Sunanda Easwaran & Sharmila J.

Singh Marketing Research: Concepts, Practices, & Cases

Chapter 1
Nature and Scope of Marketing Research

Hints to Project Assignments

(Q1) The first exercise is designed to help the students understand the application of
marketing research in non-manufacturing organisations. The exercise lists a not-for-
profit organisation, a service organisation, i.e, an educational institution, and a retail
organisation. This is a classroom exercise, and the instructor should discuss the
responses of students in the class in order to familiarise them with the manner in which
the nature of the organisation influences (a) the kind of marketing issues faced, and (b)
the kind of research relevant for each.
(Q2) The second exercise also deals with the relevance of marketing research in specific
marketing decisions, and is concerned with planning for research. The instructor might
find it beneficial to use this exercise for familarising students with the possibility of bias
and subjectivity to be guarded against in structuring and interpreting research in
situations of potential conflict between departments. The role that good, unbiased, and
relevant research can play in minimising conflict may also be pointed out.
(Q3) The third assignment again examines the basic question of the need for research
and the frequency with which brand research may be undertaken without becoming
unnecessary. It provides the student with the opportunity to examine the decision to
undertake a marketing research study, list information needed for designing such a
study and assess the appropriateness of possible marketing decisions to be based on the
study. The instructor might ask groups of students to actually undertake such an
exercise with companies in a similar situation. This will help students understand both
the client’s and the agency’s information requirements.
(Q4) Similar exercise undertaken for the fourth assignment will help familiarise the
students with live situations requiring research, and will also help them to realise the
limitations of their understanding of research, apart from providing them with a peep
into how companies conduct research.

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