Market research may be defined as a systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis and dissemination of information required in understanding and predicting market preferences and trends from the perspective of a product that is either being developed or has already been developed. Generally Market research is conducted to gain an understanding of true state of affairs before releasing a product. Therefore the purpose of such a research is to gain understanding of the local population and their preferences. Based on the data obtained, a Marketing Plan can be formulated that is positioned and targeted at potential customers and at the same time effort is made to create a brand image in a viewer’s mind that can add to the emotional value towards the product.

1. 4/2/2012
iPOTT
Getting you there…
Market Research
Market research may be defined as a systematic and objective
Go Goal identification, collection, analysis and dissemination of
information required in understanding and predicting market
Set, Get, Go… preferences and trends from the perspective of a product that
is either being developed or has already been developed.
To visit this blog Click here. Generally Market research is conducted to gain an
understanding of true state of affairs before releasing a
iPOTT being an end to end product. Therefore the purpose of such a research is to gain
provider of innovative and cost understanding of the local population and their preferences.
effective services in the areas of Based on the data obtained, a Marketing Plan can be
knowledge management, sales formulated that is positioned and targeted at potential
enablement and consulting offers customers and at the same time effort is made to create a
a unique and unbiased platform brand image in a viewer’s mind that can add to the emotional
for software product companies value towards the product.
worldwide to reach their target
markets Marketing is not merely product orientated but people
orientated, which creates scope for variations in the nature of
plan adopted in different regions. For instance, preferences of
www.ipott.om people in Middle India may not be the same as preferences of
info@ipott.com people in Kerala or Tamil Nadu. The idea here is to identify
and gather that information which can create a long lasting
influence by associating the product with certain events,
symbols, popular icons or even objects that the local
population has accustomed to. Based on these differences in
needs, variations in Market research are inevitable. For
instance some products that are selling extremely well in a
supermarket or on high streets may not sell well online. This
has led to a range of market research styles being followed by
companies each being tailored to suit the product features.
Examples include ad tracking, brand equity research, brand
name testing, commercial eye tracking, copy testing and
mystery shopping.

2. However, the basic idea of conducting market research
remains the same. Traditional method is either Qualitative or
Quantitative research. Generally a Market research involves
Primary and Secondary research. Primary research involves
collection of original data using methods devised by the
researcher to test the market. It could involve questionnaires,
interviews and focus groups to name a few. A secondary
research involves collation of related data that has been
provided by other researchers, journals, and publications.
Studies indicate that primary research is expensive and is time
consuming as it involves sampling before devising means to
gather relevant information from them.
Quantitative Research:
A few other research methodologies may involve asking
questions and normally this results in figures and is therefore
termed as a quantitative research. This involves statistical
analysis of large quantities of data reflecting the size of
population selected after sampling. For instance, assume a
product’s entry into Kerala has to be researched to identify
the expectations of local population and whether any
modifications or tailoring is required. Assuming that the same
product has created a successful market for itself in
Maharashtra, we try to identify population with similar
characteristics in Kerala. Let’s assume in this case that with
reference to product, population in Trivandrum exhibits
similar characteristics due to cultural mixtures, prevalence of
English(Kerala has a high literacy rate) and growing
consumerism. So, the next step is to identify the place where
the product may best sell. Depending on this one could
narrow down on size again. So our sample size has reduced
from entire Kerala to Trivandrum and further down. The idea
is to identify a population sample that is reflective of most of
Kerala. That way you could gain an understanding of the
perception of respondents from Kerala’s perspective. If

3. successful, the same research methodology could be adopted
to test another sample identified elsewhere within Kerala.
Qualitative Research:
Research based on observations may result in qualitative data
as it involves “Ethnographic” study of a social phenomenon in
its natural setting. A qualitative research is highly people
orientated and may involve non-numerical data which
demands in-depth understanding of human behavior. The
approaches used maybe ethnography, shadowing, storytelling,
narrations and grounded theory practice. The method to
gather the information may be through focus groups,
interviews (maybe structured, semi-structured or
unstructured interviews conducted either by telephone or
face-to-face) and analysis of documents. Studies have
indicated that in qualitative analysis, generating biased data is
highly probable. This could be due to moderator bias, biased
questions, biased answers, biased samples and biased
reporting.
In the next issue we will cover more information on Market
Research and the means to avoid bias while collecting and
analyzing data.
Related Topics can be found on our other blogs CEO Speak and
Technology Trends
CEO Speak aims at providing latest information on emerging
trends and Best practices to follow in Organizations
Technology Trends blog aims at providing Indian software
product development industry growth trend, indicators, etc.