The Practice Of Using Marketing Research Outputs To Support Marketing/Business Decision•Making: A Study of Foodstuff•Producing and Beverage•Producing Firms in Addis Ababa
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Date
2004-02
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A.A.U.
Abstract
This study was conducted to look at issues related to marketing researches: practices of
conducting and using marketing researches, limitations/problems in making researches
and in using research outputs by foodstuff-producing and beverage-producing firms in
Addis Ababa. Two major problem areas were the basis for making the study regarding
the issues: Often managers/decision-makers of most foodstuff-producing and beverageproducing
firms have less practice to conduct marketing researches, and thereby use the
outputs/results of marketing researches to support their decision-making (1). There are
problems in these foodstuff-producing and beverage-producing firms in effectivelf and
reliably utilizing the outputs of the researches made because most researches are
considered to lack 'quality' on the side of the decision-makers (2).
Descriptive research type and survey method (to collect the primary data from subjects)
preferably used to conduct the study. Two types of questionnaires-for the decision
makers and for the marketing research personnel- distributed to 10 and 5 foodstuffproducing
firms and beverage-producing firms, respectively. A total of 29 questionnaires
from the marketing research personnel and 27 questionnaires from the decision-makers
collected.
Out of an overall analysis of the responses of the two types of respondents the following
major conclusions were drawn. It can be said that most of the foodstuff producing and '.
beverage-producing firms have not been much benefited form the outputs of the
marketing researches. There was a need on the side of the decision-makers to using the
research outputs and, on the other hand, less emphasis was given to the research making
unit/or there was less practice of conducting marketing researches. This would be
resulted because the management could not fully rely upon the accuracy/the quality of the
marketing research reports.
Problem-identification researches were not given much emphasis by the firms. Compared
to the other types of research studies, pricing studies had been given priority. It can beinferred that most of the finns were unable to be benefited from the other types of the
marketing researches, which they would be equally benefited as the pricing studies
Despite the inadequacy of the allocated budgets for conducting marketing research
activities and the number of research problem areas and management conflict areas raised
on both the decision-making and research making personnel, no decision-maker replied
that the research outputs were fully ineffective for making decisions. Therefore, it can be
concluded that if it was possible to eliminate/reduce the above problems and conflict
areas and improve the quality, effectiveness and the frequency of making different types
of marketing researches as needed, the firms would be benefited much more form the
research outputs.
Description
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of
Master's' Business Administration
Keywords
A Study of Foodstuff•Producing and Beverage, Business Decision