qualitative market research techniques must be applied when: the issues on which the results are required are known in advance & the communication between the interviewer and the respondent can prove to be effective. For this, the market researcher must be fluent in the language spoken by the respondent.
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