Market research: increasing probability of success

By- Tharangie Marasinghe

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organizations capability to compete with other competitors in the market. Researching the situation

Market research is determined as significant by the organization which contributes to produce a best product to satisfy customer needs and wants which leads to build up an enduring relationship with them which enables to increase the profitability and win the competitive advantage to sustain in the market for a long period. There are two types of researches known as the researches which are conducted specifically for a particular need at a particular time to measure changes to situational factors and the researches conducted as a part of ongoing and regular business monitoring and control program. Five stages of market research Market research is followed by five stages which are necessary in conducting research regarding a specific problem at a particular time: (1), Define the research problem and objective clearly,(2), develops an appropriate methodology,(3), collecting data, (4), interpreting data and (5), presenting of findings. Market audit refers to as significant in market research which contributes to update the business due to the changes in time to time. Situational factors and market dynamics in market audit play essential roles which are used to determine the market trends and

In order to analyze the situational factors and the marketing dynamic it allows the organization to research and assess following different analyses: Market analysis enables to identify the size of the market, market growth, market profitability, cost structures, distribution systems, trends and key success factors. Also it enables to determine the appropriate customer segments, customer motivations and their unmet needs. Competitor analysis determines the current and potential competitors, competitors performance, objectives, past and current strategies, cost structures, characteristics of market channels etc. Situational analysis is being conducted to identify the technological, economical, demographical environments. Internal analysis enables the organization to identify its strengths and weaknesses, objectives and capabilities which allow competing with other competitors in markets. Porters five forces theory: Porter has determined five forces which should be investigated when entering into a new market. (1),Competitive nature and rivalryCompetition vary depends on the nature of the industry. At this influential factors could be: product life cycle stage, growth rate, number of competitors etc.

(2),Threat of new entrants- When the market is profitable, the industry attracts new entrants and existing players are encouraged securing their places with the competition. Industry vary depends on the entry barriers, when the entry barriers are low, new entrants can be attracted than the market where the entry barriers are high. (3),Threat of substitute products-Substitute products are determined as the product which compete the own product. Substitute products tend to encourage the industry to lower their prices, delaying growth etc. (4),Bargaining power of buyers- This depends on the degree of choices available. When there is a little choice with high demand, the buyers do not tend to bargain; while, there are many choices with low demand, customer tends to negotiate. (5),Bargaining power of suppliers- When there are low numbers of suppliers, they have more power. Suppliers have sufficient power on bargaining due to the uniqueness and exclusiveness of their own product. Throughout conducting the market research, the organization enables to understand their own strengths, weaknesses and capabilities nature of the market, the customers needs and wants, competitor performance and external environments. Accordingly the organization gains the capability to: offer the products which contribute to satisfy customers needs and wants and increase the profitability which leads them to win the competition and achieve the success.