Today’s consumers are well aware of the products and services available in the market and have adequate purchasing power. Therefore, it is very crucial to understand the consumer mindset and behaviour to effectively market theirproducts or services and boost the sales.

A Market consultant or a market research firm in KSA analyses consumer behaviour and economic trends about thetarget audience through collection of the following information

• Demographics: Gender, age, income, family, interests
• Demand: The desire for the product or service offered
• Size of the market: Number of people interested in the product or service offered
• Economic indicators: Income range and rate of employment
• Location: Consumer location
• Competition: Competitors in the market for product or service offered
• Pricing: Price of alternatives

However, a market consultant or a market research firm in Saudi Arabia has to consider the following points too beforejumping into the market:

1. Consumer base has to be built from scratch. The experience of the competitors will give them a better
2. Sample taken for market research does not represent the attitude of the entire market

A market consultant or a market research firm in KSA takes on an extensive market research and analysis and helps indevising strategies to improve the marketing operations and provides recommendations to the company. The market consultant gathers market-related information and identify the market potential for the particular product or service anddevelops specific strategies and marketing techniques that comply with the company’s goals.

Benefits of market research in Saudi Arabia 

• Understanding target audience and existing customers.
• Knowing the competitors.
• Trend in the industry
• Built up of the market and the challenges
• Market influence for purchases and conversions
• Consumer attitudes on a product or service
• Eliminates bias and assumptions

Types of market research in KSA:

There are two types of market research

1. Primary Research – In this type of research, the consultant gathers first-hand information about the market and the establishes the buyer personas for your business by segmenting the market in the following ways:
   1. Exploratory Primary Research – Exploratory Primary Research is majorly concerned with facing thepotential problems that would This involves open-ended interviews or surveys with a small samplefrom the market population.
   2. Specific Primary Research – Specific primary market research helps the business with the existing identified issues in the market for the particular product or service. Here, the business can take aspecific segment of its target audience and ask questions relevant to the identified problem.

2. Secondary Research – This type of research is concerned with the data and public records at disposal from which conclusions could be drawn. Secondary research is very useful in particularly analyzing the competition for the product or service. The following is a list from where information could be gathered
   1. Public Sources – Census Data etc.
   2. Commercial Sources – Market reports etc.
   3. Internal Sources – Historical data available within the organisation etc.

Methods of market research in Saudi Arabia:

 Direct research is always time consuming and expensive but the most effective way of market research since it caters to thespecifics like the appeal of the logo design, alternatives, customer satisfaction etc. Listed below are the methods throughwhich market research is carried out:

1. Interviews – Face-to-face discussions with the ultimate consumer provides the space for detailed understanding oftheir tastes, likes and dislikes etc using which the buyer personas can be definitively captured and this will help inshaping the marketing strategy.
2. Focus Groups – These are groups that provide ideas for product differentiation in the quality or make of the productthat will attract the target These groups consist of hand picked people who will test the product, watchdemo of the product, give feedback etc.
3. Utility Research – The product utility offers the most advantage to all segments of It offers insight into why and how the consumers use the product and which specific features attract them into buying the product.
4. Target audience Research – The target audience research is the most important research that has to be carried outin defining the Buyer persona that is built up in the market for the specific product or service.
5. Market Segmentation Research – This research gives a realistic look of the customer segments in the market that focuses on your product, their tastes, likes, wants, and desires, the challenges that will be faced in meeting those requirements etc.
6. Pricing Research – This research gives an idea of the price of alternatives or substitutes available in the marketand helps in coming up with an estimate for the product It gives information on the purchasing power available with the target audience which will help in determining the pricing strategy.
7. Competitive Analysis – This is the most valuable research as it gives a deep understanding of the existingcompetition in the market and helps in learning the effective strategies that have been implemented for substitutes or alternatives. This enables in defining a clear marketing strategy and enforcing product placement to boost the sales.
8. Customer Loyalty Research – Customer loyalty research gives an idea about the customer satisfaction and howloyal they are to the existing brands available in the This helps in framing up of loyalty programs andreward points etc. to retain customers and to maintain the same level of customer satisfaction.
9. Brand Awareness Research – Equally important research to the customer loyalty research is the Brand awareness This tells about what the target audience know about and how they perceive the brand. This has more to do with analyzing their psychological association with a particular brand.
10. Campaign Research – This research entails looking into the existing advertising campaigns and analyzing thesuccess rate amongst the target audience and existing Campaign research is all about experimentationand then analyzing the campaign appeal to the target audience and figuring out the elements which help inachieving success for the campaign.

Steps in market research in KSA:

1. Study of audience mix – The market consists of different buyer personalities with each one having their own uniqueneeds, tastes and Without studying these various personalities, commonly known as “Buyer persona”, stepping into the market and launching the product is highly risky. This step enables us to form a clear anddefinitive marketing strategy with the information gathered based on the below listed data:
   1. Age
   2. Gender
   3. Location
   4. Occupation
   5. Marital status
   6. Income
   7. Other challenges

   This knowledge gained by the market consultant is applied into developing an effective marketing strategy that willhelp in achieving a clear-cut sales target with the least efforts. This will in turn push the product into the market verysmoothly since the need for the product is already analyzed.

2. Identify target audience – The target audience is the customers to whom the product is focussed Whether itis a specific or general product, depends on the target audience. These are the ideal customers buying in after theproduct launch. They are the prospective customers and will help in visualizing the regular sales flow.
3. Prepare research questions – On identifying the target audience, the next step is to prepare the researchquestions Applying the interview and focus group methods discussed above, information is to be gathered catering to the specific requirements which will help in the effective marketing of the product.
4. List down competitors – Keeping in mind, the competition to face is the biggest factor in market This plays a major role in understanding the alternatives and substitutes available for the product and knowing thecompeting brands and the customer loyalty they have.
5. Summarize findings – This is the final step in market research. The goal is to summarize and write down all the findings till now and build it up into a report stating the target audience, competitors etc clearly so it acts as a guidebook handy to refer for all the future campaigns and setting up of marketing strategy.