Chapter 7 : Decision Support and Marketing Research

Question 1

What is a DSS?

Answer 1

is an interactive, flexible, computerized information system that enables managers to obtain and manipulate information while they are making decisions. They are
○ interactive- managers give simple instructions and get results
○ Flexible - manipulate data in various ways
○ Discovery-oriented- managers can probe for trends, isolate problems and ask “what if” questions”
-Accessible - don’t need to be very skilled to use it

Question 2

What is market research and why do it?

Answer 2

• Market research– the process of planning, collecting, and analyzing data relevant to a marketing decision.
• Marketing research plays a key role in the marketing system. It provides decision makers with data on effectiveness of current marketing mix and also with the insights to make necessary changes. Furthermore, marketing research is a main source of data for both management information systems and DSS.
• Uses of
○ Improvement of the quality of decision making
○ Tracing problems
○ Importance of keeping existing customers
-Understanding the ever-changing marketplace.

Question 3

What are the steps to conduct market research?

Answer 3

• Identify/formulate the problem
	• Plan research and primary data design  
	• Specify sampling procedures
	• Collect primary & secondary data
	• Analyze
	• Prepare report
          -Follow-up

Question 4

How has the internet affected market research?

Answer 4

• Allows better and faster decision making (as a result of secondary data)
• Improves ability t respond quickly to customer needs and market shifts
• Makes follow-up studies and tracking research easier
=Slashes labour- and time-intensive research activities and costs.

Question 5

What is scanner based research?

Answer 5

Scanner based research is a system for gather information form a single group of respondents by continually monitoring the advertising, promotion, and pricing they are exposed to and the things they buy

	○ The variables measured are advertising campaigns, coupons, displays, and product prices. 
	○ The result is a huge database of marketing efforts and consumer behaviour. 
             =Creates an accurate, objective picture of the direct causal relationship between different kinds of marketing efforts and actual sales.

Question 6

What is competitive intelligence?

Answer 6

• Competitive intelligence– an important tool for helping a company overcome a competitors advantage. Its helps identify the advantage, it can also provide insights regard how that advantage was achieved.

It helps managers assess their competitors and their vendors in order to become a more efficient and effective competitors.

Question 7

Sources of competitive intelligence

Answer 7

○ Internet
		○ Company salespeople
		○ Suppliers
		○ Experts
		○ CI consultants
                 =Government agency's

Question 8

What is sales forecasting?

Answer 8

Estimate a firm’s sales over a period of time

Question 9

Types of sales forecasting:

Answer 9

correlational
expert opinion
research based

Question 10

Types of sales forecasting:correlational

Answer 10

Estimating future sales based on the relationship of a firms sales to some type of benchmark (trend analysis)

Question 11

Types of sales forecasting:expert opinion

Answer 11

confers with people who are knowledgeable about the business and its industry and asks them what they believe the firms sales will be for the upcoming period

Question 12

Types of sales forecasting:research based

Answer 12

§ Use of primary data as the basis for forecasting method..
□ Customer byer intention surveys- do the customer intend to buy their product
□ Test market sales forecasting
® New aspect of its marketing strategy into a limited market to gauge the behaviour response of the customers
□ Simulation sales forecasting method
Company will build a compute simulation model of its firm and industry