Abstract:

The concept of marketing research is essentially dynamic and the need for its application arises primarily because of the changing socio-economic patterns and life-styles. It would be timely to review the extent to which marketing research, as an aid to decision making and in its wider implications in terms of interaction with society and consumers, is geared to keep pace with changing times. Is marketing research a mirror of the society, its reflection or mere shadow? A noticeable feature of the changing context in which marketing research operates is a realisation of the existence of shortages in the industrialised countries, a feature normally associated with less developed nations. Marketing research has, however, been orientated to promoting consumption in a competitive environment. It might, however, have something to offer to the investor, the economic planner, and the policy maker, in either situation.