Desk research (DeskResearch) - is the processing of existing secondary information. Secondary information - data collected earlier for purposes other than those solved in the present issue, either with data available on the resources of the media and the Internet.

Advantages and potential use of secondary information is that the secondary data have several advantages, compared to the primary: a small value of the work (because they do not need a new data collection); quick collection of material, the presence of multiple sources of information and reliability of the information from independent sources.

Secondary information can:
1) Identify the marketing problem;
2) Just state it;
3) Develop an appropriate plan of study;
4) Find the answers to certain questions (for example, to identify key variables);
5) carefully and correctly interpret the data of the primary sources.

Based on these advantages and the potential use of secondary data, we can derive a general rule: before you start collecting primary data, you must carefully study the available secondary data. It should begin with the latter. The primary data collection can proceed only if all sources of secondary information have been exhausted or severely restricted.The media, including specialized, Internet resources, industry directories, the State Statistics Committee (including the latest census), the results of marketing and sociological research carried out earlier (open and published), internal company documentation etc. is commonly used in obtaining the secondary information.

The results of desk research enable to carry out:
• Analysis of the potential of the company and competitors,
• Situational analysis of market behavior,
• Assess the market size, the volume of the target audience,
• Identify areas for further research, ie techniques, volumes, etc.