In order to answer this task, I will suggest methods of how Greggs can improve the validity of the information gathered from primary and secondary research.
First I will briefly explain the different types of information that Greggs could gather for market research.
Primary Research
Primary data is when you collect and gather the data first hand in the form of a questionnaire, survey, telephone or interview. This data is specific to the company and did not exist beforehand. Sometimes referred to as field research.
Advantages;
Specific to the needs of the company
Collected for a purpose, Applicable
It is up to date and reliable
Disadvantages;
Expensive to gather
Time consuming to gather and process
Not immediately available/accessible
Secondary Research
With secondary data, it has already been collected by someone else and is available to your company through books, internet, statistics, accounts or independent forecasting groups. Sometimes referred to as desk research.
Advantages;
Inexpensive
Easily accessible
Can be used to predict financial problems
Disadvantages;
Quickly becomes out-dated
Not specific or applicable
Unreliable
Choosing the type of research
So which type of data is better for Greggs; Primary or Secondary? In order to make an informed decision, they would need a mix of these types to get good valid research. However there are advantages and disadvantages to both methods. Primary data is good because; it is specific to the needs of Greggs so it can be used for a purpose or used to answer a specific question and it is up to date. Also, this data was collected by Greggs and for Greggs alone. This would give them a competitive edge over other organisations because they do not have access to the same information. Primary information can be expensive to gather and it is not easily accessible once gathered. It needs to be processed so it can be