1. The role of marketing is to create exchanges. What role might marketing research play in facilitating the exchange process?

Marketing research primarily aims at understanding that how things work and turns the knowledge in the development of the new processes. Market research plays role in facilitating the exchange process as conducting surveys and getting marketing information helps simplifying the exchange process. Critical market research is also captured in the exchange process where it is termed as Point of Sale Data.

2. Marketing research traditionally has been associated with manufacturers of consumer goods. Today, an increasing number of organizations, both for-profit and nonprofit, are using marketing research. Why do you think this trend exists? Give some examples.

The trend of marketing research exists in both the nonprofit and for-profit organizations because the key information which is obtained in the marketing research facilitates the exchange process as it affects the amount of cash which is usually exchanged by consumers. In this way, it also helps companies to manage their customer databases in a better way (McDaniel & Gates, 2013).

3. Explain the relationship between marketing research and the marketing concept.

Marketing research is the process which associates and attaches the customers, end users and producers to the marketer through information which is usually used to identify and define the problems and opportunities of marketing. On the other hand, the marketing concept is the philosophy which companies should analyze the needs of the consumers in order to make decisions based on those needs. Hence, the marketing concept and marketing research are quite interlinked.

4. Comment on the following statement by the owner of a restaurant in a downtown area: “I see customers every day whom I know on a first-name basis. I understand their likes and dislikes. If I put something on the menu and it doesn’t sell, I know that they didn’t like it. I also read the magazine Modern Restaurants to keep up with industry trends. This is all the marketing research I need to do.”

The statement of the owner of the restaurant is quite realistic and can be said as completely understanding the needs of market research. It can also be analyzed from this statement that the owner has completely understood the importance of market research which can help him to introduce only those products and food items which are liked by his customers.

5. Why is marketing research important to marketing executives? Give several reasons.

Marketing research is quite important to marketing executives based on a number of reasons. It is the marketing research which serves as the foundation of all marketing decisions. Usually the marketing executives in corporations and firms introduce such principles and strategies for their company which are based on the findings of their marketing research.

6. What differences might you note among marketing research conducted for (a) a retailer, (b) a consumer goods manufacturer, (c) an industrial goods manufacturer, and (d) a charitable organization?

There would be certain differences among the marketing research conducted for a retailer, consumer goods manufacturer and a charitable organization etc. For a retailer, the research would be focusing on the retail industry and market. While the marketing research would focus on collecting data from consumers for a consumer goods manufacturer. Similarly, an industrial goods manufacturer would collect data from industries and a charitable organization will conduct marketing research which address its aims and objectives.

7. Comment on the following: Ralph Moran is planning to invest $1.5 million in a new restaurant in Saint Louis. When he applied for a construction financing loan, the bank officer asked whether he had conducted any research. Ralph replied, “I checked on research, and a marketing research company wanted $20,000 to do the work. I decided that with all the other expenses of opening a new business, research was a luxury that I could do without.”

Here the statement of Ralph Moran does not make any sense as conducting a marketing research is always an important thing before opening a new business. However, as he said that a company is asking for 20000$ to conduct a research for him. There he could use some other approaches to conduct a research by himself or by hiring some freelance researchers which would cost him even lesser than 1000$.

8. What is meant by “return on quality”? Why do you think that the concept evolved? Give an example.

Return on quality is a broader concept which can be stated as making the service quality financially accountable. Companies with this policy does not necessary always focus on financial rewards and instead of that, they consider themselves accountable for quality of their services (Rust, Zahorik, & Keiningham, 2014). The concept evolved with the advancement of marketing principles and different marketing researches. For example, when a company which deals in body lotions and conducts a marketing research, it would know that the consumers are looking for quality products and such researchers resulted in evolution of this concept.

9. Describe three situations in which marketing research should not be undertaken. Explain why this is true.

Marketing research can be conducted when a company feels that it is needed. However, there are certain situations when a marketing research should not be conducted. When a company is sure that the marketing research study would be costlier than the beneficial, it should not conduct the research study. In addition, a marketing research should not be conducted when the competitive advantage of the company is on risk and when the resources are not available (Stewart, 2014).

10. Give an example of (a) the descriptive role of marketing research, (b) the diagnostic role of marketing research, and (c) the predictive function of marketing research.

The descriptive role of a marketing research is about describing the attributes of research population. For example, the survey marketing research can be used to calculate the percentage of population that likes the products of a particular company (Nordmeyer, 2014). Diagnostic function is when the actions of particular target market are explained followed by the predictive function where the association answers questions to allow them to take best advantage of opportunities as they rise in the marketplace.

13. How is the Internet changing the field of marketing research?

Internet is changing the field of marketing research as now the online secondary data is quite easily available for the companies to collect their needed type of information.

 

Bibliography

McDaniel, C., & Gates, R. (2013). The role of marketing research in management decision making. In Marketing Research Essentials (8th Edition ed., pp. 1-12). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Nordmeyer, B. (2014). What Is Descriptive Marketing Research? . Small Business Chronicle.

Rust, R. T., Zahorik, A., & Keiningham, T. (2014). Return on Quality (ROQ): Making Service Quality Financially Accountable. MSI Reports, 94-106.

Stewart, C. (2014). 5 Examples of When You Should NOT Conduct Market Research. Market Research Blog.