Marketing Research : Current State and Next Steps

We highlight the current state-of-the-art and identify trends that are likely to shape the role of marketing research in the future. We discuss the growing importance of marketing research and some of the factors that are driving its importance. The redefinition of the marketing researcher and the line of demarcation between marketing research and marketing management, and thus the distinction between marketing researchers and marketing managers, that is becoming thinner and thinner, is described. The sheer availability of secondary data is driving their importance. In a paradigm shift, more and more marketing research is and will be undertaken as part of normal on-going business operations, rather than in response to specific marketing problems or opportunities