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Module 1 Introduction The Marketing Information System

The document discusses the importance of marketing information systems (MIS) for companies. It explains that an MIS consists of people, equipment, and processes to collect, analyze, and distribute needed market information to managers. The goals of an MIS are to provide managers with high-quality information to aid marketing planning, implementation, and control. However, an effective MIS must balance these information needs against feasibility and costs, as too much or unnecessary data can be ineffective or wasteful for decision-making.

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Darleen Joy Udtujan
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364 views3 pages

Module 1 Introduction The Marketing Information System

The document discusses the importance of marketing information systems (MIS) for companies. It explains that an MIS consists of people, equipment, and processes to collect, analyze, and distribute needed market information to managers. The goals of an MIS are to provide managers with high-quality information to aid marketing planning, implementation, and control. However, an effective MIS must balance these information needs against feasibility and costs, as too much or unnecessary data can be ineffective or wasteful for decision-making.

Uploaded by

Darleen Joy Udtujan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Module 1: Introduction: The Marketing Information System

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Explain the importance of information to a company.

1.1. Introduction

To carry out marketing analysis, planning, implementation and control, managers


need information. Information is not just an input for making better decisions, but also a
marketing asset that gives competitive advantage of strategic importance. Competitors can
copy each other’s equipment, products and procedures, but they cannot duplicate the
company’s information and intellectual capital.

All companies start small, knowing their customers personally. Managers picked up
marketing information by meeting people, observing them and asking questions. However,
with growth they need more and better information. When they become national or
international in scope, they need more information on larger, more distant markets. As
incomes increase and buyers become more selective, sellers need even better information
about how buyers respond to different products and appeals. As sellers use more complex
marketing approaches and face more competition, they need information on the effectiveness
of their marketing tools. Finally, in today’s rapidly changing environments, managers need
up-to-date information to make timely decisions.

The need for more and better information has been met by an explosion of
information
technology. The past 30 years have witnessed the emergence of small but powerful
computers, text messaging, DVD drives, videoconferencing, broadband Internet access and
other advances that have revolutionized information handling. Today’s managers often
receive too much information. For example, one study found that with all the companies
offering data, and with all the information now available through supermarket scanners, a
packaged-goods brand manager is bombarded with 1 million to 1 billion new numbers each
week. Another study found that, on average, office workers spend 60 per cent of their time
processing documents; a typical manager reads about a million words a week. Running out of
information is not a problem but seeing through the ‘data smog’ is.

Despite this data glut, marketers frequently complain that they lack enough
information of the right kind. For example, a recent survey of managers found that although
half the respondents said they couldn’t cope with the volume of information coming at them,
two thirds wanted even more. The researcher concluded that ‘despite the volume, they’re still
not getting what they want.’ Thus, most marketing managers don’t need more information;
they need better information. Companies have greater capacity to provide managers with
good information, but often have not made good use of it. Many companies are now studying
their managers’ information needs and designing information systems to meet those needs.

Marketing Research: Module 1 Page 1 of


1.2. The Marketing Information System

A marketing information system (MIS) consists of people, equipment and procedures


to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate and distribute needed, timely and accurate information to
marketing decision makers. The figure below illustrates the marketing information system
concept. The MIS begins and ends with marketing managers. First, it interacts with these
managers to assess their information needs. Next, it develops the needed information from
internal company records, marketing intelligence activities and the marketing research
process. Information analysis processes the information to make it more useful. Finally, the
MIS distributes information to managers in the right form at the right time to help them in
marketing planning, implementation and control.

The marketing information system primarily serves the company’s marketing and
other managers. However, it may also provide information to external partners, such as
suppliers, resellers, or marketing services agencies. For example, Walmart (an American
multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department
stores, and grocery stores from the United States) has a Retail Link system that gives key
suppliers access to information on everything from customers’ buying patterns and store
inventory levels to how many items they’ve sold in which stores in the past 24 hours.

A good marketing information system balances the information users would like to
have against what they really need and what is feasible to offer. Some managers will ask for
whatever information they can get without thinking carefully about what they really need.
And in this age of big data, some managers will want to collect and store vast amounts of
digital data simply because technology lets them. But too much information can be as
harmful as too little. In contrast, other managers may omit things they ought to know, or they
may not know to ask for some types of information they should have. The MIS must monitor
the marketing environment to provide decision makers with information
they should have to make key marketing decisions.

Finally, the costs of obtaining, analyzing, storing, and delivering information can
mount quickly. The company must decide whether the value of insights gained from

Marketing Research: Module 1 Page 2 of


additional information is worth the costs of providing it, and both value and cost are often
hard to assess.

Marketing Research: Module 1 Page 3 of

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