Making Sense of Information- A New Role for the Marketing Researcher

Abstract

The value of today's business is measured increasingly in terms of what it knows, rather than what it owns. Even so, whilst knowledge exists in most organisations it is regularly difficult to access. This paper 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. We know therefore, how things are in this increasingly project-driven business world concerning the sheer volume of information available for both support and user alike. 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 todays 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 21st century marketing information. In this paper, we argue 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.