THE ROLE OF RESEARCH INFORMATION IN MARKETING
- It provides accurate, effective and useful information that is vital for decision making across the entire organization. The decisions include;
- Size of the market.
- Customers and their buying motives.
- Changing trends in the market.
- Customer satisfaction /dissatisfaction with a product.
- It can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the various elements of the marketing mix such as advertising.
- It provides feedback to the organization which helps it compare performance before the marketing strategy was put in place and after.
MARKETING DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM.
This is the systematic collection of data from the other three systems, the use of tools and techniques with supporting software and hardware by which an organization gathers and interprets relevant information and turns it into a basis for making marketing decisions. The decisions can be classified as;
Strategic decisions
This are made by top level management and involves establishing objectives for the organization and long term plans for attaining those objectives.
Tactical decisions.
This are made by middle level management and are concerned with allocation of resources needed to meet organizational objectives.
Operational decisions
They are made by lower level management and involve executing specific tasks.
This is a framework which helps to structure the approach to each market. The mix is a bundle of variables offered to the customer. This is a tactical/operational part of a marketing plan.it is composed of the elements below
- Product -refers to anything that can be offered to a market for attention, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need
- Price- This is the amount of money charged for a good or service This is the sum of value consumers exchange for the benefit of having or using a good or service.
- Place- refers to channel of distribution or the route or path followed by a product as it moves from the producer to the consumer/final user.
- Promotion- Promotion is a function of marketing mix and is a technique used in creating awareness on the companys product as well as the company itself.
- Process-involves taking into account all elements that translate to satisfaction of customer needs and wants.
- People-this are the living creatures who are willing and able to transact.
- Physical evidence-this are elements that can be seen,felt,heard or smelt.
- Probe-this basically refers to asking questions or carrying out a market research.
FACTORS AFFECTING MARKETING MIX ELEMENTS.
- Finance-the business should consider how much money is to be spent on marketing.
- Needs of the market-the business should continue to carry out market research as the business grows,as the needs of customers change over time.
- Competitors-marketing mix can be used as a response of competitors actions in the market
- Technology-the business may change where goods are bought and sold according to changes in technology e.g. internet.
- Demand of products-affected by price element as they are inversely related.
- Nature of the product-affected by the form or physical evidence.
IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING MIX ELEMENTS
- Offerings in the market
- Helps to target the specific individual groups in the country.
- Assists in message delivery
- Value creation to customers.
