Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e- Improving Decisions
with Marketing
Information
Text © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2002226 Chapter 8
When the marketing manager thinks the real problem has begun to surface, a sit-
uation analysis is useful. A situation analysisis an informal study of what information
is already available in the problem area. It can help define the problem and specify
what additional information, if any, is needed.The situation analysis usually involves informal talks with informed people.
Informed people can be others in the firm, a few good middlemen who have close
contact with customers, or others knowledgeable about the industry. In industrial
markets—where relationships with customers are close—researchers may even call
the customers themselves.The situation analysis is especially important if the researcher is a research spe-
cialist who doesn’t know much about the management decisions to be made or if
the marketing manager is dealing with unfamiliar areas. They both must be sure
they understand the problem area—including the nature of the target market, the
marketing mix, competition, and other external factors. Otherwise, the researcher
may rush ahead and make costly mistakes or simply discover facts that management
already knows. The following case illustrates this danger.
A marketing manager at the home office of a large retail chain hired a research
firm to do in-store interviews to learn what customers liked most, and least, about
some of its stores in other cities. Interviewers diligently filled out their question-
naires. When the results came in, it was apparent that neither the marketing
manager nor the researcher had done their homework. No one had even talked with
the local store managers! Several of the stores were in the middle of some messy
remodeling—so all the customers’ responses concerned the noise and dust from the
construction. The research was a waste of money.The situation analysis should also find relevant secondary data—information
that has been collected or published already. Later, in Step 3, we will cover primary
data—information specifically collected to solve a current problem. Too often
researchers rush to gather primary data when much relevant secondary information
is already available—at little or no cost! See Exhibit 8-3.Ideally, much secondary data is already available from the firm’s MIS. Data that
has not been organized in an MIS may be available from the company’s files and
reports. Secondary data also is available from libraries, trade associations, govern-
ment agencies, and private research organizations; increasingly, these organizations
are putting their information online. So one of the first places a researcher should
look for secondary data is on the Internet.Although much information relevant to your situation analysis may be on the
Internet, it won’t do you much good if you can’t find it. Fortunately, there are a
number of good tools for searching on the Internet and reference books that explain
the details of the different tools. However, the basic idea is simple. And, usually,
the best way to start is to use a search engine.
Most popular Internet browsers, like Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet
Explorer, have a menu selection or button to activate an Internet search. In addi-
tion, there are hundreds of more specialized search engines. In general a user
specifies words or a phrase to find and the search engine produces a list of hyper-
links to websites where that search string is found. Usually all you do is type in the
search string, click on search, wait while the reference list of links is assembled, andAnalyzing the Situation—Step 2
Pick the brains
around you
What information do
we already have?
Situation analysis helps
educate a researcher
Secondary data may
provide the answers—
or some background
Much secondary data
is available
Search engines find
information on the
Internet