Research is any organized inquiry carried out to provide information for solving problems. Marketing research is a systematic inquiry that provides information to guide marketing decisions. More specifically, it is a process of determining, acquiring, analyzing and synthesizing, and disseminating relevant marketing data, information, and insights to decision makers in ways that mobilize the organization to take appropriate marketing actions that, in turn, maximize business performance. Marketing research includes reporting, descriptive, explanatory, and predictive studies. We emphasize the last three in this book.
Not all marketers have established research as a priority in their process of decision making. Thus a hierarchy of marketing decision makers is emerging: The top tier contains those marketers who use research as a fundamental key step in all decisions and who use creative vision to establish proprietary methodologies; the middle tier is those marketers who occasionally turn to research but only rely on the tried-and-true methods; the bottom tier is those marketers who by choice or economic circumstance choose to rely on intuition and judgment rather than marketing research.
The marketing managers of tomorrow will need to know more than any managers in history. Marketing research will be a major contributor to that knowledge. Marketing managers will find knowledge of research methods to be of value in many situations. They may need to conduct research either for themselves or for others. As buyers of research services marketers will need to be able to judge research quality. Finally, they may become marketing research specialists themselves.
What characterizes good research? Generally, one expects good research to be purposeful, with a clearly defined focus and plausible goals, with defensible, ethical, and repeatable procedures, and with evidence of objectivity. The reporting of procedures—their strengths and weaknesses—should be complete and honest. Appropriate analytical techniques should be used; conclusions drawn should be limited to those clearly justified by the findings; and reports of findings and conclusions should be clearly presented and professional in tone, language, and appearance. Marketers should always choose a researcher who has an established reputation for quality work. The research objective and its benefits should be weighed against potentially adverse effects.
