| {{B}} Market Research{{/B}} Market research has become increasingly important in recent years. In some organisations, in fact, managers will not initiate any activity without market research to back them up. The first thing about market research is that it is not an{{U}} (21) {{/U}}to management decision-making. No form of market research, no matter how deep, complicated and detailed, can ever be seen as a substitute for creative decision-making by professional managers{{U}} (22) {{/U}}its very best, all it can do is{{U}} (23) {{/U}}some doubt and clarify the nature of the problem. It may even be seen as a tool which can help improve the{{U}} (24) {{/U}}of decisions but it is not in itself a decision-making mechanism. Market research, in{{U}} (25) {{/U}}with a number of other approaches in marketing, suffers from the frequent complaint that it is not really accurate. Market research results can never be completely accurate because they{{U}} (26) {{/U}}with a dynamic, ever-changing marketplace. It is essential that this is understood by everyone with an interest in the results. There is, therefore, an ongoing need for creativity and imagination, when{{U}} (27) {{/U}}market research results and when making any{{U}} (28) {{/U}}to apply them in the marketplace. Finally, it should always be remembered that market research is not an end in itself but simply a{{U}} (29) {{/U}}by which some degree of risk can be removed from marketplace activity. If no activity{{U}} (30) {{/U}}from the research, then the entire research has been completely pointless. |