During the last 10 years IMR has enjoyed a positive evolution, expressed not only in terms of volume of research, but also of the increasing application of more- sophisticated methods and evaluation techniques. The expected future development of IMR will be essentially determined by the economic evolution and by the resulting specific objectives and requirements. This paper describes the present status of IMR and its expected evolution in the course of the 80's, with the repercussions of this evolution on research methods and techniques. It is limited to the Federal Republic of Germany but takes into account the essential points of the English paper, in order to bring out possible differences in the evolution of both countries.
The paper describes how the need for a panel came about and relates the means by which the panel was set up and run for the first six months of its life. The panel consists of 200 garage or workshop managers who are responsible for purchases of materials used in repairing or refurbishing motor vehicles. Details of these purchases are obtained from the panel every other month, using a self-completion questionnaire. The panel is sponsored by a number of manufacturers of body repair materials (sand paper, masking tape and under seal fluid for example). As these materials are sold through intermediaries, data from the panel is the only way these manufacturers can maintain direct contact with the market in which their products are eventually used. In the paper, the particular problems of research in this market are described. We also discuss the means by which these problems were eventually overcome in setting up the panel.
This paper focusses on a comparative study of 16 British and West German machine tool manufacturers, which shows clear differences in the extent of user involvement in the product development process. Broadly speaking in the West German companies, user involvement was greater and was associated with the development of higher quality products better suited to user needs. A sample of 129 machine tool buyers from the two countries supported this generalisation from the customer's viewpoint. Comparisons between the approach to user involvement in each country are drawn from case studies of the British and West German machine tool suppliers. These case studies were developed from discussions held with managers involved in the new product development process in each company.
Euronet, the telecommunications network sponsored by the Commission of the European Communities, has been in commercial service for over 1½ years. During that time the information services, collectively referred to as DIANE (Direct Information Access Network for Europe) have progressively connected to the telecommunications network in order to offer their services to customer in the countries of the European Communities and Switzerland. This paper focuses on the practical aspects of using Euronet DIANE, the various methods of access, the data bases and data banks available and the costs of searching. Particular emphasis is placed on the information services as they might be applied to market research. In conclusion the impact of such facilities in the future both in Europe and elsewhere in the world are reviewed.
Decision making, this paper contends, plays a very important role on all kinds of levels in our society. Therefore a lot of research has been carried out by representatives of a great many disciplines; research on a wide variety of types and aspects of decision making processes. This paper deals with decision making in an industrial environment; specifically with the relations between decision making processes concerning buying and buying behaviour on industrial and on household levels. These relations will be investigated simultaneously; one of the facts, namely, that tend to be overlooked is that the industrial decision maker is often also involved in a similar process in a household context.
A user reports on the problems encountered in analysing the international advertising campaigns of a major industrial concern, and the solutions that were found. Increased export trade and the growing importance of worldwide production (and its associated business activity) demand an identical advertising approach in many countries. A comparative study of advertising effectiveness and acceptance at the international level poses difficulties. National studies affording no basis for comparison are of little help. What is needed is a method of coordinating and fusing data from different countries so that the "worldwide effectiveness" of campaigns can be assessed. In post-testing international institutional and product advertising, eight key problem areas in the concept and implementation phases of research were identified from the user standpoint. The article delineates in detail the now practice proved solutions and methods of procedure which overcame these difficulties. Several core requirements for the immediate future are enumerated and a plea is made for the creation of internationally acceptable and workable standards for testing the effectiveness of worldwide campaigns .