“Marketing Research is defined as the function that connects the consumer, customer and public to the marketer by the means of information. This information is then used to recognize and define marketing opportunities and issues, generate, refine and assess marketing actions; examine marketing performance and improve understanding of marketing as a process.”
It can further be considered as a well-planned, organized process which implies that it requires planning at all the stages by using a scientific procedure. It is a process that attempts to offer accurate authentic information. It is also sometimes defined as the use of scientific method to find the solution of marketing problems.
With proper marketing research, organizations can identify the needs of their customers and make efforts to meet them in best possible way. Systematic gathering of information and its analysis is the main task of Marketing Research.
Relationship and difference between Marketing Research and Marketing Information System (MIS)
Information generated by Marketing Research from various sources like internal, external, marketing intelligence agencies is considered as a part of MIS. Basically, MIS is a set of formalized methods for generating, evaluating, storing and sharing information to marketing decision makers on continuous basis.
- Marketing Research is conducted with a particular purpose in mind with information being generated when it is done, while MIS information is generated continuously.
- While Marketing Research is an ad-hoc system, MIS is a continuous entity.
- In Marketing Research, information is gathered for specific purpose, hence it is not rigid. But information is more rigid and structured in MIS.
Marketing Research is significant for decision-making and strategic market planning. It helps an organization in identifying the market opportunities and limitations, developing and deploying market strategies, and in evaluating the efficiencies of marketing plans.
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Marketing Research is an evolving and widely used business activity because the sellers need to know more about their end customers. It is an important link between marketing decision makers and the markets in which they run.
Marketing Research includes various crucial principles for generating information which is helpful to managers. These principles relate to importance and the timeliness of data, the importance of defining objectives carefully and clearly.
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