Australian business organizations' perceptions of the value of formal marketing research: a comparative study of firms with high versus low levels of business performance

Despite the widely acknowledged importance of marketing research as an essential organizational activity, very little is known about how Australian managers perceive the value of marketing research. Although overseas studies have suggested that one of the fundamental reasons for the underutilization of marketing research among business managers is their negative perceptions of the potential benefits offered by marketing research, little or no research has examined whether there are significant differences in the ways organizations with a high level of business performance versus organizations with a low level of business performance perceive the value of marketing research. This paper reports the findings of a study that was designed to identify whether a positive perception towards the value of marketing research is related to a firm’s level of business performance.