Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org
cover.” (Note: Some of the albums slipped through the cracks and didn’t get the paste-over. If you
can find one, it could be worth thousands of dollars.)
Source: Wikipedia.
Marketing research can help you with many tasks:
- Developing product ideas and designs
- Determining if there is demand for your product so you know whether or not to produce it
- Identifying market segments for your product
- Making pricing decisions
- Evaluating packaging types
- Evaluating in-store promotions
- Measuring the satisfaction of your customers
- Measuring the satisfaction of your channel partners
- Evaluating the effectiveness of your Web site
- Testing the effectiveness of ads and their placement
- Making marketing channel decisions
Closely related to marketing research is market intelligence, which is often referred to as competitive
intelligence. Whereas marketing research involves solving a specific marketing problem at a specific point
in time, market intelligence involves gathering information on a regular, ongoing basis to stay in touch
with what’s happening in the marketplace. For example, if you own a convenience store, part of your daily
market intelligence gathering would include driving around to see what competing stores are charging for
gasoline or checking to see what types of products are being sold and advertised by them.
If you’re a small business owner, and you’re talking to your customers and suppliers about new product
ideas, you’re engaging in market intelligence. If you go so far as to survey your customers with a
questionnaire about a new type of service you’re considering offering, you are engaging in marketing
research. In big companies, marketing departments are often responsible for gathering market