It's a fascinating time to be working in the field of market research, and there is always something new to learn. Each week, we’ve shared practical tips on the MarketResearch.com blog to help you navigate the market research process from start to finish.

We’ve taken a look back at the past year and rounded up the most popular posts on market research strategy that were published in 2015. Read on for a variety of insights and ideas.

As patients take a more proactive role in their own health care, direct-to-consumer (DTC) laboratory testing is becoming increasingly popular. DTC genetic tests allow consumers to access information about their genetics without necessarily involving healthcare professionals in the process. 

A number of established and emerging companies are competing in this growing market. Kalorama Information, a healthcare market research firm, recently profiled a variety of prominent market participants in its report The Market for Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing and Routine Laboratory Testing. This blog post highlights 9 of these companies that are among the leaders in the industry.

In our last blog post, we interviewed David Featherstone, M.S., Ph.D., professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, to hear his perspective on the value of market research in a university setting. According to Dr. Featherstone, market research reports are a useful tool that can help demonstrate the practical applications of scientific knowledge.

When students learn how scientific research is being used in different industries, Dr. Featherstone said, they can start to think outside the box when it comes to future career opportunities. They’ll also be more empowered to pursue lifelong learning opportunities and be cognizant of the resources that real-world professionals use every day.

According to The New York Times, 65 percent of today's grade-school students may end up working in jobs that have not been invented yet. Preparing students to succeed in a rapidly shifting economy is an ongoing challenge for many educators.

David Featherstone, M.S., Ph.D., professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, believes that market research reports are an important tool to help expose undergraduate students to innovative, tech-based career opportunities.

“Most of my students are pre-health," explained Dr. Featherstone. "They are planning to become doctors, dentists or pharmacists. I wanted to make sure my students are aware of less traditional job opportunities that they might not know about.”

In our last blog post, we discussed six ways to differentiate your business from the competition, including product, service, distribution, relationship, image/reputation, and price. We noted that some differentiation strategies are more impactful for businesses than others.

To demonstrate how this plays out in practice, let’s look at some survey data which will help to identify winning differentiation strategies. Based on our survey analysis, one of these areas of differentiation is more powerful than any of the others — by a huge margin.

Can marketers persuade mainstream consumers to buy eco-friendly cleaning products? It's been a real challenge for mass brands like Clorox, Arm & Hammer, and Windex in recent years. After growing at a rapid pace through 2010, the market for green household cleaners and laundry products declined at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2 percent from 2010 to 2014. With insights from industry expert Packaged Facts and its new report Green Household Cleaning and Laundry Products in the U.S., 3rd Edition, we have identified three key factors that are contributing to the drop in sales.

Though construction activity in China and some other developing countries has slowed since the 2009 to 2014 period, global demand for steel pipe is projected to advance 3.5 percent annually through 2019 to 79.7 million metric tons, according to a recent industry study from the Freedonia Group. Steel pipe sales are driven by the industries that use it. Read below as analyst Mariel Behnke explains.

“A number of different factors influence demand in each market. For instance, the oil and gas market is driven by energy demand, as well as oil prices and global political concerns,” notes Ms. Behnke.

Differentiation allows you to provide superior value to customers at an affordable price, creating a win-win scenario that can boost the overall profitability and viability of your business. Our research indicates there are six primary ways to differentiate, including product, service, channels of distribution, relationships, reputation/image, and price.

However, not all differentiation strategies are equally effective, and some methods may be more important to invest in than others in order to stand out from the competition. Read on to learn more about these different strategies and the key advantages and disadvantages associated with each one.

When I started reading the Packaged Facts report Millennials as Pet Market Consumers, I laughed out loud because I truly am the poster child for Millennial pet owners. My "fur baby" Bruce is a little over one and a half, and I treat him like my real child. Bruce has a full wardrobe and is covered by pet insurance (which has paid for itself). He received a doggy cannoli on Valentine’s Day and has been given plenty of Christmas presents each year, and when I was doing my taxes last week, I thought to myself, why isn’t Bruce considered a dependent?

Food and beverage is the dominant market within the packaging industry. Consider the wide array of packages that fill a single grocery store — from corrugated boxes, plastic clamshells, and stand-up pouches to resealable tubs and moisture-resistant boxes. More than just containers, these packaging formats are designed for specific uses — such as promoting aesthetic appeal and brand recognition, or monitoring temperature and prolonging shelf life.

Demand is expected to rise for produce, meat, seafood, and poultry packaging through 2019. In addition, the demand for active and intelligent packaging is forecast to increase, with the growing need for more advanced packaging technologies such as specialized gas scavenging and moisture control. In this post, three research analysts from the Freedonia Group, an international market research company owned by MarketResearch.com, weigh in to highlight key packaging trends and interesting new developments to watch.