Factors Affecting the Use of Market Research Information: A Path Analysis

The authors evaluate several factors affecting the attention given to or “use” of specific market research information by marketing managers. They apply path analysis to test a model of research use involving 11 variables. Factors found to be especially important are organizational structure, technical quality, surprise, actionability, and researcher-manager interaction. The topic and findings of the study relate to a central activity of the marketing profession—the application of knowledge—and to the use of an important product—market research. Both the knowledge system of marketing and the behavior of managers as consumers of research products have been relatively neglected.