Market Research
Suggested Timeframe: 1-2 hours
Goal
To assist students in becoming more familiar with the concept of market research.
Activities
Activity 1 Discussion
With the class, make a list of the different reasons why companies carry out market research. Ask them if they have ever taken part in a survey and what it was for, and then ask them to consider the different uses for the information they offered. Follow with a group study of the topic handout. If Internet is available in the classroom, go online to www.business.govt.nz/tools-and-templates/online-training/managing-resources/conducting-effective-market-research. Start the online training tool and click on ‘customer surveys’ to download a survey example.
Activity 2 Marketing questions
After running through the question definitions in the topic handout, ask students to complete the exercise in the student worksheet by deciding whether the four questions are ‘closed’ or ‘open’.
Activity 3 Create a survey
Have the students form into small groups and assign each group a different type of product, e.g., microwave pizzas or washing-up liquid. Each group must now consider the target market for their product and create a survey of no more than 12 open and closed questions that could be used to assess the popularity of the product in the marketplace. Each group must describe the target market and how that led to their choice of questions when they present their work to the class.
Resources on Business.govt.nz
- Market research (for further insight into market research)
- Conducting effective market research (for an online tool containing examples of different types of marketing surveys)
