Market Research Marketing researchers support decision-makers

by collecting, analyzing and interpreting

information needed to identify and solve

marketing problems.

Relationships

• ■ describe the nature and scope of customer groups

• ■ understand the nature of forces that shape customer groups

• ■ understand the nature of forces that shape the marketer’s ability to satisfy targeted customer groups

• ■ test individual and interactive marketing mix variables

• ■ monitor and reflect upon past successes and failures in marketing decisions

Insight

• Avoiding Failures

• Marketing research is a key element within the total field of marketing information. It links the consumer, customer and public to the marketer through information which is used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; to generate, refine and evaluate marketing actions; and to improve understanding of marketing as a process and of the ways in which specific marketing activities can be made more effective.

Purpose

USES

Explaining The Process CH2

• The correct diagnosis of marketing research problems cannot be compromised. Regardless of how well subsequent stages are conducted, the whole process may be worthless if the diagnosis is weak.

Problem definition

• Stating the general problem and identifying the specific components of the marketing research problem. Only when the marketing research problem has been clearly defined can research be designed and conducted properly.

• ‘Of all the tasks in a marketing research project, none is more vital to the ultimate fulfillment of a client’s needs than an accurate and adequate definition of the research problem. All the effort, time, and money spent from this point on will be wasted if the problem is misunderstood and ill-defined.