Market research gives you information about a distinct market. What constitutes a market depends on what a company is trying to sell. It can be a product which appeals to a particular age group, a particular branch of industry, or for people working in a particular geographical location. Before a company is prepared to invest large sums of money in any new product, they want to ensure that there is at least an adequate need for that product. Market research (hopefully) gives a company that vital information. Market research is considered so important that there are entire companies devoted to doing little else.

The increasing use of the Internet to facilitate business dealings (eCommerce) has resulted in the mass appearance of companies on the Word Wide Web. Companies specialising in marketing research are no exception to this rule, and there can be found many Web sites for such companies.

One problem facing those looking for market research is that those who aggregate market research don't always give full information about who provides them with research. Another problem is that market research firms tend to offer their reports through more than one database. Watch out, or you'll end up paying for the same information twice. You might also end up having to buy several reports to bring together all the research you need, which can be awkward (and expensive).

How To Research Markets

There are a lot of companies on the Web who offer market research:

• Nua are an innovative Internet consulting and development company whose Internet Surveys are well worth a look.
• Jupiter Communications are an authority on Internet commerce. They offer research studies for sale and the option of joining an online forum to hear from skilled analysts in the industry.
• Frost & Sullivan are a customer-focused market consulting firm. Established in the 1960s, they have a longer history than most, and a lot of experience. They have offices all over the world.
• Forresteris a leading independent research firm that analyzes the future of technology change and its impact on businesses, consumers, and society.
• DATAMONITOR give market data and expert analysis.
• Find/SVP offer quick and long term strategic consulting and market research.
• Key Note bring you market research reports written by specialists. Their site has a newsroom giving quick access to new titles and press releases.
• EuroMonitor provides global consumer market and business intelligence.

If you don't want to have to go to every market research company under the sun, go instead to a company like MindBranch. They offer more than 6,000 reports, newsletters, directories and databases from 250 top-tier partners in all industries. Their site has a keyword search engine and a category-based subject list; it also offers press releases.

Other sites which offer a similar service are:

• International Market Research Mall (IMR MALL) are a very good site for finding research from more than one publisher. They allow online viewing of reports from more than 50 sources.
• allNetResearch
• Market Research.com bring together reports from 230 publishers of market research data, and, like the Publications Resource Group, their site has a keyword search and subject list.

Market Research.com have a link called 'competitor intelligence', about which you can order research reports. An excellent site for competitor intelligence is The CI Resource Index - A competitive intelligence search engine. Through its search engine this site gives you access to large amounts of market research and related material.

A visit to any of these sites will reveal a fact...

Market Research Reports Are Not Cheap

In fact, Market Research Reports are often very expensive, sometimes costing thousands of dollars. This is because they are highly prized and in great demand. Is there anything out there that's free?

The answer is yes...

Sources Of Free Market Research

Although you have to pay for most of them, some market research companies do give away a few free reports. These are usually broad in scope, but they do nevertheless contain useful and important data. Some also have a free news alerting service which notifies you when reports matching your interest-profile become available.

Both Frost & Sullivan and Forrester offer this feature. In addition to this, if you register with Frost & Sullivan, they offer guest access to their online service and market information relevant to your selected industry. With Forrester, you have full, free access to some of their reports, and access to just the briefs of others.

MORI (Market & Opinion Research International) make available a large number of their market research reports. Although these are not necessarily product specific, there are demographic surveys here which could be very useful to any company, e.g. their report 'What opportunities does the next millennium hold for markets in new media and information technology?.

The Market Access Database, a European Commission site, is aimed at exporters. It has a database of commentary and market data on a variety of sectors in each of the European countries, together with general information about trade in the country concerned. This can be found in the Sectoral and Trade Barriers Database. Here you can search by Country, Sector or Measure to find information. The Market Access Applied Tariffs Database is also useful for finding information on tariffs for specific products from their list of over 80 countries.

Tip:

If you're looking for free market research, try virtually any of the sites already listed to see what they have on offer - but be quick - sometimes those free reports don't hang around for too long. It's best to save what you find rather than bookmark it for later.

Statistical Data

Statistics can be useful indicators in researching markets. There is a lot of statistical data available on the Web for free.

• For the UK, try The Office for National Statistics. Their page the UK in Figures covers the the 'economy, the people, the state, and the land'. The page on Economic and Financial Trends contains information useful for market intelligence.
• For the whole world, have a look at The United Nations Web site. Their InfoNation is an easy-to-use, two-step database that allows you to view and compare the most up-to-date statistical data for all the Member States.