Abstract:

Throughout Europe, the economic situation has been rapidly changing during the past few years: high unemployment rates, decreasing wages, rising taxes, considerable efforts taken to meet the demands of the Maastricht Contract reveal that our economy is far from being stable. As a consequence, the consumer’s spending power is significantly decreasing, leading to the fact that both manufacturers and retailers have to thoroughly investigate the market situation in order to sell their products: questions on what is driving their markets, on the competitive environment, on where and how to advertise are only a few which need to be answered. As a matter of fact, new questions provoke a demand for new solutions. For this reason, marketing research institutes have developed a number of more or less sophisticated tools for analysing retail and consumer data in order to shed light upon purchasing and consumer behaviour.