While primary research is more time-consuming and expensive, sometimes it’s the only way to get the information you need. All market research falls into one of two buckets: primary or secondary research. Market research firms often use specific questions to gather feedback on a new advertising campaign, or to refine a planned new product. Secondary market research, on the other hand, involves doing research to find out about what other people have learned from their research - for instance, doing market sizing and analysis by reading analyst reports is a type of secondary market research. The research employs techniques like – surveys, interviews, field tests, observation, and so on. Primary market research is a customized research technique to pull data directly from the sources or potential customers of a company. Primary research is extremely important for businesses or organizations because it helps them to gather first-hand information about the needs of the market. One can decide to go for primary market research if he feels that the data available from secondary sources is not fulfilling his requirements. Primary market research can be quantitative or qualitative in nature. The research is carried out after getting some knowledge from the secondary sources (eg. Primary market research is research data that is collected first-hand for a specific research purpose. Jim co-founded tutor2u alongside his twin brother Geoff! The findings from primary research provide great insights and they usually inform product development and similar changes in organizational policies. govt surveys or surveys by other companies). Primary Market Research Tools. Pros and cons of primary vs secondary research. Primary vs. secondary research. Just like secondary market research, the best primary research method for each individual project is determined by the research questions that need to be answered. Every market research method, whether it is categorized as a primary or secondary method, has positive aspects and drawbacks. The most common primary research tools are: Surveys. While the two differ in how they’re conducted and the type of questions they can answer, it is important to note that they are not mutually exclusive. Primary Market Research Methods. Primary market research is different from secondary market research in that you do your own research that will answer questions you pose.