Market Research Analyst Interview Questions and Answers
This section covers commonly asked and expert level Market Research Analyst Interview questions and answers. You can find conceptual, general, behavioral and experience based questions along with interesting examples and sample answers.
Who are these Market Research Analyst Interview Questions useful for?
The questions presented here will be highly useful to all the freshers, entry level and experienced candidates interviewing for the roles of Software Marketing and Sales Executive, Specialist, Consultant, Manager etc.
Types of Questions covered here
The questions covered here come from the conceptual topics of Market Research like types, classification, tools, sources, uses, mistakes, data analysis methods, working with team, responsibilities, skills etc. along with other personal questions.
1. What is market research?
Answer:
A business needs to understand the needs and preferences of its customers and the trends in the market. This lets them prepare themselves to meet the requirements of the customers. And, it is the process of market research that helps them get this information.
Market research is the process of gathering important information, drawing inferences and summarizing it in the form of easy to understand reports to reach a conclusion.
Video : Market Research Analyst Interview Questions and Answers
2. What are the types of market research?
Answer:
The two types of market research are:
i. Primary Research: The research done to get first-hand information, i.e. for the first time about a particular subject is known as Primary Data. It is also known as fresh data and is done by the researcher himself. In this case, the data is raw which makes it a very long and time-consuming process to draw inferences from it. This is a comparatively costlier way of conducting the research.
ii. Secondary Research: Secondary research uses information from the research conducted by other people. The required information is already published in public domain and is available directly for consumption. Since the data here is already available, this research does not take a long time. All that you have to do is collate, analyze and interpret the data. It is the faster and cheaper out of the two ways.
3. How is the research classified on the basis of type of data required?
Answer:
Depending on the type of data required market research is divided into two types:
i. Qualitative Market Research: This type of research is done when you want to get insight into the opinions and feelings of the consumer with respect to the products and services of the company. This is done through one on one interview or by forming a focus group.
ii. Quantitative Research: This is done when facts and statistics are more important. It involves working on a large amount of information from statistics.
4. Which research would you prefer - Primary or Secondary?
Answer:
Depending on factors such as your requirement, budget, timeline you can choose the best research type for your project.
Primary and secondary data both have their own advantages and disadvantages.
In primary data, as the research is done by the researcher himself, it's more authentic and accurate. But at the same time it is expensive and time-consuming.
In Secondary research, the data collection is quick and comparatively cheaper than primary research. However, the data may be outdated and may not suit your requirement.
So, I would prefer to choose the kind of research based on my project.
5. What are the different research tools used for Primary Research?
Answer:
Primary research is accurate though expensive and time- consuming. It is mostly done when it is the only way to get information or the researcher doesn’t rely on the available data.
The different tools used to conduct this research are:
i. Surveys: It is a series of questions asked to get feedback about a particular product or service. These questions can be shared with people over the phone, on paper or online using survey software.
ii. Questionnaire: One of the most widely used tools of primary market research. It is a set of questions that you ask your potential customers.
iii. Focus Groups: Focus groups is a bunch of people with similar characteristics, like their age, hobbies, etc. Focus groups help to understand their likes and dislikes with a product. You can get feedback about a particular product, an ad campaign or a new feature.
iv. Interviews: Here, you ask people the questions face to face to understand their preferences.
v. Observation: This is the simplest form of primary market research. Here the researcher observes the subject and notices how he/she makes the purchase. Understand their preferences and behavior.
6. What are the sources of secondary research?
Answer:
Secondary research is mostly conducted to understand market trends or to understand if there are any changes in the preferences of the people. It is something that has been collected and analyzed by someone else. Some of the sources of data for secondary research are:
i. Official publications by the Central and local government.
ii. Reports submitted by research scholars, economist.
iii. Reports submitted by research and educational institutions.
iv. Newspapers and periodicals.
v. Trade journals specific to your industry.
vi. Online websites
vii. Unpublished data maintained by private firms, business enterprise, research workers etc.
7. Why do we do market research?
Answer:
Market research helps in understanding consumer's needs and preferences, if they are satisfied with the product or not, what are their expectations etc. Also, it helps the marketer to get the right product at its right place and price.
Following are the ways in which Market Research is useful:
i. In preparing market strategies: In the global market with intense competition, contacting customers, controlling distribution, predicting customer's needs, market segmentation is difficult. Research data helps in preparing the market strategies.
ii. Understand consumers' needs and wants: Market research helps in collecting information on consumers and helps in making marketing consumer-oriented.
iii. Identify opportunity: Market research helps in identifying new opportunities for new and upcoming products.
iv. Keeps you closer to your competition: It helps in knowing their products, their strategy, and their status in the market. Once you know them well, you can deal with them better.
v. Reduces risk: Market research gives you data which is analyzed. It reduces risk.
vi. New trends: Market research helps you spot and anticipate the new trends in the market.
vii. Determine your advertisement medium: Market research focuses on correct audience which helps to choose your medium of advertisement for your product or service.
viii. Problem-solving: Market research helps firms in identifying and solving the problem at an earlier stage.
ix. Improves Sales: Market research helps to identify sales territories, shortcomings in sales and examine alternative distribution method which improves the overall sales.
x. New products: Market research helps in the introduction of new products. It helps in controlling the risk involved in introducing a new product in the market.
8. What are the two most important factors that decide the scope of market research?
Answer:
Market Research is a time taking and money consuming exercise. So, te two most important things you need to consider are:
