Marketing research is the search for and retrieval of existing information, discovery or creation of new information or knowledge for a specific purpose.

Research has many categories, from medical research to literary research. Marketing research (also called consumer research) is a form of business research.

It is a form of applied sociology which concentrates on understanding the behaviours, whims and preferences, of consumers in a market-based economy.

Market research is broader in scope and examines all aspects of a business environment.

It asks questions about competitors, market structure, government regulations, economic trends, technological advances, and numerous other factors that make up the business environment.

Sometimes the term refers more particularly to the financial analysis of companies, industries, or sectors. In this case, financial analysts usually carry out the research and provide the results to investment advisors and potential investors.

In addition to marketing research, other forms of business research include:

All forms of marketing research can be classified as either: problem-identification research or as problem-solving research.

A similar distinction exists between exploratory research and conclusive research.

Exploratory research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation. It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution.

Conclusive research draws conclusions: the results of the study can be generalised to the whole population.

Both exploratory and conclusive research, exemplify primary research. A company collects primary research for its own purposes.

This contrasts with secondary research: research published previously and usually by someone else. Secondary research costs far less than primary research, but seldom comes in a form that exactly meets the needs of the researcher.

Marketing research methods Methodologically, marketing research uses four types of research designs, namely:

•  Qualitative marketing research - generally used for exploratory purposes - small number of respondents - not generalisable to the whole population - statistical significance and confidence not calculated - examples include focus groups, in-depth interviews and projective techniques
• Quantitative marketing research - generally used to draw conclusions - tests a specific hypothesis - uses random sampling techniques so as to infer from the sample to the population - involves a large number of respondents - examples include surveys and questionnaires
• Observational techniques - the researcher observes social phenomena in their natural setting - observations can occur cross-sectionally (observations made at one time) or longitudinally (observations occur over several time-periods) - examples include product-use analysis and computer cookie traces
• Experimental techniques - the researcher creates a quasi-artificial environment to try to control spurious factors, then manipulates at least one of the variables - examples include purchase laboratories and test markets.

Researchers often use more than one research design.

They may start with secondary research to get background information then conduct a focus group (qualitative research design) to explore the issues.

Finally they might do a full nation-wide survey (quantitative research design) in order to devise specific recommendations for the client.

Many of these techniques resemble those used in political polling and social science research.

Meta-analysis (also called the Schmidt-Hunter technique) refers to a statistical method of combining data from multiple studies or from several types of studies.

Conceptualisation means the process of converting vague mental images into definable concepts.

Operationalisation is the process of converting concepts into specific observable behaviours that a researcher can measure.

Precision refers to the exactness of any given measure.

Reliability refers to the likelihood that a given operationalized construct will yield the same results if re-measured.

Validity refers to the extent to which a measure provides data that captures the meaning of the operationalised construct as defined in the study. It asks, “Are we measuring what we intended to measure?”

Applied research sets out to prove a specific hypothesis of value to the clients paying for the research.

For example, a cigarette company might commission research that attempts to show that cigarettes are good for one's health.

Many researchers have ethical misgivings about doing applied research.

Sugging (or Selling Under the Guise of market research) forms a sales technique in which sales people pretend to conduct marketing research, but with the real purpose of obtaining buyer motivation and buyer decision-making information to be used in a subsequent sales call.

Frugging comprises the practice of soliciting funds under the pretense of being a research organization.