Exam 9: Decision Support Systems and Marketing Research

A furniture manufacturer wants to test how consumers will respond to furniture upholstered in fabric made from recycled plastic by having consumers feel and respond to the fabric.Which form of survey would allow it to do this?

The owner of a small chain of local coffeehouses could use _____ to determine why customers do not seem to like the location of her new coffeehouse.

An intelligence system that helps managers assess their competition and vendors in order to become more efficient and effective competitors is called:

Conferences and professional courses led by rival executives are great places to gather competitive intelligence.

Because online surveys are still in their infancy,there are limited methods of conducting online surveys.

One advantage of an online focus group is that respondents tend to talk more freely about issues that might create inhibitions in a face-to-face group.

Sav-More Supermarkets Observers of the supermarket industry see no letup in the use of checkout-counter-based target marketing.Sav-More supermarkets have installed an electronic marketing system in their stores.The system allows the stores to do more direct mail promotions by combining the current Sav-More's check cashing cards with the new Sav-More's Bonus Club frequent shopper cards.The new system uses bar-code scanners and magnetic cards issued to shoppers to track all purchases.As with most customer databases,demographic information is gathered for subsequent offers to frequent shopper club members,and psychographic information is tracked whenever customers use the magnetic strip cards to make purchases.Generally,marketing to these consumers achieves better results than freestanding insert (FSI)coupons. -Refer to Sav-More Supermarkets.The Sav-More management is continually provided with information to make better marketing decisions.These data are easily accessed and manipulated.This type of system is called a:

A(n)_____ is characterized by the researcher altering one or more variables-such as price or package design--while observing the effects of those alterations on another variable (usually sales).

Health providers have voiced concerns about the use of pesticides and the negative effects they possibly have on our health.A large insurance company is willing to sponsor a meeting of the nation's largest organic growers,pesticide producers,and retailers of organic foods if there is an interest in a cooperative effort to improve customers' perception of eating healthy.What type of survey technique would be most appropriate for determining if there is any real interest in such a meeting?

Marketing research is the function that links the consumer,customer,and public to the marketer through information.

Identify the four types of observation research and give an example of how each is used in marketing research.

The Johnsonville Sausage Company wants to know which areas of the country consume the most sausage.The company is not especially interested in an explanation for the popularity of sausage in different regions;it simply wants factual information about it.Johnsonville is interested in using marketing research in its _____ role.

A _____ sample is any sample in which little or no attempt is made to obtain a representative cross section of the population.

What are three advantages and three disadvantages inherent in the use of a mail survey? Distinguish between a mail survey and a mail panel.

A survey by RoperASW asked consumers to check where they were most likely to look for information about a new book.Possible answers were book club catalogs,book reviews in newspapers,book reviews in magazines,television programs,friends,radio programs,local reading groups,or the Internet.What type of question was used in this survey?

While discussing an upcoming marketing research study of how the home decorating industry is affected by the teenage consumer,you emphasize the necessity of having a sample that is representative of the population.What type of sample must be used?

List five noncomputer sources of competitive intelligence.

Define a marketing decision support system (DSS).Name and briefly describe the four characteristics of a true DSS.

What is a marketing research aggregator? Discuss the role of aggregator firms in marketing research.

First Southern Community Bank has long tried to differentiate itself as "your friendly,hometown bank." However,the bank president has been concerned about a number of recent customer service complaints.Which of the following approaches would probably be best to get a feel for how friendly her employees really are to customers?