Application
This unit describes the skills and knowledge required to plan market research by identifying market
research needs, defining market research objectives, identifying data gathering approaches and
developing a market research plan.
It applies to individuals in a non-market research organisation who conduct market research
planning at a managerial level.
No licensing, legislative or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of publication.
Unit Sector
Business Development – Marketing
Elements and Performance Criteria
ELEMENT PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Elements describe the
essential outcomes.
Performance criteria describe the performance needed to
demonstrate achievement of the element.
- Identify market research
needs
1.1 Communicate role of market research in enterprise operations to
relevant personnel
1.2 Identify contribution of market research to enterprise activity
1.3 Analyse enterprise planning and performance documentation to
determine research needs
1.4 Consult relevant personnel to determine research needs
1.5 Develop statement of market research needs - Define market research
objectives
2.1 Draft research objectives
2.2 Undertake preliminary project scoping
2.3 Consult with relevant personnel on draft research objectives to
ensure relevant and useful information is gathered
2.4 Review and finalise draft objectives in light of scoping
parameters - Define data gathering
approaches
3.1 Identify types of data required to inform objectives
3.2 Determine combinations of types of data to best inform
objectives
3.3 Identify and evaluate suitable data gathering methods
3.4 Identify data sources
3.5 Quantify required data
3.6 Identify and evaluate suitable data processing methods
3.7 Make decisions on data types, combinations, gathering
methods, sources, quantities and processing methods - Develop market
research plan
4.1 Estimate resources and timelines required for market research
projects
4.2 Determine feasibility of market research projects
4.3 Prepare market research plan for approval
4.4 Obtain approval to implement plan from appropriate personnel
as required
Foundation Skills
This section describes language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills incorporated in the
performance criteria that are required for competent performance.
Skill Performance
Criteria
Description
Reading 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.4, 3.1,
3.3, 3.4
Evaluates and interprets information from a
range of sources and determines requirements
Writing 1.5, 2.1, 2.4, 4.3 Integrates information from a number of
sources to develop material supporting
purposes of documentation, using suitable
grammatical structure and clear, logical
language
Oral
Communication
1.1, 1.4, 2.3, 4.4 Participates in a variety of spoken exchanges
using suitable language and non-verbal
features
Elicits views and opinions of others using active
listening and questioning
Numeracy 3.5, 4.1 Interprets numerical data and makes basic
calculations to determine required resources
and workplace scheduling, and to quantify data
Interact with
others
1.1, 1.4, 2.3, 4.4 Recognises importance of taking audience,
purpose and contextual factors into account
when making decisions about what to
communicate with whom, why and how
Get the work
done
1.3, 2.2, 2.4, 3.1-3.4,
3.6, 3.7, 4.2
Develops plans and uses effective
organisational and time-management skills to
complete tasks with an awareness of how they
may contribute to longer-term operational and
strategic goals
In more complex, non-routine situations, uses a
formal decision-making process with support,
setting or clarifying goals, gathering information
and identifying and evaluating several choices
against a limited set of criteria
Understands and explicitly applies some basic
principles of analytical and lateral thinking
Recognises and takes responsibility for
addressing predictable and some less
predictable problems in familiar work contexts
Unit Mapping Information
Code and title
current version
Code and title
previous version
Comments Equivalence status
BSBMKG506 Plan
market research
BSBMKG506B Plan
market research
Updated to meet
Standards for Training
Packages
Equivalent unit
Assessment requirements
Modification History
Release Comments
Release 1 This version first released with BSB Business Services Training
Package Version 1.0.
Performance Evidence
Evidence of the ability to:
identify and define market research requirements in an organisation
develop a documented market research plan describing scope, objectives, time and
budget for market research to be undertaken by an organisation.
Note: If a specific volume or frequency is not stated, then evidence must be provided at least once.
Knowledge Evidence
To complete the unit requirements safely and effectively, the individual must:
outline key provisions of relevant legislation, codes of practice and national standards that
affect aspects of business operations
explain market research principles and practices including:
data processing methods and data analysis techniques
project design within given budgets and other resource constraints
design of samples
development and use of hypotheses
role of research in enterprise development
roles and uses of qualitative and quantitative research
use of survey instruments
explain project planning principles and practices including for:
consultation and stakeholder involvement
development of timelines, budgets and other implementation plans
gaining approvals
needs analyses
scoping practices
list statistical methods and techniques.
Communicate role of market research in enterprise operations to relevant
personnel
“Market research is the application of the scientific method in search of the truth about marketing
phenomena. These activities include defining the market opportunity and problems, generating
and evaluating market ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing process.”
– “Exploring Marketing Research” By William G.Zikmund
The concept of a business seems simple. Companies produce goods and services and consumers
buy the end products. The challenge lies in creating and delivering value to the customer.
Businesses that have a solid value proposition can be considered successful1.
So how do we deliver value?
Some questions that we should consider when understanding the concept of value are:
What type of products or services does a company sell?
Does the product or service meet the consumer’s need?
What does the customer think about the company?
What are the customer’s expectations when buying and using the products or services?
What are the customer’s initial perceptions of the company’s products or services?
Are there alternative products or services that can meet the customer’s needs?
These questions can be answered by market research. Market research facilitates decision making,
reduces uncertainty and highlights consumer problems. Market research drives every aspect of a
business such as:
Identifying new market opportunities and evaluating the existing markets
Segmenting and analyzing the market
Selecting the best target market
Evaluating and analyzing the company’s reputation and performance
Positioning a product
New product development
Planning and implementing a marketing mix that meets business objectives
Market Research Classifications
1 Source: Brain Mates, as at https://brainmates.com.au/contributions/the-importance-of-marketresearch/,
as on 4th September, 2017.
So what type of market research can Product managers utilize in our quest to find answers that will
help businesses deliver value? There are three types of market research:
Exploratory research
Descriptive research
Causal research
Exploratory Research
Exploratory research helps businesses to discover new ideas and find potential market
opportunities. It is used to explore a situation or search for a problem. This research process is
unstructured. Product managers need not go through all the stages of the market research
process from the “defining stage” to the “analysis stage”.
The findings from exploratory research are usually based on secondary data (Data that is already
available in different departments of the company), open ended questions, similar case studies, a
pilot study, or even results from previous research. The results from exploratory research are not
generally suitable for Product Managers to draw a conclusion and decide to enter a new market.
The result is all too often generalised information about potential markets and the related products
or services. It is conducted with an expectation that there is need for more comprehensive
research.
Example:
“Mars M&M is a global manufacturer producing candy and chocolate. The company discovered, by
doing simple exploratory research that consumers refer to the chocolate and candy by their color.
The company achieved the result by asking some open ended questions and running focus groups.
This piece of information became useful in shaping future research and marketing strategy.”
Descriptive Research
This kind of research addresses who, what, when, where and how type questions. It is structured
research (Product managers apply through all steps in research process). Descriptive research
explores more detail about a market. For instance, descriptive research identifies what age groups
buy a particular product or brand and why. This type of research is more structured and requires
formal research design and data collection.
Example:
“Greg Norman is well known for his performance on golf courses. He is also in the wine trade and
sells high quality Australian wine that is offered at a fair price. He is considering extending the
business to the American or French wine market. In this situation, the use of descriptive research
helped him to have a better understanding of the international wine market and enabled him to
make better decisions about where to sell his wine. Descriptive research identified what type of wine
consumers enjoys drinking.”
Causal Research
Causality can be derived by the use of “if x, then y”. This type of research helps Product Managers
understand the cause and effect of a relationship. Causal research is considered formal research
and helps product managers to identify problems and the causes of the problem. Product
Managers for example, would be interested in determining what causes a change in customer
satisfaction.
The Market Research Process
Define the research objective
The first step to the research process is to define the research objective. At this stage, the Product
Manager defines the problem that he or she is attempting to solve. Here, the word problem does
not have a negative meaning. It can mean a new opportunity. Exploratory research is one of the
most common types of research used at the early stage of the investigative process. It is used to
obtain a clear understanding of the situation or environment. Secondary data, previous research,
discussion with decision makers, experience survey, interviews with industry experts, similar case
studies, a review of existing background information are some techniques that will help the
Product Manager at this stage of the market research process.
Selection of basic research method
After defining the problem and formulating the objectives, the Product Manager shall design the
research. This determines the way that we collect the data. Survey questionnaires, interview, and
observations even secondary data studies are methods that can be used to gather the data.
However the most common method is a survey questionnaire.
Sampling
“A sample is a subset from larger population” Finding information about the characteristic of a
population is an important objective for most types of market research. Information about the
population could be achieved by taking a sample. Proper and good sampling has the same
characteristic of the population as whole.
Data gathering
During this stage, the Product Manager collects data. It may be obtained by human observation or
a survey questionnaire. It can be over the phone or by face-to-face interviews.
Data processing and analyzing
After gathering the data, the information must be converted into language which is
understandable for a wider audience. At this stage, the first step is editing and coding. The Product
Manager checks the data for any minor mistakes and then “codes” the data. Coding means
recording, categorizing, and interpreting the data. The second step in this process is to analyze the
data.
Drawing conclusions and reporting
The final stage in the market research process is reporting and drawing a conclusion. A market
research report consists of a description and an interpretation of the research results, a conclusion
and also an appropriate recommendation. The costs and risks associated with delivering any new
product are high. Some new products fail to achieve the objectives set. Market research reduces
the risk of taking a new product to market.
Just the phrase market research can make people feel overwhelmed, by understanding what it is
and why it’s important you can be relieved of those tensions2.
Market research is when you have narrowed down a specific “target, ” and you are delving into the
behaviour of that target.
In other words, its research into a very narrow group of consumers.
Marketing research is different. Different because it’s dealing with a broader range of consumers.
Marketing research includes “market” research, but it also delves into new product research and
distribution methods. The best way to differentiate the two is to understand that marketing
research is really about researching the marketing process of a company, not just who they are
targeting.
Your marketing research will include the following steps, and in each step, I have listed common
questions that are typically asked: - Problem Definition: The problem is the focus of your research. Example: Why are sales
soaring in the west, but dismal in other parts of the country? - Data Collection Method and Needs: How will you collect the data that you will need to
solve the problem? Will you use surveys, telephone calls or focus groups on the internet?
2 Source: The Balance, as at https://www.thebalance.com/why-marketing-research-is-important-toyour-
business-2296119, as on 4th August, 2017. - Determine Sample Method: What sampling method will you use? Sampling represents
those you will collect information from. Will it be a random sampling, a sampling that
contains a similar element or a natural sampling? - Data Analysis: How will you analyse the data? Will you use software or do it by hand? How
accurate do the results need to be? - Determine Budget and Timeframe: How much are you willing to spend on the research
and how soon must the research be complete? - Data Collection: Proceed in data collection based on answers in Steps 1- 5.
- Analysis of the Data: Conduct the analysis of the data that has been collected in the
previous Step. - Error Check: Check for errors in data. It is not uncommon for errors to be found in data
collected. Errors can be in the sampling method, data collections as well as just analytical
mistakes. - Create Your Report: The final step of marketing research is to draft a report on your
findings. Your report should contain tables, charts, and or diagrams. It’s important that
your report clearly communicates the results that you found in your research. Your findings
should lead to a solution to the problem you identified in Step 1.
3 Key Benefits of Market Research
Market research while daunting and can be a lot of work it also provides many benefits. It takes the
guesswork out of marketing and gives you data that you can use to drive your marketing strategy
and accomplish your objectives and goals. It’s a systematic approach that with an investment can
make your marketing not only easier but more effective.
Market research benefits include:
Communication Driver: It drives your communication with current customers and target
prospects.
Identifies Opportunity: Market research will show you where the opportunities are and
help you identify not only the high-level opportunities but will also assist in showing you
the more immediate “low hanging fruit” opportunities.
Lowers Risk: Detailed data can help you in lowering risk. It shows you where the
opportunities that will produce results are and keeps you focused and voiding the “squirrel
syndrome” when it comes to your marketing.
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