14. Say what you have learnt about a) McDonald’s as one of the enterprises using marketing concept; b) the difference between marketing concept and selling concept.

1. Read and translate the text “Marketing Information and Marketing Research”.

Text C.

Marketing Information and Marketing Research

Accurate and timely information is the foundation of effective marketing. A wealth of marketing information is available, both within the firm and from outside sources, but this information must be gathered, analyzed, and used by marketing personnel.

There are two general approaches to collecting mar­keting information. A marketing information system pro­vides information on a continuing basis, whereas marke­ting research offers information for specific marketing projects.

A marketing information system is a system for managing marketing information that is gathered continually from internal and external sources. Most systems are com­puter-based because of the amount of data that the system must accept, store, sort, and retrieve. Continual collection of data is essential if the system is to incorporate the most up-to-date information.

In concept, the operation of a marketing information system is not complex. Data from a variety of sources are fed into the system. Data from internal sources include sales figures, product and marketing costs, inventory levels, and activities of the sales force. Data from external sources relate to the firm's suppliers, intermediaries, and customers, competitors' marketing activities, and economic conditions. All these data are stored and processed within the marketing information system. Its output is a flow of information in the form that is most useful for marketing decision making. This information might include daily sales reports by territory and product, forecasts of sales or buying trends, and reports on changes in market share for the major brands in a specific industry. Both the information outputs and their form depend on the requirements of the personnel in the organization.

Marketing research is the process of systematically gat­hering, recording, and analyzing data concerning a particu­lar marketing problem. Thus marketing research is used in specific situations to obtain information that is not otherwise available to decision makers. It is an intermittent, rather than a continual, source of marketing infor­mation.

There exists six-step procedure for conducting marketing research This procedure is particularly well suited to testing new products, determining various characteristics of consumer markets, and consumers' tastes.

1. Define the problem. In this step the problem is clearly and accurately stated to determine what issues are involved in the research, what questions to ask, and what types of solutions are needed. This is a crucial step that should not be rushed.

2. Make a preliminary investigation. The objective of preliminary investigation is to develop both a sharper definition of the problem and a set of tentative answers. The tentative answers are developed by examining internal information and published data, and by talking with persons who have some experience with the problem. These answers will be tested by further research.

3. Plan the research. At this stage researchers know what facts are needed to resolve the identified problem and what facts are available. They make plans on how to gather needed but missing data.

4. Gather factual information. Once the basic research plan has been completed, the needed infor­mation can be collected by mail, telephone, or personal interviews; by observation; or from commer­cial or government data sources. The choice depends on the plan and the available sources of information.

5. Interpret the information. Facts by themselves do not always provide a sound solution to a marketing problem. They must be interpreted and analyzed to determine the choices that are available to management.

6. Reach a conclusion. Sometimes the conclusion or re­commendation becomes obvious when the facts are interpreted. However, in other cases, reach­ing a conclusion may not be so easy because of gaps in the information or intangible factors that are diffi­cult to evaluate.