Market research

How many people conduct market research before they carry out an event or launch a product. I think many companies do that nowadays, right. They obviously want to know what their competitors are up to and how the public will respond to their services. My friend made a big mistake by not doing market research on the product they were developing and somehow, even before their product hit the market, a competitor was already selling his at a far lower price than his suggested retail price. So, you make sure that doesnt happen to you, k.