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marketing research
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
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applied marketing research
research conducted to address a specific marketing decision for a specific firm of organization
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basic marketing research
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
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the scientific method
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)
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product-oriented
describes a firm that prioritizes decision making in a way that emphasizes technical superiority in the product
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production-oriented
describes a firm that prioritizes efficiency and effectiveness of the production processes in making decisions
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marketing concept
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
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marketing orientation
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)
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customer-oriented
describes a firm in which all decisions are made with a conscious awareness of their effect on the consumer
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relationship marketing
communicates the idea that a major goal of marketing is to build long-term relationships with the customers contributing to the firm's success
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total quality management
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
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geo-demographics
refers to information describing the demographic profile of consumers in a particular geographic region
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pricing
involves finding the amount of monetary sacrifice that best represents the value customers perceive in a product after considering various market constraints
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marketing channel
a network of interdependent institutions that perform the logistics necessary for consumption to occur
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supply chain
another term for a channel of distribution, meaning the link between suppliers and customers
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promotion
the communication function of the firm responsible for informing and persuading buyers
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promotion research
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)
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integrated marketing communication
all promotion efforts (advertising, public relations, personal selling, event marketing, and so forth) should be coordinated
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integrated marketing mix
the effects of various combinations of marketing-mix elements on important outcomes
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total value management
the managements and monitoring the entire process by which consumers receive benefits from a company
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performance-monitoring research
refers to research that regularly, sometimes routinely, provides feedback for evaluation and control of marketing activity
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marketing metrics
quantitative ways of monitoring and measuring marketing performance
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culturally cross-validate
to verify that the empirical findings from one culture also exist and behave similarly in another culture
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data
facts or recorded measures of certain phenomena (things or events)
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information
data formatted (structured) to support decision making or define the relationship between two facts
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market intelligence
the subset of data and information that actually has some explanatory power enabling effective decisions to be made
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relevance
the characteristics of data reflecting how pertinent these particular facts are to the situation at hand
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information completeness
having the right amount of information
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global information system
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
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decision support system (DSS)
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
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customer relationship management (CRM)
part of the DSS that addresses exchanges between the firm and its customers
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database
a collection of raw data arranged logically and organized in a form that be stored and processed by a computer
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data warehousing
the process allowing important day-to-day operational data to be stored and processed by a computer
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data warehouse
the multitiered computer storehouse of current and historical data
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six major sources of marketing input for decision support systems
internal records, proprietary marketing research, salesperson input, behavioral tracking, web tracking, and outside vendors and external distributors
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proprietary marketing research
the gathering of new data to investigate specific problems
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scanner records
the accumulated records resulting from point of sale data recordings
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data wholesalers
companies that put together consortia of data sources into packages that are offered to municipal, corporate, and university libraries for a fee
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electronic data interchange (EDI)
type of exchange that occurs when one company's computer system is integrated with another company's system
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predictive analytics
a system linking computerized data sources to statistical tools allowing more accurate forecasts of consumers' opinions and actions
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content providers
parties that furnish information on the World Wide Web
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Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
a web site address that web browsers recognize
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search engine
a computerized directory that allows anyone to search the World Wide Web for information using a keyword search
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keyword search
takes place as the search engine searches through millions of Web pages for documents containing the keywords
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environmental scanning
entails all information gathering designed to detect changed in the external environment of the firm
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pull technology
consumers request information from a Web page and the browser then determines a response; the consumer is essentially asking for the data
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push technology
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
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smart agent software
software capable of learning an Internet user's preferences and automatically searching out information in selected Web sites and then distributing it
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cookies
small data files that a content provider can save onto the computer of someone who visits its Web site
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intranet
a company's private data network that uses Internet standards and technology
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exploratory research
conducted to clarify ambiguous situations or discover ideas that may be potential business opportunities
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symptoms
observable cues that serve as a signal of a problem because they are caused by that problem
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descriptive research
describes characteristics of objects, people, groups, organizations, or environments; tries to "paint a picture" of a given situation
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diagnostic analysis
seeks to diagnose reasons for market outcomes and focuses specifically on the beliefs and feelings consumers have about and toward competing products
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causal research
allows causal inferences to be made; seeks to identify cause-and-effect relationships
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causal inference
a conclusion that when one thing happens, another specific thing will follow
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temporal sequence
one of three criteria for causality; deals with the time order of events-cause must occur before the effect
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concomitant variation
one of three criteria for causality; occurs when two events "covary", meaning they vary systematically
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nonspurious association
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
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experiment
a carefully controlled study in which the researcher manipulates a proposed cause and observes any corresponding change in the proposed effect
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experimental variable
represents the proposed cause which the researcher controls by manipulating its value
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manipulation
means that the researcher alters the level of the variable in specific increments
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research objectives
the goals to be achieved by conducting research
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deliverables
the term used often in consulting to describe research objectives to a research client
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literature review
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
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pilot study
a small-scale research project that collects data from respondents similar to those to be used in the full study
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pretest
a small-scale study in which the results are only preliminary and intended only to assist in design of a subsequent study
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focus group
a small group discussion about some research topic led by a moderator who guides discussion among the participants
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theory
a formal, logical explanation of some events that includes predictions of how things relate to one another
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hypothesis
a formal statement explaining some outcome
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empirical testing
means that something has been examined against reality using data
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research design
a master plan that specifies the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information
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survey
a research technique in which a sample is interviewed in some form or the behavior of respondents is observed and described in some way
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sampling
involves any procedure that draws conclusions based on measurements of a portion of the population
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unobtrusive methods
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
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data analysis
the application of reasoning to understand the data that have been gathered
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research project
a single study that addresses one or a small number of research objectives
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research program
numerous related studies that come together to address multiple, related research objectives
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