«Motivation Research» is a convenient shorthand term and it certainly has great sales, appeal, because every one wants to know why consumers do what they do. The use of this title holds out the hope or perhaps even the promise that this kind of problem will now be successfully tackled. But just therein lies its danger because as I suggest below this claim cannot yet be justified. The purpose of this paper is to try to put the matter into perspective, to sift out what is useful from what as rubbish, even if it glitters, and to try to indicate what these methods, which for the moment we will call «psychological», are likely to settle down into.
The function of a marketing research department is essentially: a tool for management. This means that such a department must assist the management in obtaining facts and insights necessary for ah efficient and long-range operation of the business. The character of the marketing research department is therefore that of a service and advisory department. On the basis of the foregoing, every policy concerning marketing research can be looked at from two angles: a) the management policy towards the use of research; b) the policy of the research department towards the use of the instruments for research. The management policy towards research and the working methods used will define what programme for marketing research will be followed. Only on the basis of this programme will it be possible for the marketing research department to define its policy towards the use of research instruments.