2.3 Types of Market research (Secondary)

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What is secondary (desk) research?

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Gathering data and information that has not been collected before, such as information on the internet and competitor information.

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What are the advantages of secondary research?

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1. More cost-effective than primary research and may even be free. 2. A wide range of information is quickly available, especially online. 3. Research based on government or professional market research provides a large sample size.

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What are the disadvantages of secondary research?

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1. Research may be out of date. 2. The research may have been carried out for another purpose and may not be specific to the needs of the business. 3. Data may not be reliable or accurate as it has been carried out by someone else.

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What are some types of secondary research sources?

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1. Books, Newspapers, and Trade Magazines 2. Internal data 3. Competitor’s data 4. Government publications 5. Market Research Reports

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What are the pros and cons of using books, newspapers, and trade magazines for secondary research?

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Pros: Easy to access, low cost, trade magazines usually focus on a specific industry. Cons: Information may be too general and not relevant, information in books may be out of date.

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What are the pros and cons of using internal data for secondary research?

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Pros: Easy to access, free of charge, relates to the specific business. Cons: Does not consider data from the wider world, past data may not be useful for future trends.

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What are the pros and cons of using competitor’s data for secondary research?

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Pros: Information is freely available, useful insight into competition trends, relevant data if in the same industry. Cons: Unlikely to release key data, data may be outdated or inaccurate, competitor's business may be very different.

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What are the pros and cons of using government publications for secondary research?

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Pros: Accurate and reliable data, normally free, easy to access. Cons: A lot of data can be time-consuming to find specific data, some data could be biased, may be out of date.

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What are the pros and cons of using market research reports for secondary research?

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Pros: Collected by professionals and therefore accurate, detailed insight as it's specialized to that industry. Cons: Can be very expensive, information may be out of date.