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4.4 Market research

Unit 4.4 - Market research

Learning outcome

“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
- Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960), American author, anthropologist, and documentary film-maker

Market research refers to the range of marketing activities designed to determine the opinions, beliefs and feelings of existing and potential customers. It consists of primary and secondary market research, used to help identify and anticipate the needs and wants of customers.

Market research is a systematic process that involves gathering, organizing, and interpreting information and data about the market and current trends. Essentially, market research is carried out so that the organization can get a better understanding of its customers, competitors, and markets.

For those new to IB Business Management, please note that this is a relatively challenging unit with a lot of terminology and subject content, so the learning outcomes (see below) need to be planned carefully.

It is also useful for students to study this section of the syllabus prior to their Internal Assessment, as students will need to use primary and/or secondary market research methods to gather relevant supporting documents for their Internal Assessment (IA).

The learning outcomes (or assessment objectives) for this section of the IB Business Management syllabus are:

  • Why and how organizations carry out market research (AO3)

  • The following methods/techniques of primary market research (AO2):
    •  Surveys
    •  Interviews
    •  Focus groups
    •  Observations

  • The following methods/techniques of secondary market research (AO2):
    •  Market analyses
    •  Academic journals
    •  Government publications
    •  Media articles
    •  Online content

  • The difference between qualitative and quantitative research (AO2)

  • The following methods of sampling (AO2):
    • quota
    • random
    • convenience

 Teacher only box

Note to teachers regarding changes to this section of the syllabus:

  • "Why and how organizations carry out market research" was only an AO2 in the former syllabus, but is now an AO3. So, be aware of the greater demands for this section of the new syllabus.

  • "Online content" has been added as a method/technique of secondary market research (AO2).

  • Ethical considerations of market research (AO3) has been removed from the syllabus.

  • The following methods of sampling have been removed from the previous syllabus: (i) stratified, (ii) cluster, and (iii) snowballing.

  • "Results from data collection (AO2)" has also been removed from the syllabus.

Please be aware of the above if/when using resources for the previous course, such as past IB exam papers and mark schemes.

 Top tip!

Market research is vital to the completion of much of the IB Business Management assessment, including the Internal Assessment and Extended Essay. Students must therefore be aware of market research techniques (covered in Unit 4.4).

In addition, they need to be aware of the market research requirements related to ethics and sampling methods, such as the moral and mindful treatment of interviews, surveys, and questionnaires that might be undertaking for their research.

The November 2019 Subject Report (available in full on My IB / the PRC) stated:

"Unfortunately, it was evident that many candidates lacked a real grasp of research principles and as a result did not collect the necessary data, or collected superfluous data that did not relate directly to the research question. Some candidates relied far too much on secondary data, almost ignoring the primary data in their appendices. Those candidates who collected primary data, which was appropriately referenced and focused on their research question, were able to access the higher mark grades." (page 4).

 InThinking Business Management resources

Click the hyperlinks below to access the InThinking resources for this particular section of the IB Business Management syllabus.

Return to the Unit 4 - Marketing homepage

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