Chapter 2

Marketing Information System

(MIS) and Marketing Research
2.1. Definition of MIS
• A system that analyzes and assesses marketing
information, gathered continuously from sources inside
and outside an organization.
• Timely marketing information provides basis for
decisions such as product development or improvement,
pricing, packaging, distribution, media selection, and
promotion.
Source:http://www.businessdictionary.com
/definition/marketing-information-system.html#ixzz2liOIGdbL

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Data/information to Make Plan or strategy:
conduct research in marketing logistics
• A marketing information system is a management
information system designed to support marketing
decision making.
• Jobber (2007) defines it as a "system in which marketing
data is formally gathered, stored, analysed and distributed
to managers in accordance with their informational needs
on a regular basis."
• Kotler, et al. (2006) defined it more broadly as "people,
equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze,
evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate
information to marketing decision makers”.
-> Marketing Information System, abbreviated as MIS,
means to collect, analyze and supply marketing
information to the marketing managers. The marketing
managers use this information to take marketing decisions.
MIS is a permanent and continuous process. 4
 The Components of MIS
E.g. sales, orders,
Includes all the customer profiles,
everyday stocks, customer
information about service reports etc
developments in the
market gathered
Internal
from many sources, Information
including suppliers,
customers, and
System
distributors.

External
Marketing
Information
Research
System

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2.2. Marketing Research
• Market research and marketing research
are often confused.
• 'Market' research is simply research into a
specific market. It is a very narrow concept.
• 'Marketing' research is much broader. It not
only includes 'market' research, but also
areas such as research into new products, or
modes of distribution such as via the
Internet.
• Here are a couple of definitions:

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What is the market?
Is a place: mark 0, not correct answer

•According to opinion of marketing:

•90% of students
•
• Marketing research is the function that links the consumer,
customer, and public to the marketer through information.
• Marketing research specifies the information required to
address these issues, designs the methods for collecting
information, manages and implements the data collection
process, analyzes, and communicates the findings and their
implications."
• Source: American Marketing Association (AMA) - Official
Definition of Marketing Research.
• "Marketing research is about researching the whole of a
company's marketing process." Palmer (2000).
• http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-marketi
ng-research.html
, accessed on Nov. 25, 2013

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 Marketing Research Process:
A set of defined stages
through which marketing Problem Definition
information is collected

Research Design

Secondary Data Primary Data

Qualitative Quantitative

Data Analysis/SPSS, STATA

Create Conclusions and Present 9

Step 1: Problem Definition
The starting phase is always identifying the reason or
problem for which research is to be conducted.
Example: VNA intends to offer the telephone call service on
the flights from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City at the price of 15
USD for one time used.
Step 2: Research Design
• Once the initial stage of defining the problem is done, it is
important to determine who will do the research and what
will be the approaches to resolve these problems. This
involves creating a problem solving framework and
analytical models after discussing with organization experts.
In this sample case, study is created according to the
defined framework by enforcing the relevant information.

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• Picking out the appropriate methodology:
A specific methodology is entailed by the research professional
after identifying the specific needs and exploring the case study. It
may include a combination of specific approaches like telephone
survey, web or email survey, one-to-one interviews, secondary
research etc. This methodology acts as a blueprint of research
process and following basic steps:
• Methods for collecting and preparing quantitative information
• Determining the need of this information
• Scaling and measuring procedures
• Designing sample Questionnaire
• Formulating case studies and sampling process
• Planning information analysis

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 Step 3: Data Collection Process
• This process includes field work and desk work for
collecting all relevant data and information.
• Field work includes interviewing the personals by
interacting them face to face by visiting them in home or
offices or arranging group meetings at any preferred
place.
• Desk work includes contacting personals over telephone
or via series of emails and web meetings. This could take
comparatively more time as compared to the field work.
Involving experienced and trained executive for this
helps in reducing data collection errors.
• The data can be collected from the primary and the
secondary sources.
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 Primary research & Secondary research
• Primary research involves collecting data via surveys, focus groups
and interviews directly from your target respondents.
• This method is typically difficult and time consuming. However,
gathering data directly from your source will help you get firsthand
accounts that are free from bias.
• To gather reliable data, you must prepare open-ended questions
that allow you to delve deeper into your respondents’ views.
• Secondary research involves gathering data from sources other
than your target respondents. These sources may include
government agencies, textbooks, magazines and Internet
publications.
• Compared to primary research, secondary research consumes less
time. However, not all data collected may be suited to your
research problem.

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 Qualitative & Quantitative researches in primary
research
• Qualitative research seeks to explore and uncover
answers to problems that are generic in nature or not
well defined. It usually involves open-ended questions
due to its lack of structure. The most common methods
for qualitative research are focus groups with a small,
non-random sample. Qualitative research can be time-
consuming, with focus groups running well over an hour.
• Quantitative research is used when there are already
significant findings regarding the research problem. It is
usually defined by structure and formality and can
include telephone and mail surveys with a large, random
sample. QR seeks to quantify the data and typically apply
some statistical analysis.
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 Examples
• Imagine that you own a small grocery store. You notice that
more customers are buying Brand X detergent (tay rua)
over Brand Y even though the prices of the two brands are
the same.
• This baffles you since Brand Y has always been a customer
favorite. It is best to use the qualitative research method to
determine the reason behind this sudden change.
• If you are looking for internal factors on your customers’
sudden change of behavior, you must couple qualitative
with primary research since you desire to gather firsthand
information.
• However, to gauge the percentage of your customers that
shifted to Brand X, quantitative research is more
appropriate. External factors, such as brand reputation, are
best determined via secondary research.
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 Advantages and disadvantages of
Qualitative & Quantitative research
Qualitative research Quantitative research
Advantages:
Economic and timely data Generalizability, reliability,
collection; rich data; accuracy validity
of recording market behavior,
and preliminary (so bo) insights.

Disadvantages:
Lack of generalizability, Time consuming and costly
reliability, validity

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 Secondary data sources

Data Sources Examples

Internal data Firm’s reports, memos etc.
Syndicated data Syndicated services: e.g., the PRS Group - the Political Risk Services:
International Country Risk Guide (ICRG):
http://www.prsgroup.com/prsgroup_shoppingcart/pc-39-7-international-cou
ntry-risk-guide-icrg.aspx

Updated monthly, ICRG monitors 140 countries. Each 200+-page issue

provides financial, political, and economic risk information and forecasts.
ICRG's statistical tables assign values to the 22 indicators underlying ICRG's
business-oriented model for quantifying risk, examining such country-specific
elements as currency risk, political leadership, the military and religion in
politics, and corruption.
Mckinsey & Marketing:
http://www.mckinsey.com etc.

Expert advice Newspapers, interviews, reports, journals

Industry data Industry of trade associations: Vietnam Steel Association, etc.
Macro data Government and international publications: Statistics Year Book of GSO, WEF
Market research Independent market research firms
reports
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 Step 4: Data Preparation, tabulation and analysis of
results
• After the data collecting stage the collected data is edited, corrected if
required and validated. This process is the most important process in the
research as the results are generated on the basis of data preparation. So it
is required for an organization to verify the authenticity of the collected
data and edit or correct it if needed. The final data is then segmented
according to the business standards and inserted into the CRM database in
a more tabulated form so that search or combination could be made easily.
• The entire process is properly documented with respect to organizational
standards so that it can be referred in future for decision making process
or to change or modify any specific process or module. This document
contains overall architecture of the project depicting all the processes with
the help of tables, graphs and figures to provoke impact and clarity.
• Marketing research process undeniably plays a vital role in exploring the
business. The above process if conducted in an efficient manner could help
predicting and correlating customer needs and then modeling or
modifying the business strategies accordingly.

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 Research results:
• If P =15USD/one time use; the number of people using the
service is 12 (Q). We have total return (TR): 15USD*12 =
180 USD
• If P=10 USD/one time use; the number of people using the
service is 20 (Q). We have total return (TR): 10USD*20 =
200 USD
• Operation cost/flight = 200 USD
• TR equilibrium = 1000 USD
Step 5: Create Conclusions and Present
• Oral presentation
• Documentation
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