Market research has become an indispensable tool in today’s marketing of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. The basic assumption is lack of knowledge or insight in the subject matter. It may be one’s product, competitor’s product or the market place in general. Market research is usually carried out for new products in order to understand the potential of the market for charting marketing direction and efforts. It can also be used for hypothesis-testing, one of the favourites of leading consultancy firms. There are also occasions that market research is carried out for existing important products for benchmarking purposes. Due to the high introductory cost (eg US$800 to 900 million) of new chemical entities (NCEs), many companies make it mandatory to conduct market researches pre- or post-launch before embarking on major marketing campaigns.

Market research is a process of objective enquiry and investigation. The most important tool is probably an objective mind set which will determine the way subsequent researches are carried out. It should be both systematic and methodical. The identity of the client should not be revealed to respondents whenever possible to ensure objectivity of input.

* Research is important because it increases knowledge which enables us to make better decisions.

* Literature review refers to secondary research of investigation that had been carried out by researchers in the past. Sources of information can be local libraries as well as electronic libraries that may require memberships for access. This is one small step in the initial planning stage that can dramatically improve the research process.

* Whether the market research should be qualitative or quantitative will depend on the objectives of the research.

* Data collection: In the healthcare industry, mailing of questionnaires and personal interviews are commonly used. Business schools will teach us the pros and cons of each. However, I prefer personal interviews as they allow the researcher to have more control over the choice of respondents, as well as to retain the ability to clarify their doubts over the questionnaire for better understanding.

* Analysis of data: The favourite quantitative analysis tool used throughout the world by researchers is SPSS. Although it is not very difficult to use, a thorough understanding of its features is a must for meaningful outputs.

* Types of product in question: They can be new products or existing yet important products.