Role of Marketing Research in
Strategic Planning and Decision Making
The Nature and
Scope of Marketing
Research
Identifying Market Opportunities
and Constraints
• Who are our potential competitors and how
strong are their market positions?
• How satisfied are consumers with current
offerings on the market ? Are there any unmet
consumer needs?
• How is our offering likely to be perceived by
consumers relative to competitors’ offerings ?
Identifying Marketing Opportunities
and Constraints (Cont’d)
• Identify
– Potential customers’ strengths and
weaknesses
– Consumer satisfaction with current market
offerings
– Consumer perceptions of the offer relative
to competitors
• Goal
Marketing research can help answer these and
other questions of interest to marketers
– Maintain competitiveness
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Role of Marketing Research in the
Organization/Business
Marketing Research Definition
• A set of techniques and principles for
systematically collecting, recording,
analyzing, and interpreting data that can
aid decision makers who are involved with
marketing goods, services or ideas
Principles of Marketing Research
• Principle #1
– Attend to the timeliness and relevance of
research
• Principle #2
– Define research objectives carefully and
clearly
• Principle #3
– Do not conduct research to support decisions
already made
Principle # 1: Attend to the Timeliness and
Relevance of Research
• Ford and GM developed extremely
successful SUV’s
• Recent concerns over fuel prices have
changed consumers’ perceptions and
purchase intentions of SUV’s
• Volvo, Porsche and Volkswagen entered the
SUV market in 2004 after significant
investment in R&D conducted prior to the
recent shift in consumers opinions
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Principle # 2: Define Research Objectives
Carefully and Clearly
• Microsoft e-Home devices
– Marketing research demonstrated consumers
acceptance of this concept
– Implementation was stalled because
associated Internet-enabled technologies were
not yet available or just entering the market
The Role of Marketing Research in
Analysis and Interpretation
Principle # 3: Do Not Conduct Research to
Support Decisions Already Made
• Sony Mini-disc Players
– Successful product in Japan
– Launched in the US and failed miserably due
to popularity of competing technologies (i.e.,
Apple iPod)
Marketing Research’s Relationship to
Decision Making Activity
• Marketing Research can be used to identify
“profitable customers” and “not-profitable
customers”
– Profitable Customers: those who are more
likely to spend large amounts of money and
become repeat customers
– Not-Profitable Customers: those who are more
likely to spend less money on each transaction
and might not return
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Marketing Research Applications
•
•
•
•
Gathering data from markets
Conducting customer surveys
Determining the needs of your customers
Evaluating customer response to
advertising
Marketing Research Applications (Cont’d)
• Gathering sales and market share data on
your competitors
• Testing your products in the marketplace
• Estimating potential product sales
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