Marketing information

The considerable amount of data and information that flows from marketing research (see Table 1.1) allows executives to identify product-market opportunities. It leads also to a better understanding of the marketing processes that are used and permits more efficient and effective control of the marketing operations. The work involved provides the basis for strategy and policy planning and formulation and for decision-making purposes. The ‘flow’ itself should be two-way between the firm and its markets or customers. Otherwise the many questions that have to be answered in the planning process cannot be dealt with satisfactorily. The key questions were indicated under ‘Marketing Research’ in Table 1.1.