Methodologies in research and practice

International Marketing Research Methodologies

As numerous countries across the globe have decided in favor of policies and practices which liberalize their markets, large economic agents are reaping the benefits. On the one hand, there is the increased access to resources, including all commodities, human resources, technologies and capitals. On the other hand, there is the incremental access to wider consumer markets, which quickly materialize in superior sales levels. Given this status quo, more and more organizations look to expand their operations outside their native countries.

Asia has, for instance, been an extremely popular destination for outsourcing businesses due to its numerous comparative advantages, such as an increased and skilled labor force or a cost effective labor force. Nevertheless, it has also constituted a major destination of foreign exports, which have found here a major market. Despite this however, not every product can be sold into India and expected to register great success. The organizations' endeavors have to commence with a thorough analysis of the Indian market in order to anticipate its response to the product considered for introduction. This approach will also be taken by XYZ Inc.

There are numerous ways in which the company could go about conducting its marketing research of the Indian market. Six of the most international market methodologies promoted by the specialized literature are:

(1) Surveys

(2) Focus groups

(3) Existent databases

(4) Personal interviews

(5) Observation

(6) Field trials

Surveys

Surveys are extremely popular market research tools for the numerous benefits they generate. First of all, they imply reduced expenditure. Then, they reveal the honest opinion of the respondents, answers which are then statistically reliable. Additionally, given the recent technological developments, surveys can easily be conducted online, requiring as such reduced time and efforts from the researcher and also increasing the speed of the data collection process (Kotler, Armstrong, Wong and Saunders, 2008). Nevertheless, they also reveal some shortages. For instance, the respondents in a survey could give biased and subjective opinions, meaning then that the final result of the survey is not necessarily objective, but subjective, as influenced by the individual perceptions of the respondents. The main resource of this methodology would be constituted by the Indian individuals responding to the survey.

Focus groups

A focus group session generally implies open discussions, moderated by a marketing specialist. This individual brings into discussion the various aspects of a given product or service and looks for the reactions and responses of the interlocutors. The conversations generally take place within a special facility, equipped with recording devices, so that the reactions can be further analyzed (All Business, 2009). The main resource of this methodology is also constituted by the people answering the questions. The main advantage is given by the direct interaction with potential consumers, whose honest response to the product and the campaign is easily observable. The disadvantage relies however in the massive time and resource investments they require.

Existent databases

The analysis of the existent databases can virtually include all information available from primary and secondary sources. The primary resources include previous studies conducted by XYZ Inc., while the secondary resources include the materials of other researchers, based on studies conducted outside the organization. The major advantage of this approach is that of wide and easy access to large amounts of information. The actual workloads are reduced and the researchers are given the opportunity to capitalize on the useful results of other market research endeavors. The primary limitation of using the existent data bases as a support for the current marketing research revolves around the fact they can contain outdated information, which was useful at the time the first research was taken, but are no longer applicable in the context of the current research, due to reasons such as changes in demographics, an increased competition or changing consumer preferences.

Personal interviews

Personal interviews are similar to focus groups in the meaning that they refer to direct dialogues between the researcher and the audience -- in this case a single individual; the conversations are generally recorded for further analysis. The main advantage of this approach is that of an honest reaction to a product or a campaign promoted; the company could easily capitalize on its experience with the prospective customer and could significantly improve its offering. Nevertheless, there is the major disadvantage that personal interviews take time, consume resources, and are not applicable at a large scale as they are not statistically reliable (All Business, 2009). The main resources used by this methodology revolve around the answers gathered from the interviewed individuals.

Observation

The direct observation of current and prospective customers relies primarily on the analysis of their behavior when in contact with a given product, service or campaign, and not aware that they are being observed. When people know that they are being watched or that their answers are being recorded, they tend to change their behavior in order to seem richer, "cooler" and so on. However, they act naturally when they are not aware they are being observed. Given this status quo, the main advantage of observation is that of eliminating the subjectivity of the focus groups and personal interviews. The disadvantage relies in the reduced statistical applicability, combined with the fact that it implies tedious work.

Field trials

Finally, field trials would mean that XYZ Inc. placed a limited amount of its top-selling product within a few stores. This approach would ensure that the product is actually tested within normal market conditions (All Business, 2009). The resources for this methodology would once more be constituted by the people reacting to the product sold by the company. The main advantage of this approach is that of an honest reaction, obtained within normal conditions. The main limitation refers to the possibility of the customers purchasing the product not being content, meaning not only that these individuals are lost as potential customers, but also that they spread negative publicity through word of mouth.