3.3.1 Scope of research
Marketing research includes a variety of activities. Kotler et al. (2004, p. 213) note that the ten most common types of marketing research activity include:
- measurement of market potentials
- market share analysis
- determination of market characteristics
- sales analysis
- studies of business trends
- short range forecasting
- competitive product studies
- long range forecasting
- marketing information systems studies
- pricing studies.
A more detailed picture of what is involved in marketing research can be found in Table 6.1 on page 214 of your textbook, which shows the result of research activities of 599 companies
Activity 3.1
To what extent could marketing research be used in port and shipping services (ad hoc, systematically or never), and for what purposes (service, pricing, promotion)?