Business Librarian
What is Market Research?
Market research is the collection and analysis of information to inform decisions about products, services, and brands. Market research typically combines:
- Industry Information: external trends and the competitive environment of a target market
- Market Information: size, location(s), saturation, and economic conditions impacting a target market
- Consumer Information: demographics, population data, and consumer preferences and behaviors
This information informs a company's marketing mix and enables decisions to be made about market segmentation, product development and differentiation, and pricing strategy.
Types of Market Research
There are two main types of market research:
- Primary Research, where information and data is collected directly by the company through interviews, surveys, focus groups, and similar interactions with consumers
- Secondary Research, which uses external data, information, and reports to identify and understand consumers
The resources in this guide are recommended sources of data and information for secondary research, including best-bets for finding information about consumer behavior, trends, and demographics.
Primary research can be shaped by secondary research. Questions you have that cannot be answered by other sources are great starting points for developing survey and interview topics.
