General practices and methodologies in industrial market research

In China, understanding of industrial market research varies among research providers of different types and backgrounds and this determines the methodologies used to carry out research. Generally speaking, there are two schools of methodology in China. One school is represented by research providers who understand industrial market research as industrial market intelligence. They boast their close links with government officials, industry associations, key suppliers or access to sources of information not available from published sources. As a result, much of the research effort is devoted to 'ploughing' insider information or statistics, and the research conclusions are constructed on the basis of documenting the findings of the 'ploughing' efforts. The advantages of such methodology are that the information documented can be systematic in terms of time series and official in terms of information sources. They can be of good value as a benchmark study, or for the understanding of less dynamic markets, but may not be good enough for an assessment of market opportunities.

The second school concentrates on an interactive and cross-checking approach and obtains research findings through systematically designed research planning. This does not exclude 'ploughing' secondary information from both published and unpublished sources, but also builds into the research process a series of interactive and cross-checking interviews along the value chain of a particular market. Secondary information is used as a benchmark for the truth-seeking efforts and validated in the process of interviews. The interviews do not only focus on hard facts such as production, market size , terms of sales and logistical issues, but also on market dynamics such as general business mood, level of confidence in future outlook, comments on development targets set forth by supervising authorities, role of market specifiers in determining future market trends, the likely impact of inter-material competition and perceived market drivers. The interview process will demand highly skilled interviewers with sufficient understanding of the industry. Interview findings and conclusions drawn from them not only provide insights into the market, but also establish accountability in the assessment of market opportunities.