Abstract:

Marketing research must keep up with the times. The ESOMAR Guideline on Customer Satisfaction Research (September 2003) does not regulate customer satisfaction research within the realms of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The authors fear that this may consign marketing research to the Stone Age. The need to move beyond the simple measurement of opinions and to embrace CRM and related technological advances is clear. The call for this shift is coming from our clients and the market alike. A case study is used to illustrate how the current ESOMAR Code of Conduct forced marketing researchers to develop silos to address a client need in a positive and effective manner. The net effect of this effort was a delighted client. The authors suggest that it is necessary to combine sound privacy principles with marketing research ethics and expand the definition of marketing research to incorporate data mining, database validation and all customer satisfaction research.