LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should: Know what constitutes good marketing research Know what are good metrics for measuring marketing productivity Know how marketers can assess their returns on investment of marketing expenditures Know how companies can more accurately measure and forecast demand CHAPTER SUMMARY Companies can conduct their own marketing research or hire other companies to do it for them. Good marketing research is characterized by the scientific method, creativity, multiple research methods, accurate model building, cost-benefit analysis, healthy skepticism, and an ethical focus. The marketing research process consists of defining the problem and research objective, developing the research plan, collecting the information, analyzing the information, presenting the findings to management, and making the decision. In conducting research, firms must decide whether to collect their own data or use data that already exists. They must also decide which research approach (observational, focus group, survey, behavioral data, or experimental) and which research 191 C H A P T E R 4 CONDUCTING MARKETING RESEARCH AND FORECASTING DEMAND
