Needs of Marketing Research in Malaysia
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| MSC Malaysia | National ICT Initiative Leading Thoughts By Dr George Leow Chee Seng M ARKET RESEARCH IS an essential part of any business that wants to offer products or services that are focussed and well targeted. It is viewing the entire business from the customer’s viewpoint, which takes into account every aspect of the marketing mix from product to price, distribution channels and marketing communications. All these factors affect the customer’s response to a product or service. Business decisions that are based on good intelligence and good market research can minimise risk and pay dividends by making market research part and parcel of the business process. In general, businesses that invest time in market research increase their chances of succeeding in international markets. “Why do I need to invest in market research? I am just running a small en- terprise!” This statement is extremely common when a consultant is trying to approach SMIs or SMEs to conduct a market research to enhance their ef ficiency and effectiveness when running the busi- ness. Unfortunately, the awareness on the importance of market research is limited among Malaysians. Hence, effort and resources are wasted on trials and errors stage when running busi- ness. (Hair et. al., 2003). Y our company may begin exporting without any market research if it re- ceives unsolicited orders from abroad. However , you will find even more promis- ing markets by conducting a systematic research. Market research helps better com- municate and understanding of success in business. I have conducted a research to compare customer satisfaction among patients from private and public hospitals. From the research, we have identified ele- ments that could boost up their customer satisfaction to gear up key performance index (KPI) of the organisation. Consequently, current customers’ expe- riences are valuable source of information, not only will they a llow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations, they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong. By asking the customer, you are not only showing them that you care but you also take the guess work out of customer services. Indirectly, the organisation has implemented branding strategy to increase the market share. Consumer behaviour pla ys a vital role if you are planning to operate a new service. W e need to know the preconceived attitudes that people have and then market research can help, not only in evaluating the potential for a new idea, but also by identifying the areas where a marketing research needs to be honed. Market research helps you identify opportunities. By understanding the consumer behaviour, we could deliver convincing sales presenta- tions, shorten sales cycle, create effective marketing strategies, boost your rev- enue and profits, radically improve your ability to influence others and close more deals. Hence, under- standing consumer through market research stimulates organisation to create a “wow” marketing plan. Nevertheless, market research creates benchmarks and helps an organisation measures their progress and analyse the corporate effectiveness through corporate research. Several researches are proposed in the organisation which includes as- sessing the image of the company (brand audit research). In advertising research, readership feedbacks and advertising recall are common to assess the effectiveness of advertisements. Early research may highlight glaring holes in your service or short falls in your product, regular market research will show if improvements are being made and, if positive, will help motivate a team. Organisation can conduct sales analysis to determine sales trend and suitable strate- gies are applied and planned to ensure the optimum growth of the organisation through assessing market potential, estima- tion of demand for a product, market share estimation, study seasonal variation for a product, market segmentation studies, esti- mate size of the market and need analysis to find out where the product fits in. Through effective marketing research, time, effort and resources can be utilized at optimum state to benefit the organisation. In summary, market research consists of a plan that charts how relevant data is to be collected and analyzed so that the results are useful and relevant for making market- ing decisions. Once the research and the related analysis are completed, the results are communicated to management. This provides management with in-depth information regarding crucial factors that have an impact on the targeted market and existing marketing mix. Market research allows management to make the changes necessary for better results through adopting a proactive approach. Since marketing research is crucial, SMIs and SMEs should include market research in their business plans. * The above article is published with permis- sion from the author Dr. Leow, British Inst itute of Homeop athy. The article was publ ished in t he OH! Ma gazi ne Issu e Jan/ Feb 2010 . The Ne ed f or Mar k et Re se arch in Mal a ysi a About the Author Dr. Leow is involved in research, consulting, lecturing for several organisations around the globe. Dr. Leow holds a Certificate in Quantitative Research Method (University of Georgia, USA), MBA from UPM, Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) from United Business Institute (UBI), Belgium. Dr. Leow is the recipient of the Young Investigator Award at the 32th Paediatric Conference. Dr. Leow is also involved in several researches under Intensive Priority Research Area (IPRA) and he is currently a member and trainer of IMM.
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Transcript of Needs of Marketing Research in Malaysia
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| MSC Malaysia | National ICT Initiative
Leading Thoughts
By Dr George Leow Chee Seng
Market reSearCh iS an essential part of any business that wants to offer products or services that are focussed and well targeted. It is viewing the entire business from the customers viewpoint, which takes into account every aspect of the marketing mix from product to price, distribution channels and marketing communications. All these factors affect the customers response to a product or service. Business decisions that are based on good intelligence and good market research can minimise risk and pay dividends by making market research part and parcel of the business process. In general, businesses that invest time in market research increase their chances of succeeding in international markets.
Why do I need to invest in market research? I am just running a small en-terprise! This statement is extremely common when a consultant is trying to approach SMIs or SMEs to conduct a market research to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness when running the busi-ness. Unfortunately, the awareness on the importance of market research is limited among Malaysians.
Hence, effort and resources are wasted on trials and errors stage when running busi-ness. (Hair et. al., 2003). Your company may begin exporting without any market research if it re-
ceives unsolicited orders from abroad. However, you will find even more promis-ing markets by conducting a systematic research.
Market research helps better com-municate and understanding of success in business. I have conducted a research to compare customer satisfaction among patients from private and public hospitals. From the research, we have identified ele-ments that could boost up their customer satisfaction to gear up key performance index (KPI) of the organisation.
Consequently, current customers expe-riences are valuable source of information, not only will they allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations, they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong. By asking the customer, you are not only showing them that you care but you also take the guess work out of customer services. Indirectly, the organisation has implemented branding strategy to increase the market share.
Consumer behaviour plays a vital role if you are planning to operate a new service. We need to know the preconceived attitudes that people have and then market research
can help, not only in evaluating the potential for a new idea, but also
by identifying the areas where a marketing research needs to be honed. Market research helps you identify opportunities. By understanding the consumer behaviour, we could deliver
convincing sales presenta-tions, shorten sales cycle,
create effective marketing strategies, boost your rev-enue and profits, radically improve your ability to influence others and close
more deals. Hence, under-standing consumer through
market research stimulates organisation to create a wow
marketing plan.Nevertheless, market research creates
benchmarks and helps an organisation measures their progress and analyse the corporate effectiveness through corporate research. Several researches are proposed in the organisation which includes as-sessing the image of the company (brand audit research). In advertising research, readership feedbacks and advertising recall are common to assess the effectiveness of advertisements. Early research may
highlight glaring holes in your service or short falls in your
product, regular market research will show if improvements are being made and, if positive, will help motivate a team.
Organisation can conduct sales analysis to determine sales trend and suitable strate-gies are applied and planned to ensure the optimum growth of the organisation through assessing market potential, estima-tion of demand for a product, market share estimation, study seasonal variation for a product, market segmentation studies, esti-mate size of the market and need analysis to find out where the product fits in. Through effective marketing research, time, effort and resources can be utilized at optimum state to benefit the organisation.
In summary, market research consists of a plan that charts how relevant data is to be collected and analyzed so that the results are useful and relevant for making market-ing decisions. Once the research and the related analysis are completed, the results are communicated to management.
This provides management with in-depth information regarding crucial factors that have an impact on the targeted market and existing marketing mix. Market research allows management to make the changes necessary for better results through adopting a proactive approach. Since marketing research is crucial, SMIs and SMEs should include market research in their business plans.
* The above article is published with permis-sion from the author Dr. Leow, British Institute of Homeopathy. The article was published in the OH! Magazine Issue Jan/Feb 2010.
The Need for Market Research in Malaysia
About the AuthorDr. Leow is involved in research, consulting, lecturing for several organisations around the globe. Dr. Leow holds a Certificate in Quantitative Research Method (University of Georgia, USA), MBA from UPM, Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) from United Business Institute (UBI), Belgium. Dr. Leow is the recipient of the Young Investigator Award at the 32th Paediatric Conference. Dr. Leow is also involved in several researches under Intensive Priority Research Area (IPRA) and he is currently a member and trainer of IMM.
