Respond to Two Students

gbnqf
timer Asked: Sep 1st, 2014

Question Description

 Respond to at least 2 of your fellow classmates with at least a 100-word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:

  • What did you learn from your classmate's posting?
  • What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
  • What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
  • What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and other classmates' postings?
Students name is Pepsi 

 In this week's discussion board assignment I will be discussing the role of secondary data in any marketing research project.  I will outline the relative advantages and disadvantages of secondary research versus primary research.  Next I will describe the main types of secondary data sources, both internal and external.  Finally I will wrap up with the hypothesis of which types of secondary sources will be most useful to my planned research project for Acme Wholesaling, Inc.

 Advantages and Disadvantages

   Collecting data for market research is very important for any project.  Secondary research is data that is collected from third-party sources such as company websites, sales or accounting records, magazine articles and market research reports.  It is information that is already gathered from the originator or a distributor of primary research.  There are both advantages to this method and disadvantages.  

Advantages -

- Convenience = Prior to technology, information needed to be requested via U.S. Mail which could take longer to receive or a planned trip to a local library.  Now with technology, the internet and access to a wealth of information is at the finger tips of anyone who is seeking it.  

- Minimal or Low Cost = Because payroll costs are a large expense to companies, it takes capital to pay employees to take the time to research.  Because of the convenience, the information is easily accessible.

- Prior Knowledge of Challenges = By having access to secondary research, it provides insight to the data that was collected by the originator. It can also expose risks and difficulties that can have an effect on the researcher to provide them additional insight to the potential pit falls based on the information they have obtained.  Is the risk greater than the reward?

Disadvantages

- Quality of Information - Each company that conducts the research has their own objectives.  Therefore the information needs to be scrutinized closely to ensure that the information is valid and is from a reliable source.

- Information Alignment = The information that is presented in secondary data was collected for a specific need.  Not always is the information in alignment to the needs of others.  It may be missing valuable information.

- Incomplete Information =  Because research takes time and money, some of the valuable information may be removed from the full version of the original research.  In some cases the basic information is available at no cost but a full report may cost a company some additional fees.  

- Not Timely = The use of secondary research may be outdated or have no relevance to the current market situation.  This can be harmful to investments.  

The use of secondary research can offer many advantages to the researcher.  However, it is important that the researcher identify, reduce and manage the disadvantages that are accompanied by the secondary research.  (Blog, 2008)

Secondary Data Resources

   There are some secondary resources both internal and external that are available to market researchers.  These include public sources such as government departments providing insight into geography and demographics.  Business departments of companies in the same field and public libraries with a wealth of knowledge on past and current experiences and performance.  There are also commercial resources which can cost through subscriptions but provide some additional information. This includes trade associations like Dun & Bradstreet and other publicly traded corporations.  Finally educational institutions provide valuable information resources by providing research that was conducted through their college departments or technical institutions that are involved in the business community. These are just a few examples but the list can go on and on.  Newspapers articles, magazine write ups, U.S. Census Bureau, and so many others.  

Hypothesis

   The type of secondary information I would utilize for my research project for Acme Wholesaling, Inc would include the following - 

 - U.S. Census Bureau, providing me insight on the population of Manhattan and what the majority of the community does for a living.

- Internet research of activities in the park - what are the most compelling activities to the least compelling activities

- Company research - what local business are around the park, what do they sell and are they blankets?  What type?  How much?

- Articles - understanding it blankets are being sold in other parts of the U.S. for use in their local parks.  Is this strategy working for them?  Is there a demand?  What is the weather like there?  Since my vendor has the market share in Manhattan and i am only providing the blankets, this information can be valuable to me as the wholesaler.

I welcome any and all thoughts throughout my thought process on this discussion board assignment.  

Students name is Jenny

Outline the relative advantages and disadvantages of secondary research versus primary research.

The biggest advantage to secondary research is how readily available it can be. Secondary research saves time, money and can be retrieved quickly (Zikmund, & Babin 2012). Companies do not have to use their own resources to sample people or collect data. The data usually consist of Census reports all over the world. Some of the disadvantages to secondary research is the people obtaining the research are not collecting the data and it may not address a specific problem or concern (Zikmund, & Babin 2012). There are questions that need to be asked before a company should use secondary data. The company should consider what time frame the data was retrieved, what sample population was, relevant facts to the companies objectives and reliability of the data(Zikmund, & Babin 2012). Some secondary data that is free may not give detailed information may not be accurate.

Describe the main types of secondary data sources, both internal and external.

The main types of secondary data are corporate information, government agencies, trade and industry associations, business periodicals, news media (Zikmund, & Babin 2012). Some main types of internal sources for secondary data are payroll sheets, inventory records, balance sheets, profit and loss statements or other research that could have been done internal. External sources are U.S. Securities, Exchange commission, medial broadcast, universities, foundations, commercial data services (Grimsley, 2003-2014).

Explain a hypothesis of which types of secondary sources will be most useful to your planned research project for Acme Wholesaling, Inc.

A hypothesis is a statement explaining an outcome, guessing what might happen and can be tested (Zikmund, & Babin 2012). Acme wholesaling may want to consider a couple different hypothesis statements and use secondary data to determine if the statement are ture:

· How many people are in the park on any given summer day?

· In the general area what are the ages of most people, will younger people purchase more blankets?

· The more families in the area the more blankets will be sold.

Acme can use the U.S census to find these answers. If there is double the amount of people at the park in the summer, the vendors may be more likely to sell more blankets. Also younger couples with children may be more likely to purchase a blanket. Of course Acme will have to research these hypotheses by looking at possible university studies.




User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool's honor code & terms of service.

This question has not been answered.

Create a free account to get help with this and any other question!

Related Tags

Brown University





1271 Tutors

California Institute of Technology




2131 Tutors

Carnegie Mellon University




982 Tutors

Columbia University





1256 Tutors

Dartmouth University





2113 Tutors

Emory University





2279 Tutors

Harvard University





599 Tutors

Massachusetts Institute of Technology



2319 Tutors

New York University





1645 Tutors

Notre Dam University





1911 Tutors

Oklahoma University





2122 Tutors

Pennsylvania State University





932 Tutors

Princeton University





1211 Tutors

Stanford University





983 Tutors

University of California





1282 Tutors

Oxford University





123 Tutors

Yale University





2325 Tutors