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Performing Exploratory Research
Executive Summary
Among many other reasons, market research problems may arise due to an ongoing
problem in your business or a new development in the market. Exploratory research is the
ideal way to begin any market research effort by clarifying your market research problem
and hypothesizing the potential causes for a marketing problem.
This guide is designed to help you understand the purpose of exploratory research, define
the key types of exploratory research methods, and suggest an action plan for a successful
exploratory research study.
What is Exploratory Research?
Exploratory research is used when a problem has been identified, but the root cause of
that problem is still unclear. For example, sales on your new product, Software A, dropped
50% in the 3rd quarter. In this case, you could use exploratory research to determine
possible causes for the drop in sales.
The purpose of exploratory research is to get insights into the problem, not to discover a
conclusive solution to it. For this reason, it is done at the beginning of the research
process. Exploratory research is small scale and flexible as this portion of the research
process is mainly based on discovery, which can lead to a potentially larger scale
investigation into the perceived problem.

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What Does Exploratory Research Attempt To Do?
 Clarify Research Problem(s) – refine and define the identified research problem in
more detail.
 Educate Researcher(s) – learn more about the problem and its potential causes.
 Develop a Research Plan – lead the researcher to research methods that may yield
a solution to the problem.
 Formulate One or More Hypotheses – allow researchers to theorize & predict
possible explanations for the problem.
Key Exploratory Research Methods
Exploratory research is often done based on the intuition of the researcher(s). Since the
premise of this type of research is to explore possibilities & discover information, the
consensus among researchers is to implement any and all research methods that will lead
to a possible explanation of the identified problem.
Although creativity is characteristic of this stage of the research process, here are a handful
of research methods that are commonly used for exploratory research:
 Literature Search – review previous writings related to your problem to discover
earlier data findings and gain further insight into the market research problem.
Almost all market research studies begin with this method.
Pro: This is the easiest and most cost-effective way to gather information on your
problem.
Con: Delving too deep into previous records could create biases on later research.

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 In-depth Interview – conduct one-on-one sessions with individuals close to the
problem at hand to gain detailed, individual opinions on the research problem.
Pro: The individual perspectives of these respondents will provide you with primary
data sources to the suggested problem.
Con: A series of interviews can become expensive as you calculate preparation,
employee time, location space, and interviewer costs.
 Focus Group – organize a small group discussion with a facilitator (moderator) to
obtain perspectives on your problem. This is the most commonly used method in
market research.
Pro: The group discussion allows respondents to bounce ideas off of each other and
build off of each other’s responses, which can sometimes lead to grander ideas on a
topic.
Con: The group environment could lead respondents to answer differently than they
would in a one-on-one discussion based on the “peer pressure” nature of this
method.
 Case Analysis – study each instance of the problem individually to learn if the
problem is actually recurring or unique. This is the most general and applicable
method of analytical thinking.
Pro: By analyzing each case, you may be able to resolve the problem without any
additional investigation.
Con: This method cannot solve the potential problem. It can simply analyze the
instances of the problem on a case-by-case basis.

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You can assume your exploratory research efforts are coming to a close when you reach
the point of diminishing returns, which is when multiple research methods start yielding
the same results. At this point, you may be considering a larger-scale research project or
resolving your research problem based on your exploratory research findings.
Action Plan
1. Identify your research problem.
2. Download our Exploratory Research Plan Template – to prepare and manage an
exploratory research study.
3. Conduct a Literature Review – to learn more about the identified problem that will
be explored.
4. Conduct Additional Research – review our Facilitating Insightful Focus Groups
How-To Guide, conduct in-depth interviews and case analysis to assist you with your
follow-up research.
5. Formulate One or More Hypotheses – utilize the information you gathered from
your literature review and additional research to develop a hypothesis (or
hypotheses) for the causes of your research problem.
6. Conclude Your Formal Research Effort.
Bottom-Line:
If you are planning a market research initiative, begin with an exploratory research
study. At a minimum, you will gain insight into your identified problem that will be
beneficial for further research. You may even be able to resolve a market research
problem without investing too much time or funding into a large-scale research project. In
short, exploratory research will keep you from chasing and investing in a research problem
that may have a simple answer and/or solution.