Abstract:

In the everyday life of a marketing department fast decisions must be made, even if important information is missing. To fill this lack of information it is often useful to accomplish ad-hoc studies. But the structure of market research departments and research agencies is often not flexible enough to make decisions in a short time. Clients and providers need to change their thinking and should consider the following: Think problem driven, not project driven; Involve the real marketing decision makers and not only the information gatherers, the research experts: Use simple studies and tools that help to find a decision; Combine the advantages of qualitative and quantitative research instead of insisting on high methodology standards; Make sure that the results of ad-hoc studies can be combined with big representative surveys; Keep cost efficiency and time to market in mind; Ensure a flexible but trusting cooperation between client and research agency. If all that is kept in mind we can deliver research on which better and quicker decisions can be based. That kind of research is not 'quick and dirty' but 'quick and relevant'.