1. Marketing Research and Information Systems
Chapter 4
Marketing Research and Information Systems

2. The Importance of Information
Companies need information about their:
Marketing environment
Competition
Customer needs
Managers don’t need more information, they need better information.

3. What is a Marketing Information System (MIS)?
A MIS consists of people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers.
The MIS helps managers to:
Assess Information Needs,
Develop Needed Information,
Distribute Information.

4. The Marketing Information System (Fig. 4.1)

5. Functions of a MIS: Assessing Information Needs
Information Managers Would Like to Have
What They Really Need & What is Feasible to Offer
Benefit
Cost

6. Functions of a MIS: Developing Information
Information Needed by Managers Can be Obtained From:
Internal Data
Computerized Collection of Information from Data Sources (i.e. Accounting) Within the Company.
Marketing
Research
Design, Collection, Analysis, and Reporting of Data about a Specific Marketing Situation Facing the Organization.
Intelligence
Collection and Analysis of Publicly Available Information about Competitors and the
Marketing Environment (i.e. Technological).

7. Functions of a MIS: Distributing Information
Distributes Routine Information for
Decision Making
Information Must be Distributed
to the Right Managers at the Right Time.
Distributes Nonroutine
Information for Special
Situations

8. The Marketing Research Process (Fig. 4.2)
Implementing
the research
plan -- collecting
and analyzing
the data
Defining the
problem and
research
objectives
Developing the
research plan
for collecting
information
Interpreting
and reporting
the findings

9. Marketing Research Process Step 1
Marketing Research Process Step 1. Defining the Problem & Research Objectives
Exploratory
Research
Gathers preliminary information
that will help define the problem
and suggest hypotheses.
Descriptive
Research
Describes things as market
potential for a product or the
demographics and consumers’
attitudes.
Causal
Research
Test hypotheses about cause-
and-effect relationships.
Tests hypotheses about cause-

10. Marketing Research Process Step 2. Develop the Research Plan
Research plan development follows these steps:
Determining Specific Information Needs
Gathering Secondary information
Planning Primary Data Collection

11. Develop the Research Plan Gathering Secondary Information
Information That Already Exists Somewhere.
+ Obtained More Quickly, Lower Cost.
- Might Not be Usable Data.
Secondary
Both Must Be:
Relevant
Accurate
Current
Impartial
Information Collected for the Specific Purpose at Hand.
Primary
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12. Develop the Research Plan Planning Primary Data Collection
Observational Research
Gathering data by observing people,
actions and situations
(Exploratory)
Research Approaches
Survey Research
Asking individuals about attitudes, preferences or
buying behaviors
(Descriptive)
Most Widely Used Form
Experimental Research
Using groups of people to
determine cause-and-effect
relationships
(Causal)

13. Develop the Research Plan Planning Primary Data Collection
Contact Methods (Table 4.3)

14. Develop the Research Plan Planning Primary Data Collection
Probability or
Non-probability
sampling?
Sampling Plans
Who is to be
surveyed?
(What Sampling
Unit?)
Sample -
representative
segment of the
population
How should the
sample be
chosen?
How many
should be
surveyed?

15. Develop the Research Plan Planning Primary Data Collection
Research Instruments
Questionnaire
What questions to ask?
Form of each question?
Closed-end
Open-end
Wording?
Ordering?
Mechanical Devices
People Meters
Supermarket Scanners
Galvanometer
Tachistoscope
Eye Cameras

16. Develop the Research Plan Presenting the Research Plan
Summarize the plan in a written proposal and cover:
Management problems addressed,
Research objectives,
Information to be obtained,
Sources of secondary information,
Methods for collecting primary data,
Way the results will help management decision making.

17. Marketing Research Process Step 3. Implementing the Research Plan
Collecting the
Data
Most Expensive & Subject to Error
Research Plan
Processing the
Data
Analyzing the
Data

18. Marketing Research Process Step 4. Interpreting and Reporting Findings
Step 1. Interpret the Findings
Researcher Should Present Important Findings that are Useful in the Major Decisions Faced by Management.
Step 2. Draw Conclusions
Step 3. Report to Management

19. Other Marketing Research Considerations
Research in
Small Businesses
and
Nonprofit
Organizations
International
Marketing
Research
Public Policy
and
Ethics in
Marketing
Research
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20. Discussion
Many companies build extensive internal databases that marketing managers can use to identify marketing opportunities and problems, plan strategies and programs, and evaluate performance. If you were the marketing manager for a large computer software producer, what types of information would you like to have available in your company’s internal database? Explain.
2.        Focus group interviewing is both a widely used and widely criticized as a marketing research technique. List the advantages and disadvantages of focus groups. Suggest some kinds of questions that are suitable for exploration by using focus groups.