What is Marketing Research? How many types of research is there?

Marketing research is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data to provide valuable insights that support marketing decision-making. It involves gathering information about customers, market trends, competition, and other relevant factors to help organizations understand and meet the needs and preferences of their target market.

There are generally two types of research in marketing:

1. Primary research: This type of research involves collecting firsthand data directly from the target market. It includes methods like surveys, interviews, observations, and experiments. Primary research is conducted for a specific purpose and provides unique and customized insights specific to the research objectives.

2. Secondary research: Secondary research involves gathering and analyzing existing data that has been collected by someone else. This data could be obtained from various sources like reports, articles, industry publications, government databases, and other public sources. Secondary research is more cost-effective and time-efficient compared to primary research.

Both primary and secondary research are crucial in marketing research as they complement each other and provide a comprehensive view of the market, customers, and industry trends.