Market research is a cost-effective way of finding out what people think, want, need or do. Normally it is information unavailable elsewhere. Businesses use market research to help them produce goods and services in line with their customers' needs, and to evaluate the success of marketing strategies. Most successful organisations recognise that inadequate research significantly increases the risk of failure in the marketplace.

Social and Government bodies also use market research to gauge public opinion, as an input to policy generation or to measure the success of Government communication campaigns.

Market research is effective because by talking to or measuring a relatively small number of people you can find out about a much larger group. However, it only works if the people are representative of the total group of interest, if the right questions are asked, and if the answers are interpreted correctly. For this reason, research needs to be conducted by skilled and experienced practitioners who can design, conduct and deliver information and insight to their customers.