Objectives
Understand the importance of information to the company.
Know the definition of a marketing information system and be able to discuss its subparts.
Learn the steps in the marketing research process.
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Marketing Info. System
Marketing Information System (MIS)
 Consists of people, equipment, and procedures that gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers.
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Figure 5-1:
The Marketing
Information System
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Marketing Info. System
Assessing Marketing
Information Needs
 The MIS serves company managers as well as external partners.
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Marketing Info. System
Assessing Marketing Information
Needs
 The MIS must balance needs against feasibility:
 Not all information can be obtained.
 Obtaining, processing, sorting, and delivering information is costly.
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Marketing Info. System
Developing
Information
Marketing intelligence
Marketing research
Internal Data is gathered via customer databases, financial records, and operations reports.
Advantages of internal data include quick/easy access to information.
Disadvantages stem from incompleteness or inappropriateness of data to a particular situation.
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Marketing Info. System
Developing
Information
Internal data
Marketing research
Marketing intelligence is the systematic collection and analysis of publicly available information about competitors and trends in the marketing environment.
Competitive intelligence gathering activities have grown.
Many sources of competitive info. exist.
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Marketing Info. System
Developing
Information
Internal data
Marketing intelligence
Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization.
Several steps are involved in the marketing research process.
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Figure 5-2:
The Marketing
Research Process
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Marketing Info. System
Step 1: Defining the problem and research objectives
 Don’t confuse the symptoms of the problem with its cause when defining the problem.
 Exploratory, descriptive, and causal research each fulfill different objectives.
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Marketing Info. System
Step 2: Developing the Research Plan
 Research objectives guide the determination of specific information needs.
 Research proposals outline the type of data needed and the research plan.
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Marketing Info. System
 Secondary data: Information collected for another purpose which already exists.
 Primary data: Information collected for the specific purpose at hand
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Marketing Info. System
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Marketing Info. System
Types of Data
Planning primary research:
 Research approaches:
 Observation
 Survey
 Experiment
 Contact methods
 Sampling plan
 Research instruments
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Marketing Info. System
Types of Data
Planning primary research:
 Research
Approaches
 Contact methods:
 Mail
 Telephone
 Online
 Personal
 Sampling plan
 Research instruments
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Marketing Info. System
Key Contact Methods Include:
 Mail surveys
 Telephone surveys
 Personal interviewing:
 Individual or focus group
 Online (Internet) research
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Marketing Info. System
Sample: subgroup of population from whom information will be collected
Sampling Plan Decisions:
 Sampling unit
 Sample size
 Sampling procedure:
 Probability samples
 Non-probability samples
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Marketing Info. System
Research Instruments:
 Questionnaires
 Include different types of questions
• Open-ended question:
What are the most important benefits you seek when buying a car?
• Closed-ended question:
What is your gender?
____ Male ____ Female
 Phrasing and question order are key
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The manner in which questions are phrased can influence the validity of the data collected. Critique the following questions:
1. What is your age?
___ 18 – 25 ___ 25 – 45 ___ 46 – 65
2. What is your income? $ _________
3. How important is fast and friendly service to you when selecting a fast food establishment?
___ Very important
___ Important
___ Somewhat important
___ Not important at all
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Marketing Info. System
Research Instruments:
 Mechanical instruments
 Traffic counters
 Retailer store checkout scanners
 Video-taped store traffic
 People meters
 Website logs, cookies, software
 Physiological measurement equipment
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Mechanical measures of physiological processes include eye movement, pulse rate, eye dilation, and as shown below, changes in facial expressions.
Marketers can adjust offers accordingly.
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Marketing Info. System
Step 3 of the Research Process:
Implementing the Research Plan
 Involves collecting, processing, and analyzing information.
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Marketing Info. System
Step 4 of the Research Process:
Interpreting and Reporting the
Findings
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Marketing Info. System
Analyzing Marketing Information
 Customer relationship management
(CRM) helps manage information.
 CRM offers many benefits and can help a firm gain a competitive advantage.
 Technology alone can not build profitable customer relationships.
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