KALYAN CITY BLOG

What is Marketing Research? Meaning Marketing Research has two words, viz., marketing and research. Marketing means buying and selling activities. Research means a systematic and complete study of a problem. It is done by experts. It uses scientific methods. Thus, we can say, “Marketing Research is a systematic method of collecting, recording and analyzing of data, which is used to solve marketing problems.” Image credits © A3sthetix . A company faces many marketing problems. It faces problems about consumers, product, market competition, sales promotion, etc. Marketing research helps to solve these problems. Marketing research is a systematic process. It first collects data (information) about the marketing problem. Secondly, it records this data. Then it analysis (studies) this data and draws conclusions about it. After that, it gives suggestions (advice) for solving the marketing-problem. So, marketing research helps to solve the market...

Branches / Areas / Scope of Marketing Research The scope of marketing research is very wide and comprehensive. It includes 1. Product Research Product means the goods and services which are sold to the consumers. It includes consumer products and industrial products. Product research studies the individual product. It studies the making and marketing of the product. It studies the colour, size, shape, quality, packaging, merk name and price of the product. It also deals with product modification, product innovation, product life cycle, etc. The product is modified (changed) as per the needs and wants of the consumers. Therefore, the product will not fail in the market. 2. Consumer Research Consumer is the person who purchases the goods and services. The consumer is the king in the market. Consumer research studies consumer behaviour. It studies the consumers needs, wants, likes, dislikes, attitude, age, sex, income, location; buying motives, etc. This data is used to take deci...

Limitations of Marketing Research Though marketing research (MR) has many advantages, it also has many limitations or disadvantages. Marketing research studies consumer behavior and marketing environment. Since these factors keep on changing, it cannot give exact information. MR is also a social science. So, it cannot give exact solutions. It cannot be an alternative to decision making . In other words, it cannot replace decision making. It aids in decision-making. It can improve the quality of decisions. However, it cannot guarantee a 100% success. It can reduce the business risks. However, it cannot totally eliminate all these risks. The demerits or limitations of marketing research are depicted below. Imgage credits © Prof. Mudit Katyani. The limitations or disadvantages of marketing research are as follows: Marketing research (MR) is a costly affair. It is also lengthy and time-consuming. It has a limited scope. It has a limited practical val...

Need and Importance of Marketing Research (MR) A business faces many types of marketing problems. It faces problems about its product, price, place and promotion. It also faces problems about product design , packaging, branding, marketing channels, advertising , etc. Some marketing problems are very serious. Therefore, in the marketing, managers use marketing research as an important tool to solve marketing problems. The need and importance of marketing research are depicted below. Marketing research helps company and decision makers as follows: Marketing research (MR) provides valuable data. It studies and provides data about consumer behavior. It helps to select suitable sales promotional techniques. It supplies market -related information. It helps a company to evaluate its marketing performance. It also has miscellaneous needs and importance. 1. Provides valuable data Marketing research provides valuable data to the decision makers. It provides dat...

Functions of marketing research The following image depicts five basic functions of marketing research . Image credits © Prof. Mudit Katyani. The five main functions of marketing research (MR) are: Description, Evaluation, Explanation, Prediction, and Aid in decision making . Now let's discuss these prominent functions of marketing research. Description : Marketing research gives full description about the consumers. It describes their age, sex, education, income, etc. It also gives a description about the competitors and the market situation. This description is used to take marketing decisions and solve marketing problems. Evaluation : Marketing research helps to evaluate the company's performance. It helps to evaluate the company's production and marketing policies. It finds out the customer reaction to the quality of the product, price, packaging, advertising, sales, promotions' techniques, etc. If the consumer reactions are bad, t...

Difference Between Marketing Problem Vs Marketing Research Problem Following image highlights eight important points used to distinguish between marketing masalah vs marketing research (MR) problem. Image credits © Prof. Mudit Katyani. Difference between marketing masalah and marketing research masalah is based on the following eight points: Meaning of marketing masalah and marketing research problem. Wide and narrow scope. Who can solve the problem? What problems they include? Availability of data and its relation to their studies. Cost and time-consumption. Whether the masalah is of serious nature or not? Their interrelationship. Now let's differentiate marketing masalah and marketing research problem. Meaning : Any masalah related to marketing of goods, and service is called a marketing problem. A marketing research masalah is the one which is selected for a detailed study. Scope : The scope of a marketing masalah is very wide. I...

Need For Marketing Research In recent years, the scope of business has expanded from local to global level. The size of the production has greatly increased. The production is now centralized, and the consumption centers are widespread. This has created a wide gap between the manufacturer and consumer. This has caused basic problems like what to produce and what to sell. There is a need for marketing research to solve these problems. There is a need for marketing research, to: Collect latest data on demand and supply in the market. Find out new market and create more demand for goods. Analyze the extent of competition. Find out the best technology for production, packaging, etc. Fill information gap between producers and consumers. Collect consumer-related data for decision making. Supply latest and reliable data to decision makers. Study changing consumer patterns. Now let’s discuss above points highlighting the need for marketing research. 1. Expansion of mark...

Objectives of Marketing Research The main objective of marketing research (MR) is to provide information to the marketing manager. The marketing manager uses this information to make marketing decision and to solve marketing problems. The purposes or objectives of marketing research are listed below. Identify the consumer response to the company’s product. Know the consumers’ needs and expectations. Seek maximum information about the consumer, i.e. the know consumers’ income range, their location, buying behavior, etc. Know the nature and extent of competition and also the strength and weaknesses of the competitors. Check the reaction of the dealers to the company policies. Evaluate the reputation of the company in the market. Identify and solve the marketing problems of the company. Search for new marketing opportunities. Find out alternative uses of the existing products. Estimate the cost of marketing of goods and service. Help company to introduce...

Marketing Information System MIS Definition 1. According to Donald Cox and Robert Good , “An MIS may be defined as a set of procedures and methods for the regular, planned collection, analysis, and presentation of information for use in making marketing decisions. This of course is a step beyond logistics systems, which handle inventory control, orders, and so forth.” This definition of Marketing Information System (MIS) is referred from a 1937 classic paper titled “ How to build a Marketing Information System ,” written by Donald F. Cox and Robert E. Good. 2. According to Prof. Mudit Katyani , “MIS is a planned tactic to do analysis of mainly three system requirements viz., people, information, and technology. It is required at all levels of management in executing operational, managerial, and strategic decisions. Its intention is to design the procedures which give a comprehensive report in a timely manner.” Prof. Katyani’s definiti...

Features of Marketing Information System MIS The main characteristics or features of Marketing Information System (MIS) : Image credits © Prof. Mudit Katyani. Continuous system : MIS is a permanent and continuous system of collecting information. It collects information continuously. Basic objective : The basic objective of MIS is to provide the right-information at the right-time to the right-people to help them take right decisions. Computer based system : MIS is a computer-based system. It uses computers for storing, analyzing and supplying information. It also uses micro-films for storing information. Therefore, it is very quick and accurate. Future-oriented : MIS is future-oriented. It provides information for solving future problems. It is not past-oriented. Used by all levels : MIS is used by all three levels of management , i.e. top, middle and lower. It is used for making marketing plans, policies and strategies. This is used to s...

Components of Marketing Information System MIS Marketing Information System (MIS) collects, analyses, and supplies a lot of relevant information to the marketing managers. It is a valuable tool for planning, implementing and controlling the marketing activities. The role of MIS is to identify (find out) what sort of information is required by the marketing managers. It then collects and analyzes the information. It supplies this information to the marketing manager at the right time. MIS collects the information through its subsystems. These subsystems are called components . The four main components of Marketing Information System (MIS) are: Internal Records, Marketing Intelligence, Marketing Research (MR), and Marketing Decision Support System. The basic components of MIS are depicted and explained below. Image credits © Prof. Mudit Katyani. Internal records : The first component of MIS is ‘Internal Record’. Marketing ...

Essential Requisites of a Good MIS The following image depicts the eight essential requisites of a good MIS . Image credits © Prof. Mudit Katyani. The essentials of a good Marketing Information System (MIS) is listed below: MIS must be unified and centralized. It must facilitate decision making . It must provide quick and accurate information. It must be economical. It must be selective. It must be future oriented. It must supply information regularly. It must use new techniques. Now let's discuss and find out, “ How a good MIS must be? ” Unified and centralized : MIS must be unified and centralized. It collects and stores different types of market information. All of this information must be unified and centralized. That is, all the marketing information must be brought together (unified) and kept at one central place (centralized). So, it must be at the central-office. This will result in easy access and quick refere...

Distinguish Between MIS and Marketing Research (MR) Following image depicts the ten main points which are used to make a comparison or distinction between MIS and Marketing Research (MR). Image credits © Prof. Mudit Katyani. Difference between MIS vs MR is based on the following ten points: Meaning of MIS and MR. Their basic or main purpose. Wide or narrow scope. General or specific nature. Number of reports provided. Future or past orientation. Frequency of data collection. Number of problems to solve. Continuous or non-continuous operational method. Based on use of computers or not. Now let's distinguish MIS and Marketing Research (MR) on above points. Meaning : MIS means to collect, analyze and supply relevant marketing information to the marketing managers. The marketing managers use this information for taking effective marketing decisions. It is a permanent and continuous process. Marketing Research (MR) is a systematic proces...

Definition of Marketing Audit The definition of marketing audit as stated by Abe Schuchman is as follows: “Marketing audit is a systematic, critical and impartial review and appraisal of the total marketing operation: of the basic objectives and polices and the assumptions which underlie them as well as the methods, procedures, personnel and organization employed to implement the policies and achieve the objectives.” Abe Schuchman gave this definition of marketing audit in his writings on its first extended discussions. He wrote this discussion for the American Marketing Association (AMA) in 1951. Meaning of Marketing Audit The meaning of marketing audit is depicted in the following chart. Marketing audit is an analysis, examination, review or evaluation of marketing activities of a company. It evaluates marketing environment, objectives, plans, policies and strategies of a company. After evaluation, it identifies various defects, vulnerabilities, defi...

Explain the Characteristics of Marketing Audit The eight important characteristics of marketing audit are depicted below. The salient features or characteristics of marketing audit are as follows: Marketing audit is a comprehensive study of all marketing activities. It is a systematic-process that follows a step-by-step procedure. It is a periodic activity and must be conducted regularly. It is conducted by an independent person who is not from company. It is a critical review of marketing activities of company. It is an evaluation of marketing activities of company. It finds out marketing opportunities and weaknesses of company. It is a preventative and curative marketing medicine. Now let's briefly discuss or explain each characteristic of marketing audit. 1. Comprehensive study Marketing audit is a comprehensive or complete study of all the marketing activities of company. It studies the marketing environment, marketing objective, marketing plans, policies and str...

Scope, Areas or Types of Marketing Audit There are no fixed guidelines regarding the scope, areas or types of marketing audit . In other words, the scope of marketing audit is not fixed. It changes from company to company. Each company can make its own marketing audit plan. However, the scope of marketing audit must include the following areas or types: The six important types of marketing audit are: Marketing Environment Audit. Marketing Strategy Audit. Marketing Organization Audit. Marketing Systems Audit. Marketing Productivity Audit. Marketing Function Audit. Now let's discuss each main area or type of marketing audit. 1. Marketing Environment Audit Marketing Environment Audit consists of the external environment of company. It includes natural environment, economic environment, political environment, demographic environment, etc. The marketing audit analyses the marketing consumer, competitors, suppliers, so on. This audit helps the company to make marketing strateg...

Methods of Conducting a Marketing Audit Marketing audit is an examination of the marketing activities of company. It must be conducted by impartial persons. Auditors must be properly qualified, trained and experienced enough to do the audit. They must have a complete knowledge and exposure of marketing. Image below depicts the methods of conducting a marketing audit. Following methods are used to conduct a marketing audit: Outside auditor : Company appoints an outside auditor to conduct a marketing audit. Task force audit : Company selects a team of its own senior executives to conduct a marketing audit. Self audit : In this method, marketing manager of a company conducts a marketing audit. Audit from above : Here, a senior executive of company (for example, a Director) is appointed to conduct a marketing audit. Now let's discuss, “ How is marketing audit conducted? ” 1. Outside auditor In this method, the company can appoint an ...

Is marketing research scientific or not? Marketing research is not a pure science like physics and chemistry. It is a social science. It uses scientific methods for solving marketing problems. It uses an observational and experimental method for collecting data. These methods are very scientific. MR is very practical and systematic. It doesn't use trial or error method or guess work. We can find out whether marketing research is scientific or not by answering following important questions: Qualification of researchers involved. Is the process ending or never-ending? Is it using the available knowledge? Whether it is open to self-correction or not? Is it based on systematic approach or not? Whether decisions taken are accurate or not? Whether the objective of the study is less or more? Based on above points let's briefly explain whether MR is scientific or not? Qualification of researchers : Scientific method is conducted by ...