Abstract:

It is interesting to note that computerized information retrieval is both the source of the problem and its solution. By this I mean that the availability of vast quantities of information is made possible by the databanks while, in turn, methods of on- line retrieval and other sophisticated computer technologies provide the means to organize the data in a systematic fashion, thus providing for marketing management not only information, but information systems. I propose to demonstrate this thesis by depicting a day in market research in September, 1989 a decade after the XXXII Congress. In the course of this description, the impact of several new on-line technologies which constitute the backbone of marketing management information systems will be noted — selective dissemination of information (SDI), point-of-sale terminals, cable television feedback, automated reports, and conference modelling.