Difference between Market Research and Marketing Research

Key Difference: Market research is a subset of marketing research. Marketing Research has a much larger scope as it deals with conducting research about the product, as well as consumer preferences; whereas, market research just deals with collecting the information about the market.

Marketing Research

Market Research and Marketing Research are often used interchangeably, and in some contexts they are, especially for a person outside of the industry. However, within the industry, the two terms are quite different. The terms are often confusing because they are similar in nature. They both are also an integral part of marketing, which means that they both occur before the sale of the product or service. Nevertheless, in technicality, market research is a subset of marketing research.

Marketing Research has a much larger scope as it deals with conducting research about the product, as well as consumer preferences; whereas, market research just deals with collecting the information about the market.

Marketing Research encompasses researching into new products, modes of distribution, and product development. Depending on the context used, it can also include promotion research, pricing, advertising and public relations. It has a much larger scope and hence can be used to decide on a marketing strategy. It focuses on all areas of marketing, including product research, packaging research, pricing research, market research, sales research, etc. Marketing Research can be utilized for solving marketing decision, for taking marketing policies, as well as to select marketing channels, advertising agency, sales promotion measures, etc.

Market Research, on the other hand, deals with getting the information about the customer, competition and the industry in general. It deals with collecting data about the market, market competition, market trends, market demand and supply, etc. It aims to answer the questions such as ‘What to sell?’, ‘Where to sell?’, ‘When to sell?’, and ‘How much to sell?’.

Furthermore, Marketing Research also tends to be much more technical, systematic, scientific, and objective than Market Research.

Comparison between Market Research and Marketing Research:

	Market Research	Marketing Research
Definition	Market research is used to collect the information about the market.	Marketing research is in which the entire study of the marketing process is conducted.
Purpose	Getting information about place–customer, competition and the industry in general.	Getting information about product and consumer preferences.
Scope	More narrow concept because it is research focused on a specific market. Collects data about market, market competition, market trends, market demand and supply, etc. It also does sales forecasting, as well as estimates the demand for new products. It also fixes sales territories and sales quotas.	Marketing Research has a much broader scope. It includes research into new products, modes of distribution, and product development. It can also include promotion research, pricing, advertising and public relations.
Focus	Focuses only on place, i.e. a specific segment or market.	Focuses on product, price, place, and promotion to identify and understand consumer preferences.
Objective	Study the entire market, i.e. its nature, size, location, demand potential, etc. Fix sales territories and sales quotas.	Solve the marketing problems. Find out present and future marketing opportunities.