Market Research

Correct Answer: Sending out surveys to understand why customers prefer the competitor

To analyze the situation where a product is losing market share to a new competitor, the project manager should choose a method that provides insights into customer preferences, market trends, and the competitive landscape. Among the options provided: 1. Performing a SWOT analysis is a strategic approach that can help in understanding the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to the product and the market. This method can offer a comprehensive view of the internal and external factors affecting the product's position in the market. It can help identify areas for improvement and potential strategies to counteract the competitor's influence. However, it might not provide direct insights into why customers prefer the competitor's product. 2. Focusing on advertising to overshadow the competitor might increase the product's visibility in the short term, but it doesn't address the underlying reasons for losing market share. This approach might not be sustainable in the long run if the product itself or its value proposition does not meet customer needs as effectively as the competitor's offering. 3. Sending out surveys to understand why customers prefer the competitor can provide direct feedback from the market. This method allows the project manager to gather specific insights into customer preferences, dislikes about the current product, and reasons for choosing the competitor's product. It can help in identifying areas for improvement and tailoring the product or marketing strategies to better meet customer needs. 4. Interviewing employees of the competitor might not be ethical or feasible and could lead to legal issues. Additionally, employees may not be willing to share competitive insights, and the information obtained might not be reliable or comprehensive enough to base strategic decisions on. Given these considerations, sending out surveys to understand why customers prefer the competitor appears to be the best option. This method directly addresses the issue of losing market share by gathering actionable insights from the customers themselves, which can then be used to make informed decisions to improve the product and regain market share.

Correct Answer: Focus groups with potential customers

The best research method for understanding potential market segments and factors influencing customer behavior would be 'Focus groups with potential customers.' This method allows the project manager to gather qualitative information directly from potential customers which can be insightful for decision making. Looking at competitors' advertising strategies, while useful, primarily gives competitive intelligence but does not directly reveal much about customer segments and their preferences. Asking existing customers about their personal favorite products can offer valuable data for current products but may provide limited insights on new or unexplored market segments. Lastly, using Google Analytics to identify traffic sources can reveal where visitors are coming from but does not necessarily explain their motivation or factors influencing their behavior.

Correct Answer: Conducting an online search for competitors' market reports

The best method to understand the market landscape better is by conducting an online search for competitors' market reports. This method provides the project manager with a wealth and diversity of secondary data quickly and efficiently. On the other hand, sending out surveys to potential customers, while useful for collecting primary data, would not necessarily provide information on competitors. Interviewing the CEO of competitor companies, aside from being potentially impractical or unfeasible, also may not yield a complete or unbiased picture of the market. Introducing a new product without research is a high risk strategy that does not involve any data collection at all and therefore would not fulfill the project manager's need to understand the market landscape better.