Pros and Cons of Primary vs. Secondary Research in Decision Making

Pros and Cons of Primary vs. Secondary Research in Decision Making

Primary market research is to the custom-built home what secondary research is to the manufactured home. Both add value to the market, but primary research is developed to answer questions unique to your situation, whereas secondary research must be adapted from a broad conclusion into a specific application for your organization.

Primary market research is to the custom-built home what secondary research is to the manufactured home. Both add value to the market, but primary research is developed to answer questions unique to your situation, whereas secondary research must be adapted from a broad conclusion into a specific application for your organization.

Secondary (Off-the-shelf) Research vs. Primary (Custom) Research

There are two main classifications of external data that will help your firm make better strategic decisions.  Secondary research are off-the-shelf reports that are readily available, free or low price point, and available to everyone.  Primary research is research designed specifically around your needs, exclusively for you and no one else.

What is Primary Market Research?


Primary research will get you several layers deeper than Secondary research to reveal details that provide your sales, marketing, brand, channel and product teams insights they need to increase market share and remain competitive.  Primary research is focused on your needs, designed to address your specific research questions.  Unlike secondary research that’s available to the masses at a low cost, primary research is exclusively yours and requires a larger investment in time and money.

Some examples of primary research include:


What is Secondary Market Research?

Secondary research involves accessing and exploring data about your broader product category or the construction industry as a whole that other entities have already gathered, organized and published. Secondary research may often include publicly available data such as Census or permit data.

Secondary research should always be one of the three components of data you use: Secondary, Primary, Internal.  It’s an affordable and timely way to understand your market at a high level.  While it provides a good ‘lay of the land’ perspective, secondary research rarely provides you the detail needed to understand your specific product, brand, customer or market in the detailed manner you need.  Enter Primary Research.

Secondary research includes: 

  • Published market reports and studies by government agencies and trade associations
  • Academic studies
  • Articles in industry publications, magazines and trade journals
  • Information gathered from reference libraries
  • Historical data on broad industry trends
  • Syndicated research reports – free or purchased
  • Public company reporting and earnings statements
  • Association reports
  • Census reporting and data

While secondary market research is less costly to acquire—which is why it’s commonly used—it is less exploratory and more generic and, therefore, less valuable for providing unique perspectives for your organization. However, it can provide you a place to start. From secondary research, you can identify emerging trends or customer data that you want to probe further with primary customized research conducted specifically for your business or within particular market segments. 

Market research is broken down further into two additional categories: qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative data is finite and numbers-oriented, whereas qualitative data is directional in nature and provides additional insight and a deeper understanding of the “why” behind the numbers. 

So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of primary data and secondary data in decision making?

Pros and Cons of Market Research Types

Naturally, with options comes advantages and disadvantages to each. Before moving forward in your market research project, consider the following about primary versus secondary research methods:

Advantages of Primary Research

  • Increased relevance
  • Specific to your company / brand
  • Confidential findings
  • Increased control of spending in exchange for needed insights

Disadvantages of Primary Research

Advantages of Secondary Research

  • Often faster to conduct
  • Lower research costs

Disadvantages of Secondary Research

  • Lack of specificity
  • Less control over spending in exchange for needed insights
  • Not confidential, so competitors can benefit from the same research


Next Steps for Home Improvement Market Research

Clients come to The Farnsworth Group to find out what they need to be communicating to their customers. Often increased revenue is the primary objective, whether that be through increased SKUs on the shelves, capturing more market share, or understanding a customer’s path to purchase to inform marketing and sales strategies. Whatever the question you have, we can help you get the answers using primary research.

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