Marketing Information Systems

people, equipment, and procedures…

to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and

distribute …
needed, timely, and accurate information
to marketing decision makers.
 Internal Records

Order-to-Payment Cycle
Accounts Receivable Ledger

Sales Information
System
Marketing Intelligence System

A Marketing Intelligence System is a set

of procedures and sources used by
managers to obtain everyday information
about developments in the marketing
environment.
 Market Research

• Simply a matter of finding out as much as

you can before committing yourself to an
irretrievable step
What to find out?

• What does the customer need?

• Who is the target audience and how much
can you find out about them?
• What is the competition?
• Are there any gaps in the market?
• Would the product be acceptable in the
market?
Do I need Market Research?

• Yes. Provided I know what I want.

 The MR Process

• What is the Marketing Problem?

• Developing the Research Plan
• Research Approach
• Research Instruments
• Collecting the Information
• Analysing the information
• Presentation of findings
Formulating the problem

• What is the marketing problem?

 The Research Design

A blueprint for the rest of the research process

• Which source?
• What approach to be used?
• Which instrument?
• What sampling plan?
• How should the respondents be contacted?
Data sources (The Research Design)

Both Must Be:

Information That Already
Exists Somewhere.
Relevant Information Collected
• Directories Companies for the Specific Purpose
• Stock Exchange
Accurate at Hand.
• Industry/Trade Journals
• Trade fairs and Exhibitions
• Annual Reports Current
• Internet
Impartial
Research Approaches (The Research Design)

Observational
Research
Survey
Gathering data Research
by observing
people, Experimental
Asking
actions and individuals about
Research
situations attitudes,
preferences or Manipulating one
(Exploratory) buying behaviors variable in a
(Descriptive) controlled
environment,
cause-and-effect
relationships

(Causal)
Research Instruments- (The Research
Design)

• Questionnaires
• Mechanical Instruments - Tape recorders,
Cameras, eye cameras, instruments to
measure interests, emotion, span of
interests etc
Contact Methods - (The Research Design)
 Sampling Plan - (The Research Design)

Who is to be
PROCEDURE - Probability or
surveyed?
Non-probability
(What Sampling
sampling?
Unit?)
Sample -
representative
segment of the
population

PROCEDURE –
How should the SIZE -How many
sample be should be
chosen? surveyed?
Sampling Techniques
Probability sampling
• Simple random sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Cluster sampling

Non – Probability sampling

• Judgement sampling
• Convenience sampling
• Quota sampling
Uses of MR

• Filling in the gaps in • To shortlist options

knowledge where a large no. of
• Concept identification options exist
and exploration • Assessing
• Identify relevant comprehension,
behaviour patterns likeability, memory of
• Identify attitudes, business
beliefs, opinions communication
Limitations of MR

• It is not an exact science • Validation is a problem.

• Appreciation of the fact Element of subjectivity.
that there would be a • Biases can creep in
difference from test owing to lesser skill of the
conditions to actual MR team
practice • Inadequate preparation
• MR depends on and analysis can lead to
responses. This can erroneous conclusions
change depending on • Lack of motivation due to
test conditions. MR not being appreciated
by many companies
 The Characteristics of Good
Marketing Research
1. Scientific Effective marketing research uses the principles of the
method scientific method: careful observation, formulation of
hypotheses, prediction, and testing.

2. Research At its best, marketing research develops innovative

creativity ways to solve a problem: a clothing company catering to
teenagers gave several young men video cameras, then
used the videos for focus groups held in restaurants
and other places teenagers frequent.

3. Multiple Marketing researchers shy away from overreliance on

methods any one method. They also recognize the value of using
two or three methods to increase confidence in the
results.
Testing Product Acceptability

• If your product is a knock - down kit , give it

to the factory peon to assemble it.
• Post the item back to yourself and assess
the damage the transporter does to it.
• Try various types of packaging and choose
a suitable cost effective option.
• Try a number of product names and
determine which is more acceptable.
What is a Marketing Decision
Support System (MDSS)?

a coordinated collection of data, systems,

tools, and techniques
with supporting hardware and software
by which an organization gathers and
interprets relevant information
from business and environment and turns it
into a basis for marketing action.