How to Do a New Product Market Research Survey

Your questionnaire should cover all aspects of your new product.

New product market research surveys are designed to garner feedback from consumers about a new product. The product may be a food, toy, cell phone or even a larger item like a riding mower. Whatever the case, you will need to manage the new product market survey from start to finish. Think of potential questions you can ask consumers about your new product. Find out if your customers like the taste of a new chicken meal, for example, if you run a restaurant. Ask customers if they are satisfied with the price of the new chicken meal.

Instructions

1. Choose a method for conducting your surveys, including by phone, mail or via the Internet. Use phone surveys for the quickest and most reliable results.

2. Speak with other managers in various departments, such as product management, advertising, engineering and finance. Ask these managers what types of questions they want to ask customers about the new product. Take notes so you, as the market researcher, can decide how to best phrase the questions.

3. Hire a market research company if you need assistance in conducting the survey, as these professionals have the available people and tools. Hire a pool of temporary workers for the survey, or ask other employees to help you make the calls.

4. Create a questionnaire for your new product market research survey. Include mostly closed-ended questions at the beginning of the questionnaire, providing customers with a list of possible responses. Ask, for example, how likely customers are to purchase the new product. Provide responses in advance such as "very likely," "somewhat likely," "neither," "somewhat unlikely" or "very unlikely." Write in some closed-ended questions at the end of the questionnaire so customers can respond as they wish. Keep your questionnaire limited to about five minutes so customers will stay on the phone.

5. Allow the other managers to review the questionnaire before finalizing it. Tweak your questionnaire as needed, then print the final copy of the questionnaire.

6. Obtain a list of customers through your customer database, especially if you maintain such a list as a high-tech company, for example. Plan to call customers randomly with a phone book if you do not maintain a list of customers. Talk to both non-customer consumers and customers, as you will need to reach current customers for the survey.

7. Train your temporary employees or surveyors how to make the calls. Instruct your surveyors to randomly call customers from a list or phone book. Tell the surveyors to call every third person, for example, to give every customer an equal chance of being called.

8. Manage the calling process. Conduct a total of at least 300 surveys so the results are more representative of your total customer base.

9. Tabulate the results of your surveys or calculate the results. Use tabulation software to make your calculations. Analyze the data tables or final output to determine how well customers like the idea of the new product.

References

• Free Management Library: Market Research
• Colorado State University: Types of Questions
• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Market and Survey Researchers
• The Business Research Lab: The Science of Sampling - Telephone Samples