Unit 10 - M2/D1 Kojar Ahmed
This report will explain the primary and secondary methods I used to conduct my market research
about the bottled water industry, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each and what I
would change if I were to conduct the market research again. I used a variety of primary and
secondary market research methods to conduct my market research, for my primary market research
I mainly used a questionnaire which consisted of multiple open and closed questions. For my
secondary market research, I used the internet to look up any information I could find about the
bottled water industry, I looked at competitor websites, bottled water ads, research agency websites
(MINTEL) and the prices for each product.
Before I started my research, I had to carefully decide which primary and secondary methods were
best suited for the purpose, to do this I weighed the pros and cons of using each method, I did this as
it is vital that the correct methods are used when collecting consumer data. If I were to use an
incorrect or unsuited method to collect the information then I may be left with inaccurate or
irrelevant data, this could have been one of the issues with using the internet as a secondary market
research method, mainly because of the overall amount of data available through the use of the
internet. However, if used correctly and carefully then the internet can be a very useful and powerful
tool to conduct market research. For my primary market research I used a questionnaire, I figured
this was the best methods to use because I could implement a mix of open and closed questions
which gave me a variety of data, as well as this, I could tailor the questions to gather only specific
information I am looking for.
There are multiple reasons many retailers and businesses make use of secondary market research,
the secondary method I used specifically was the internet. Not only does the internet allow me to
access a large amount of adapt in a very short amount of time, but it is also very easy and cheap to
use. Whilst using the internet to gather secondary market research, I looked at a variety of different
sources, whether it be MINTEL reports, government statistics or reviews. Any one of these sources
can be useful in giving me an idea of the market and consumer attitudes towards certain products.
By looking at these sources, I was able to determine which products fared best in terms of public
opinion and which were the most popular according to consumer reviews, I could then compare this
to the price of the product and determine if the price of the product was a big factor in its popularity.
Most of the websites I looked at to find statistics were recent, with all of them being dated sometime
in 2017, this means the info I gathered is likely still relevant to the market.
Although most of the info gathered through secondary market research is incredibly useful and
cheap to gather, there are certain disadvantages to using the internet as a market research method.
Firstly, due to the sheer amount of data available on the internet it would take time to filter out all
the irrelevant data to find something useable, this is something I had to consider when looking
online as some of the info was directed towards US markets rather than UK markets, although this
info is not completely unusable. Another common disadvantage of using the internet is not all the
information is recent, making it common to find articles that date back years, this would be irrelevant
info that I would be unable to use. Lastly, if I were to attempt to gain information about a brand
through consumer reviews, i may be misled as It is hard to determine if a consumer is being 100%
when describing or critiquing a brand, this could lead to me getting the wrong idea about a product
which will skew my results and make them inaccurate.
As well as using secondary market research methods in an effort to save time and money, i also used
primary research methods to help increase the accuracy of my end results. The primary research
method i used to conduct this research was a questionnaire. A questionnaire is simply a series of
open and closed questions used to extract as much information as possible, it is also fairly easy to
This report will explain the primary and secondary methods I used to conduct my market research
about the bottled water industry, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each and what I
would change if I were to conduct the market research again. I used a variety of primary and
secondary market research methods to conduct my market research, for my primary market research
I mainly used a questionnaire which consisted of multiple open and closed questions. For my
secondary market research, I used the internet to look up any information I could find about the
bottled water industry, I looked at competitor websites, bottled water ads, research agency websites
(MINTEL) and the prices for each product.
Before I started my research, I had to carefully decide which primary and secondary methods were
best suited for the purpose, to do this I weighed the pros and cons of using each method, I did this as
it is vital that the correct methods are used when collecting consumer data. If I were to use an
incorrect or unsuited method to collect the information then I may be left with inaccurate or
irrelevant data, this could have been one of the issues with using the internet as a secondary market
research method, mainly because of the overall amount of data available through the use of the
internet. However, if used correctly and carefully then the internet can be a very useful and powerful
tool to conduct market research. For my primary market research I used a questionnaire, I figured
this was the best methods to use because I could implement a mix of open and closed questions
which gave me a variety of data, as well as this, I could tailor the questions to gather only specific
information I am looking for.
There are multiple reasons many retailers and businesses make use of secondary market research,
the secondary method I used specifically was the internet. Not only does the internet allow me to
access a large amount of adapt in a very short amount of time, but it is also very easy and cheap to
use. Whilst using the internet to gather secondary market research, I looked at a variety of different
sources, whether it be MINTEL reports, government statistics or reviews. Any one of these sources
can be useful in giving me an idea of the market and consumer attitudes towards certain products.
By looking at these sources, I was able to determine which products fared best in terms of public
opinion and which were the most popular according to consumer reviews, I could then compare this
to the price of the product and determine if the price of the product was a big factor in its popularity.
Most of the websites I looked at to find statistics were recent, with all of them being dated sometime
in 2017, this means the info I gathered is likely still relevant to the market.
Although most of the info gathered through secondary market research is incredibly useful and
cheap to gather, there are certain disadvantages to using the internet as a market research method.
Firstly, due to the sheer amount of data available on the internet it would take time to filter out all
the irrelevant data to find something useable, this is something I had to consider when looking
online as some of the info was directed towards US markets rather than UK markets, although this
info is not completely unusable. Another common disadvantage of using the internet is not all the
information is recent, making it common to find articles that date back years, this would be irrelevant
info that I would be unable to use. Lastly, if I were to attempt to gain information about a brand
through consumer reviews, i may be misled as It is hard to determine if a consumer is being 100%
when describing or critiquing a brand, this could lead to me getting the wrong idea about a product
which will skew my results and make them inaccurate.
As well as using secondary market research methods in an effort to save time and money, i also used
primary research methods to help increase the accuracy of my end results. The primary research
method i used to conduct this research was a questionnaire. A questionnaire is simply a series of
open and closed questions used to extract as much information as possible, it is also fairly easy to
