Forum - Small business market research: Examining the human factor

This Forum article, by Robert P. Hamlin, of the University of Otago, New Zealand, questions if market researchers take sufficient notice of the mindset of those who commission, or consume, their services? He argues that in an industry where technical and methodological issues take centre stage, the need to understand the 'decision-maker' psychology and the importance of developing effective relationships are often missing from, or only briefly discussed in, core textbooks and other literature.
  

Forum – Small business market research: examining the human factor

Robert P. HamlinUniversity of Otago, New Zealand

THE HUMAN FACTOR WITHIN COMMERCIAL RESEARCH

As a marketing academic it is part of my job to teach market research to large groups of undergraduate, graduate, MBA and research students. The market research texts that support these courses are highly technical in nature – as they should be, because market research is a highly technical business. There is a high degree of consensus among our texts and our teachers as to when, where and how the research techniques that comprise...

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