While the literature provides considerable guidance about the factors and conditions that influence the use of computers and management information systems, far less is known about the factors and conditions that lead to the use of marketing information systems (MkIS). The paper reports on the results of an investigation of the determinants of Marketing Information Systems (MkIS) usage based on responses from 126 MkIS users. A multivariate model was developed and tested using analysis of covariance. Several specific propositions are proposed and tested. The results indicate that MkIS usage (as measured by frequency of use, number of information technologies in use, number of years of system usage experience and reported usage time) is influenced by factors such as task exceptions, task complexity, organisational maturity, organisational situations, user gender, organisational level, cognitive style, familiarity and perceived usefulness. Based on the research findings, several recommendations are made to improve the use of marketing information system. This paper is divided into five sections. The first section provides an introduction and outlines the research objectives of this paper. Section two reviews the literature and develops a conceptual model. The research approach and instrument validations are discussed in section three. Section four discusses the results and their implications for system designers, vendors, researchers and top management. The concluding comments with the limitations of this study and recommendations for further research are discussed in the last section.
Marketing information systems, tools, techniques, and technologies all hold the promise that better market information will become available more quickly in order to make better marketing decisions. In this paper it is argued that the use of information technology applied to Marketing Information Systems can indeed help, i.e. improve marketing decisions as long as implementation is managed in the right way. This paper deals with factors determining success or failure of applying information technology to sales and marketing. It is argued that the ultimate goal of using information technology is to improve marketing and sales productivity. A conceptual framework is provided which facilitates the choice of appropriate information systems and gives guidelines for successful implementation of marketing and sales productivity measures.
EDP ( Electronic Data Processing) is not a new thing in Market Research , analysing qualitative research data reaches back to the sixties, SPSS might be still in mind with some researchers. And also for analysing quantitative data, the first systems showed up during that time . But in the late seventies, early eighties, Personal computers started their triumphal run . A small, compact machine , made the work of host systems , which had room size just a few years ago . The mid eighties, and of course now the nineties, brought up even more interesting aspects : Windows, new processor types, LAN , mouse driven menus, spreadsheets , text systems , graphics just to name a few . The effects were tremendous : data management and analysing , project work and visual effects could be produced at the desk , where just a few years ago , large host systems and a large men power were needed . In July 1991 , Jacobs Suchard Germany started realisation of a new Marketing Research Information System . The objective was to increase efficiency of Market Research work , using new EDP technologies and methods. The new system called MRSS ( Market Research Support System ), it's concept and realisation , is subject of this essay.
The present service of market research institutes constists of providing extensive reports and charts for their clients on a periodical basis. The corresponding market research department within the client's company as well as the market researcher of the institute then have to extract all relevant data from this vast pool of information. In most cases the processing of the report data itself requires so much time that the actual market investigation and the development of future strategies are neglected. This paper presents a way how to relieve the market researcher of the time-consuming step of data analysis. In a common project between GfK AG, Nuernberg and the University of Erlangen- Nuernberg an expert system was developed in order to automatically create reports on the change in sales volume of a product category over time. This program systematically searches the data for significant developments by means of a sophisticated method of analysis. A multimedia system is employed to present the results combining verbal descriptions, (statistical) tables, and charts. Drawing from these results the inhouse market researcher is able to easily and swiftly compile "his" own expertise as the basis of a management report.
This paper deals with the way a company, Philips, has organized its marketing information activities for communication and information systems. The concept of business intelligence is introduced as a way of organizing and controlling the enormous load of available marketing information in this industry. It is argued that coping with data overload starts with priority setting and organization and that high tech databases could fit in this as a logical consequence but that databases and marketing information systems are not by their nature the definitive solution to the problem. A business intelligence cycle is described as a workable way of coping with data overload within a company that uses market research as one of the data sources.
After nearly a twenty-year experience of collecting and analyzing marketing data, designing and implementing management support systems, Research International and Studio della Grisa committed themselves to create a new, powerful, easy-to-use, flexible software methodology designed for marketing people needs. The result of this joint effort is the software package KEOPSKEY. KEOPSKEY provides marketing people with an environment where data integrated from internal (for example ex-factory sales) and external sources (for example continuous panel data) may be compared and analysed, using sophisticated but easy-to-use techniques. This paper presents KEOPSKEYs main features and gives some examples of KEOPSKEYs targets and benefits.
Although information systems are essential tools enabling companies to make the most of their resources when faced with excess information, it is frequently only fair to observe that they are ineffective. From our point of view the principal problem is one of organisation and conception. In a project of this type, a company often spends longer on the production phase than on the conception phase. This is a deep mistake which prevents the system from adapting to new trends and makes it less flexible. To build such a system on solid foundations, it is desirable to spend more time measuring the field it must cover and the precise manner in which it is to be used. This thinking period is important, as all existing systems must eventually be given a new dimension. Simultaneously, conception studies must be underpinned by a global, coherent and simple vision providing a sense of purpose for the whole. Finally, the implementation must be the fruit of a rigourous approach, built around four essential key points : - creating or building up a common language for the entire marketing and sales department, - being very vigilant to ensure proper balance between the different users, while attempting to provide the same level of service for all, - implementing a test phase, limited but full sized, - appointing a genuine head of information and system management. All these small items are necessary to ensure this major project results in a system that is durable, correctly managed and generally able to cope with excess information.
SKIM Market and Policy Research was founded in 1979 as an industrial market research company and befriended the PC rather early. Thanks to the enthousiasm of the researchers at SKIM and good contacts with Sawtooth, the American developers of software for market research, SKIM started a software division by the end of 1987. Now SKIM Software Division is selling and supporting PC-based software systems all over Europe. Simultaneously, SKIM Market and Policy Research, the parent company, has built up a name applying multi-variate techniques in the research process and now has a strong position in the market for international computerized surveys. Our main software-tools are: . ACA for (adaptive) conjoint analysis . APM for (adaptive) perceptual mapping . CCA for (convergent) cluster analysis These three systems not only help control proliferation of data, but also help improve quality and quantity of profitable information. The combined forces of SKIM Market and Policy Research and these systems ensure a unique combination of sound knowledge of market research methods and techniques, practical knowledge of users of the systems and a full range of services, all adaptable to your marketing problems in a flexible, efficient way.
Grocery chain supermarkets, are subject to local conditions which may greatly influence their performance. The marketing function has the responsiblity for investigating the current conditions and the potential for each store. The companies Information System is capable of providing only some of the data needed, usually total volume and number of sales. However, an effective analysis, in terms of marketing, requires accurate estimates of the market. Is it possible to accurately measure the level of cover of a supermarket? Is it possible to estimate the number of its customers and segment them by class of purchase, salary, area, and type of behaviour? Is it possible to estimate the number of non- users? Many supermarkets perform regular customer surveys, in- store, with the intention of evaluating its area of influence, the customers perception of its services, and its position with respect to the competition. These surveys have the advantage of being low cost and quickly completed. It is our belief that an accurate use of these surveys, the use of data from internal Information Systems and the estimation of some market variables, allow the data obtained to be utilized much more effectively, without great increasing the resources employed, and estimate very precisely the crucial variables required for the definition of the marketing strategies of the store. The key to the problem lies in the awareness that it isnt sufficient to analysis the sales statistics separately from the qualitative and quantitive data on the market, but that it is both necessary and possible to estimate the market share, the variables which determines it, the number of customers served and their average expenditure. In this paper, we discuss the principle implications that derive from this approach, also presented are the main results that can be obtained as regards the objectives stated above. With this in mind, the results obtained by the analysis of the customers of 20 grocery supermarkets, of various sizes and from different chains, situated in central Italy, are presented.
This paper explains the information system used in devising the marketing plan for Spanish tourism and adjusting the global marketing strategy to meet future needs. Because the objectives of the marketing plan for Spanish tourism were to: design a global strategy which would make it possible to set priorities for resources and markets, devise the marketing-mix strategies and plans for action, establish a system for allocating funds for promotional activities, we considered it essential to develop an information system which would permit us to meet these objectives.
This paper is on the sales and marketing information needs that such scanner data now makes available to manufacturers and retailers and the MMIS required to exploit these data.
The paper presents some basic and practical considerations for establishing and using a as well as the contribution of the M.M.I.S. to effective industrial marketing management. In contrast to M.M.I.S. for consumer goods marketing, the idea of an adequate M.M.I.S. for industrial goods marketing is much less elaborated. The basic assumption presented this paper is that an appropriate M.M.I.S. is a prerequisite for effective industrial marketing management. Therefore, some basic considerations about industrial marketing management process are discussed first. The paper then elaborates the M.M.I.S. concept, design and application. A case study is shortly described and finally the contribution of the M.M.I.S. to effective marketing management is assessed.