The necessity of Market Research in Business Operations
According to the American sociologist Earl Robert Babbie, “research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict, and control the observed phenomenon. In today's VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity)world, Market Research has become the indispensable tool for Management decision making either through implementation of technology based product development or a variety of marketing programs like promotions and product launch strategy. Market research is a systematic process of obtaining, analyzing, and interpreting data for actionable decision-making.
The most sustainable organizations had early on understood the importance of market research for revenue maximization with a consumer oriented attitude. In order to grasp the market conditions of a niche product, one will require market research tools like primary and secondary research coupled with both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Primary research usually involves research design and questionnaire development for primary survey. Market Research by itself cannot guarantee bottom line improvement or solutions to problem statements.
A good survey is often preceded by rigorous secondary research into product usage, perception about the product in consumer mind, external factors influencing the product sales etc. Pre-existing reference results relevant to the target market can provide both qualitative and quantitative data as insights into the market conditions. With proper interpretation of the results of Market Research survey, and timely decision making thereof is essential for a high growth oriented enterprise.
With the advent of AI and its applications in the market research industry, most of the data analysis will now be taken care of by AI. This mandates employees to upskill themselves in critical thinking based endeavors.
