Topics

Why businesses research, and setting the aim

What market research is

Market research is collecting information about consumers' past actions, current needs and wants, and future intentions in relation to a good or service.
It exists to reduce the risk of a business decision. Every decision about a product is a bet on what people will do; research replaces some of the guessing with evidence.

To decide whether to launch a new product — is there demand at a price that covers the cost?
To set a price — what will people actually pay, not what the business hopes.
To choose a target market — which group buys this, and where are they?
To improve an existing product — what do current customers dislike, and what would make them buy more often?
To choose how to promote it — where does this group look for information, and what message do they respond to?
To check a decision after the fact — did the change do what it was supposed to?

The standard requires you to identify the aim of the research before anything else, and every later decision depends on it.
A good aim states what you want to find out, about whom, and for what decision.

Weak aim	Strong aim
"To find out about our product"	"To find out whether Year 11–13 students at three Hamilton schools would buy a $4 hot lunch, and which two options they would choose most often"
"To research the market"	"To find out why customers of our café stopped buying the breakfast menu, so we can decide whether to change it or drop it"

Test your aim by asking: what decision will this research let the business make? If you cannot name the decision, the aim is not finished.

The standard allows either:
- a new product — a good or service you have conceptualised
- an existing product — a good or service already on the market
The research differs:
- For a new product there is no sales history, so you rely more on stated intentions — which are less reliable than behaviour, and you must say so when you evaluate.
- For an existing product you can use the business's own sales records as secondary data, which is stronger evidence.

Identify the aim.
Collect secondary data to help plan the primary collection.
Design the primary research — method, sample, questions.
Collect the primary data from the field.
Record and present the data.
Interpret it and draw a conclusion.
Explain the conclusion using business knowledge, including a Māori business concept where relevant.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, and what they do to validity.
Discuss how the process could be improved.

Steps 1–7 get you to Achieved. Step 8, done with reasoned explanations tied to validity, is Merit. Step 9 is Excellence.

Market research is collecting information about consumers' past actions, current needs and wants, and future intentions in relation to a good or service.
It exists to reduce the risk of a business decision. Every decision about a product is a bet on what people will do; research replaces some of the guessing with evidence.

To decide whether to launch a new product — is there demand at a price that covers the cost?
To set a price — what will people actually pay, not what the business hopes.
To choose a target market — which group buys this, and where are they?
To improve an existing product — what do current customers dislike, and what would make them buy more often?
To choose how to promote it — where does this group look for information, and what message do they respond to?
To check a decision after the fact — did the change do what it was supposed to?

The standard requires you to identify the aim of the research before anything else, and every later decision depends on it.
A good aim states what you want to find out, about whom, and for what decision.

Weak aim	Strong aim
"To find out about our product"	"To find out whether Year 11–13 students at three Hamilton schools would buy a $4 hot lunch, and which two options they would choose most often"
"To research the market"	"To find out why customers of our café stopped buying the breakfast menu, so we can decide whether to change it or drop it"

Test your aim by asking: what decision will this research let the business make? If you cannot name the decision, the aim is not finished.

The standard allows either:
- a new product — a good or service you have conceptualised
- an existing product — a good or service already on the market
The research differs:
- For a new product there is no sales history, so you rely more on stated intentions — which are less reliable than behaviour, and you must say so when you evaluate.
- For an existing product you can use the business's own sales records as secondary data, which is stronger evidence.

Identify the aim.
Collect secondary data to help plan the primary collection.
Design the primary research — method, sample, questions.
Collect the primary data from the field.
Record and present the data.
Interpret it and draw a conclusion.
Explain the conclusion using business knowledge, including a Māori business concept where relevant.
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, and what they do to validity.
Discuss how the process could be improved.

Steps 1–7 get you to Achieved. Step 8, done with reasoned explanations tied to validity, is Merit. Step 9 is Excellence.