Marketing research involves conducting research to support marketing
activities, and the statistical interpretation of data into information.
This information is then used by managers to plan marketing activities,
gauge the nature of a firm's marketing environment and attain
information from suppliers.
Marketing researchers use statistical methods such as quantitative
research, qualitative research, hypothesis tests, Chi-squared tests,
linear regression, correlations, frequency distributions, poisson
distributions, binomial distributions, etc. to interpret their findings
and convert data into information. The marketing research process spans a
number of stages, including the definition of a problem, development of
a research plan, collection and interpretation of data and
disseminating information formally in the form of a report. The task of
marketing research is to provide management with relevant, accurate,
reliable, valid, and current information.
A distinction should be made between marketing research and market
research. Market research pertains to research in a given market. As an
example, a firm may conduct research in a target market, after selecting
a suitable market segment. In contrast, marketing research relates to
all research conducted within marketing. Thus, market research is a
subset of marketing research