Consult a dictionary and write out the transcription and Russian equivalents of these words. Then practice reading them.

Reading

Read the article and compare it with your ideas to the second task of Lead-in.

Market Research

The term ‘market research’ encompasses a number of activities that are designed to connect marketers to consumers through information gathering and evaluation. Market research provides businesses with information about their customers, their competitors, and their overall industry. It is commonly used to identify marketing problems and opportunities, as well as to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing strategies. Market research can help entrepreneurs evaluate the feasibility of a start-up venture before investing a great deal of time and capital, for example, as well as assist them in effectively marketing their goods and services.

Employing such marketing strategies as market segmentation and product differentiation would be nearly impossible without first conducting market research.

Although market research can be costly, it is often even more costly to make erroneous decisions based upon bad or inadequate information. In fact, an average business spends between 25 and 50 per cent of its annual marketing budget on research activities. There is a great deal of helpful information available to entrepreneurs who know where to look, and there are many consultants, advertising firms, and market research specialists who offer their services to businesses.

The information gathered through market research can be divided into two main categories. The first category – primary information – generally does not exist in a coherent form before the marketer gathers it in response to a particular question or problem. The most common methods of gathering primary market research information are through direct mail, telemarketing, and personal interviews.

The other category – secondary information – has already been compiled and organized by a source other than the marketer. Rather than looking at a specific marketing problem faced by an individual company, secondary information generally tracks trends within a market, an industry, a demographic group, or a geographic region. Some possible sources of secondary market research information include government reports, trade association records, newspaper and magazine surveys, university-sponsored research, local chamber of commerce records, on-line services, and competitors’ annual reports.

Market research can provide business owners with the information they need to answer a wide range of questions, including: Who are my customers? Where are they located? How much and how often will they buy? and What product attributes do they prefer?

Given the importance of market research – and its potential cost – experts recommend that businesses follow a step-by-step approach in order to gain the most benefits from their research activities. The first step in the market research process is to define the marketing problem to be addressed. Next, a marketer should determine what information is needed to solve the problem, as well as what sources should be used to acquire the information. Many businesses make a preliminary investigation at this early stage in order to give their definition of the problem more focus and to develop tentative answers that can be tested during the next stage of the process. The third step involves planning the research. This step includes selecting the techniques to be used for gathering data and deciding on an appropriate group, or sample, to be included in the research. Fourth, a marketer actually gathers the necessary data. The fifth step involves analyzing and interpreting the information that has been gathered. Finally, the marketer reaches a conclusion about the marketing problem and translates the findings into changes in the firm’s overall marketing strategy.

Comprehension Check

1) Refer closely to the article and answer the following questions:

a) What information can market research provide business owners with?

b) What is the difference between primary and secondary information gathered through market research?

c) Name some possible sources of primary and secondary information. Which of them are more accurate and useful?

2) Discuss the following statements from the text, illustrating your arguments with examples:

a) “Although market research can be costly, it is often even more costly to make erroneous decisions based upon bad or inadequate information.”

b) “… experts recommend that businesses follow a step-by-step approach in order to gain the most benefits from their research activities.”

 

Vocabulary Development