M303 ch. 1-3

the application of the scientific method in researching for the truth about marketing phenomena. These activities include defining marketing opportunities and problems, generating and evaluating marketing ideas, monitoring performance, and understanding the marketing process

research conducted to address a specific marketing decision for a specific firm of organization

research conducted without a specific decision in mind that usually does not address the needs of a specific organization. It attempts to expand the limits of marketing knowledge in general and is not aimed at solving a particular pragmatic problem

the way researchers go about using knowledge and evidence to reach objective conclusions about the real world

prior knowledge + observation --> hypothesis --> hypothesis test (observation or experimentation) --> conclusion (new knowledge)

describes a firm that prioritizes decision making in a way that emphasizes technical superiority in the product

describes a firm that prioritizes efficiency and effectiveness of the production processes in making decisions

a central idea in modern marketing thinking that focuses on how the firm provides value to customers more than on the physical product or production process

the corporate culture existing for firms adopting the marketing concept. It emphasizes customer orientation, long-term profitability over short-term profits, and cross-functional perspective (marketing is integrated across other business functions like finance production and distribution, they all aren't isolated)

describes a firm in which all decisions are made with a conscious awareness of their effect on the consumer

communicates the idea that a major goal of marketing is to build long-term relationships with the customers contributing to the firm's success

a business philosophy that has much in common with the marketing concept; embodies the belief that the management process must focus on integrating customer-driven quality throughout the organization

refers to information describing the demographic profile of consumers in a particular geographic region

involves finding the amount of monetary sacrifice that best represents the value customers perceive in a product after considering various market constraints

a network of interdependent institutions that perform the logistics necessary for consumption to occur

another term for a channel of distribution, meaning the link between suppliers and customers

the communication function of the firm responsible for informing and persuading buyers

investigates the effectiveness of advertising, premiums, coupons, sampling, discounts, public relations, and other sales promotions

*(most of the time, money, and effort on advertising research)

all promotion efforts (advertising, public relations, personal selling, event marketing, and so forth) should be coordinated 

the effects of various combinations of marketing-mix elements on important outcomes

the managements and monitoring the entire process by which consumers receive benefits from a company

refers to research that regularly, sometimes routinely, provides feedback for evaluation and control of marketing activity

quantitative ways of monitoring and measuring marketing performance

to verify that the empirical findings from one culture also exist and behave similarly in another culture

facts or recorded measures of certain phenomena (things or events)

data formatted (structured) to support decision making or define the relationship between two facts

the subset of data and information that actually has some explanatory power enabling effective decisions to be made

the characteristics of data reflecting how pertinent these particular facts are to the situation at hand

having the right amount of information

an organized collection of computer hardware, software, data, and personnel designed to capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and immediately display information about worldwide business activity

a computer-based system that helps decision makers confront problems through direct interaction with databases and analytical software programs

input --> decision support software (database + software) --> output

part of the DSS that addresses exchanges between the firm and its customers

a collection of raw data arranged logically and organized in a form that be stored and processed by a computer

the process allowing important day-to-day operational data to be stored and processed by a computer

the multitiered computer storehouse of current and historical data

internal records, proprietary marketing research, salesperson input, behavioral tracking, web tracking, and outside vendors and external distributors

the gathering of new data to investigate specific problems

the accumulated records resulting from point of sale data recordings

companies that put together consortia of data sources into packages that are offered to municipal, corporate, and university libraries for a fee

type of exchange that occurs when one company's computer system is integrated with another company's system

a system linking computerized data sources to statistical tools allowing more accurate forecasts of consumers' opinions and actions

parties that furnish information on the World Wide Web

a web site address that web browsers recognize

a computerized directory that allows anyone to search the World Wide Web for information using a keyword search

takes place as the search engine searches through millions of Web pages for documents containing the keywords

entails all information gathering designed to detect changed in the external environment of the firm

consumers request information from a Web page and the browser then determines a response; the consumer is essentially asking for the data

send data to a user's computer without a request being made; software is used to guess what information might be interesting to consumers based on the pattern of previous responses

software capable of learning an Internet user's preferences and automatically searching out information in selected Web sites and then distributing it

small data files that a content provider can save onto the computer of someone who visits its Web site

a company's private data network that uses Internet standards and technology

conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities

observable cues that serve as a signal of a problem because they are caused by that problem

describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or environments; tries to "paint a picture" of a given situation

seeks to diagnose reasons for market outcomes and focuses specifically on the beliefs and feelings consumers have about and toward competing products

allows causal inferences to be made; seeks to identify cause-and-effect relationships

a conclusion that when one thing happens, another specific thing will follow

one of three criteria for causality; deals with the time order of events-cause must occur before the effect

one of three criteria for causality; occurs when two events "covary", meaning they vary systematically

one of three criteria for causality; means any covariation between a cause and an effect is true and not simply due to some other variable

a carefully controlled study in which the researcher manipulates a proposed cause and observes any corresponding change in the proposed effect

represents the proposed cause which the researcher controls by manipulating its value

means that the researcher alters the level of the variable in specific increments

the goals to be achieved by conducting research

the term used often in consulting to describe research objectives to a research client

a directed search of published works, including periodicals and books, that discusses theory and presents empirical results that are relevant to the topic at hand

a small-scale research project that collects data from respondents similar to those to be used in the full study

a small-scale study in which the results are only preliminary and intended only to assist in design of a subsequent study

a small group discussion about some research topic led by a moderator who guides discussion among the participants

a formal, logical explanation of some events that includes predictions of how things relate to one another

a formal statement explaining some outcome

means that something has been examined against reality using data

a master plan that specifies the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information

a research technique in which a sample is interviewed in some form or the behavior of respondents is observed and described in some way

involves any procedure that draws conclusions based on measurements of a portion of the population

methods in which research respondents do not have to be disturbed for data to be gathered; they may even be unaware that research is going on at all

the application of reasoning to understand the data that have been gathered

a single study that addresses one or a small number of research objectives

numerous related studies that come together to address multiple, related research objectives