What is Market Research
Market research (in a nutshell) is a way of finding out what people want, think or need.
Many companies use market research to get feedback about their products or services, get customer views on their companies/shops etc. and also track client movements around their websites.
There is a difference between needing some Market Research done, and using a Market Research Company.
Many companies may use a telemarketing company to do some market research for them for a product launch, or perhaps calling around some customers to do a telephone survey. This can be done as a campaign and is something that telemarketing companies can do fairly easily.
According to Wikipedia market research came in to being back in 1920 based around radio advertising and getting customer feedback.
Market research companies tend to get involved rather more, by collecting large amounts of data, analysing trends and forecasting results from the results.
Phone Based Market Research
This would involve a company calling the database of the client to get specific information, data and statistics which can be fed into the main results.
On-Line Based Market Research
Many companies are using on-line based market research as a way of tracking customers, analysing buying methods etc. Many of the larger businesses integrate research into their website (feedback forms, tick boxes etc.) to try and map their customer movements more.
Market Research is helpful in helping to improve a company's service to deliver a better product to their customers.