Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e

8. Improving Decisions
   with Marketing
   Information

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

Improving Decisions with Marketing Information 241

Validityconcerns the extent to which data measures what it is intended to meas-

ure. Validity problems are important in marketing research because many people

will try to answer even when they don’t know what they’re talking about. Further,

a poorly worded question can mean different things to different people and invali-

date the results. Often, one or more pretests of a research project are required to

evaluate the quality of the questions and measures and to ensure that potential prob-

lems have been identified. Managers must be sure that they only pay for research

results that are representative and valid.

Besides sampling and validity problems, a marketing manager must consider

whether the analysis of the data supports the conclusionsdrawn in the interpreta-

tion step. Sometimes technical specialists pick the right statistical procedure—their

calculations are exact—but they misinterpret the data because they don’t under-

stand the management problem. In one survey, car buyers were asked to rank five

cars in order from “most preferred” to “least preferred.” One car was ranked first by

slightly more respondents than any other car so the researcher reported it as the

“most liked car.” That interpretation, however, ignored the fact that 70 percent of

the respondents ranked the car last!

Interpretation problems like this can be subtle but crucial. Some people draw

misleading conclusions on purpose to get the results they want. Marketing managers

must decide whether allof the results support the interpretation and are relevant to

their problem.

Marketing research involves many technical details. But you can see that the

marketing researcher and the marketing manager must work together to be sure that

they really do solve the problem facing the firm. If the whole research process has

been a joint effort, then the interpretation step can move quickly to decision

making—and solving the problem.

Poor interpretation can

destroy research

Marketing manager

and researcher should

work together

Solving the Problem—Step 5

In the problem solution step, managers use the research results to make market-

ing decisions.

Some researchers, and some managers, are fascinated by the interesting tidbits of

information that come from the research process. They are excited if the research

reveals something they didn’t know before. But if research doesn’t have action impli-

cations, it has little value and suggests poor planning by the researcher and the

manager.

When the research process is finished, the marketing manager should be able to

apply the findings in marketing strategy planning—the choice of a target market or

the mix of the four Ps. If the research doesn’t provide information to help guide

these decisions, the company has wasted research time and money.

We emphasize this step because it is the reason for and logical conclusion to the

whole research process. This final step must be anticipated at each of the earlier steps.

The last step is solving

the problem

International Marketing Research

Marketing research on overseas markets is often a major contributor toward inter-

national marketing success. Conversely, export failures are often due to a lack of

home office management expertise concerning customer interests, needs, and other

Research contributes

to international

success