Q.1 What is Marketing Information System?

Explain its
characteristics, benefits and information types.

Ans. A Marketing Information System can be defined as ‘a system in which

marketing information is formally gathered, stored, analysed and distributed to
managers in accord with their informational needs on a regular basis’.
Set of procedures and practices employed in analyzing and assessing marketing
information, gathered continuously from sources inside and outside of a firm. Timely
marketing information provides basis for decisions such as product development or
improvement, pricing, packaging, distribution, media selection, and promotion.
Characteristics of MIS
Philip Kotler defines MIS as “a system that consists of people, equipment and
procedures to gather,
sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute needed, timely and accurate information to
marketing decision
makers.
Its characteristics are as follows:
1. It is a planned system developed to facilitate smooth and continuous flow of
information.
2. It provides pertinent information, collected from sources both internal and
external to the company, for use as the basis of marketing decision making.
3. It provides right information at the right time to the right person.
A well designed MIS serves as a company’s nerve centre, continuously monitoring
the market
environment both inside and outside the organization. In the process, it collects lot
of data and stores
in the form of a database which is maintained in an organized manner. Marketers
classify and
analyze this data from the database as needed.
by divyapizzacom.