INTRODUCTION TO MARKET RESEARCH

INDUSTRY

HISTORY
Market research was an offshoot of the advertising boom of the 1950s in the USA.
Advertisers began to realise the significance of demographics revealed by Radio and
television sponsorship, and to seek more direct feedback about their markets.

The USA accounts for nearly 39% of the market research expenditures worldwide. About
40% of all market research is conducted in Western Europe and 9% in Japan. Most of the
European research is done in Germany , the United Kingdom , France , Italy , and Spain.
With Globalization of markets and post cold war regime the world’s economy is no longer a
simple three way battle the United States, Japan and Germany. Revenue generated outside
these economic giants is becoming a major growth and expansion driver now and the top
market research firms around the world don’t want to confine themselves to their premises
alone. With their subsidiaries , branch offices and affiliates they are also expanding their
horizon

HOW TO START A BUSINESS?

For starting up a business, there are some important things:

Market information

Through Market information you can know the prices of the different commodities in the
market, the supply and the demand situation. Information about the markets can be obtained
from different sources and varieties and formats.

Market segmentation

Market segmentation is the division of the market or population into subgroups with similar
motivations. it is a widely used for segmenting on geographic differences, personality
differences, demographic differences, techno graphic differences, use of product differences,
and psychographic differences and also gender differences.

1 |Page
Market trends

The upward or downward movements of a market, during a period of time. The market size is
more difficult to estimate if you are starting with something completely new. In this case, you
will have to derive the figures from the number of potential customers or customer segments.

But besides information about the target market, you also need information about your
competitor, your customers, products etc. Lastly, you need to measure marketing
effectiveness. A few techniques are:

Customer analysis

Choice Modelling

Competitor analysis

Risk analysis

Product research

Advertising the research

Marketing mix modelling

WHY MARKET RESEARCH?

It is usually said that if marketing would be a train, then market research would be the
locomotive. In other words, market research should ideally be the starting point of any
marketing exercise. Conducting any marketing exercise - be it related to pricing, promotion
or distribution of a product or service, without researching the potential market is as sensible
as setting out to sell sand in the Sahara Desert.

Market research provides the answers to all the questions that generally occupy the
minds of marketers, at every stage of the marketing process.

 Will there be a demand for my product or service?

2 |Page
 

 What should be the ideal price of my offering - one that ensures that I earn the
maximum profit?
 Should I place my product only in urban markets or distribute even in the rural areas?
 What should be the preferable media to promote my offering?

 Would it be better if I replaced the pale green packets with bright yellow ones?

 Is the fourfold growth in my sales figures a consequence of our latest television

commercial?

 How satisfied are our customers with the after sales services we provide?

 What image comes to the minds of consumers when they hear our company's name?

It's really crucial to understand your target market before undertaking any marketing exercise,
unless you don't mind risking your hard-earned money and precious time on activities that
might not get you the results you want.

Simply put, ignoring market research before marketing is synonymous with firing a
shot in a pitch dark room, and still hoping that the bullet hits the bulls eye.

3 |Page
 Top ten of the market research sector 2006

Sales in 2006
Rank Company Growth in %
(million USD)
TOP
1 Nielsen Company 3,696.0 2.6 MARKET
RESEARCH
2 IMS Health Inc. 1,958.6 8.9 FIRM AND
3 Taylor Nelson Sofres 1,851.1 2.5
THEIR
PROFILE
4 Kantar Group 1,401.4 4.1
AC NIELSEN
5 GfK AG 1,397.3 5.4
This company
6 Ipsos 1,077.0 6.5 was founded in
1923 in Chicago,
7 Synovate 739.6 9.5
Illinois, by
8 IRI 665.0 6.6 Arthur C.
Nielsen, Sr., in
9 Westat 425.8 0.8
order to give
10 Arbitron 329.3 5.9 marketers
reliable and
objective information on the impact of marketing and sales programs. ACNielsen began
expanding internationally in 1939, and now operates in more than 100 countries. One of
ACNielsen's best known creations is the Nielsen Ratings, which measure television, radio
and newspaper audiences in their respective media markets. In 1950 they began attaching
recording devices to a statistical sample of about 1200 consumer television sets in the U.S.
These devices used photographic film in mail-in cartridges to record the channels viewed by
the consumer and thus determine audience size. Later they developed electronic methods of
data collection and transmission. In 1996, ACNielsen split off this part of its operations into a
separate company called Nielsen Media Research (NMR), which operated as an independent
company until it was acquired by Dutch conglomerate VNU in 1999.Another market research
tool is the Home scan program where sample members track and report all grocery and retail
purchases, allowing purchasing patterns to be related to household demographics. Homes
can covers several countries including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the

4 |Page
United States. In 2004, ACNielsen chose the Cipher Lab CPT-8001 as its data collection
terminal for the Home scan program throughout Asia

IMS HEALTH INC

IMS Health is an international company that supplies the pharmaceutical industry with sales
data and consulting services. IMS Health was founded in 1954 by Bill Froch and David
Dubow. Today IMS has operations in more than 100 countries, a global workforce of 7,600+
employees, and revenues of $2 billion. It recently moved its headquarters from Fairfield, CT
to Norwalk, C

TAYLOR NELSON SOFRES

London-based Taylor Nelson Sofres plc is the world's fourth largest market research
specialist, with 150 offices in over 40 countries. The company, which leads the United
Kingdom and French markets, has extended its reach to a further 20 countries through a
series of strategic partnerships. Taylor Nelson Sofres provides customized market research
and analysis to many of the world's leading multinational corporations; the company has also
developed a series of branded research products and services, including the Miriad
information system; the customer commitment and loyalty scale Conversion Model; Need
scope, used for understanding the customer-brand relationship; FoQus2, for measuring
customer satisfaction; and Optima, for the management of brand portfolios. The combination
of Taylor Nelson AGB and Sofres in 1997 created a global market research company
specializing in such categories as consumer panels, a segment in which the company is
worldwide leader; television audience measurement, using the viewer ratings system People
Meter to challenge industry leader A.C. Nielsen; the automotive, healthcare, and
telecommunications industries; media monitoring; and information technology. In 2000, the
company moved to increase its position in the growing Internet market, with the US$88
million acquisition of Competitive Market Research from rival VNU Marketing Information,
Inc. The company's move into the Internet market has been further bolstered by the creation
of a dedicated Internet division. Taylor Nelson Sofres has grown strongly since the last half

of the 1990s, building its revenues from just £80 million in 1995 to more than £380 million in
1999.

5 |Page
ARBITRON

Arbitron specializes in gathering data related to consumer usage of broadcast media. Arbitron
collects data related to radio listening and television viewing habits that is used to assign
ratings to particular stations and programs. When we hear that a particular news program is
the top rated station in your market, the assertion is likely based on data collected, complied,
and evaluated by Arbitron.

GFK GROUP

The GFK is a multinational market research corporation with more than 115 operational
businesses

each of which is focused on providing top notch research services to clients in more than 90
different countries worldwide. The firm offers services in five primary business divisions, as
follows:

Consumer Tracking (data collection related to consumer behaviour)

Custom Research (strategic marketing across all sectors)

Healthcare (focused on pharmaceutical research)

Media Usage and Reach

Retail and Technology (consumer goods retail sales)

MARITZ MARKET RESEARCH

Maritz Research is widely recognized as one of the top market research companies. The
company's goal is to help its clients understand, enable, and motivate their customers.
Maritz's approach to research focuses on helping customers understand issues related to
customer choice, service experience, and loyalty.

The firm emphasizes providing data that helps clients answer the following questions:

Choice: Why do customers choose to do business with your organization?

6 |Page
Experience: What actually happens when customers interact with your organization?

Loyalty: What factors cause your customers to return or choose to do business with your
competitors instead of you?

SYNOVATE

Synovate is a multinational market research firm, operating offices in more than 50 countries
around the world. The company specializes in helping customers around the world
understand the issues that impact their ability to succeed in the marketplace.

NPD Group

The NPD Group has been involved in market research since 1967 and is today one of the top
market research companies in the world. The firm specializes in helping its clients understand
and capitalize on trends in consumer buying behaviour. The company offers custom research
services, and also provides clients with data gathered from its consumer panel and point of
sale purchase tracking services.

INDIAN MARKET RESEARCH FIRMS

 DCross Tab - Online market research agency

 Delphi Research Services - Market research organisation

 Diksha Research, Coimbatore - Online market research and public relations services

 IMRB International, Mumbai - Market research agency

7 |Page
  Lamcon Finance & Management - Market research, financial planning and
consultancy

 Market Pulse - Market research & entry strategy services

 Nielson India - A leading market research agency

 Protech India - Market research, consulting & database publishing services

 Rural Relations - Rural marketing services

 Sampling Research - Market research and analytics services

 TNS India - Market research services provider in Delhi

 Tecnova, Gurgaon - Market research consultancy services

8 |Page