Purpose – Proceeding from the widely accepted but relatively untested premise that the gathering of intelligence via market research is central to business success, this paper reports a study investigating the extent to which the type of research carried out influences the level of business performance. Design/methodology/approach – Just over 6,000 market research projects conducted by a sample of 68 companies in New Zealand were classified as mainly “decision” or “background research” the companies allocated to one of three categories according to the mix of those types in their total research programme, and their business performance rated on four criteria. Firm size and the market research budget were taken into account as potential confounding variables. ANOVA, MANOVA and factor analysis were applied to data gathered from responses to a questionnaire developed by Diamantopoulos and Souchon, appropriately modified to the specific conditions of this study. Findings – Companies carrying out mostly “decision research” rated themselves as performing generally better than those placing more emphasis on “background research” regardless of the size of the firm or the its market research budget. They scored highly on return‐on‐assets, return‐on‐sales and sales growth, and exhibited positive overall performance. The initial finding was strongly reinforced by factor analysis, 98 per cent of the variation in business performance being explained by the categorisation of a company's research as dominantly “decision” “background” or “mixed”. Practical implications – The evidence for the positive effect of “decision research” on business performance suggests deliberate repositioning of market research strategy towards “decision research” rather than the “background research” which is generally in favour. This will require a major shift in the marketing management mindset with respect to marketing intelligence. Originality/value – This is the first study to show a direct correlation between type of market research conducted and better business performance. It offers an improved conceptual framework for marketing intelligence and planning.
Marketing Intelligence & Planning – Emerald Publishing
Published: Feb 13, 2007
Keywords: Market research; Marketing intelligence; Market research methods; Performance measures
It’s your single place to instantly
discover and read the research
that matters to you.
Enjoy affordable access to
over 18 million articles from more than
15,000 peer-reviewed journals.
All for just $49/month
Query the DeepDyve database, plus search all of PubMed and Google Scholar seamlessly
Save any article or search result from DeepDyve, PubMed, and Google Scholar... all in one place.
Get unlimited, online access to over 18 million full-text articles from more than 15,000 scientific journals.
Read from thousands of the leading scholarly journals from SpringerNature, Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford University Press and more.
All the latest content is available, no embargo periods.
“Hi guys, I cannot tell you how much I love this resource. Incredible. I really believe you've hit the nail on the head with this site in regards to solving the research-purchase issue.”
Daniel C.
“Whoa! It’s like Spotify but for academic articles.”
@Phil_Robichaud
“I must say, @deepdyve is a fabulous solution to the independent researcher's problem of #access to #information.”
@deepthiw
“My last article couldn't be possible without the platform @deepdyve that makes journal papers cheaper.”
@JoseServera
DeepDyve Freelancer | DeepDyve Pro | |
---|---|---|
Price | FREE | $49/month |
Save searches from | ||
Create folders to | ||
Export folders, citations | ||
Read DeepDyve articles | Abstract access only | Unlimited access to over |
20 pages / month | ||
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.