Exam 8: Marketing Research, Decision Support Systems, and Sales Forecasting

The growth of the Internet is creating a need for new research techniques to measure and capture information about website visitors. At present, no industry-wide standards define techniques for measuring Web use.

A marketing research firm that specializes in a limited number of activities, such as conducting field interviews, is called a limited-service research supplier.

Users of online surveys have discovered that this method actually slows the process of gathering data, causes sample sizes to shrink, and dramatically increases costs.

Which statement best describes the experimental method of marketing research?

Which of the following is a qualitative sales forecasting technique?

Distinguish between primary and secondary data. Can primary and secondary data be internal and external? Provide examples of each type of data.

Exponential smoothing is a sophisticated method of trend analysis that weighs each year's sales data, giving greater weight to results from earlier years.

After cost, the reliability and accuracy of the information collected by an outside organization is a major factor in the decision of whether to conduct a marketing research study internally or to use an outside source.

Buyer surveys gather useful information only when customers willingly reveal their buying intentions.

Why are mail surveys an unreliable means of gathering primary data in many foreign countries?

The sales force composite technique of forecasting could be used by Nabisco to gain meaningful insight into short-term trends in future sales of the company's cookies.

Megan believes the reason the sales of one of her company's products have fallen is due to a price increase. She cites sales from the previous year to the same customers as evidence of declining sales. Where is Megan in the marketing research process?

A department manager recommends using secondary data in a marketing research project. What is the department manager looking for?

What is the outcome of a properly constructed marketing information system?

Typical sources of internal company data are sales records, financial records, and marketing cost analysis.

A well-defined problem allows the researcher to focus on securing the exact information needed to solve the problem.

The first organized marketing research project was undertaken in 1943.

Observational research has no real benefits in the use of technology to monitor consumers because the consumer cannot be relied on to use the technology correctly.

Landsdowne Dairy is planning to introduce a new flavoured milk drink. As marketing manager, you want to appraise consumer response to this new product. What procedure would typically be used?

Match each item to the statement or sentence listed below. a.marketing research b.exploratory research c.secondary data d.primary data e.sampling f.hypothesis g.nonprobability sample h.interpretative research i.focus group j.marketing decision support system k.sales forecast l.jury of executive opinion m.Delphi technique n.sales force composite o.trend analysis p.exponential smoothing q.marketing information system r.data mining s.mall intercept t.simple random sample u.cluster sample v.convenience sample w.controlled experiment -A(n) _____ is a planned, computer-based system designed to provide a continuous flow of information.