BUSML 4202 Midterm 1 review

What is marketing?
The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.

Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (AMA)

Marketing Research: a means to implement the marketing concept
MR is a systematic and objective process of generating information for aid in making marketing decisions.

Need to reduce uncertain.
Helps focus decision making

4P’s: product, price, promotion, distribution (placement)

Three roles of MR:
1. Descriptive role: gathering statements of fact(s)
2. Diagnostic/explanatory role: explaining effects of marketing mix actions or data
3. Predictive role: predicting the results of a planned marketing decision

Two types: Applied vs Basic (pure) research

Value of MR:
• Decreased uncertainty
• Increased likelihood of a correct decision
• Improved marketing performance and resulting higher profits

Step 1:
An easy mistake: a symptom is not the problem; a symptom occurs as a result of a problem (‘the iceberg principle’ )

Marketing research Problem (MRP): Asks what information is needed; Information oriented; Focuses on the underlying causes.
Management decision Problem (MDP): Asks what the decision maker needs to do; Action oriented; Focuses on symptoms

Note 1: Not all MRPs have a clear MDPs
Note 2: MDPs are often more general than MRP

Step 2:
Research Design: a master plan that specifies methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the information needed

Main purpose: discovery of ideas and insights, not conclusive
(Exploratory versus descriptive/causal designs)