Core Concepts of Marketing

WHATNEEDSRESEARCHINGINMARKETING? 55

ketinginformationundertakentohelpmanagementsolvemarketingproblems.Thereisoften

heartydisagreementovertheanswertothequestionofwhethermarketingresearchis a sci-

ence. One'sanswerdependsontheemployeddefinitionof"science."Tobespecific,a research

activityshouldusethescientificmethod.Inthismethod,hypotheses(tentativestatements

ofrelationshipsorof:;olutionstoproblems)aredrawnfrominformalobservations.These

hypothesesarethentested.Ultimately,thehypothesisisaccepted,rejected, ormodified

accordingtotheresultsofthetest.Ina truescience,verifiedhypothesesareturnedinto

"jaws."Inmarketingresearch,verifiedhypothesesbecomethegeneralizationsuponwhich

managementdevelopsitsmarketingprograms.(Tosimplifyourdiscussion,wewilluse"ques-

tions"asa synonymof"hypothesis.")

Themechanicsofmarketingresearchmustbecontrolledsothattherightfactsare

obtainedintheanswertothecorrectproblem.Thecontroloffact-findingistheresponsi-

bilityoftheresearchdirector,whomustcorrectlydesigntheresearchandcarefullysuper-

viseitsexecutiontoensure~hatit goesaccordingtoplan.Maintainingcontrolinmarketing

researchisoftendifficultbecauseofthedistancethatseparatestheresearcherandthemar-

ketandbecausetheservicesofoutsidersareoftenrequiredtocompletea researchproject.I

WhatNeedsResearchinginMarketing?

Aneasy,andtruthful,answertothisquestionis"Everything."Thereisnoaspectofmar-

ketingto whichresearchcannotbeapplied.Everyconceptpresentedinthismarketingtext

andeveryelementinvolvedinthemarketingmanagementprocesscanbesubjectedtoa

greatdealofcarefulmarketingresearch.Oneconvenientwaytofocusattentiononthose

mattersthatespeciallyneedresearchingistoconsidertheelementsinvolvedinmarketing

management.Manyimportantquestionsrelatingtotheconsumercanberaised.Someare:

• Whois/arethecustomer(s)?


• Whatdoeshe/shedesireinthewayofsatisfaction?


• Wheredoes he/shechoosetopurchase?


• Whydoeshe/shebuy,ornotbuy?
  
  
  • Whendoeshe/shepurchase?
  
  
  
  


• Howdoeshe/shegoaboutseekingsatisfactioninthemarket?
  Anotherareawhereresearchiscriticalisprofits.Twoelementsareinvolved.First,
  thereistheneedtoforecastsalesandrelatedcosts- resultinginprofits.Second,thereis
  thenecessitytoplana competitivemarketingprogramthatwillproducethedesiredlevel
  of~alesa~anappropriatecost.Salesforecastingis theprincipaltoolusedinimplementing
  theprofit-directionelementinthemarketingmanagementconcept.Ofcourse,theanaly-
  sisofpastsalesandinterpretationofcostinformationareimportantinevaluationofper-
  formanceandprovideusefulfactsforfutureplanning.
  A greatdealofmarketingresearchis directedtowardratherspecializedareasofman-
  agement.Theseactivitiesarebrokendownintofivemajorareasofmarketingresearch.Briefly,
  these activitiesare:

1. Researchonmarkets- markettrends,marketshare,marketpotentials,marketchar-
   acteristics,completion,andothermarketintelligence.


2. Researchonsales-salesanalysis,salesforecasting,quota-setting,salesterritory
   design,salesperformancemeasurement,tradechannels,distributioncosts,and
   inventories.