60 CHAPTER 3 MARKETINGRESEARCH:ANAID TODECISIONMAKING
alsohavebeentestedusinga slightlydifferentmethod.Forexample,theeffectoftelevi-
sionadvertisingonthepurchaseofDr.Peppermighthavebeenstudiedbyinspectingpur-
chasesintwoormorecitiesthatareinthesamegeneralareaofthecountry(suchasthe
Southwest)butinwhichdifferentlevelsoftelevisionadvertisinghadbeenused.
Thesecondapproachisthehistorical.Inthisapproach, relianceisplaced onpastexpe-
riencesin~.eekingsoiutionstomarketingproblems.Historicalmarketingfactsarerelevant
onlytothedegreethattheycanbeprojectedintothefuture.Fortunately,inmanyareasof
marketing,thiscanbedonewitha gooddealofconfidence. Certaintypesofchanges,such
aspopulations andincomedistribution,comeaboutratherslowly.Theday-to-dayeffectof
thesechangesonmarketiJlgisalmostimperceptible.Projectionsoffuturepopulation,gross
nationalproduct, andconsumerpurchasingpowerarepracticallyfoolproof.Historical analy-
sesofsuchfactorsasconsumerbehavior,competitivesellingtactics, anddistributors'buy-
ingpractices tendalsotobefairlyreliable indicatorsoffuturebehaviorbythesesame
marketing components. Often,it ispossibletotracethe experienceoforganizationssimi-
lartoyoursandassesshowtheydealtwithsimilarproblems.Thereareliterally hundreds
ofcasestudiesoncompaniessuchasMicrosoftthatareusefultomanybusinessfunctions.
Learningfromthemistakesofothers makes goodbusinesssense.
Thethirdapproachthatcanbeusedindesigninga marketingres earchplanis thesur-
veyapproach.Inthesurveyapproach,marketinginfonnationis collectedeitherfromobser-
vationorbyquest:.onnaireorinterview.Incontrasttotheexperimental andhistoricalm~thod::,
inwhichthedataaremoreorlessdirectlyrelatedto the problem, thesurveyapproachnec-
essarily involvesfarmoresubjectivityandintuitiononthepartoftheresearcher.··.;yalch-
inga customermakea purchaseofa newTVrevealssometh ingabouthismotives:~i:llply
askinghimwhyheisbuyingit ismuchbetter.Drawingconclusionsfromeitherobserva-
tionsofbehaviororfromtheopinionsoffered bya respondentcreateimportantinsig;1ts.
Thesurveymethodisflexible.Itcanbead aptedtoalmostanytypeofresearch design.For
this reason,andbecauseofthedifficultiesincre atingmarketingexperimentsandincol-
lectingpertinenthistoricaldata,thesurveyapproachisthemostoftenusedinmarketing
research.Determining theTypesofDataNeeded Three typesofdataareus ed : facts, opin-
ions,andmotivationalinformation. Thetypesofdatarequiredarepartlyidentifiedbythe
natureoftheproblemtobesolved.Forinstance,iftheproblemrelatestoproductionand
inventoryscheduling, thefactsthatareneededrelatetomarketandsales potential.On the
otherhand,iftheproblemrevolvesaroundthechoicebetweentwonewproducts,theopin-
ionsofpotentialcustomersareimportantconsiderations.Finally,ifa probleminvolves the
choiceofanappropriatesellingappeal,buyers'motivationsareprobablybemostimpor-
tant.Factsarequantitativeord~scriptiveinfonnationthatcanbeverified. Opinionsareideas
relatingtoa problemthatareexpressedbypeopleinvolvedinthesolution.Motivat;onsare
basicreasons,recognizedorunrecognized,thatexplainaction. Theyareextremelydiffi-
culttodiscover.Locatingthe Sourcesof Data Therearetwogeneralsourcesofdata,secondary
sourcesandprimarysources.
Secondarysourceinformationhasbeenpreviousl y publishedandcanbeeitherinter-
nalorexternal.Companyrecurdsandpreviouslypreparedmarketingresearchreportsare
typicalofinternal~econdarysourcematerial.Externalsecondarysourcesarewidelyavail-
ableandcanbefoundoutsidetheorganization.Excellentbibliographiesofsecondarydata
sourcesareavailable,especiallyonline.Thereareeightprimarysourcesofsecondarymar-
ket information: