Market research reports are required in almost every field; be it retail, information technology, insurance or energy. Market research can be defined as the planning, collection and analysis of data collected on the market. Market data helps the company to analyze the market intensively and decide upon its new product. To decide upon the feasibility of the marketing plan, it is important that appropriate marketing tools are used.

If the company has a thorough knowledge about the factors that affect the target market and marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion), management can be practical rather than imprudent. An intelligent marketer will view threat as an opportunity.

There are two types of researches; primary and secondary, on the basis of which market research reports, are prepared. The company must use both these types o research for best results.

Secondary research refers to collecting data and other information that has already been published once. This data could be the company's database. It could act as the initial step of the research to carry out situation analysis, identify its competitors, define segments that it wants to target, perform a benchmark strategy and simultaneously define segments that it wants to target in terms of usage rate, demographics, population, behavioral patterns, and lifestyle.

Primary research refers to the collection of first hand data. This enables the company to gather information about its existing as well as prospective consumer base. It will help the company to launch and improve the existing products according to the demand and needs of the customer. Market research will also help the company to know the consumer behavior towards their product, and at the same time make it aware of the market standing of its competitors.

Marketing experts broadly use two data collecting methods. These methods are vital for the preparation of market research report. The two categories, in which the data collecting methods are classified, are qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative methods use mathematical analysis, which reveal statistically significant difference. Qualitative method on the other hand includes all the aspects other than the quantitative analysis.

The number of people that the company is interviewing must be large enough to encompass the various aspects of the market and diversified consumer behavior. Until the company has a correct overview of the market and consumer behavior, it will be unsuccessful in fulfilling the needs of the people.