Assessing Marketing Information Needs

By -

Assessing Marketing Information Needs

The marketing information system primarily serves the company’s marketing and other managers. However, it may also provide information to external partners, such as suppliers, resellers, or marketing services agencies. For example, wal-mart gives key suppliers access to information on customer buying patterns and inventory levels. And dell creates tailored Premium Pages for large customers, giving them access to product design, order status, and product support and service information. In designing an information system, the company must consider the needs of all of these users.

A good marketing information system balances the information users would like to have against what they really need and what is feasible t offer. The company begins by interviewing managers to find out what information they would like. Some managers will ask for whatever information they can get without thinking carefully about what they really need.

Too much information can be as harmful as too little. Other managers may omit things they ought to know, or they may not know to ask for some types of information they should have. For example, managers might need to know about a new product that a competitor plans to introduce during the coming year. Because they do not know about the new product, they do not think to ask about it. The MIS must monitor the marketing environment in order to provide decision makers with information they should have to make key marketing decisions.

Finally the costs of obtaining, processing, storing, and delivering information can mount quickly. The company must decide whether the benefits of having additional information are worth the costs of providing it, and both value and cost are often hard to assess. By itself, information has no worth; its value comes from its use. In many cases, additional information will do little to change or improve a manager’s decision, or the costs of the information may exceed the returns from the improved decision. Marketers should not assume that additional information will always be worth obtaining. Rather, they should weigh carefully the costs of getting more information against the benefits resulting from it.

Popular posts from this blog

Model of Consumer Behavior

By -
Model of Consumer Behavior Consumers make many buying decisions every day. Most large companies research consumer buying decisions in great detail to answer questions about what consumers buy, where the buy, how and how much they buy, when they buy, and why they buy. Marketers can study actual consumer purchases to find out what they buy, where, and how much. But learning about the whys of consumer buying behavior is not so easy- the answers are often locked deep within the consumer’s mind. “For companies with billions of dollars on the line, the buying decision is the most crucial part of their enterprise,” states one consumer behavior analyst. “yet no one really knows how the human brain makes that choice.” Often, consumers themselves don’t know exactly what influences their purchases. “Buying decisions are made at an unconscious level.” Says the analyst, “and … consumers don’t generally give very reliable answers if you simply ask them, ‘Why did you buy this?”
Read more

BUSINESS USE OF THE INTERNET

By -
BUSINESS USE OF THE INTERNET This should give you a good idea of how versatile the internet is as an information technology platform on which to base a variety of business strategies. You could group the ways that companies are using the internet for business into a few major application categories. 1. Interactive marketing Because of the internet, marketing a company and its products and services has become an interactive process. The internet and the web enable companies to create a dialog with customers through online discussion groups, bulletin board, electronic questionnaires, and mailing lists and E-mail exchanges. Thus customers can be interactively involved in the development marketing, sales and support of products and services, along with a company’s market researchers, product designers, marketing and sales staff, and support specialists. 2. E-Commerce The internet, the World Wide Web, and internet-based technologies such
Read more

what is Islamic Tijarah? Its Importance, Appreciation, and Exhortation to business.

By -
Image
Islamic Tijarah “Transaction of goods and services according to the Shariah” A good, successful and flourishing business depends very much on the sincere efforts and persistent hard work of the businessman. Therefore, any discussion of the Quranic attitude to Tijarah (business) ought to be preceded by explication of its attitude to Amal in general. Business is also a necessary and beneficial activity; therefore, its importance in the eyes of the Quran is understandable. Our aim is to explore what the Quran has to say about business activity in particular. Importance of Tijarah The importance of business is evident not only from the express statements but also from the attitude and the special consideration accorded to it by the Quran as we shall see below. 1. Frequent Use of Business Terminology The Quran has made and extensive use of business terminology. Commercial terms, belonging to twenty different stems, occur in the Quran about 370 times. C.C. Torrey
Read more