CHAPTER 4
Managing Marketing
Information
Roadmap: Previewing the Concepts
 Explain the importance of information to the
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


company and its understanding of the
marketplace.
Define the marketing information system and
discuss its parts.
Outline the steps in the marketing research
process.
Explain how companies analyze and distribute
marketing information.
Discuss the special issues some marketing
researchers face, including public policy and
ethics issues.
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COACH – Research Revamps Strategy
The Situation
 Firm began by offering
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classically styled, highquality leather handbags.
Women needed only two
purses in brown or black.
Mid-1990s: sales slowed.
Consumer preferences
changed as more women
entered the workforce.
Designer bags made
Coach’s look plain.
Copyright 2007, Prentice-Hall Inc.
Research’s Role
 Method: Interviews 14,000
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women annually. Watches
trends for “market voids.”
Key research findings:
1) desire for “fashion
pizzazz” in handbags.
2) “Usage voids.”
New products are created
to fill voids (wristlets, fabric
bags, Signature line, etc.).
Sales & earnings grow.
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The Importance of Marketing
Information
 Companies need information about
their:
– Customer’s needs
– Marketing environment
– Competition
 Marketing managers do not need more
information, they need better
information.
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Information Overload
“In this oh so
overwhelming
information age,
it’s all too easy to
be buried,
burdened, and
burned out by
data overload.”
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Marketing Information System
An MIS consists of people,
equipment, and procedures to
gather, sort, analyze, and
distribute needed, timely, and
accurate information to
marketing decision makers.
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Figure 4-1
The Marketing Information System
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Marketing Information Systems
 A good MIS balances the information
users would like against what they
need and what is feasible to offer.
 Sometimes the company cannot
provide the needed information
because it is not available or due to
MIS limitations.
 Have to decide whether the benefits of
more information are worth the costs.
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Sources of Marketing Information
 Internal Databases: Electronic collections of
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
information obtained from data sources
within the company.
Marketing Intelligence: Systematic collection
and analysis of publicly available
information about competitors and
developments in the marketing environment.
Marketing Research: Systematic design,
collection, analysis, and reporting of data
relevant to a specific marketing situation
facing an organization.
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Let’s Talk!
At right is an
example of the
fields tracked
by an internal
sales database.
Pick any firm.
What custom
fields should be
added in order
to enhance the database for research purposes?
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Marketing in Action
Marketing Intelligence
ProductScan
Online leverages
the power of the
Internet to provide
subscribers with
access to a huge
database featuring
intelligence related
to NEW consumer
packaged goods.
productscan.com
Copyright 2007, Prentice-Hall Inc.
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Marketing in Action
Marketing Research
Greenfield Online
provides a variety
of marketing
research services.
Visit the Web site
to take a survey,
join a consumer
research panel, or
to learn more.
http://www.greenfield.com/programmingservices.htm
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Figure 4-2
The Marketing Research Process
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Defining Problem and Objectives
 Exploratory Research:
– Gathers preliminary information that will help
define the problem and suggest hypotheses.
 Descriptive Research:
– Describes things (e.g., market potential for a
product, demographics and attitudes).
 Causal Research:
– Tests hypotheses about cause-and-effect
relationships.
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Developing the Research Plan
 Includes:
– Determining the exact information needed.
– Developing a plan for gathering it efficiently.
– Presenting the written plan to management.
 Outlines:
–
–
–
–
–
Sources of existing data
Specific research approaches
Contact methods
Sampling plans
Instruments for data collection
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Secondary Data
 Information that
already exists
somewhere:
– Internal databases
– Commercial or
syndicated data
services
– Government sources
– Published sources
(newspapers,
magazines, etc.)
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 Key sources of
secondary data
found on the Web:
– Media data:
ACNielsen, Arbitron,
Nielson, Interactive
Advertising Bureau
– Government data:
Census, FTC, SBA
– Consumer data:
SMRB, ComScore
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Marketing in Action
Census Data Provides Demographic Profiles
One portion
of the census
site allows
marketers to
build profiles
of geographic
regions on a
state, county,
and/or city
level.
Census.gov
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Pros and Cons of Secondary Data
 Advantages:
– Available more quickly and at a lower cost than
primary data.
– May provide data the company cannot secure
on its own.
 Potential Problems:
– Desired information may not exist.
– Not all information found is usable.
 Carefully evaluate information to be certain it
is relevant, accurate, current, and impartial.
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Primary Data
 Consists of information collected for
the specific purpose at hand.
 Must be relevant, accurate, current,
and unbiased.
 Must determine:
– Research approach
– Contact methods
– Sampling plan
– Research instruments
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Observational Research
 The gathering of primary data by observing

relevant people, actions, and situations.
Ethnographic research:
– Observation in a
“natural environment”
 Mechanical
observation:
– People meters
– Checkout scanners
Copyright 2007, Prentice-Hall Inc.
Video Snippet
Wild Planet uses
ethnographic research
to learn more about
the children that
they target.
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Marketing in Action
Observational
Research
Many restaurants, retail
stores, and other
service-oriented
businesses use mystery
shoppers – a type of
observational research –
to evaluate the quality of
customer service and
aspects of the facilities.
Learn more:
myshoppingjobs.com
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Survey Research
 Most widely used method for primary
data collection.
 Approach best suited for gathering
descriptive information.
 Can gather information about people’s
knowledge, attitudes, preferences, or
buying behavior.
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Marketing in Action
Survey Research
Surveys can help marketers to understand attitudes.
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Experimental Research
 Tries to explain cause-and-effect
relationships.
 Involves:
– selecting matched groups of subjects
– giving different treatments
– controlling unrelated factors
– checking differences in group responses
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Primary Data Collection Methods
 Mail Survey Pros:
– Can collect large amounts of information at a
relatively low cost per respondent.
– Generates more truthful responses than phone
interviews.
– Improved validity (no interviewer bias).
 Mail Survey Cons:
– Not flexible; study takes longer to finish.
– Low response rate.
– Little control over sample.
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Primary Data Collection Methods
 Phone Surveying Pros:
– Gathers information fast.
– Greater flexibility than
mail surveys.
– Good response rates.
– Strong sample control.
 Phone Surveying Cons:
– Higher costs than mail.
– Interviewer effects exist.
– Limited quantity of data
can be collected.
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Primary Data Collection Methods
 Individual & Group Interviewing Pros:
– Highly flexible method that can gather a
great deal of data from a respondent.
– Good control of sample, speed of data
collection, and response rate.
 Individual & Group Interviewing Cons:
– High cost per respondent.
– Highly subject to interviewer bias and
related interviewer effects.
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Primary Data Collection Methods
 Online Marketing Research:
– Includes surveys, experiments, and focus
groups conducted over the Internet.
– The least expensive and quickest way to
gather information.
– Offers excellent control over sample.
– Good flexibility & response rates; able to
collect a fair amount of information.
– Some forms prone to interviewer effects.
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Sampling Plan
 Sample: segment of the population selected

to represent the population as a whole.
Sampling requires three decisions:
– Who is to be surveyed?
 Sampling unit
– How many people should be surveyed?
 Sample size
– How should the people in the sample be chosen?
 Sampling procedure
 Probability vs. nonprobability samples
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Primary Data Collection
 Mechanical research instruments:
– People meters
(see image
shown at left)
– Supermarket
scanners
– Galvanometer
– Eye Cameras
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Implementing the Research Plan
 Collecting the data
– Most expensive phase
– Subject to error
 Processing the data
– Check for accuracy
– Code for analysis
 Analyzing the data
– Tabulate results
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Interpreting and Reporting Findings
 Interpret the
findings
 Draw conclusions
 Report to
management
– Present findings
and conclusions
that will help
decision making.
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Analyzing Marketing Information
Customer Relationship Management
Managing detailed information about
customers and carefully managing
“customer touch points” in order to
maximize customer loyalty.
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Distributing and Using Marketing
Information
 Routine

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
information
for decision
making
Nonroutine
information
for special
situations
Intranets
Extranets
demo.silverscan.com
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Other Marketing Research
Considerations
 Marketing research in small
businesses and nonprofit
organizations
 International marketing research
 Public policy and ethics in marketing
research
– Consumer privacy
– Misuse of research findings
Copyright 2007, Prentice-Hall Inc.
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Let’s Talk!
Video mining – analyzing video tape of consumers
secretly obtained without their knowledge using
computer software – is growing in prevalence.
How do you feel about this technique?
Would its use prevent you from shopping at a store?
How could the information be used unethically?
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Marketing in Action
Code of Ethics
www.casro.org
Ethical firms should follow the CASRO’s standards.
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Rest Area: Reviewing the Concepts
 Explain the importance of information to the




company and its understanding of the
marketplace.
Define the marketing information system and
discuss its parts.
Outline the steps in the marketing research
process.
Explain how companies analyze and distribute
marketing information.
Discuss the special issues some marketing
researchers face, including public policy and
ethics issues.
Copyright 2007, Prentice-Hall Inc.
4-38