Online research refers to the process of collecting，collating，analyzing and researching marketing information systematically on the Internet for the specific marketing environment.The contents of online research mainly include market feasibility study，analysis of sales opportunities and potential in different regions，exploration of various factors affecting sales，competition analysis，product research，packaging testing，price research，analysis of the characteristics of specific markets，consumer research，image research，the dynamic study of market properties，advertising monitoring，advertising effect research and so on.As a channel of information communication，the Internet has the characteristics of openness，extensiveness，adequacy，freedom，equality，directness，interactivity，convenience and low cost，reliability and objectivity，timeliness and sharing，etc.It is because of these characteristics that online research has some unique advantages that traditional survey does not have.Online research will become one of the most widely used mainstream survey methods in the application fields in 21st century，which is suitable for both individual case investigation and statistical investigation.For professional research organizations，they can carry out profitable online survey businesses.
网上市场调研是指在互联网上针对特定营销环境而系统地进行营销信息的收集、整理、分析和研究的过程。网上市场调研的内容主要包括市场可行性研究、分析不同地区的销售机会和潜力、探索影响销售的各种因素、竞争分析、产品研究、包装测试、价格研究、分析特定市场的特征、消费者研究、形象研究、市场性质变化的动态研究、广告监测、广告效果研究等方面。作为一种信息沟通渠道，互联网具有开放性、广泛性、充分性、自由性、平等性、直接性、交互性、便捷性和低费用、可靠性和客观性、时效性与共享性等特点。正是由于这些特点，使得网上市场调查具有传统调查所不具备的一些独特的优势。网上调查将成为21世纪应用领域最广泛的主流调查方法之一，既适合于个案调查也适合于统计调查。对于专业的调查组织来说，可以开展盈利性的网上调查业务。
Methods of online research 网上市场调查的方法
There are two ways to conduct online research：online direct investigation and online indirect investigation.
网上市场调查一般可采用两种方法，即网上直接调查法和网上间接调查法。
1.Online direct investigation 网上直接调查
Online direct investigation refers to the process of collecting first-hand or original information on the Internet for current specific purposes.Online direct investigation is an important means for enterprises to proactively use the Internet to obtain information.Generally，there are four methods：online questionnaire survey，online experiment，online observation and thematic discussion，among which the most commonly used method is the online questionnaire survey.According to the behavior of investigators in organizing survey samples，online investigation can be divided into two types：active investigation—the method by which investigators actively organize the survey samples and complete the statistical survey；passive investigation—the method by which investigators passively wait for the samples to be visited and complete the statistical survey.The emergence of passive investigation is a new content in statistical investigation.According to the technology used in the online investigation，it can be divided into the methods of site，email，random IP，video＆communication conference，etc.
网上直接调查指的是为当前特定目的在因特网上收集一手资料或原始信息的过程。网上直接调查是企业主动利用Internet获取信息的重要手段。一般包括四种方法：网上问卷调查法、网上实验法、网上观察法和专题讨论法，其中最常用的是网上问卷调查法。按照调查者组织调查样本的行为，网上调查可以分为两种：主动调查法—调查者主动组织调查样本，完成统计调查的方法；被动调查法—调查者被动地等待调查样本造访，完成统计调查的方法。被动调查法的出现是统计调查的一种新情况。按网上调查采用的技术可以分为站点法、电子邮件法、随机IP法和视讯会议法等。
Online questionnaire survey，as its name implies，is to publish the questionnaire online and the respondents complete the questionnaire through the Internet.This is generally achieved in two ways.
网上问卷调查法，顾名思义是将问卷发布在网上，被调查者通过互联网完成问卷调查。一般通过两种途径来实现。
One is to put a questionnaire on aWWW site and wait for visitors to fill out the questionnaire.For example，such is the way CNNIC（China Internet Network Information Center）conducts the“China Internet Network Development Survey”every six months.Obviously，the advantage of this approach is that the interviewee is voluntary，and the disadvantage is that it cannot check the authenticity of the interviewee.In order to reach a certain number of questionnaires，the site must also be properly advertised to attract a large number of visitors.
一种是将问卷放置在WWW站点上，等待访问者访问时填写问卷，如CNNIC（中国互联网络信息中心）每半年进行一次的“中国互联网络发展状况调查”就是采用这种方式。显而易见，这种方式的优点是填写者是自愿性的，缺点是无法核对问卷填写者的真实性。为达到一定问卷数量，站点还必须进行适当宣传，以吸引大量访问者。
The other is to send the questionnaire to respondents by E-mail，and the respondents will return the results through E-mail.The advantage of this method is that it can selectively control the respondents，while the disadvantage is that it is easy to be disliked by the interviewees and there is the suspicion of infringing on personal privacy.Therefore，when using this method，you should first win the consent of the visitors，or estimate that the visitors will not disgust it，and provide certain compensation to the visitors，such as award-winning quiz or small gift-giving to reduce the hostility of the visitors.
另一种是通过E-mail方式将问卷发送给被调查者，被调查者完成后将结果通过E-mail返回。这种方式的优点是，可以有选择性地控制被调查者，缺点是容易遭到被访问者的反感，有侵犯个人隐私之嫌。因此，使用该方式时，首先应争得被访问者的同意，或者估计被访问者不会反感，并向被访问者提供一定补偿，如有奖问答或赠送小礼品，以降低被访问者的敌意。
Although the method of questionnaire survey is objective and direct，its shortcoming is that it cannot conduct in-depth investigation and analysis on some problems.Thus，other online direct investigation methods can also be conducted simultaneously.For example，many enterprises have set up BBS for visitors to discuss the use of their products or to participate in newsgroups on certain topics for more in-depth research to obtain relevant information.Timely tracking，participating in newsgroups and bulletin boards can help enterprises to obtain some problems that cannot be found in questionnaires.The questionnaire is designed by enterprises from their own point of view，while newsgroups and bulletin boards are the spontaneous feelings and experiences of users.The information they convey is also the closest to the market and the most objective，and the drawback is that the information is not standardized enough and needs to be excavated and sorted by professionals.
尽管问卷调查方法比较客观、直接，但其缺点是不能对某些问题进行深入调查和分析原因。因此，其他网上直接调查方法也是可以同时进行的。例如，许多企业设立了BBS（Bulletin Board System电子布告栏）以供访问者对企业产品的使用情况进行讨论，或者参与某些专题的新闻组进行讨论，作更深入的调查以便获取有关资料。及时跟踪、参与新闻组和公告栏，有助于企业获取一些问卷调查无法发现的问题。因为问卷调查表是企业从自身的角度出发考虑问题而设计的，而新闻组和公告栏是用户自发的感受和体会，他们所传达的信息也是最接近市场和最客观的，缺点是信息不够规范，需专业人员进行挖掘和整理。
2.Online indirect investigation 网上间接调查
The method of online direct investigation is generally suitableonly only for special investigation for specific problems.Compared with online direct investigation method，the online indirect investigation is more commonly used by enterprises，because its wide information can meet the needs of enterprise management and decision-making.So what is an online indirect investigation？Online indirect investigation basically takes advantage of the Internet to collect information related to enterprise marketing such as market，competitors，consumers，macro-environment，etc.The sources of indirect information include internal information sources and external information sources.The internal information sources related to the market are mainly the market information collected and sorted by the enterprises themselves，and various records，archival materials and historical data of the sales of enterprise products in the market，such as customer name tables，purchases and sales records，sales reports of salesmen，communications and letters between customers and middlemen，etc.The external market information sources of enterprises cover a wide range，namely the relevant public institutions at home and abroad.Online indirect investigation method is to search and retrieve the relevant website's URL（Uniform/Universal Resource Locator）through search engine，and then visit the website or webpage to find the information.In the websites of information service and inquiry，the website generally provides information retrieval and inquiry functions.
网上直接调查方法一般只适合针对特定问题进行专项调查。相比于网上直接调查法，企业用得比较多的是网上间接调查法，因为其信息广泛，能满足企业管理和决策需要。那么什么是网上间接调查呢？网上间接调查主要是利用互联网收集与企业营销相关的市场、竞争者、消费者以及宏观环境等方面的信息。间接信息的来源包括企业内部信息源和企业外部信息源两个方面。与市场有关的企业内部信息源，主要是企业自己搜集整理的市场信息，企业产品在市场销售的各种记录、档案材料和历史资料，如客户名称表、购货销货记录、推销员报告、客户和中间商的通信、信件等。企业外部的市场信息源包括的范围极广，主要是国内外有关的公共机构。网上间接调查方法，一般通过搜索引擎检索有关站点的网址，然后访问该网站或网页来查找信息。在提供信息服务和查询的网站中，一般都提供有信息检索和查询的功能。
Online indirect investigation can be conducted in the following three ways.
（1）Using search engine to find data.Search engine is the most popular information retrieval tool on the Internet，by which we can adopt three methods：subject classification retrieval，keyword retrieval and network information retrieval.When selecting a search engine，it is better to distinguish between searching Chinese information and foreign language information，information distribution sites are different for different languages.
（2）Accessing to relevant websites to collect information.Direct access to the main centralized web sites on a particular topic to obtain the required information.Compared with economic information of traditional media，the online market data is usually complete，real-time.
（3）Utilizing the relevant online databases to find information.
网上间接调查可以通过以下三种方式来进行。(www.xing528.com)
（1）利用搜索引擎查找资料。搜索引擎是互联网上使用最普遍的信息检索工具。可以采取主题分类检索、关键词检索、网络信息检索三种方法。选择搜索引擎时最好区分一下是查中文信息还是外文信息，不同的语言，信息分布网站是不一样的。
（2）访问相关的网站收集资料。可直接访问某一专题的信息主要集中的网站，获得所需资料。相比传统媒体的经济信息，网上市场行情通常数据全，实时性强。
（3）利用相关的网上数据库查找资料。
It is not enough for an enterprise to know only some information that is closely related to it.Especially when making major decisions，it is necessary to have some information on politics，law，culture，geographical environment and so on.This will help enterprises to comprehensively take the market change factors into consideration from the overall perspective and seek market opportunities.As a sea of information，the Internet can basically provide the above information.The key is to find useful information.
企业仅仅了解一些与其紧密关联的信息是不够的，特别是在做重大决策时，还必须了解一些政治、法律、文化、地理环境等方面的信息，这有助于企业从全局高度综合考虑市场变化因素，寻求市场商机。互联网作为信息海洋，在网上基本都可以了解到上述信息，关键是寻找到有用的信息。
Steps of online research 网上市场调研的步骤
Online research can be conducted in the following five steps.
网上市场调查可以分为以下五个步骤来进行。
1.Identifying problems and determining investigation objectives 明确问题与确定调查目标
Enterprises can make full use of the Internet to communicate with customers directly，understand whether the products and services of enterprises meet the needs of customers，and understand customers'potential expectations and improvement suggestions to enterprises.In determining the online investigation target，it is necessary to clarify who is likely to use your products or services，whether the respondents are online，whether there are investigated groups among netizens，how large they are，etc.Only when there are enough effective respondents among the Internet users，can the online survey reach effective conclusions.
企业可以充分利用互联网直接与顾客进行沟通，了解企业的产品和服务是否满足顾客的需求，同时了解顾客对企业潜在的期望和改进建议。在确定网上调查目标时，需要明确的是谁有可能使用你的产品或服务，被调查者是否上网，网民中是否存在着被调查群体，规模有多大等问题。只有网民中的有效调查对象足够多时，网上调查才可能得出有效结论。
2.Drawing up an investigation plan 制订调查计划
The second step of online research is to develop the most effective information acquisition plan.For online direct investigation，the most commonly used information acquisition means is the questionnaire survey method，so the key is to design the online questionnaire.Due to the characteristics of the Internet interaction mechanism，the questionnaire can be designed in a hierarchical way.Such a way is suitable for filtering investigation.Because some specific questions are only for some of the respondents，the right respondents can be found by means of hierarchical filtering.
网上市场调研的第二个步骤是制订出最为有效的信息获取计划。网上直接调查方法最常用的信息获取手段是问卷调查法，因此网上直接调查的关键就是设计网上调查问卷。由于互联网交互机制的特点，可以采用调查问卷分层设计。这种方式适合过滤性的调查活动，因为有些特定问题只针对一部分调查对象，所以可以借助层次的过滤寻找合适的调查对象。
3.Selecting investigation method 选择调查方式
When taking online direct investigation，passive survey is usually employed more frequently.In other words，the questionnaire is placed on the website waiting for the respondents to visit and accept the survey.Therefore，how to attract visitors to participate in the survey is the key issue.In order to improve the enthusiasm of audiences'participation，it is feasible to provide free gifts and survey data results，etc.In addition，investigators must promise their respondents that they will not disclose and disseminate any information about their privacy.
采用网上直接调查方法时，被动调查通常是使用较多的方式。也就是将调查问卷放在网站上等待调查对象自行访问和接受调查。因此，如何吸引访问者参与调查是问题的关键所在。为提高受众参与的积极性，提供免费礼品和调查数据结果等都是比较可行的方法。此外，调查者必须向调查对象承诺不会泄露和传播有关个人隐私的任何信息。
4.Analyzing investigation results 分析调查结果
After collecting information，it is necessary to analyze the information，which is the key to whether market research can play a role.“The answer is not in the information，but in the minds of the investigators.”How investigators extract information relevant to the survey objectives from the data directly affects the final result.Some data analysis techniques should be used，such as cross-list analysis，generalization，comprehensive index analysis，dynamic analysis，etc.At present，the more general analysis software in the world is SPSS，SAS，etc.One of the major features of online information is instant presentation，and many competitors may also see the same information from some well-known commercial websites，so the ability to analyze information is important，which allows you to capture business opportunities in dynamic changes.
收集信息后要做的是分析信息，这一步是市场调查能否发挥作用的关键。“答案不在信息中，而在调查人员的头脑中。”调查人员如何从数据中提炼出与调查目标相关的信息，直接影响到最终的结果。要使用一些数据分析技术，如交叉列表分析技术、概括技术、综合指标分析和动态分析等。目前国际上较为通用的分析软件有SPSS、SAS等。网上信息的一大特征是即时呈现，而且很多竞争者也可能从一些知名的商业网站上看到同样的信息，因此分析信息能力相当重要，它能使你在动态的变化中捕捉到商机。
5.Writing investigation reports 撰写调查报告
The writing of the research report is the last stage of the whole research activity and also the embodiment of the investigation results.The report is not a simple pile of data and information，but a systematic or exploratory explanation for the investigation data and conclusions based on the analysis of the survey results，and it is written in the formal structure that the research report should have.
调研报告的撰写是整个调研活动的最后一个阶段，也是调查成果的体现。报告不是数据和资料的简单堆砌，而是在分析调查结果基础上对调查的数据和结论进行系统的说明或探讨性的说明，并以调查报告所应具备的正规结构写作。
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