Market Research

[thedude2014]

Hello.

Reaching out again to the forum for advice. Any suggestions on market research methods (surveys, in home product testing, etc)?

I will be providing a service paid on a monthly basis. The item being rented will be a media device(box).

If i need to elaborate more on my business or have reposted this topic, do let me know.

-Thanks

[vangogh]

What is it you're wanting to know? I don't think there's a recipe to follow for market research. The first step is determining what information you want. The rest follows from there.

I'm guessing you want to find out if the service you're going to provide has a market and can be a profitable business. It probably would help if we knew more about your business. Is the service you'll provide renting the media device? If so what does the media device do? What reasons would someone want one? Why rent as opposed to owning? Any details you can provide would help.

[thedude2014]

Thank you, Vangogh.

My current plan is to rent the device. I would not be opposed to selling the device, but the cost of manufacturing vs the current market price of other similar devices (ex. Ruku Streaming Box) would not leave much profit margin.

I could possibly bill a monthly service rather than rent the box, but so far I have yet to research that method fully.

Those interested in this product could possibly reduce or eliminate their current investment in other media sources. I plan to make this product very affordable, so those who are experiencing financial difficulties or are adjusting their budget could have affordable access to media in a simplified form that is supplied via the internet.

My target customers would vary. Those that are more technology savvy may not fall into this category, as most already use home pc or mobile devices to stream media. Although, the appeal may still lure those that just want a simple streaming device in the living room or office.

Not 100% sure if that was enough or too much detail describing the product. Do say if more is needed.

Some information I would like to gather:

-cost that the consumer base would be happy with.
-payment systems they would be most comfortable with or prefer.
-how often they would use device.
-who would most likely use the device most often in the home or office.
-prefered remote control design, product color scheme. Basically which designs seem more appealing.
-ease or difficulty of use..interface setup

I assume some of this could be done by product testing. Maybe select a local group that varies in age and technological experience. That could also help (or hurt) promoting the business.

Anyway, thanks again everyone for suggestions!

[vangogh]

I do have another questions. As the consumer, why would I rent the device? What's on it and do I have to pay for the content that's on it? Since you mentioned Roku and earlier mentioned media, I'm thinking you want to rent that kind of a box. Would it come with content or would I still be signing up for things like Netflix, Hulu. etc?

If that is the business, I have a hard time seeing how anyone other than the largest players could do well. For example I have an Apple TV. It cost me $99 a few years ago. Hardly expensive enough to think renting is a better option. It would be similar for Roku or the new Amazon Fire. If anything now that Amazon is in the game, prices will come down even further since Amazon would probably give the box away so you buy more content from them.

As far as the specific information you want to know is concerned, most of it you won't be able to know in advance. For example people will say they'll pay $x for something until it's time actually pay and they decide to keep their money. Same for how often they'd use it an where. People will give you answers if you ask, but the answers won't mean anything since they really won't know until they've actually used the product.

The last time items are testable, though you first have to build some kind of prototype and then do user testing. You can't ask people in advance which design they would like more and then build the product. Instead you test your design at different steps along the way. It's design, test, iterate and repeat until you have a working product.

You can't always ask customers what they'd like in advance. Think about the quote Henry Ford may or may not have said. "If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me faster horses."

It's up to you to figure out what your potential customers will want. You can ask questions to see if their's interest in the type of product. If we are talking about a device like Roku, I'll save you the time. Yes people want them. What I would do to research something like a remote control is first buy a few different devices with different remotes and use them myself to get a feel for what each is like. I'd spend time searching Twitter, Facebook, etc. and see what people are saying about their remotes. What are the having problems with? One of the great things about the internet is people are already telling you what you want to know. Search and find their pain points and then figure out how to solve their problems.