Market research is an indispensable tool for any company to expand, grow, and thrive in the market. It enables any entity to identify the target market and obtain customer perceptions and responses regarding their preference for a product or service. One of the most critical decisions when developing a market research strategy is whether to undertake quantitative or qualitative market research.
Quantitative Market Research
Quantitative Market Research data is frequently gathered using questionnaires and surveys. Close-ended questions are commonly used in quantitative data collection methods to draw inferences. The group of study subjects must be ample, with special care taken to maintain optimal audience representation.
The goal of quantitative research is to gather credible, streamlined facts and statistics to help resolve critical business questions.
However, gathering data is only one component of the quantitative research problem. It must be structured, evaluated, and conveyed to decision-makers to provide actionable and reliable business intelligence.
A few examples of the questions that are answered by quantitative research are as follows:
- Whether or not the demand for your goods and services exists in the market?
- How are your target market’s needs changing?
- How many people are considering purchasing your product or service?
- What are their purchasing patterns?
- How well-known is your product or service in the market?
- How long are visitors staying on your website, and where are they leaving from?
Most importantly, it is statistically valid because quantitative research is mathematically based. This implies you can use its outcomes to forecast your company’s future.
Qualitative Market Research
Qualitative market research is used to gain a more profound knowledge of customer motivation and emotion. In this regard, qualitative research focuses more on the “why” of customer behavior, while quantitative analysis primarily examines the “what”. Using this approach, businesses can learn why customers like or don’t like a company; why they prefer some marketing messages over others; and what drives their purchasing behavior.
Focus groups, online message boards, in-depth interviews, and other methods are a few approaches to conducting qualitative market research. Because there are fewer respondents, the researcher/business must make modifications to prevent bias; otherwise, there will be plenty of raw data but very little valuable insight.
Typical inquiries used in “quality” research include the following:
- Why does this product outperform its rivals, in your opinion? If not, why?
- What changes in this new service will increase your interest in it?
- Is the new business logo appealing?
- How would you describe the layout of this website? How user-friendly and straightforward is it to use?
- How do you feel about this print advertisement?
So, Which One Is The Right Choice?
Along with knowing the differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods, these three questions can help you make an educated choice:
Is the intention of this market research to investigate beliefs or to test a hypothesis?
Quantitative research provides the representative samples needed to determine whether a hypothesis is supported or rejected. Businesses can gain a deep and open-ended understanding of views through qualitative research without forcing participants to make a clear-cut choice.
Should the study’s outcomes only evaluate opinions, or should a thorough grasp of the variables influencing customers’ beliefs be the main focus?
Quantitative research is the ideal option to gauge opinions. Qualitative research is the best option if you want a thorough grasp of perceptions that reveal conscious or unconscious ways people think about and arrive at conclusions about a subject.
Will the most important findings from this study be extrapolated to a larger audience, or would a map of the experiences of one particular participant be more helpful?
Quantitative research is required if concluding a more extensive audience is the objective. Qualitative research is necessary to map out the complex experience of an individual.
Integrated Market Research – A Combination of the Two
Who prevails in the qualitative vs quantitative research battle? Integrated marketing research is the answer.
A strong and comprehensive market research operation typically combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies since both give insightful viewpoints and may be “integrated” to produce valid findings. The ideal mixture depends on the requirements for business decisions, the desired impact, the timing, the scale, and the budget. No single solution or model works for everyone, so the market researcher should never decide the strategy based on what they are accustomed to. The decision must solely be based on what the company needs and what the market research project’s objectivity demands.
In a Nutshell
Businesses can use market research to enhance their expansion and growth. Qualitative research focuses more on the “why” of customer behavior, while quantitative analysis primarily examines the “what” of that behavior. A combination of the two, called Integrated Marketing Research, can be used based on the objectivity of research.
