agree or not?
When entering global markets, businesses should perform marketresearch in order to make informed decisions in regard to strategicgoals and locations. There are two types of market research: softor primary research and hard or secondary research. Often used to“fill in the blanks left by secondary research” (Wild, 2019, p.308), soft or primary market research benefits include: learningabout competitors’ products and current trends, access andcommunication with local governments, discovery of consumerattitudes and opinions, and environmental scanning. Although softdata research can be more costly, an organization can look atspecific areas of concern and get more specific results. An exampleof when soft or primary market research data would be preferred isa survey that would be sent out to potential customers living in aneighborhood where a new bakery was going to be opened to find outprice points for various menu items. The benefits of hard market orsecondary market research include, “a cost effective way to beginexploring potential markets” (Wild, 2019, p. 305). Companies canget a feel for consumer behavior from previous information that hasbeen gathered by government agencies, chambers of commerce, andtrade associations. Hard data is relatively easy to find andaccess. An example of when hard market research data would bepreferred is when the Spanish Clothing store Zara wanted to grow inthe middle class market throughout the world. Analysis of foreignmarkets could be cost effectively gathered through hard dataresearch so that markets could be identified.
