Marketing information systems for consumer products companies: a management overview

Abstract

IntroductionThe last century has been one of major changes within most sectors of society. Technological advances, increased customer service requirements, and the globalization of the marketplace are but a few of the factors that have contributed to greatly intensified business competition. For organizations competing in today's rapidly evolving business environment, information has become a critical resource. Indeed, market intelligence has become the cornerstone of any successful marketing plan (Suidan, 1994).A company must be able to keep a close strategic fit with its environment. Current knowledge about the external environment is essential for a firm to stay competitive. This knowledge must be accumulated, structured, and organized efficiently and effectively as the base for marketing decision making. Toward this end, a marketing information system (MKIS) is an essential tool for translating raw data into useful information.A recurrent but disturbing finding in the business and systems literature is that marketing information systems have not worked as well as expected. Marketing practitioners and academic researchers alike are finding that too frequently MKISs fall far short of their promise and that usage often correlates negatively with satisfaction (Bergeron and Berube, 1988; Eisenhart, 1990; Roughton, 1992). In a recent study of consumer goods companies, Cespedes (1993) found that information systems currently in place often hinder information flows between functional units, and that there is a lack of relevant information available for decision makers concerning customers and channels, leading to difficulties in allocating resources effectively. These outcomes are unacceptable, given the widely acknowledged imperative to pursue aggressively information for competitive advantage (Keen, 1988; O'Brien, 1990; Porter and Millar, 1985). Indeed, according to Sisodia (1992):Knowledge represents the currency, as well as the scorecard, of the information age.[Only] companies with deep knowledge about their customers, competitors, and operations will be winners in this age (p. 63).

An empirical investigation of the relationship between market orientation and MrkIS effectiveness in upscale hotels in Greece

“…Concerning the external dimensions of MrkIS effectiveness, many researchers stress that through their MrkIS companies, they have the opportunity to improve customer knowledge, 10,21,26 marketing programme effi ciency 27 -30 and market responsiveness. 3,31,32 In other words, MrkIS facilitates the identifi cation of consumer needs, which, in turn, allows managers to develop more ' suitable ' new products and in this way to build a more effective product-market strategy that includes an outline of any adjustments necessary to fulfi ll the needs of customers and meet market demands.…”

“…The internal dimensions of MrkIS effectiveness refer to the utilisation of procedures and methods of MrkIS in order to improve the decisionmaking process, 3,4,14,18 -22 reporting, 23 planning / implementation 3,8,14,18,21,24,25 and control of marketing actions. 3,14 Another important aspect of the MrkIS internal dimensions relates to the human factor, and the management of the company ' s internal relationships.…”

Sistemas de Información de Marketing: una visión integradora

“…Algunos estudios se han centrado sobre el desarrollo del SIM (v.g., Darena, 2007;Lin & Hong, 2009;MatviychukSoskina, 2009), el uso del SIM (v.g., Li, 1995;Li, Chen & Roan, 2001a;Li, McLeod & Rogers, 2001b), las aplicaciones del SIM (v.g., Wöber, 1994;Ritchie & Ritchie, 2002;Molina, Gómez y Martín-Consuegra, 2010) y las consecuencias de la adopción del SIM (O'Brien, Schoenbachler & Gordon, 1995;Talvinen & Saarinen, 1995;Van Bruggen, Smidts & Wierenga, 1998). En cambio, hay algún otro aspecto poco estudiado todavía, como es la medida de la efectividad del SIM (Gounaris, Panigyrakis & Chatzipanagiotou, 2007).…”

A multi‐agent‐based hybrid framework for international marketing planning under uncertainty

“…A marketing information system (MkIS) is an important tool for transforming raw data to useful information (O'Brien et al, 1995). The earliest defi nition of an MkIS was given by Cox and Good (1967).…”