Market research must serve a business purpose by articulating the problem to be solved. Problem formulation is a crucial skill, linking the business problem to research questions and choice of research tools. The key distinction is whether a tool is exploratory or confirmatory - qualitative tools tend to be exploratory while quantitative tools tend to be confirmatory. Each research technique has strengths and limitations, so choosing the right tool for the problem is important. Talking directly to consumers through interviews and observations can uniquely reveal customer mindsets.

1. Market Research Must Serve a Business Purpose Articulating the business problem to be solved is a crucial first step to designing a research strategy Most of the time, managers face complicated messes, not neatly defined problems Problem formulation, therefore, is a crucial market research skill Decision problem  research question  choice of research tool The better your grasp of key issues in marketing management, the more effective the market research you can conduct or recommend

2. Exploratory vs. Confirmatory … is the key distinction for organizing and differentiating the many tools available Qualitative tools tend to be exploratory, and quantitative tools tend to be confirmatory But the exploratory vs. confirmatory distinction is the more fundamental Thus MDS, although entirely quantitative, is best used for exploratory purposes If you get this one aspect correct—always recommending exploratory tools to answer exploratory questions, and confirmatory tools to answer confirmatory questions—you will render a valuable service to your firm/clients The details of whether to do CV or FG, conjoint or experiments … are details. Not unimportant, but not key

3. Individual Market Research Techniques … are neither good nor bad in themselves, but simply suitable or unsuitable for specific types of problems Each tool has a distinctive competence Every tool has limitations and pitfalls Qualitative tools cannot substitute for quantitative tools; and, quantitative tools cannot substitute for qualitative tools If you want to identify qualities of customer response, talk to individuals directly; if you want to estimate quantities , engage a mass of customers with a questionnaire or other instrument

4. The Power of Talking to Consumers Whether conducted in groups or with individuals, the extended interview has unique power to reveal the mindset of customers The power lies not so much in what they say, as in what you can learn from what they say Observation can powerfully supplement such conversations Key skills: Drawing a judgment sample Constructing a discussion guide Developing good open ended questions

5. Value of Qualitative Research in BTB and Technology Contexts In some ways, more feasible and more necessary in BTB case than BTC Customer motivation to participate Complexity of issues Complexity of vendor qualification and buying decision processes Always possible to do useful qualitative research, no matter how discontinuous the innovation Key point: the more radical the innovation, the greater the focus on customer life projects, not technology features The greater your worry that customers cannot vocalize matters, the more useful an observation component can be

6. Survey Research You know the limits as well as the strengths of surveys Boring Precise You understand when to do a descriptive survey, and when to do a focus group on the one hand, or an experiment on the other You know the basics of questionnaire design Maximizing the rewards for responding and minimizing the costs

7. Forecasting You are aware of some of the forecasting tools available The most accurate forecasts are: Short term Extensions of the present Based on many close analogues You know that the problem of predicting the future is essentially insoluble And all the more difficult if your industry has no established procedures with databased norms Forecasting is least likely to be accurate in circumstances where an accurate forecast would be most desirable Discontinuous change No close analogues Multi-year period

8. Experiments You know that experiments are the best way to identify what causes what You are familiar with various approaches to concept testing i.e., beauty contests—which one is best? You know when concept testing must be replaced by conjoint analysis When there are too many permutations and combinations You know when concept testing has to be followed by some kind of market test Simulated vs. limited vs. full scale A function of risk and reward

9. Conjoint Analysis You understand the unique contribution of conjoint analysis to understanding customer choice i.e., configuring the optimal design from numerous variable elements You understand its extension to forecasting and market sizing decisions But you appreciate that it must be built on a secure foundation of qualitative research and/or market knowledge Which attributes? At which levels?

10. Sampling You understand that sampling procedure is always a make or break aspect of any research study Even qualitative techniques can use better or worse samples You understand the trade-off between sample size(cost), confidence and precision You understand the risks associated with a low response rate

11. Market Research is an Option … not a necessity Must be cost effective Must have the potential to alter a decision Must materially reduce risk Else, the best ‘research’ may be a carefully monitored product introduction Let the market provide the definitive test In some categories, actually less expensive than a definitive market research study would be

12. Market Research Reduces Uncertainty … neither more nor less Not a guarantee that the world is as the data show it to be Not a guarantee that the future will be as predicted But a way to improve the average quality, over time, of fallible managerial decisions