Marketing Research

Apple uses a large variety of consumer research in order to further improve the iPhone as the market changes. Staying close to the end user and listening to the customer has been paramount to apple success. Through the use of focus groups, feedback from consumer surveys and brand awareness studies to insure apple know of the iPhone is view by the world. Targeting segments are important in order to extend the iPhone reach to business and a broader professional base. Four age groups are targeted: 15-20 years, 20-25 years, 25-45 years, and 45 years and up. These groups give an expansive view of the study groups to include middle and upper income individuals. High School and College aged people demonstrate social uses. The 25-45 years group is used to determine business application and social/personal use, and finally the 45 years and above give us plan to market to more senior well-refined group. This research is done through surveys (via email campaign through portals such as, iTunes and other on-line application developed for the iPhone) and interviews (in stores) with the same age groups listed above. The surveys target not only to current Apple customers but also consumers not currently using Apple products. It is important to weed out members who have a bias view to insure non-prejudice data. In order to bring the iPhone to the front of the business world it is important to research different ways to grow the 15-25 year old group into business uses of the product. Brand awareness will be an important tool in taking the Apple brand from "social cool" to "business cool".

Apple also ask for feedback on iPhone features, and implement those changes most important to the end user in the next generation iPhone. To ad incentive, and encourage users to participate it offers opportunities to win gift certificates. In addition, apple uses customer satisfaction studies provided by various private third party firms to get a larger non-biased sampling.