Marketing research is defined as all activities that provide information to guide marketing decisions. — Seymour Sudman and Edward Blair

It is a very comprehensive definition. It equates marketing research to information gathering. This information gathering facilitates the strategic and operational decisions about

O target markets

O competitive strategies

O marketing mix consisting of product, price, place (disribution ), or promotion

There are so many methods to do marketing research. It assumes many forms. But the main point is the reason behind marketing research. The content of marketing research is OK. But its application is important — facilitation of the decision making process.

The research methodology is common to those used elsewhere, say economics, sociology, psychology.

Common Issues in MR

MR is basically geared to the 4 Cs — Customers, Competitors, Company and Climate. It seeks to answer questions such as:

O Who are our customers? Where are they? What do they buy? Why do they buy? When do they buy? How much quantity do they buy?

O Who are competing with us? How strong are they? How do they compare with us?

O What are our strengths and weaknesses? How good are our marketing programmes?

O How the environment is changing in terms of technology, sociology and economy?