Marketing information system

• Concept of marketing information system

• Components of marketing information system
• Marketing research areas and process
 Concept of marketing information system
(MIS)
Marketing information system is a mechanism that provides important, essential
and reliable marketing information and data to the decision maker in time so
that decision maker can take right decision at the right time.
It provides a continuous flow of accurate information about different
aspects of marketing like advertising, sales, competition, distribution etc.
It collects vital and valuable marketing information from different
internal and external sources then it supplies them to the decision marker
after analyzing and calculating them properly.
This system is based on communication equipment and computers
that help to collect, classify, analyze and disseminate the information related
to marketing.
 Components of marketing information
system
1. Internal record system
2. Marketing intelligence system
3. Information processing system
4. Analytical or decision support system
5. Marketing research
i. Internal record system: Internal record system is taken as an important
component of MIS. Internal records are vital and easily accessible sources
of information which include
 Customers’ orders and complaints
 Invoices
 Sales report
 Cash flows
 Marketing research reports
 Financial report
 Audit report
 Account receivable and payable
Such information (records) are prepared and maintained by the specialists
involved in the organization or various departments or sections.
ii. Marketing intelligence system: Other component of MIS is marketing
intelligence system that provides daily information about the changing
conditions in market place and marketing environment. It is the process
of gathering information through
 Media report (Newspaper, magazines etc.)
 Informal talk (Talking with customers, suppliers, channel members etc.)
 Consultation with internal team members (Consultation with functional management
like production, research and development, finance etc.)
iii. Information processing system: Next component of MIS is information
processing system which is related to gather, retrieve, classify the necessary
information and supply them for analysis purpose so that it is very easy to
locate necessary information whenever required.
iv. Analytical system or decision support system: This is also one of the
component of MIS that does not collect any information or data but
it stores, analyzes and synthesizes the collected information. It
includes
Data
 Statistical tools
 Decision models
 Mathematical tools
that helps the decision maker to analyze data and take rational decision.
v. Marketing research: Market research is also taken as an important
component of MIS that generate the unique information to solve a
particular problem of the firm and provides them to the business executive
with important customer feed-back and dynamics of market place.
 Areas of market research

1. Market research
2. Product research
3. Price research
4. Promotion research
5. Distribution research
i. Market research: One of the area of marketing research is market research
which includes the research related with market like market segmentation,
buyers’ trend and behavior, demand forecasting, dealers’ trend and
behavior, competition, firm’s condition, market trend research etc.
ii. Product research: Another area of marketing research is product
research which includes research related with product like quality,
features, style, colour, size, shape, beauty, packaging, branding,
marking, warranty of product, development of new product, product
positioning, product life cycle etc.
iii. Price research: Next area of marketing research is price research which
includes the research related with price like price level, pricing
method, price policy, discount, payment etc. Demand of the product is
affected by price of the product and the price of the product is affected
by production cost. So price research should be conducted before
determining price.
iv. Promotion research: Another area of marketing research is promotion
research which includes research related with promotion like media,
advertisement effectiveness, channel promotion etc. Because promotion is
the very powerful technique to communicate information, messages etc.
about the goods. If the promotion is not effective even the best quality
goods cannot be sold out. So promotion research should be conducted
before adapting appropriate promotional tools like advertisement, personal
selling, publicity, sales promotion, public relation etc.
v. Distribution research: Other important marketing research is distribution
research which includes research related with distribution like distribution
channel research, warehousing research, transport research, distribution cost
research, distribution area research, location research etc. Distribution
means supplying the goods from producer to ultimate consumers.
 Process of market research
Marketing research is a systematic and objective searching of different areas of
marketing such as product design, quality, size, advertising method, sales
promotion, marketing environment, market position etc. which is conducted to
solve a specific or particular problem. It also generates the unique information,
analyzes the information and provides them to the decision maker so that the
right decision can be taken at the right time.
Process
1. Defining the problem and establishing the objective
2. Developing the research plan
3. Collecting the information
4. Analyzing the information
5. Presenting of the findings and submission of the report
i. Defining the problem and establishing the objective: This is the first step
of marketing research. In this step, first of all researcher has to identify the
burning problem that represents the overall problems of the company. After
defining the problem he has to determine the objective of the research
according to the problem identified.
ii. Developing the research plan: After defining the problem and objective,
now in this step, work of developing the appropriate and efficient research
plan should be done. It consists
 Plan for collecting the data from different internal and external sources (i.e. Primary
and Secondary data)
 Basically four types of research like observational research, group research, survey
research and experimental research should be done
 In order to collect the data, two main research instruments i.e. questionnaires
and mechanical devices can be used
 Research has to determine the size of the sample and sampling methods
 After the completion of sampling plan, researcher has to determine the choices
like
telephone, mail interview etc. to contact the people
iii. Collecting the information: After preparing research plan, now the
researcher has to collect the desired information that based on research
design. If the collected data or information are reliable, adequate then the
work of tabulation, analysis and interpretation can be done.
iv. Analyzing the information: After collecting the data, researcher should
tabulate and analyze the information systematically by using statistical
and mathematical tools.
v. Presenting of the finding and submission of the report: After analyzing
the data properly, the researcher should draft the final report with suitable
conclusions of the report and then present the report to the authorized
person for the implementation.