CHAPTER 4

Q1: Why is marketing information important?

A: It helps companies gain deep insights into customer needs and marketplace trends to make informed decisions.

Q2: What is the challenge with marketing information today?

A: There's too much data (big data), but companies struggle to find useful, actionable insights from it.

Q3: What is Big Data in marketing?

A: Large, complex data sets from sources like social media, transactions, and sensors that require advanced tools to analyze.

Q4: What are customer insights?

A: Fresh, deep understandings of customers and the marketplace that help create more value and stronger relationships.

Q5: What is a Marketing Information System (MIS)?

A: A structure of people and processes for assessing information needs, and gathering, analyzing, and distributingmarketing data to decision-makers.

Q6: What are the three components of an MIS?

A:

1. Assessing information needs

2. Developing information

3. Analyzing and using information

Q7: What are the main sources of marketing information?

A:

• Internal databases

• Marketing intelligence

• Marketing research

Q8: What is internal data?

A: Information from within the company (e.g., sales records, support calls, inventory).

Q9: What is marketing intelligence?

A: Everyday data gathered from public sources, competitors, customers, and employees to understand the environment.

Q10: What is marketing research?

A: The systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data relevant to a specific marketing situation.

Q11: What are the four steps in the marketing research process?

A:

1. Define the problem and research objectives

2. Develop the research plan

3. Implement the plan – collect and analyze data

4. Interpret and report findings

Q12: What are primary and secondary data?

A:

• Primary data: Collected for a specific purpose; more expensive.

• Secondary data: Already exists; cheaper but may be outdated or irrelevant.

Q13: What are common research approaches for primary data?

A:

• Observational research

• Survey research

• Experimental research

Q14: What is observational research?

A: Gathering data by observing people, actions, or situations.

Q15: What is survey research?

A: Using questionnaires to gather customer attitudes, preferences, or buying behaviour.

Q16: What is experimental research?

A: Using tests to gather cause-and-effect data by controlling variables (e.g., A/B testing).

Q17: What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?

A: Managing detailed customer information to maximize loyalty and lifetime value through personalized service and engagement.

Q18: What is marketing analytics?

A: Tools and techniques used to extract patterns from big data to make smarter marketing decisions.

Q19: How do companies use CRM and analytics together?

A: They personalize offers, track behaviour, and predict future buying patterns.

Q20: What is a data warehouse?

A: A centralized storage of large sets of customer and business data for analysis.

Q21: What ethical concerns exist in marketing research?

A:

• Privacy violations

• Tracking without consent

• Misleading results or biased questions

Q22: What is "sugging"?

A: Selling under the guise of research – unethical and misleading.

Q23: How do companies address research ethics?

A: By following regulations (e.g., PIPEDA), gaining consent, and hiring Chief Privacy Officers.

Q24: What is the role of public policy in marketing research?

A: To protect consumers by enforcing data privacy, truthfulness, and transparency in research.