This paper examines the contribution which Market Research can make to understanding how children and adolescents develop into adult consumers. In order to illustrate some of the methods available and findings involved, a case history is presented on the development of young peoples' attitudes towards domestic fuels. The case history involved interviewing 786 school children between 11 and 15 years, and 788 young people between 16 and 25 years. The scope of the study included: attitudes towards electricity and gas in the home; sources of influence on attitudes; ideas about setting up home, etc. The theoretical basis and methodology of studying development by age are discussed in some detail. The results of the study show that the attitudes of young people setting up their own homes are heavily influenced by earlier experiences in their parents' homes, and that thinking about fuel decisions changes when young people are confronted with the practicalities of home-building. The results are used to examine the significance of experiences in childhood and adolescence in influencing adult behaviour for general fields of marketing and social interest.
Between 1960 and 1972, the retail trade in France has recorded a drastic evolution: the small retail trades have been disappearing at a speed of 5000 per year, replaced at first by supermarkets and later by hypermarkets. How will this evolution be oriented in the future? What consequences will it bear for the consumers, for the manufacturers, and also for Market Research? To answer this question, we have undertaken a research using an approach of a sequential type: we have first interviewed a sample of managers from big distribution companies, we asked them how they foresaw their own dynamic in the 5 years to come; we then had these forecasts commented on by a sample of manufacturers; the results of these two steps have been submitted to a group of practitioners of Market Research.
Between 1960 and 1972, the retail trade in France has recorded a drastic evolution: the small retail trades have been disappearing at a speed of 5000 per year, replaced at first by supermarkets and later by hypermarkets. How will this evolution be oriented in the future? What consequences will it bear for the consumers, for the manufacturers, and also for Market Research? To answer this question, we have undertaken a research using an approach of a sequential type: we have first interviewed a sample of managers from big distribution companies, we asked them how they foresaw their own dynamic in the 5 years to come; we then had these forecasts commented on by a sample of manufacturers; the results of these two steps have been submitted to a group of practitioners of Market Research.
It is important to measure changes in cultural trends, if advertisers are to increase the effectiveness of their planning. Our work on the Yankelovich Monitor has demonstrated that such data can be applied in a disciplined way, both as a checklist and as a stimulus for new ideas. Such research will become increasingly relevant, as trends change more quickly, and similar surveys, outside the United States, will fulfil a necessary role.
In 1970 the chairman of a large multinational company introduced the theme of the fourth dimension at the company's annual shareholders' meeting. He said that traditionally the company has recognised three responsibilities to customers, shareholders and employees. He then added a fourth - responsibility to the community. Then IBM's research programme is described as one designed to help it in its present market and expand its future ones. An indirect marketer, IBM sees the need to help its customers understand the changing consumer environment. Three points define the programme: - Computers help people; - The work of IBM Scientific Centres helps to resolve environmental problems; - Involvement in the communities in which IBM operates is enlightened self-interest. Attitudinal research helps IBM in the identification of certain of these areas. Over the past year IBM World Trade has developed a series of advertisements which have run in many countries seeking to demonstrate to selected audiences examples of how IBM and its customers use computers to help people solve environmental and social problems within the communities in which they operate.
The common market is - despite all difficulties - a successful arrangement for the economic unification of Europe. Efforts to unify the supply of consumer goods to the European market, without riding roughshod over regional and national specialities, are part of it. It would be a paradoxical if, for example, a consumer goods industry which is also trying to meet the wishes of defined minorities by means of marketing, advertising and market research, behaved in a different, i. e. the wrong way when extending their offer to neighbouring markets. Internationalisation of brands cannot always mean offering the same product with several languages printed on the wrapper and advertising translated into the language of the country concerned. Here a different procedure has to be applied and we shall now examine this. The practical case at the end shows the "transfer" of a successful French liqueur to the German market.
The common market is - despite all difficulties - a successful arrangement for the economic unification of Europe. Efforts to unify the supply of consumer goods to the European market, without riding roughshod over regional and national specialities, are part of it. It would be a paradoxical if, for example, a consumer goods industry which is also trying to meet the wishes of defined minorities by means of marketing, advertising and market research, behaved in a different, i. e. the wrong way when extending their offer to neighbouring markets. Internationalisation of brands cannot always mean offering the same product with several languages printed on the wrapper and advertising translated into the language of the country concerned. Here a different procedure has to be applied and we shall now examine this. The practical case at the end shows the "transfer" of a successful French liqueur to the German market.
As more and more companies seek new opportunities overseas, the question of how to select the "right" markets becomes an increasingly important issue. In particular the wide range of possible markets and the plethora of available information suggests the need to establish systematic evaluation and information collection procedures. The paper provides a conceptual framework for developing such a procedure. The proposed approach consists of a series of steps for screening countries based on global country characteristics so as to select a set of countries for examination in depth. The relevant criteria and specific research procedures to be used at each stage in the evaluation process are determined in relation to the specific objectives, constraints and other idiosyncratic characteristics of the individual firm.
Society is undergoing a number of fundamental changes which are central to marketing and advertising strategies, especially those of a medium and long term nature. This paper outlines some research issues involved in measuring social change, and discusses a major study being carried out by BBL in the U.K. This is a longitudinal panel project, the first wave of which has been completed.
In the broadest sense of the term, market segmentation as a strategy has been with us as long as marketing itself. Essentially, it hinges on the principle that consumers are not all alike, and utilises that principle in the sale of merchandise. Until about ten years ago, segmentation research was based largely upon simple cross classification by demographic characteristics or purchase behaviour. During the 1960's, however, major research interest and emphasis has focussed upon new, more powerful, and hopefully more meaningful ways of partitioning markets based upon attitudes held by consumers.
It is our aim to illustrate the goals of market investigations, seen from the viewpoint of possibilities for encouraging the continuous development of the Yugoslav economy.