Definitions
Marketing research
Marketing research The function that links an organization to its market through the gathering of information.
The American Marketing Association defines Marketing Research as the function that links an organization to its market through the gathering of information. This information facilitates the identification and definition of market-driven opportunities and problems, as well as the development and evaluation of marketing actions. It enables the monitoring of marketing performance and improved understanding of marketing as a business process.
Organizations use marketing research information to identify new product opportunities, develop advertising strategies, and implement new data-gathering methods to better understand customers. Marketing research is a systematic process. Tasks in this process include designing methods for collecting information, managing the information collection process, analyzing and interpreting results, and communicating findings to decision makers.
Perceptual mapping
Perceptual mapping is a technique that is often used to picture the relative position of products on two or more dimensions important to consumers in making their choice to purchase.
Positioning is a process in which a company seeks to understand how present or possible products are perceived by consumers on relevant product attributes. Perceptual mapping is a technique that is often used to picture the relative position of products on two or more dimensions important to consumers in making their choice to purchase. To create the map, consumers are asked to indicate how similar or dissimilar a group of relevant brands or products is to each other.
The responses are used to construct perceptual maps that transform the positioning data into a picture or graph that shows how brands are viewed relative to one another. Perceptual mapping reflects the criteria customers use to evaluate brands, typically representing major product features important to customers in selecting products or services.
References
Joseph F. Hair, Jr., Mary Celsi, David J. Ortinau, Robert P. Bush, Essentials of Marketing Research (Fourth Edition)
