Essay on Marketing Research

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BSC BUSINESS STUDIES
Fundamentals of Marketing
Session 10

MARKETING RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
MARKETING RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Objectives: * To gain an appreciation of the importance to the organisation of effective marketing oriented decision-making.

* To understand the marketing research process, sources of information and different types of marketing research available.

* To gain an understanding of the nature and purpose of Marketing Information Systems (MIS).

In small groups, and using the resources provided, produce a poster that shows:

* The reasons why an organisation needs to research the market. * Ways in which the organisation gathers information. * How an organisation uses the information and the benefits of this

THE IMPORTANCE OF INFORMATION:
Companies need information about their: * Customers * Marketing environment * Competition

THE NEED FOR INFORMATION: * Accurate, effective (informed) decision making often depends on the quality of information * Marketing research links the consumer, customer and public to the marketer through information: * to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems * to generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions * to monitor marketing performance * to improve understanding of the marketing process

MARKET RESEARCH V’s MARKETING RESEARCH * Market Research: research into a particular market - size, structure, how it is split between competitor companies * Marketing Research: the systematic design, collection, interpretation and reporting of information to help marketers solve specific marketing problems or take advantage of marketing opportunities (gather information on a special project basis, that is not available to decision makers)

WHY UNDERTAKE MARKETING RESEARCH? * Provide a basis for sound, market-led decision-making as information reduces uncertainty * Enable organisations to match their products / services to the customer requirements * Provide objective explanations for success and failure in marketing * Enable new product ideas to be tested without the expense of market launch * Enable advertising ideas to be tested during a campaign’s development, prior to launch AND after launch

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEMS * A system in which relevant information is formally gathered, stored, analysed and distributed / presented to managers on a regular planned basis * Data: most basic form of knowledge, which may become meaningful when combined with other data (eg brand of yogurt) * Information: combinations of data that provide decision-relevant knowledge (eg brand preferences of a customer in a certain age category in a certain region)

Internal Data: * The accounting department prepares financial statements and keeps detailed records of sales, costs, and cash flows *
Operations reports on production schedules, shipments, and inventories *
Sales force reports on reseller reactions and competitor activities *
The marketing department has information on customer demographics, psychographics, and buying behaviour *
Customer service department keeps records of customer satisfaction or service problems

DATA… Information * Internal continuous data - Often an enormous amount that may never be used for marketing decision making without a Marketing Information System * Internal ad-hoc data - Company data used for a specific purpose * Environmental scanning (longer term) - Economic, social, legal, technological, physical forces... * Marketing research (more immediate term) - Provision of information about markets and their reaction to various 4P actions

MARKETING RESEARCH * Approaches to Conducting Marketing Research * Do it yourself - personally * Hire a specialist - use the

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Essay on Marketing and Marketing Techniques Research