Desk research involves collection, systematization and analysis of marketing information. In desk research, data is not collected by field methods, but obtained from established sources: both public and proprietary databases.
Desk Research
Desk research of various markets and industry
statistics
Desk research can be aimed at market research in “big picture” format:
- Overview of the market situation;
- Estimation of market volume and capacity;
- Understanding of the market structure and development trends;
- Identification of the competitive environment;
- Pricing analytics;
- Identification of main distribution and promotion channels;
- Market dynamics within a certain time period.
More focused analytics is also possible:
- Analysis of publications on a particular company, trend;
- Setting priorities and constraints for further (planned) field research;
- Search for sources of expertise on a specialized topic;
- Monitoring conditions and rates of various products (including financial).
Frequently Asked Questions:
What types of desk research exist?
By principle of research project duration, desk research can be divided into monitoring (long) and express expertise (short). Monitoring usually means long-term systematic observation of a set of objects (for example, a product line, a brand). It can be a regular analysis of industries and markets. In contrast to monitoring, express expertise is a one-time extraction of information on a given topic (for example, market state assessment, evaluation of particular industry attractiveness etc.).
Desk research is traditionally divided into internal (based on client company's internal data) and external (using data from external sources) - the first variety is usually less expensive.
Desk research is traditionally divided into internal (based on client company's internal data) and external (using data from external sources) - the first variety is usually less expensive.
Why do we need desk research if it is possible to order a “field” research, to target and precisely collect the necessary data?
Usually, desk research is applied when there is a “big picture” market research task aimed at general grasp of forecasts, prospects, key financial indicators of the industry.
What sources of information are used for desk research?
Desk Research usually refers to data obtained from government agencies (laws and regulations, data from the Federal Statistics Service, etc.), online data (industry analytics, reports from various associations, unions and chambers, as well as reference books and articles with established authorship and date), as well as internal data of the client company (the results of numerous internal studies), and sometimes from Mystery Calling.
