Marketing is the process of identifying consumers' needs and wants as well as advertising, promoting and selling a product or service.

To find out if a product or service will be successful a company will use market research. Market research is the process of gathering information on customers’ needs and wants.

Companies can carry out market research by:

• online surveys
• postal surveys
• telephone surveys
• face-to-face interviews
• observation

Information gathered from market research can be used for many purposes:

• To provide information on how much customers are willing to pay for a product. This means the product or service can be sold for the best price.
• To provide information about competitors, such as their special offers and pricing strategies.
• To confirm where and when customers require the service.This ensures the company provides the goods or services at the time and place that customers need it.
• To reduce risk to the business. They can use market research to make sure there is demand for their product or service before they launch it.
• To provide information on whether people like the product. This means changes can be made to the product to meet the needs of the customer.
• To provide the information needed to develop new versions of the product.
• To provide the company with information on what products customers might want in the future