Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Research for Marketing Decisions

PGP, Term IV (2022-2023)

Management Decision Problem (MDP) and Marketing Research Problem (MRP)

(A conversation between a decision maker and a MR consultant leads to MDP and MRP)

Decision Maker (DM) of the retail store Pantaloons: We have seen a decline in the sales and
market share.
Market Research Consultant (MR): When did you see it?
DM: Last quarter.
MR: Can you guess any possible reason behind this decline?
DM: May be due to high price of our products.
MR: What about competitions?
DM: I suspect we are better than competition on some factors and worse than them on others.
MR: How do the customers view your store?
DM: I think most of them view it positively, although we may have a weak area or two.
MR:………………………… (Continue…)
DM:…………………………… (Continue…)

After a series of dialogues with the DM and MR, review of secondary data, talking to
customers, talking to other stakeholders, the MR identified the MRP as follows:

Symptom: Decline in sales and market share.

MDP: What should be done to improve the Patronage of Store?
MRP: Determine the relative strengths and weakness of the store vis-à-vis other major
competitors with respect to factors that influence store patronage.

Step 1: Problem Definition: Symptoms →MDP→MRP.