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The Crucial Role of Market Research in International Education

Market research is a fundamental component of the marketing plan. For some, market research is about risk reduction, by determining the potential success (or failure) of a product or service before being launched in the market.

For others, market research is fundamental in marketing team, by enabling an effective listening to the views of customers, consumers and clients. Others identify market research as the ‘natural’ choice in an organisation to determine new market opportunities.

Risk Reduction

Market research can help institutions involved in international education in many different ways. One way is determining the potential risk or launching a particular product. Before launching a particular product or service, the market needs to be tested.

Maybe everything looks all right: Your product is very attractive, the marketing mix is OK and there is a good market potential market segment for your product as it is. However, this is not what is happening in the majority of cases.

This is what risk reduction is all about: What would happen if you launch your product or service to then discover that it is not attractive? You can lose credibility as a marketeer and millions of dollars. By conducting market research you will reduce the likelihood of that happening.

Determining the Potential Success of Your Service

Market research can determine the potential of your product. There is a quite varied range of techniques that can help you with. By using market research you can determine the ‘how many’, or the size of your potential market. In simple words, market research can predict ‘volume’ and ‘sales’.

Market research cannot only help to determine the ‘how many’ by also the ‘who’. Good research will give you the key characteristics of your market in terms of demographics, psychographics, behavioural attitudes, and salient products consumed or used by the segment.

In sum, research will give you a good picture of your potential market. By determining the ‘how many’ (and the ‘who’) you will be able to determine the potential success of your product or service in advance.

Market Research as the Customer’s Voice

One of the most attractive aspects of the market research profession is to listen consumers and customers. That’s the real ‘acid test’. Companies and organizations with professional attitude to marketing use research service as a central component in their product development strategy. They know if the consumer rejects the idea in a test environment, the most probably thing is that the potential product or service will fail in the market.

Interestingly, market research has become so central in the marketing development, that most organisations use market research at early stages or product development. That is why concept tests, idea developments, creative discussions and brainstorming sessions are increasingly used.

Why MR is so Crucial to International Education?

In the current changing environment of international education, it is crucial not only to determine why something happened (by revealing or looking at past data) but also, and more importantly, what will happen next. Market research provides the tools to understand future behaviour. Consequently, before moving to the next step, consider allocating a budget to evaluate your product or idea. By doing that you will reduce your risk of failure, you will be able to determine their potential and you will be able to listen what your future customers have to say about them.

Marcelo Follari

6 November 2005

Market Research and Business Strategies for the Education Industry
ABN: 86 079 691 845
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E: marcelo@marcelofollari.com
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