Chapter 5

Marketing managers find it impossible to make decisions effectively without a constant flow
of information on every aspect of marketing. Everything, from defining target markets to
developing marketing mixes to making long-term strategic plans, has to be supported with
appropriate information. The organisation needs to coordinate its information, collected from a
variety of sources, into a MkIS. A formal MkIS brings everything together under one umbrella
and provides timely and comprehensive information to aid managers in decision-making. DSS
build on the MkIS, also to help decision-making. The DSS uses a variety of computer tools and
packages to allow a manager to manipulate information, explore possible outcomes of courses of
action and experiment in a risk-free environment. There are three different types of market
research, exploratory, descriptive and causal, each one serving different purposes. Depending on
the nature of the problem under investigation, any of the three types of market research may use
qualitative or quantitative data. Rather than individually pursuing a series of marketing research
studies, an organisation can participate in continuous research, undertaken by a market research
agency on an ongoing basis and usually syndicated. There is a general framework for the conduct
of a marketing research project that can be applied to almost any kind of market or situation. It
consists of eight stages: problem definition, research objectives, planning of the research, data
collection, research implementation, data analysis, reporting findings and research evaluation.
Secondary research provides a means of sourcing marketing information that already exists in
some form, whether internal or external to the organisation. Gaps in secondary data can be filled
through primary research. The main methods of primary research are interviews and surveys,
observation and experiments. Sampling is a crucial area for successful market research. There is
no need to survey an entire population to find answers to questions. As long as a representative
sample is drawn, answers can be generalised to apply to the whole population. Questionnaires
are often used as a means of collecting data from the sample selected, and they must reflect the
purpose of the research, collect the appropriate data accurately and efficiently, and facilitate the
analysis of data. Ethical issues in market research are very important. Researchers have to
comply with codes of practice to protect vulnerable groups in society from exploitation. They
also have to ensure that respondents recruited for market research studies are fully aware of what
they are committing themselves to and that they are not misled at any stage in the research
process.