Market Research: How to validate information sources?

Market research involves analysing potential customers to determine if a product or service is viable in the existing market. It allows a company to identify its target market and get consumers' feedback about their interest in a product or service. However, the success of any market research depends on the validity of the information sources used. To ensure the integrity and effectiveness of your market research, you need to know how to validate information sources.

Sources play a pivotal role in research. If the source is credible, then you trust it. If you are consuming information from a reputed newspaper like The Times of India, you instinctively trust it. But if you receive some information over WhatsApp, you will have doubts and do a quick search on Google. It's always better to do a background check of the source before conducting market research. You should evaluate the reputation and credibility of the information source. You should check if the author or organisation has experience in the field and only seek the ones who have expertise and made contributions.

The market is constantly evolving to keep up with trends, consumer behaviour change and industry dynamics. You should ensure the information is recent and aligns with your research objectives. Information from years ago might be outdated and can be irrelevant. Market research plays a significant role in making strategic decisions. For instance, a new restaurant is referring to a report from five years ago to formulate its menu. It states that vegan options aren't in that much demand. Thus, this restaurant adds limited vegan options to its menu. But in the current food landscape, veganism has gained popularity among consumers. This misguided decision puts the restaurant at a disadvantage. And they lose a large portion of consumers in the market. Thus while conducting market research, the information in hand should be updated to avoid such drawbacks.

Conducting market research using unbiased sources is essential to ensure objectivity and credibility. Bias or underlying agenda can distort information, leading to inaccurate conclusions. And it can hinder the understanding of the market. For instance, a biased report suggests that new software has high potential in the market, downplaying its disadvantages. Businesses using this information might invest heavily in this software only to face unexpected challenges and expenses. Therefore, an information source should be neutral for market research to be accurate.

The viability of market research heavily depends on the validity of the information sources. Validating information sources ensures that your market research is accurate, insightful, and effective. Reputable sources guarantee credibility, whereas updated information offers relevancy. And unbiased sources prevent distorted perspectives. A combination of these methods will ensure the validation of information sources and make your market research trustworthy and effective. Furthermore, it will help you make accurate strategic decisions which heavily rely on market research.