Marketing research is the act of gathering, evaluating, and reporting marketing data that may be used to

answer questions or solve issues to help a company's bottom line. Companies perform and collect

market research data in the best interests of the firm and the customer. This is because it allows firms to

determine who is interested in their products and then target their marketing on the most interested

demographics; this helps cut marketing costs and keeps the total cost of a product or service cheaper.

Market intelligence collecting entails a variety of activities such as scouring newspapers, journals, and

government-generated data for trends. (Tanner, 2015).

Companies execute two types of market research efforts to acquire the most useful data about their

products. They are primary and secondary research activities. The first-hand market to obtain client data

is referred to as primary research. It includes online surveys, phone interviews, and other methods to

get fresh information about the difficulties that consumers are experiencing, as well as to learn about

the company's brand name in the market. Secondary research is all of the material currently accessible

on public records that may be used to generate conclusions. This includes trends, market statistics, and

so forth.

The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals created it. Marketing professionals and

corporations may ensure that they adhere to these ethical norms by using third-party contractors to

eliminate prejudice or creating and adhering to firm-wide guidelines. Market research must be

conducted in a safe and legal manner in order to develop confidence in the community and provide an

accurate portrayal of the results.

Tanner, J., & Raymond, M. (2015). Chapter 10, Section 1.3 Market Intelligence. In Principles of Marketing

(Vol. 1.0, p. 195). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved November 14, 2020, from

https://open.lib.umn.edu/principlesmarketing/front-matter/publisher-information