Making sense of information: a new role for the marketing researcher?

Abstract

Addresses the question of whether the information needs of those engaged in marketing management are being delivered satisfactorily by information providers. It is plainly evident that the use of the Internet and the intranet as global communication tools has risen exponentially over the past two years. However, a question remains as to whether this information is collected and presented in a form – at a level of specificity and depth – that makes for better decision taking. Today there is talk of the analyst – in this case the market researcher – requiring the skills of the “bricoleur”. This refers to the need in today’s world of multi‐source imperfect data of being able to piece together different weights and hues of evidence. While we acknowledge evidence exists of good practice, we believe that more needs to be done to provide practical training on how to operate in this bricolage mode, if we are to keep on top of twenty‐first century marketing information. Argues that there are seven issues that need addressing in order to ensure that the information needs of management are being satisfied by the market researcher.