Are You a Wise Consumer?
An educated consumer is our best customer.
That is the tagline of a retailer that targets customers who know value – the thing that delivers the shopping outcomes they want and so is worth paying for. Can you recognize value in marketing research?
We all need deep knowledge about what motivates our target customers to buy. As the field of available alternatives threatens to overwhelm them, customers need to know what you offer that will eliminate their pain or give them enough of a gain to make their buy a good value worth it. When you know what your offering should look like, how to get it to your targets and how you want them to think about it so they will pay for the value you provide, you are ready to launch a compelling offering. The question is, how do you know all that for certain and not just guess at it?
Marketing research is the answer. There are all types of research out there. Secondary market research is increasing prevalent as the demand for facts not feelings about the marketplace increases. However, for deeper knowledge about your target than your competition has, using the same secondary information they use won’t do. You know you need more specific data to generate the kind of insights that enable the launch of differentiated and preferred offerings. Primary market research is what delivers the offering specific input you need that results in the market facts necessary for sound launch related decisions that deliver business growth.
Identifying the knowledge you need for business decisions based on market facts is the first challenge to address to ensure you get value for your primary market research investment. The next is an understanding of the processes and tools market researchers can use to capture the information you need. Connecting your need to the means of satisfying it is how you create your own value equation. With this knowledge, you will have what you need to get the biggest bang for your marketing research buck.
In the Kent State University Center for Corporate and Professional Development class “How to be a Wise Consumer of Marketing Research,” you will learn about marketing research options that fill the market knowledge gaps that prevent your organization from making business decisions based on insights from the market. With an understanding of what is available and what it takes to meet your research objectives, you will be able to specify the marketing research buy that delivers the knowledge outcomes you need for marketplace success. An educated consumer is the best customer of marketing research.
