marknadsresearch

Marknadsresearch is the systematic process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting information about markets, products, consumers, and competitors to support decision-making in businesses and organizations. The term is commonly used in Swedish and other Nordic contexts and is sometimes spelled marknadsforskning or marknadsundersökning, though marknadsresearch appears in international usage.

There are two main categories: primary research, conducted directly with the market, and secondary research, based on existing sources. Within primary research, qualitative methods aim to explore attitudes and motivations, while quantitative methods measure indicators and test hypotheses. The research process typically moves from problem definition to research design, data collection, data analysis, and reporting.

Data sources can be primary, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, experiments, and observational studies; or secondary, such as industry reports, government statistics, and existing datasets. Common methods include surveys, in-depth interviews, focus groups, ethnography, usability testing, and social media listening. Analytical techniques span descriptive and inferential statistics, segmentation, conjoint analysis, factor analysis, and predictive modeling. Today, marknadsresearch often relies on digital tools and big data analytics, including online panels, web analytics, and data mining.

Applications cover product development, pricing, branding, market entry, customer satisfaction, and competitive intelligence. Ethical considerations are central and include informed consent, privacy, data protection (such as GDPR in Europe), accuracy, transparency, and bias avoidance. Quality is maintained through careful sampling, questionnaire design, and methodological rigor. In practice, marknadsresearch is conducted by internal teams or specialized agencies and guided by professional standards and codes of conduct from bodies such as ESOMAR and MRS, with the aim of providing evidence for strategic decisions.