What is the difference between market research and consumer insights research?
What is the difference been market research and consumer insights research, and why are the two important for your business? We’ll explain the process and purpose of each and highlight why they’re essential to your business.
Market Research
Market research is the process of obtaining information about entire markets. We use a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies like online surveys, phone interviews, and focus groups to gather useful data about your audience’s brand and industry perceptions. The purpose is to identify missed opportunities and gaps in your brand marketing and product mix. It provides information that defines industry trends that affect all related business which is critical to define current and future needs in the market. The result of successful market research is accurate data to draw conclusions for your business.
After conducting market research, the next step is to conduct consumer insights research.
Consumer Insights Research
Consumer insights research is the process of taking data gathered during the market research and analyzing it to predict how your audiences will respond to specific business decisions. While market research gathers data about entire markets, the purpose of consumer insights research is to analyze the data to make actionable conclusions relevant to your brand. These data-based conclusions take the guesswork out of your business decisions so you can better meet your consumers’ needs. Successful projects allow your business to resolve questions regarding attitude, perception, customer satisfaction, product design, and new products or services.
Market research and consumer insights research work together to help you understand the market and your consumers. Together, they help you maintain a competitive edge based in data, not guesswork or gut feeling.
Want an easy way to remember the difference between the two? Market research is the data collected and consumer insights is the data interpreted.