This document provides an introduction to marketing research. It defines marketing research as the function that links consumers and customers to marketers by providing information to identify opportunities and problems, evaluate actions, monitor performance, and improve understanding of marketing. Marketing research can be applied to address specific decisions for an organization or be basic research without a specific decision that expands general marketing knowledge. The scientific method is described as using empirical evidence to confirm or disprove concepts through analysis and interpretation. Finally, some common myths about marketing research are debunked, such as the ideas that researchers cannot understand complex problems or that there is one tool for many research problems.

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Dr. Ritesh Dalwadi (www.riteshdalwadi.com)
This learning material is prepared from various published (both print and online) sources for class discussion and
teaching purpose. Feel free to contact me at email.dalwadi@gmail.com for further information.

2. Marketing Research - Introduction
• Marketers aim to create and deliver superior
value compared to competitors.
• How does a marketers know that customers
view their products and services valuable?
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4. Marketing Research Defined
“Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer,
and public to the marketer through information - information used to
identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate,
refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance;
and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing
research specifies the information required to address these issues,
designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements
the data collection process, analyzes, and communicates the findings and
their implications.”
- American Marketing Association (AMA) 4

5. Marketing Research Defined
• Base on the definition given
by AMA, it is the application of
the scientific method in
searching for the truth about
marketing phenomena.
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6. Marketing Research Defined
• The market research information is not:
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1. Not perceptive or
unsystematically
collected
2. Perfect and objective
3. Pertinent to all aspects
of marketing mix
4. Limited by one’s
definition of marketing

7. Applied Marketing Research
 Applied marketing research
• conducted to address a specific marketing
decision for a specific firm or organization.
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• For Example:
• Should McDonald’s add Italian pasta dinners to its
menu?

8. Basic Marketing Research
• Basic marketing research
• conducted without a specific decision
in mind that usually does not address
the needs of a specific organization.
1. Attempts to expand the limits of
marketing knowledge in general.
2. Not aimed at solving a pragmatic
problem.
• For Example:
• Do consumers experience cognitive
dissonance in low-involvement situations?
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9. The Scientific Method
Scientific Method
• The way researchers go about using knowledge and
evidence to reach objective conclusions about the real
world.
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• The analysis and
interpretation of
empirical evidence
(facts from
observation or
experimentation) to
confirm or disprove
prior conceptions

10. ASummaryofthe
ScientificMethod
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11. Should We Conduct Marketing Research?
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12. Myths about Marketing Research
Myth #1: A marketing researcher could
never understand complex market
problems.
Myth #2: Marketing research is a very long
process and time consuming.
Myth #3: There is a one specific marketing
research tool for several research
problems.
Myth #4: A marker should carry out one
marketing research survey/study 12