Abstract:

This paper describes the role of market research in building knowledge as well as a tool to assist in improving company business and profit management. We are living the information age, in which knowledge is considered a company asset and more valuable than ever. Companies constantly search for higher profits while marketing professionals are becoming more accountable for responding to financial gains instead of just managing products or communication. This trend has had an impact on the market research business, which is leveraging its involvement with the success of the company as it plays the role of a strategic consultant rather than just a data supplier. This is illustrated by a practical case: 'Living 24/7' carried out in the second half of 2002 by two large-sized companies in Brazil: Procter & Gamble (multinational) and Sadia (Brazilian). In this ethnographical methodology researchers lived in the households of twenty-five consumers for seven days, twenty-four hours a day (24/7). The way the research was carried out and results presented to the clients is an example of the new accountability of market research and how it can contribute to building knowledge for increased client profits.