Secondary Data Research

Introduction

Secondary data Research is based on the data that have been already collected by and readily available from other sources. Such data are cheaper and more quickly obtainable than the primary data and also may be available when primary data cannot be obtained at all.

Most of the researches are based on secondary data.

Example: When Reliance launched its Jio , they researched on all the secondary data available and made their own strategy to launch Jio with a bang.

1.   Sources of Secondary Data

While primary data can be collected through questionnaires, depth interview, focus group interviews, case studies, experimentation and observation; The secondary data can be obtained through

Internal Sources - These are within the organization

External Sources - These are outside the organization

2.   Internal Sources of Data

If available, internal secondary data may be obtained with less time, effort and money than the external secondary data. In addition, they may also be more pertinent to the situation at hand since they are from within the organization. The internal sources include

Accounting resources- This gives so much information which can be used by the marketing researcher. They give information about internal factors.

Sales Force Report- It gives information about the sale of a product. The information provided is of outside the organization.

Internal Experts- These are people who are heading the various departments. They can give an idea of how a particular thing is working

Miscellaneous Reports- These are what information you are getting from operational reports.

If the data available within the organization are unsuitable or inadequate, the marketer should extend the search to external secondary data sources.

3.   External Sources of Data

External Sources are sources which are outside the company in a larger environment. Collection of external data is more difficult because the data have much greater variety and the sources are much more numerous.

External data can be divided into following classes.

1.      Government Publications- Government sources provide an extremely rich pool of data for the researchers. In addition, many of these data are available free of cost on internet websites. There are number of government agencies generating data. These are:

a.      Registrar General of India- It is an office which generates demographic data. It includes details of gender, age, occupation etc.

b.      Central Statistical Organization- This organization publishes the national accounts statistics. It contains estimates of national income for several years, growth rate, and rate of major economic activities. Annual survey of Industries is also published by the CSO. It gives information about the total number of workers employed, production units, material used and value added by the manufacturer.

c.       Director General of Commercial Intelligence- This office operates from Kolkata. It gives information about foreign trade i.e. import and export. These figures are provided region-wise and country-wise.

d.      Ministry of Commerce and Industries- This ministry through the office of economic advisor provides information on wholesale price index. These indices may be related to a number of sectors like food, fuel, power, food grains etc. It also generates All India Consumer Price Index numbers for industrial workers, urban, non manual employees and cultural labourers.

e.      Planning Commission- It provides the basic statistics of Indian Economy.

f.        Reserve Bank of India- This provides information on Banking Savings and investment. RBI also prepares currency and finance reports.

g.      Labour Bureau- It provides information on skilled, unskilled, white collared jobs etc.

h.      National Sample Survey- This is done by the Ministry of Planning and it provides social, economic, demographic, industrial and agricultural statistics.

i.        Department of Economic Affairs- It conducts economic survey and it also generates information on income, consumption, expenditure, investment, savings and foreign trade.

j.        State Statistical Abstract- This gives information on various types of activities related to the state like - commercial activities, education, occupation etc.

2.      Non Government Publications- These includes publications of various industrial and trade associations, such as

·         The Indian Cotton Mill Association

·         Various chambers of commerce

·         The Bombay Stock Exchange (it publishes a directory containing financial accounts, key profitability and other relevant matter)

·         Various Associations of Press Media.

·         Export Promotion Council.

·         Confederation of Indian Industries ( CII )

·         Small Industries Development Board of India

·         Different Mills like - Woolen mills, Textile mills etc

The only disadvantage of the above sources is that the data may be biased. They are likely to colour their negative points.

3.      Syndicate Services- These services are provided by certain organizations which collect and tabulate the marketing information on a regular basis for a number of clients who are the subscribers to these services. So the services are designed in such a way that the information suits the subscriber. These services are useful in television viewing, movement of consumer goods etc. These syndicate services provide information data from both household as well as institution.

In collecting data from household they use three approaches

Survey- They conduct surveys regarding - lifestyle, sociographic, general topics.

Mail Diary Panel- It may be related to 2 fields - Purchase and Media.

Electronic Scanner Services- These are used to generate data on volume.

They collect data for Institutions from

Whole sellers

Retailers, and

Industrial Firms

Various syndicate services are Operations Research Group (ORG) and The Indian Marketing Research Bureau (IMRB).

Importance of Syndicate Services

Syndicate services are becoming popular since the constraints of decision making are changing and we need more of specific decision-making in the light of changing environment. Also Syndicate services are able

·         Economic Co-operation and development (OECD)- It publishes data on foreign trade, to provide information to the industries at a low unit cost.

Disadvantages of Syndicate Services

The information provided is not exclusive. A number of research agencies provide customized services which suits the requirement of each individual organization.

·         International Organization- These includes

o   The International Labour Organization (ILO)- It publishes data on the total and active population, employment, unemployment, wages and consumer prices

o   The Organization for industry, food, transport, and science and technology.

o   The International Monetary Fund (IMA)- It publishes reports on national and international foreign exchange regulations.