Maximize Your Market Research Results: Incorporating Multiple Sources of Information

When faced with an important business decision, a smart marketer will tap existing sources of information on a situation before making a choice or investing in new research. Similarly, the right market research partner will integrate outside information with results from your primary research program to provide you with the most complete and practical assessment.

Existing information is often referred to as secondary research or data. By the simplest of definitions, it is research that was conducted for purposes other than the current project, and it is almost always quicker and less expensive to obtain than primary data. Common sources of secondary information include:

• Prescribing/ Pharmacy Data
• Past Research
• Syndicated Research
• Government Reports
• Trade Publications

Secondary data can be found in your company's files, on the Internet, at universities, and in public libraries; it is also available through companies that specialize in providing useful market information to businesses—usually for a price.

Other important sources of information are less tangible. These can be as important and influential as published data, but are often underestimated when defining the business issues. These include:

• Industry Thought Leaders
• Professional Colleagues
• Your Personal Experience and Managerial Intuition

While abundant in the healthcare industry, existing information sources may not fully address your specific business issue. In this case, a primary research study can be designed to fill the information gaps. Here, the challenge is to assimilate existing information in both the design of the study and the interpretation of results.

For example, if a drug-maker discovers that a competitor plans to enter a market it currently serves, then marketing leaders need to determine how to respond effectively to retain market share. Researchers should first look at existing prescribing data for information such as new starts, discontinuations, switches in therapy, and other patient statistics related to the brand. In addition, results of past and ongoing market studies related to the product can be compared with current data to provide a general overview o