MARKETING INTELLIGENCE AND RESEARCH

Marketing Intelligence - Market Research

Marketing Intelligence - Market Research

Introduction

Competitive Intelligence officers involved in risk assessment and develop measures to reduce vulnerability of the organization, and it says that they should be involved in the development of stability-oriented institutional arrangements and mechanisms. In fact, studies in the Wright et al. (2002, p. 358) suggests that "the dominant influence on the success of CI presence of management style, culture and structure that promotes trust, that facilitate communication and promote the easy flow of information." Should understand that participating in competitive intelligence activities, the importance of establishing mutually oriented relationships (Ghoshal and Westney, 1991, p. 27) and the exchange of information, and that research into the culture, which must be observed based on findings of a partnership mechanism created. Strategic decision making can be achieved by improving the flow of information from middle managers (Ghoshal and Westney, 1991, p. 23) and turn information into intelligence (Kahaner, 1997, p. 280) can be improved.

Stages of Purchase Decision Making Process

The analysis of the stages of the buying decision, allows a better understanding of consumer buying behavior (Malhotra, 2008, pp. 34-97). These stages are as follows:

Need Recognition

The process commence when an individual recognizes his needs. The consumer either gets aware about his basic need (hunger, pain etc) or react to a stimulus of marketing (watching a food commercial etc).

Information Search

The individual, after recognizing his needs, decides the amount of information required. If he already knows where and how to get his needs fulfilled, then he reaches a purchasing decision. Otherwise the search continues. The sources of gathering information can be personal (family, friends etc), commercial (advertising media) or related to own past experiences possible (Wrenn & Mansfield, 2009, pp. 56-78). 

Evaluation of Alternatives

In this stage, the customer evaluates different alternatives of the solution before making the purchase. The criteria of evaluation vary according to the demographic and psychological characteristics of the customer (Kolb, 2010, pp. 78-98).

Purchase Decision

After the customer has gathered the information and evaluated possible alternatives, he makes a decision and makes the purchase.

Post-Purchase Evaluation

In the final stage, the customer makes post-purchase evaluation. Of the product satisfies him, he will again purchase the product and will refer the product to others around him. However, of the customer is not satisfied with the product, he will not purchase the product again and will not hesitate to express his discontent to others.

Theories of buying behavior

There are two main theories of the buying behavior to the demand. These are as follows:

Marginal Utility Approach

Ordinalist Approach

Marginal Utility Approach

According to this approach the wants of the human are unlimited, and all of them have different intensity. A consumer has many wants, and they have many uses but the fact is that there are scarce resources. The consumer cannot satisfy all what he wants because of the resources that are scarce. He has to give priority to the needs that are the most important and which can be fulfilled easily.

Ordinalist Approach

This approach is based on some of the assumptions which may ...