The Role of Research in Marketing Management

EXPANSION of marketing research reflects a growing belief that the methods of science are useful in solving the problems of business management. Effective application of marketing research, however, is neither easy nor automatic; and some have even contended that on balance actual applications have been more ineffective than effective.1 This paper represents an attempt to formulate a framework for analysis of conditions under which marketing research can be expected to be effective and to make incidental suggestions for increasing effectiveness. This framework is founded on a priori reasoning and impressionistic evidence; its presentation here is drastically condensed; but it may nonetheless be suggestive both to those who apply research and to those who are intrigued by research for its own sake.