Unit 8 Markets and Prices

Market Research

Millions of pounds are spent each year on market research. Nearly 10% of the price we pay for goods in the shops is spent on it.

What is market research? By definition, it is a systematic collection and analysis of data, which is based on the customer’s attitude, needs, opinions and motivation within the context of political, economic and social influences. Market research is always necessary, because to reduce risk, any organization needs to know about the market for a product or service it is going to launch.

Market research makes a positive contribution to business by helping in the decision-making process. There are many different types of market research. Here are the main ones:

1. Market and sales research. It estimates the size of new markets and their potential growth, identifies market segments and trends.

2. Product research. Its purpose is to investigate the customer’s attitude to new products, to find alternative uses for existing products and to generate new ideas for new products.

3. Research on promotion and advertising. It helps to choose the right advertising medium, analyses the effectiveness of advertising and evaluates present sales techniques.

The market research process is a five-step application of the scientific method that includes:

1. Defining the problem.

2. Analyzing the situation.

3. Getting the necessary data.

4. Processing the data.

5. Solving the problem.

As for the information a marketing researcher is interested in, there exist its 3 main sources:

1. Information within the company, such as sales figures, is known as internal information.

2. Information external to the company, such as government reports or published marketing reports, is known as secondary information.

3. The third information source, often characterized by market research opinion polls, is known as primary information.

Notes:

launch – выпускать на рынок (товар или услугу)

Unit 9 Factors of Production

Labour

Labour, in economics, is some effort necessary to satisfy human needs. It is one of the three leading elements in production, the other two being land (natural objects) and capital.

In industry, labour has a great variety of functions, which may be classified as follows: production of raw materials, as in mining and agriculture; manufacturing in the widest sense of the word, or transformation of raw materials into objects serviceable to humans; distribution, or transference of useful objects from one place to another, as determined by human needs; operations involved in the management of production, such as accounting and clerical work; and personal services such as those rendered by physicians and teachers.

Many economists distinguish between productive and unproductive labour. Productive labour consists of those kinds of exertion that produce utility embodied in natural objects. Unproductive labour, like that of the musician, is useful but does not add to the material wealth of the community. As a result of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century, most workers were employed in large factories and similar undertakings. Those workers were not protected from economic exploitation or from the consequences of illness, disability, or unemployment. In the early decades of the 19th century, increasingly prevalent ideas of freedom caused great changes in the conditions of labour. Workers began to form trade unions and cooperative societies that enabled them to participate in many types of political activities and to protect themselves by political and economic means. Laws for the regulation of labour are now intended not to fix wages as formerly, but to protect the workers.

Notes:

raw – сырьевой

exertion – усилие, физическая нагрузка

utility – польза, полезность

conditions – условия