Abstract:

In this paper it is argued that there is a growing gap between what market research offers and what decision takers require of market research. It is argued that this gap could be reduced if market researchers communicated more effectively how market research works. In the paper five ways of reducing the gap between the worlds of market research and decision making are proposed. These are: more professional public relations; closer links with schools and colleges; a fresh look at the industry’s publications; a more conceptual approach to market research training; and the development of easy to follow, analytical frameworks that will help decision takers better understand the way market research evidence should be interpreted, prior to decision making.