7.3 Marketing Information System

DEFINED A marketing information system is a series of steps that include collection, analysis, and presentation information for use in making marketing decisions.

A marketing information system functions much like a management information system except in support of the marketing activity. A management information system is a set of procedures and methods for the regular, planned collection, analysis,and presentation of information for use in making management decisions.  A marketing information system is intended to bring together various streams of marketing data within an organization.But a marketing information system is more than a repository of data. It is an ongoing collaboration of "people, equipment, and procedures." The level of complexity can vary greatly from a manual system to a series of mainframe computers.

There are four primary elements of the marketing information

system:

·Internal company data

·Marketing intelligence systems

·Marketing decision support systems

·Marketing research systems

Internal company data includes everything from order status, stock levels, and production schedules to financial performance,  human resource status, direct-mail redemption sdetails, and Web site click-through details.

A market intelligence system is a system that gathers, processes, assesses, and makes available marketing information in a format that allows the marketing activity to function more effectively.

A marketing decision support system (MDSS) is the software and associated infrastructure that connect the marketing activity to company databases.

A marketing research system is a collection of the results of

marketing research studies conducted by a company.