Introduction: In this task I will describe how Apple uses market research tocontribute to the making of its marketing plans and also explain thelimitations of the market research used to contribute to the making of themaking plans for Apple. I will also make and justify three recommendations forimproving the validity of the marketing research used to contribute to themaking of the marketing plans for Apple/What is marketing research?Marketing research is a systematic, collecting, recording and analysis of data about the matters relating to the marketing product and services. This research identifies the problem areas in a business or organisation. This research may also help a business understand the needs of current and new customers and why they chose a specific service over competitors (For example why a customer chose Apple instead of Samsung). Moreover, this research can also help reveal the main aspects of the competitors’ products, marketing strategies, services and target audience. So by using this information within businesses it can help to lead in the market over other competitors and add value to the business.Why doesApple use Marketing Research?Apple uses marketing research to improve their products bygetting customer feedback and they also try to keep a good relationship withtheir customers by pleasing them and keeping them up to date with theirproducts and informing them if there’s any new updates available for them. Marketing Planning:A marketingplan is a broad document or design that outlines a business advertising andmarketing efforts for the upcoming year. This plan describes businessactivities involved in completing specific marketing objectives within a specifictime period.Apple usesmarketing planning while producing new products for their current targetmarkets. By having a marketing planning it helps Apple stay organised and makequick decisions. It also helps the brand meet their tasks and deadlines and italso helps them create everything.Understanding customers:Understandingcustomers is important for a business, this is because they are the people whoare buying the products from a brand and they are the reason behind why abusiness becomes successful. Appleunderstanding Customers:Appleunderstands their customers by getting customer feedback and by gettingcustomer feedback they get the opportunity to improve their products by releasinga new product or by updating their IOS. So by making changes on their productsApple understands their customers’ needs as they adapt to their needs and wantswhich attracts more new customers into their store. If Apple did not listen tothe feedback and suggestions from the customers then the customers would notpurchase their products which would create a big loss for the business as theywouldn’t be making any money if customers didn’t purchase their products. Thisis why it is important to understand the research from the market research sothey would be making much more money as a company. Understanding competitors: Understandingcompetitors is also important for the business. This is so they can competewith their competitor’s price wise and software wise to make sure that they arethe best company within the category which in this case is Apple. Appleunderstanding their competitors:Apple competeswith brands like Samsung. Apple and Samsung both look at each other’s sales andthe products that they launch. They both try to compete each other by havingsimilar price ranges and getting out similar products. For example Apple andSamsung both have a smart watch. The Apple one is known as the ‘Apple Watch’and the Samsung one is known as the ‘Samsung Gear S3’Understanding market environment:Understanding themarket environment is also important as it would help businesses during themarket research. During market research businesses have to analyse its externalenvironments. A useful way to do this is by using a SWOT Analysis. Thisanalysis observes the relationship between a business and as well as itsmarketing environment. SWOT analysis stands for:Strength: This refers to the advantages of the business andalso the internal features of the business/organisation. This could be thelocation of the business or how well a business advertises their products.Weakness: This refers to the disadvantages of the businessand also the internal aspects of the business/organisation. This could be theamount of sales a business is making or the poor quality of products andservices that a business have launched or produced.Opportunities: This focuses on the developments of anorganisation. This could include the business moving into a new market segmentsor new territories for a service or product.Threats: This refers to the competitors which may beaffecting a certain business as they may not be doing well with selling theirproducts as their competitors are taking away their customers as they may havegood price ranges and good offers available for customers. Threats refers tothe damage in a business or organisation. This could include taxation which maybe introduced on a product or service or a competitor has a new product orservice.Apples MarketEnvironment:Apple SWOT analysis:Apple’s Strengths– Apple has launched many different products such as IPhone, IPad, IPod, MacBook and even an Apple watch ‘IWatch’ they have given many opportunities for their customers as there are a variety of different products for the customers to purchase. The have come up with everything a person may want and desire. Apple is one ofthe most valued brand in the world. Their brand value in 2016 was $228.46billion whereas now in 2017 the brand value is $234.67 billion. This shows thattheir brand value has increased by 6.21 % within one year.Whenever Applealways designs its products they focus on their consumers. By getting feedbackfrom them they are always relating back to their consumers and how they’dprefer their new products. This is why Apple has become successful as they arealways thinking about their customers and are always caring about theirhappiness. Customers like to be satisfied with products which Apple certainlydoes do as they get a lot of customers purchasing from them.Apple has alsobranded and advertised their company well. Apple is one of the most well-knownbrand world-wide which shows that they have caught everyone’s attention andhave advertised their brand very well. If Apple didn’t advertise themselvesproperly then they wouldn’t be as successful and popular as they are currently.Apple’s Weakness– One of Apples weakness is that their prices for their phones are much more expensive than their competitor Samsung. Apples latest IPhone 8 64GB is £699.00 and the IPhone 8 Plus 64GB is £799.00. Whereas the Samsung’s latest phone which is the Samsung S8 64GB is £669.00 and Samsung S8+ 64 GB is £779.00. This shows that the Samsung’s phone price ranges are cheaper and much more affordable than Apple, this is a weakness for Apple as not everyone likes to spend a lot of money which makes them step back when it comes to purchasing an IPhone.Apple’s Opportunities– since Apple has become very popular and successful over the years the company now want to expand even more by launching their own car line. They think that they are almost ready to start something completely new which will get new customers into their company. This will attract people who are interested in cars and who are also looking into buying a new car. Apple now is hooked on ‘Apple Car’ which is supposed to be launching in 2020. Just how Apple are doing well by selling Iphones, IPad, IPod and MacBook’s Apple also thinks that they will do well or are hoping to do well when launching their own car line. Apple’s Threats– Apples laptop MacBook has competition between Dell, Sony and Lenovo. This is because they are all very successful and popular laptop companies which are used and purchased by many different consumers. Apple does try their best to keep ahead of the game by launching different MacBook’s to get more customers as it is a popular laptop in terms of Apple but so does Dell, Sony and Lenovo. They all also get out new versions of their laptops just as Apple does with their MacBook’s. This is a threat for Apple because sometimes when they try to be ahead of the game other brands such as Dell, Sony and Lenovo end up being on the same level as Apple which makes it difficult for Apple to compete with them and be ahead.This also goesfor their IPhones as IPhones are the only phones which are from Apple whereasSamsung, HTC and Sony are from Android. Apple tries their best to stay uniqueand beat Android by coming out with new software’s but when Android see thatApple has come out with a new Software they also end up creating a similar andtry to create a better software than Apple. This again is another threat toApple as they want to compete with Android.Qualitative Research:Qualitativeresearch is subjective and is often open-ended. This type of research involvessurveys, interviews and questionnaires. Qualitative research focuses onbehaviour, opinions and intentions.Apple uses thistype of research by producing online questionnaires and surveys for theirconsumers to take part in. They look at the responses to see the thoughts and opinionsof different people and put them in use when launching something new.Quantitative Research:Quantitativeresearch focuses on figures and statistics. It often relates to number andfigures related to sales data, market value but it can include responses fromcustomers. This type of data can be used to measure products on a weekly basisand it can also be used to track prices across different brands. This type ofresearch can also estimate market shares of competing brands and can estimatemarket share segments. Apple uses thisresearch as they look at figures of different sales made by different companiesand brands. They look at how much profit and customers their competitors aregetting and how they can beat them and make more sales and profits than them(e.g. Samsung). They also use this type of research to find out of people liketheir products and services. What is Primary research?Primaryresearch is information and data that businesses collect first-handed. This canbe through interviews, focus groups, exit surveys and questionnaires. This isknown as external primary research data. Internal primary research datainclude: sale figures for a business’s own products and customer data held ondatabase. The four mainprimary research are:surveys, observations, interviews, focus groups How Apple uses Primary Research:Appleuses surveys to get customer feedback and improve on their products. Currentlyon their website Apple has a ‘Market Research Survey Feedback’ where they havehired ‘outside market research’ to encourage customers to take part in thesurvey. This will give the customers a chance to give feedback on theirexperience with Apple and if there are any issues which may need fixing. Appletakes customer feedback very seriously and they try their best to resolve theissue as soon as possible as they don’t want to disappoint their customers.They rely on their customers to help them with changing and improving theirproducts. This primary research helps Apple understand their customers as they maymention the areas of a product that might need improvements. So by seeing whatthe customers have given as feedback Apple may try their best to meet thosestandards but at the same time look at their competitors such as Samsung andhow they are performing in terms of their product selling and also looking attheir reviews. Apple may launch a new product and might try to find outinformation about Samsung, to see if they are going to be launching anythingnew and if so then what products. They do this to be ahead of the game and makea better product.Surveys is a type of qualitative research as surveys often tend to have open-ended questions. This is also a qualitative data as they are looking for improvements for products and services.Applealso uses questionnaires to get responses and feedback from different peoplefrom different age groups. The questionnaire is on a website called ‘SurveyMonkey’ and the questions are based on what people prefer and what do they usethe phones for. By doing this questionnaire it gives an overview of what peoplelike and how and why they use their products. It also mentions which type ofproducts they prefer in terms of Apple products such as IPod, IPad, IPhone orMacBook. By doing this it will show which products are more popular and aremore in use. This primary research helps Apple recognise their most popularproducts. They are able to see which products people prefer more and whichproducts are purchased more often. By seeing which products are more popular itmay help Apple to continue producing those products as that’s what thecustomers may want. By seeing what the customers want it helps Apple understandthem better. It also helps understand their competitors as Apple may look whatproducts the Samsung customers prefer and which of their products are mostpopular. This type of research is also a qualitative research as it again hasopen-ended questions and they are again looking for answers which mentionsimprovements for Apple. But this type of research can also be quantitative databut it depends on the way the data is collected in the end. If they may somesort of a chart or a type of data for each question then it will includenumerical numbers which will make it a quantitative data.What is Secondary Research?Secondary researchuses information and data that already exists and that has already beencollected before. Secondary research includes: Previousmarketing researchReportsfrom sales WebsitesNewspapersand booksCensusdata and public recordsHow Appleuses secondary research:Appleuses secondary research such as previous marketing research to improve on theirproducts. They use old information and old data to come up with new ideas fortheir new launching products. By looking at previous research they’re able tosee what their consumers prefers In terms of their products and what areasneeds improvements. Apple looks at previous market research as they still wantto continue their bond that they have between their customers, so if they arenot paying attention or reading their customer feedback while launching newproducts then they may lose customers as they won’t be pleasing them andkeeping them satisfied. Customers like to be heard and they feel happy whenbrands launch a product up to their standards as they are meeting customerneeds. If apple doesn’t do this then they will be losing customers and alsolosing the relationship between them. This is why it’s important to look backat previous researches as it can help brands like Apple improve their productsand become more successful and well-known. By looking at this type ofresearch it helps the company understand their customers better as the researchmay include different source of data and information and it may also mentionreviews of the products and what is lacking in the product or what people mightexpect in the next launching products. This research also helps understandtheir competitors because they can read the previous market research from othercompanies and brands such as Samsung. By reading market research from othercompanies it can give Apple ideas and a heads up of what they are should be andare going expecting from other brands and companies.This type of research isquantitative research as it includes numbers and figures from previousresearch. Apple would be looking at the figures of the market research and lookfor rooms for improvements for the upcoming years.Applealso uses reports from sales when they need to see how well they are doing interms of making sales and profits and then comparing themselves with theircompetitors such as Samsung. By looking at report sales it gives the Apple Companya realistic amount that they are making and how much more or less they aremaking than other companies and brands. By looking at reports from sales itallows Apple to continue making more sales as we already know that Apple is oneof the well-known brand and they are a very successful company so by seeingtheir own sale figures it may boost their confidence and may make them want tocontinue what they are currently doing. Moreover by looking at sales Apple willbe able to see where they are losing out in money and they’d also be able tosee which product is making them successful and which product is most popular.This type of research can help Apple understand their customers as they can seehow many people are purchasing their products and how many are purchasingwithin a day, month or year. This type of research can also help Appleunderstand their competitors as they can see the amount of sales they’veproduced which can help Apple plan ahead. Reports are a type ofquantitative research as it again may include figures and statistics fromprevious years which gives a realistic overview of the brand and othercompanies.Applealso uses websites where they read and catch up on how their competitors aredoing. They can also see how they themselves are doing as a business as thereare a lot of websites where people compare Apple and Samsung products andprices together. Apple may read up on the comments on what people think ofdifferent products, this may give Apple an idea of what improvement that shouldbe made in terms of product features or price ranges of the products.        By getting information from websites ithelps Apple understand their customers as a lot of people do give reviews oftheir products online and it also helps them understand their competitors aspeople may also give reviews of other different products from other brands andalso might give their own perspective as an ‘Apple’ or ‘Android’ user whichagain would give Apple an idea of how they could improve their service andproducts.Websites is also a type ofquantitative research as it contains facts, figure and numbers for other brandsand companies to see and read through. By having facts and figures on a websiteit makes it reliable and believable but only if the information is up to date. Limitations of market researchWhat is limitations?Limitations are thedisadvantages of market research and market planning which avoid companies fromcarrying out effective research.The limitation of Primary Research in Apple:Surveys:This type of research is useful for any data and this type of data is mainlyprimary data but it can also be secondary, qualitative and quantitative data.An advantage of this type of research is that you can get a quick response frompeople/customers.One limitation of this typeof research in Apple is that it can be time consuming. Making, planning andpreparing surveys can take up a lot of time and effort for the company to create.It is also a long process to organise and set up especially if it’s done as anonline survey. If Apple want to create surveys for their customers then theymust do accurate research for it be valid.Another limitation of thistype of research is that customers may not understand the questions provided inthe survey if it’s done online so they might leave it out as they might nothave anyone there to explain it to them. Also some customers may not want toanswer specific questions due to their own personal reasons.Questionnaires:This type of research is also useful for any data and this type of research is mainlyprimary research as the information is first handed but it can also besecondary, qualitative and quantitative data. An advantage of this type ofresearch is that it’s first-handed information One limitation of this typeof research is that it’s expensive to produce and it is also time consuming.Collecting data for this type ofresearch cost a lot of money which may cost a lot for Apple as marketers needbe involved throughout this step and it’s their duty to plan everything.Another limitation of thistype of research is that the customers might lie while answering the questionswhich may make the research quite unreliable as they are not telling the truth.This would mean that Apple may not be getting honest reviews and answers whichis what they intended to want.The limitation of Secondary Research in Apple:Previous Market Research: Thistype of research is useful for any data but especially for brands, companiesand organisations. It helps them improve their products and services by lookingat their previous market research which can help them step forward. This typeof research is mainly secondary research as the data has old research which alsomay have facts and figures included. This is also a secondary data as it’s nota first handed information. One limitation of this typeof research is that the previous information might have been inaccurate andthere may have been some errors. This means that if the information isinaccurate and has errors then it would make the previous research not validand would become falseReports from sales: Thistype of research is useful for retail companies and businesses who are lookingto improve their brand or business. By looking at sale reports it will show thewhere their weakness is at. One limitation of this typeof research is that it may be difficult to access this type of information asit may be limited. Also sometimes the sale figures can be wrong which canaffect the business to make new improvements.Another limitation of thistype of research is that expensive to create the reports in order for people toread them. Websites: Thistype of research is useful for all types of data. Anyone can read websites andsearch for different information’s. Business and brands use websites to read upon their competitors and know what people think of their business. This type ofresearch is mainly secondary research but it can also be quantitative researchas it may include numerical numbers and important figures.One limitation of this typeof research is that the information uploaded on the website may not be up todate so if a company such as Apple is reading information about theircompetitors then they may be reading old information and may take that as theirlatest information.Another limitation of thistype of research is that anyone can upload or write information about differentbrands and companies so those means that this source is not always reliable asanyone can write and upload anything.     The limitations of Qualitative Research:Onelimitation of this type of research is that professionals are needed to carryout this research. This may cost Apple money to find the right person to dothis task. This may also take a lot of time for the professionals to do theirresearch and thus this will effect Apple.Another limitation of thistype of research is that it is time consuming. Preparing and researching forquestionnaires and surveys may take a lot of time and effort to arrange.     The limitations of Quantitative Research:Onelimitation of this type of research is that it leads to limited results drawnin the research scheme as the questions in the questionnaires may beclosed-ended questions. So the results may not always represent the actualoccurring, in a general method. Moreover, the respondents may have limitedoptions of responses, made on the selection made by the researchersAnother limitation of thistype of research is that it usually involves a big sample size. But due to thelack of resources this significant research turn out to be difficult.Get Help With Your EssayIf you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!Find out more