Primary and Secondary Marketing Research

University of Phoenix Companies rely on service or product sales; sales are the only way a company will survive. As simple and maybe even as silly as that statement is, it is the bottom line to a company's success. Success depends on many different things; marketing research is one element that can guide a company into its future. Marketing research is broken into two areas, primary and secondary. Both can play an important part in a company's future success but both are not always required to accomplish a company's goal. Depending on what a company is trying to achieve can determine which type of research is utilized. In some cases using both can be the best but often times only one of the two is used.

Primary research is research that is specific to a company's goals and needs. This form of research comes from "tried-and-true approaches - focus groups, surveys, field tests, interviews or observation" (AllBusiness, 2009).

English: Introduction of mobile marketing research...

English: Mobile marketing research - Methods

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Primary research is more accurate than secondary and is broken up into two separate categories. The first being qualitative primary research which consists of obtaining the needed information through interviews and focus groups. The second category is called quantitative primary research and involves the collection of numerical information from surveys. Even though primary research has a higher cost than secondary it usually brings in a higher gain because there is less room for interpretation of the information obtained.

ExamplesHumanitiesSciencesPrimary Sources•Diaries, journals, and letters•Newspaper and magazine articles (factual accounts)•Government records (census, marriage, military)•Photographs, maps, postcards, posters•Recorded or transcribed speeches•Interviews with participants or witnesses (e.g., The Civil Right Movement)•Interviews with people who lived during a particular time (e.g., genocide in Rwanda)•Songs, Plays, novels, stories•Paintings, drawings, and sculptures •Published results of research studies•Published results of scientific experiments•Published results of clinical trials•Proceedings of conferences...