Marketing Research

In such situations marketing intelligence will not provide the detailed information needed. Managers will need marketing research.

Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation. For example, marketing research can help marketers understand customer satisfaction and purchase behavior. It can help them to assess market potential and market share or to measure the effectiveness of pricing, product, distribution, and promotion activities.

Some large companies have their own research departments that work with marketing managers on marketing research projects. This is how Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Citigroup, and many other corporate giants handle marketing research. In addition, these companies like their smaller counterparts-frequently hire outside research specialists to consult with management on specific marketing problems and conduct marketing research studies. Sometime firms simply purchase data collected by outside firms to aid in their decision making.

The marketing research process has four steps.

1. Defining the problem and research objectives.
2. Developing the research plan, for collecting information.
3. Implementing the research plan.
4. Interpreting and reporting the findings.