Lacey-Demi Eyles Unit 3
Assignment 2 – Market Research
Truro College have recently enlisted the service of the Marketing Agency, which I work at. I have been asked to produce
a report for the management team within Truro College. In the report, I will devise a marketing plan for the college, which
will include SMART objectives, and an internal and external audit, which is based on market research that I have
undertook. In this part of the report, I am going to be explaining how businesses use market research to help them market
their goods and services. I will include information on the types of data, strengths and weaknesses of the data, primary
and secondary research and the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Businesses sell to customers in markets. A market is any place where buyers and sellers meet to trade products it could
be a high street shop or a web site. Any business in a marketplace is likely to be in competition with other firms offering
similar products. Successful products are the ones which meet customer needs better than rival offerings. Markets
are dynamic. This means that they are always changing. A business must be aware of market trends and evolving
customer requirements caused by new fashions or changing economic conditions.
Qualitative Data: Qualitative data is data that can only be written in words, not numbers. Examples of this include eye
colour, hair colour, type of phone and other response related questions. An advantage of qualitative data is that it is
relatively easy to understand and is visually impactful. However, a disadvantage of qualitative data is that the data is less
valuable and the results can be biased.
Quantitative Data: Quantitative data is data that can be written in numbers. Examples of this include height, shoe size,
weight and other numerical responses. An advantage of using quantitative data is that the data is more precise and
valuable. However, a disadvantage of quantitative data is that it is expensive and time consuming and the numbers can
give a false perception of precision.
Primary Research: Primary research is original research conducted by you (or someone you hire) to collect data
specifically for your current objective. You might conduct a survey, run an interview or a focus group, observe behaviour,
or do an experiment. You are going to be the person who obtains this raw data directly and it will be collected specifically
for your current research need. This research can produce either qualitative or quantitative results, which means that you
are likely to come up with a range of responses. A key benefit of primary research is that it is specific to your needs and
you can control the quality of the research. However, a disadvantage of primary research is that it usually costs more
money to conduct and is time consuming.
Secondary Research: Secondary research involves searching for existing data that was originally collected by someone
else. You might look in journals, libraries, or go to online sources like the UK census. You will apply what you find to your
personal research problem, but the data you are finding was not originally collected by you, nor was it obtained for the
purpose you are using it for. Secondary research can produce either quantitative or qualitative results, which gives you
a wider range of responses. The key benefit of secondary research is that it is usually cheap and quick to conduct,
however the data can be old and not specific enough for your needs.
How do businesses use market research? Primary and Secondary research can be gathered both internally (within the
business) and externally (outside the business). Internal sources include profit and loss statements, sales figures and
balance sheets. External sources include government sources, universities and the media such as broadcasts. There are
a number of ways of how businesses use market research; these include improving aspects of their business such as
customer service, monitoring the industry and economic trends to develop strategies and testing interest in new products
and services. However, there are a few disadvantages of market research for example, it can be very time consuming to
conduct the research, it can also be quite expensive, as you have to ensure that, you have all the resources needed to
carry out the research. For my own primary research, I conducted an online questionnaire, which asked for the student
perceptions of Truro College. My survey was open to visitors, students and lecturers; the reason for this questionnaire
was so I could get a general idea on what needed to be changed within the college. As well as primary research, I will
also be conducting secondary research such as newspaper articles, which will also
How Old Are You? contain public perceptions of Truro College. The results are shown below.
The majority of people who took my survey were aged between 17-19. The main
reason for this is due to the amount of students, which attend the college. This
therefore limits my responses as it means that I do not have a wide range of
responses from visitors, lecturers and parents. However, the advantage of this is that
the students are the ones who attend the college on a day-to-day basis and know
what needs improving and what needs removing, and therefore their opinions are
useful and valid. These responses are also varied as the second graph shows that I
16-19 20-24 25-30 30+ have a 50/50 split of both genders, which allows me to see what everyone wants
improving without it being gender stereotyped.
1
Assignment 2 – Market Research
Truro College have recently enlisted the service of the Marketing Agency, which I work at. I have been asked to produce
a report for the management team within Truro College. In the report, I will devise a marketing plan for the college, which
will include SMART objectives, and an internal and external audit, which is based on market research that I have
undertook. In this part of the report, I am going to be explaining how businesses use market research to help them market
their goods and services. I will include information on the types of data, strengths and weaknesses of the data, primary
and secondary research and the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Businesses sell to customers in markets. A market is any place where buyers and sellers meet to trade products it could
be a high street shop or a web site. Any business in a marketplace is likely to be in competition with other firms offering
similar products. Successful products are the ones which meet customer needs better than rival offerings. Markets
are dynamic. This means that they are always changing. A business must be aware of market trends and evolving
customer requirements caused by new fashions or changing economic conditions.
Qualitative Data: Qualitative data is data that can only be written in words, not numbers. Examples of this include eye
colour, hair colour, type of phone and other response related questions. An advantage of qualitative data is that it is
relatively easy to understand and is visually impactful. However, a disadvantage of qualitative data is that the data is less
valuable and the results can be biased.
Quantitative Data: Quantitative data is data that can be written in numbers. Examples of this include height, shoe size,
weight and other numerical responses. An advantage of using quantitative data is that the data is more precise and
valuable. However, a disadvantage of quantitative data is that it is expensive and time consuming and the numbers can
give a false perception of precision.
Primary Research: Primary research is original research conducted by you (or someone you hire) to collect data
specifically for your current objective. You might conduct a survey, run an interview or a focus group, observe behaviour,
or do an experiment. You are going to be the person who obtains this raw data directly and it will be collected specifically
for your current research need. This research can produce either qualitative or quantitative results, which means that you
are likely to come up with a range of responses. A key benefit of primary research is that it is specific to your needs and
you can control the quality of the research. However, a disadvantage of primary research is that it usually costs more
money to conduct and is time consuming.
Secondary Research: Secondary research involves searching for existing data that was originally collected by someone
else. You might look in journals, libraries, or go to online sources like the UK census. You will apply what you find to your
personal research problem, but the data you are finding was not originally collected by you, nor was it obtained for the
purpose you are using it for. Secondary research can produce either quantitative or qualitative results, which gives you
a wider range of responses. The key benefit of secondary research is that it is usually cheap and quick to conduct,
however the data can be old and not specific enough for your needs.
How do businesses use market research? Primary and Secondary research can be gathered both internally (within the
business) and externally (outside the business). Internal sources include profit and loss statements, sales figures and
balance sheets. External sources include government sources, universities and the media such as broadcasts. There are
a number of ways of how businesses use market research; these include improving aspects of their business such as
customer service, monitoring the industry and economic trends to develop strategies and testing interest in new products
and services. However, there are a few disadvantages of market research for example, it can be very time consuming to
conduct the research, it can also be quite expensive, as you have to ensure that, you have all the resources needed to
carry out the research. For my own primary research, I conducted an online questionnaire, which asked for the student
perceptions of Truro College. My survey was open to visitors, students and lecturers; the reason for this questionnaire
was so I could get a general idea on what needed to be changed within the college. As well as primary research, I will
also be conducting secondary research such as newspaper articles, which will also
How Old Are You? contain public perceptions of Truro College. The results are shown below.
The majority of people who took my survey were aged between 17-19. The main
reason for this is due to the amount of students, which attend the college. This
therefore limits my responses as it means that I do not have a wide range of
responses from visitors, lecturers and parents. However, the advantage of this is that
the students are the ones who attend the college on a day-to-day basis and know
what needs improving and what needs removing, and therefore their opinions are
useful and valid. These responses are also varied as the second graph shows that I
16-19 20-24 25-30 30+ have a 50/50 split of both genders, which allows me to see what everyone wants
improving without it being gender stereotyped.
1
