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What is Marketing Research? How is it different from Marketing Information system?

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Question added by Mohammed Ashraf , Director of International Business , Saqr Al-Khayala Group
Date Posted: 2016/03/09
TARIG BABIKER AL AMIN
by TARIG BABIKER AL AMIN , Head of Planning and Studies Unit , Sudanese Free Zones and Markets Co.

 

Market research is

 

The process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business’s target market, the industry as a whole, and the particular competitors you face

 

A marketing information system is

 

A system that analyzes and assesses marketing information, gathered continuously from sources inside and outside an organization. Timely marketing information provides basis for decisions such as product development or improvement, pricing, packaging, distribution, media selection, and promotion

 

First, Market Research is a more narrow concept because it is research focused on a specific market , Marketing Research, however, scales on a much broader level

 

It encompasses areas such as

 

Research into new products

 

Modes of distribution

 

Product development

 

It can also include promotion research, pricing, advertising and public relations. Both concepts are integral parts of marketing, which is essentially everything that happens before the sale of a product or service. Here’s a quick way to sum it up: market research is a subset of marketing research

 

Ghada Eweda
by Ghada Eweda , Medical sales hospital representative , Pfizer pharmaceutical Plc.

First, let’s start with the definition; a marketing information system is: A system that analyzes and assesses marketing information, gathered continuously from sources inside and outside an organization. Timely marketing information provides basis for decisions such as product development or improvement, pricing, packaging, distribution, media selection, and promotion.

 

Meanwhile, Philip Kotler, sort of the father of modern marketing management theory defines it slightly differently as: people, equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision makers.

 

In contrast, market research is: The process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business’s target market, the industry as a whole, and the particular competitors you face.

 

Now, some combine the two in something called a market decision support system. But marketing experts prefer to think about the2 separately because they’re really very different in both character and the skill set necessary.

 

Therefore, we can distinct a marketing information system as a key component of decisions related to marketing, product, logistics, pricing and other related marketing activities.

Ideally, a marketing information system should contain recent data that guides decision-making presented in a visual format(because humans process images much better than numbers and because visualizations highlight trends), at the appropriate level of analysis (more granular data for line managers, higher level data for C-suite users), and allow users to perform ad hoc analysis. Moreover, an effective marketing information system should include a variety of metrics encompassing major factors impacting market performance.

Khalid Ghaffar
by Khalid Ghaffar , Consultant for Business Development , Waters Corporation USA

A Market Information System (MIS) is a system that analyzes and assesses marketing information, gathered continuously from sources inside and outside an organization. Timely marketing information provides basis for decisions such as product development or improvement, pricing, packaging, distribution, media selection, and promotion.

A Market Research (MR)  is the process of gathering, analyzing and interpreting information about a market, about a product or service to be offered for sale in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the product or service; research into the characteristics, spending habits, location and needs of your business’s target market, the industry as a whole, and the particular competitors you face.

In order to distinguish the system with process the following points are considered as differentiator

1.      Meaning of MIS and MR.

2.      Their basic or main purpose.

3.      Wide or narrow scope.

4.      General or specific nature.

5.      Number of reports provided.

6.      Future or past orientation.

7.      Frequency of data collection.

8.      Number of problems to solve.

9.      Continuous or non-continuous operational method.

10.  Based on use of computers or not.

 

 

Md Fazlur Rahman
by Md Fazlur Rahman , Procurement Specialist , Engineering and Planning Consultants Ltd

Marketing Research is all about gathering data and consists of five "Cs": Customer analysis, Company analysis, Collaborator analysis, Competitor analysis, and analysis of the industry Context   

Whereas a marketing information system (MIS) is a management information system designed to support marketing decision making. 

So, we see that Marketing Research is an exercise for data gathering and Marking Information system is a tool for decision making

Marketing Research (MR) is a systematic process of collecting and analyzing information to solve a specific marketing problem.

Marketing Information System (MIS) means to collect, analyze and supply relevant marketing information to the marketing managers. The marketing managers use this information for taking effective marketing decisions. It is a permanent and continuous process.

The main purpose of MIS is to provide relevant information to marketing managers and enable them to make effective marketing decisions.

However, the main purpose of Marketing Research (MR) is to solve a specific marketing problem.

The scope of MIS is wide. Marketing Research (MR) is one of its component. It is not only used to solve problems but also helps to prevent problems in the future.

The scope of Marketing Research (MR) is narrow. It is one small part of MIS. It solves a specific present marketing problem.

MIS is more nonspecific or general in nature. It can solve many types of marketing problems.

Marketing Research (MR) is more specific or particular in nature. At one time, it can only solve a single type of marketing problem.

MIS gives four types of reports namely, plan-reports, periodic-reports, triggered-reports and demand reports.

Marketing Research (MR) provides only one report called as ‘MR Report.’

Orientation of MIS is more future-oriented when compared to MR.

However, the orientation of Marketing Research (MR) is more past and present one when compared to MIS. It concentrates more on earlier and latest information. It uses this information to solve a current marketing problem.

MIS deals with and attempts to solve many different marketing problems at one time. For this, it collects, stores, analyze and supply relevant market information to the marketing managers.

Marketing Research (MR) only deals with a single marketing problem at one time. It doesn't solve multiple marketing problems simultaneously.

In MIS, the data is collected more frequently, usually almost daily. This is a must for every company.

In Marketing Research (MR), the data is not collected as frequently as MIS. It is collected on a required basis.

MIS is a permanent and continuous system. Here, the inflow of market information never stops. Data is constantly collected and stored for further analysis. It is properly analyzed, studied and well-organized before supplying to the marketing managers. MIS has a starting but no ending point.

Marketing Research (MR) is not a continuous system. Here, data is collected only when a company faces a specific marketing problem. It has a starting and ending point.

 

Marketing research is when you have a prospect product or idea and you want to make sure you'll succeed. The SWOT analysis takes care of that when done properly. 

Sashikanta Mohapatra
by Sashikanta Mohapatra , Manager - Business Development/Sales Process Deployment , Vodafone Spacetel Limited

Marketing research is "the process or set of processes that links the producers, customers, and end users 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 method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications."

It is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal of marketing research is to identify and assess how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behavior. The term is commonly interchanged with market research; however, expert practitioners may wish to draw a distinction, in that market research is concerned specifically with markets, while marketing research is concerned specifically about marketing processes.

Marketing research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either by target market:

Consumer marketing research, and

Business-to-business (B2B) marketing research

Or, alternatively, by methodological approach:

Qualitative marketing research, and

Quantitative marketing research

A marketing information system (MkIS) is a management information system (MIS) designed to support marketing decision making. Jobber (2007) defines it as a "system in which marketing data is formally gathered, stored, analysed and distributed to managers in accordance with their informational needs on a regular basis." In addition, the online business dictionary defines Marketing Information System (MkIS) as "a system that analyzes and assesses marketing information, gathered continuously from sources inside and outside an organization or a store." Furthermore, "an overall Marketing Information System can be defined as a set structure of procedures and methods for the regular, planned collection, analysis and presentation of information for use in making marketing decisions."

Sidrah Nadeem
by Sidrah Nadeem , Global Marketing Manager , Hill+Knowlton Strategies

I agree with the answers added by the experts, especially MR. TARIG BABIKER AL AMIN.

Hamada Sarhan
by Hamada Sarhan , Wood Furniture Production Manager , bedquarter factory

thank you

i fully support that

Answer added by: Md. Fazlur

د Waleed
by د Waleed , Management - Leadership-Business Administration-HR&Training-Customer Service/Retention -Call Center , Multi Companies Categories: Auditing -Trade -Customer service -HR-IT&Internet -Training&Consultation

Thank you for the invitation ... I would agree with the answers that really covered your question ... variety of helpful information and opinions... Nothing to add !

Gourab Mitra
by Gourab Mitra , Manager IT Project Program and Delivery Management(Full Time Contract/Consulting Role) , IXTEL(ixtel.com)

Marketing research is an analytical approach to find out what the customers want.

 

Marketing Information System, as commented by experts, is the system which enables to do this analysis

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