MARKETING INFORMATION

SYSTEM AND MARKETING

RESEARCH
SESIÓN N° 5
 SESIÓN 5:
MARKETING: MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM:
Prof. RENZO SOLARI G.
What is a Marketing Information System?
A marketing information system (MIS) is a software program that provides information about
marketing research. It allows users to compile and analyze data in a very easy, organized
fashion. MIS systems are also effective tools that help users make decisions about consumer
behavior and the marketing mix, including products and how they are placed, priced, and
promoted. The more sophisticated the management information system, the more
information it can provide.
Objectives: This subject has the purpose of leading the reader towards:
• An understanding of the different roles managers play and how marketing
information systems can support them in these roles
• An appreciation of the different types and levels of marketing decision
making
• A knowledge of the major components of a marketing information system
• An awareness of the often under-utilised internal sources of information
available to enterprises
• An ability to clearly distinguish between marketing research and marketing
intelligence, and
• An understanding of the nature of analytical models within marketing
information system.
Benefits of an (MIS)
If you are a marketing manager or business owner, finding effective ways to market
your business is vital. Marketing information becomes even more important if you
are part of a crowded market with many competitors or you have a product that
isn't well known. If you don't have good information, such as the data found
in sales reports, you may end up wasting a lot of time and money on ineffective
marketing activities. An investment in an MIS system is an effective way to help you
organize and prepare your marketing campaigns.
One of the key benefits of an MIS system is the insight it can provide about what
your customers want and their perceptions of your products. Through your MIS,
you'll be able to make better decisions about consumer behavior and choices or
product development.
Components of a marketing information system
A marketing information system (MIS) is intended to
bring together disparate items of data into a coherent
body of information. An MIS is, as will shortly be seen,
more than raw data or information suitable for the
purposes of decision making. An MIS also provides
methods for interpreting the information the MIS
provides. Moreover, as Kotler's1 definition says, an MIS
is more than a system of data collection or a set of
information technologies:
"A marketing information system is a continuing and
interacting structure of people, equipment and
procedures to gather, sort, analyse, evaluate, and
distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information
for use by marketing decision makers to improve
their marketing planning, implementation, and
control".
SUMMARY

Marketing information systems are intended to

support management decision making.
Management has five distinct functions and each
requires support from an MIS. These are: planning,
organising, coordinating, decisions and controlling.
Information systems have to be designed to meet
the way in which managers tend to work. Research
suggests that a manager continually addresses a
large variety of tasks and is able to spend relatively
brief periods on each of these. Given the nature of
the work, managers tend to rely upon information
that is timely and verbal (because this can be
assimilated quickly), even if this is likely to be less
accurate then more formal and complex
information systems.
Managers play at least three separate roles:
interpersonal, informational and decisional. MIS, in
electronic form or otherwise, can support these roles
in varying degrees. MIS has less to contribute in the
case of a manager's informational role than for the
other two.

Three levels of decision making can be distinguished

from one another: strategic, control (or tactical) and
operational. Again, MIS has to support each level.
Strategic decisions are characteristically one-off
situations.

Strategic decisions have implications for changing

the structure of an organisation and therefore the
MIS must provide information which is precise and
accurate. Control decisions deal with broad policy
issues and operational decisions concern the
management of the organisation's marketing mix.
A marketing information system has four
components:

• the internal reporting system.

• the marketing research systems.
• the marketing intelligence system.
• marketing models.

Internal reports include orders received,

inventory records and sales invoices. Marketing
research takes the form of purposeful studies
either ad hoc or continuous. By contrast,
marketing intelligence is less specific in its
purposes, is chiefly carried out in an informal
manner and by managers themselves rather
than by professional marketing researchers