BUS203: Principles of Marketing

Formulating Marketing/Business Research Questions

The most successful research starts with a single question or series of questions, which help define the scope of your research, as well as provides a context for marketing your particular product or service. For example, consider the following questions. How do you define your target audience? Are you planning a domestic or global reach? Who are your competitors? What is the long-term outlook?

Research can be very time-consuming and expensive, so the more research you can do on your own, the quicker and cheaper your plans may come together. It takes a special mindset to enjoy conducting research - an explorer's sense of adventure into a vast wilderness of data. If you can master basic research skills, you may considerably multiply your worth to an employer or project.

First, there is the basic detail essential to planning that covers the key
demographic questions surrounding any target audience, whether global or local:

As you expand your business and marketing plans to an international or global effort, your research questions might expand considerably:

As you begin to define and conduct your initial research, it can certainly be
overwhelming. By using these general research headings and questions specific to your own undertaking, you can begin to formulate the research parameters and possible resources as you develop your plan.

Research Resources

Conducting research can be a very daunting and costly proposition, especially for a small new enterprise. Fortunately, there are plenty of free resources - as well as resources that you may purchase - to turn to, including government resources, news media, corporate media releases, and commercial research providers.

Government Resources

There are many well-established and respected government resources for
domestic and international research data. Typically these resources are paid for with tax dollars and fees, and while they may be grounded in a national purpose, they are often well-funded providing extensive and reliable data.

US Census Bureau

US Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/research/data/research_data_products.php

The US Census Bureau provides research tools, covering people and household demographics, economic data on US businesses, workforce analysis, as well as links to research data centers strategically located across the United States.

US Central Intelligence Agency

CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

The CIA World Factbook provides a valuable collection of detail on virtually every country and territory in the world, providing useful data on demographics, the economy, government, legal systems, energy, communications, transportation, geography, history overview, industries, imports and exports, transnational issues, and so forth.

An especially useful feature is the ability to compare field listings (e.g., Gross Domestic Product) of one national with other nations. An example of using the field listings comparisons - say, if you were promoting an environmental consultation company - would be searching for countries that are impacted by acid rain and also have GDP's above $100-billion.

A drop-down menu lets you select a country or location, providing easy access to the collection of reports. Other abundant reference materials offer detail on maps, country comparisons, international organizations, and a World Factbook Users Guide.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics

US Bureau of Labor Statistics: http://stats.bls.gov/home.htm

The Bureau of Labor Statistics subject areas page offers frequently referenced business data on prices, employment, productivity, inflation, pay and benefits, occupational outlook, labor issues, research papers, career guides, economic news, and other extensive subject areas.

The website also provides access to a large collection of publications, research papers, magazines and journals, chartbooks, bulletins & reports, as well as regular economic news releases on data impacting US and international labor matters.

US Department of Commerce

US Department of Commerce: http://www.commerce.gov/

This website provides data regarding commerce in the United States, including reports on economic indicators in retail and food service, durable goods, construction, manufacturers' shipments, international trade and transactions, personal income and outlays, residential construction and sales, etc.

US Small Business Administration

US Small Business Administration: http://www.sba.gov

The SBA provides extensive information on starting a small business, including creating a business plan, choosing a business structure, analyzing the market, assessing marketing and sales, obtaining business licenses and permits, and exploring loans and other funding sources.

US Department of State

US Department of State: http://www.state.gov/

This website provides travel information and advisories which may especially useful for those conducting international business. It also provides extensive insights into US policies impacting countries and regions around the world in areas including economics, energy and the environment; arms control and international security; civilian security; public diplomacy & public affairs; and assistance & development projects.

News Sources

Apart from the data gathered in a given market, it is also useful to know current events up-to-the-moment. If you are planning on a trip, for example, to Bolivia, you may want to know what is happening on the ground today (such as issues impacting the business as well as social and government spheres). The New York Times has a searchable database of key stories going back as far as 1851. You can even create an account for key-word alert notifications of breaking news in your specified categories.

The New York Times: http://nytimes.com

The Economist provides another take on current events and news reporting with searchable topic categories from A-Z. Or you can simply browse in general categories including world politics, business & finance, economics, science & technology, culture, blogs, debate, and world overviews.

The Economist: http://www.economist.com/topics

Other extensive news sources include Associated Press, CNN, and local newspapers covering just about every major city and market in the world available through search engines.

Public Relations Wire Services

A number of commercial services provide an outlet for companies to post their media releases. While not necessarily an objective assessment, they can provide information on a company's operations, new products, and other noteworthy items.

Business Wire: http://www.businesswire.com

PR Newswire: http://www.prnewswire.com/

Commercial Researcher Companies

There are a number of commercial research providers, that for a sometimes sizable fee will conduct research on your behalf, or may have detailed reports already prepared for purchase, in a number of industries and topic areas such as: consumer goods, food & beverage, energy, financial, government, health, manufacturing, heavy industry, service industry, public sector, life sciences, technology & media, marketing &
market research, publishers, country reports, and company reports.

Market Research: http://www.marketresearch.com/

 This text was adapted by Saylor Academy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License without attribution as requested by the work's original creator or licensor.