The Integration of Marketing Problem-Solving Modes and Marketing Management Support Systems

To be effective, decision aids for marketing managers should match with the thinking and reasoning processes of the marketing decision makers who use them. The authors take a cognitive approach to problem solving in marketing. They develop a classification of “marketing problem-solving modes” and distinguish four modes: optimizing, reasoning, analogizing, and creating. They also present a typology of what they call “marketing management support systems.” In an integrating framework, they then link the four marketing problem-solving modes with the most appropriate marketing management support systems. The authors conclude with a discussion of the implications of this “demand-side” approach to marketing management support systems.