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Relatively little information has been published to date about three important aspects of marketing research management: authorization, control, and evaluation of marketing research projects. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to undertake a survey of current practices in these areas, and (2) to suggest eclectic procedures that may be useful to research practitioners. It is somewhat surprising that this sampling of marketing research departments (particularly with its marked skew toward larger companies) indicates relatively small reliance on systematic methods of internal communication, control, and information retrieval. A minority of respondents regularly circulates lists of current project titles to management. Less than half regularly prepare summaries or abstracts of research projects (see Table 3). And the majority have no formal system for evaluating the worth of marketing research projects (see Table 4). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers step-by-step instructions on how to get marketing literature published.

A three-step method is presented for planning new products, for planning product improvement, and for evaluating relative strength of copy claims. Step 1 involves systematic creative exploration of all conceivable product variations; step 2 assigns differentiation ratings; step 3 evaluates three primary factors of product attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American Marketing Association is growing at a healthy rate. Most of its members are businessmen engaged in the marketing of industrial and consumer goods; and the most common occupational function Is marketing research although this function accounts for less than half the membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. AMA membership is concentrated in a few geographic areas (four states account for more than half the membership). 2. Although in 1937-the first year of its existence-the AMA had a heavy academic flavor, education now accounts for only 15 per cent of the membership, with most of the other members in research positions in industry. 3. More than a third of the members report advanced academic degrees. 4. The AMA's growth curve shows positive acceleration, with most of the additional members coming from industry. 5. Expressed interest in serving on AMA committees seems to be limited, with the research and teaching techniques committees most popular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article gives an overview of the current membership state of the American Marketing Association (AMA) as of 1973. Since 1942, membership in the organization has grown more than ten times to 11,854 members, with half of those being from only seven states. Membership from citizens of foreign countries makes up close to 13% of the membership. One of the largest comparisons the author makes, is the ratio of men to women for certain classifications such as academic rank of college faculty members and college degree earned. Women make up less than ten percent of the AMA membership. The author also looks at the types of industries that contain AMA members.

The author presents his views on the formation of a standard system of geographic units to use in marketing analysis. According to the author, an American Marketing Association committee was formed to evaluate and submit a recommendation for a standard system. After consideration, the committee decided that the United States Post Office's ZIP code system proved most effective.

The article reports on methods that can be utilized by marketing personnel to plan a successful marketing strategy for a brand name product. The author focuses on the importance of measuring consumer awareness of the product when developing an advertising campaign for that product. The example of a dynamic advertising method, known as the two-sided advertising method, which was utilized by the automobile manufacturer Renault is presented. Advertising copy is discussed. A mathematical model simulating consumers' brand rejection behavior is also mentioned.

The article discusses profit maximization in advertising. The author attempts to distinguish between advertisements (ads) that will work from those that will not. In his opinion, ads fail for four distinct reasons. First, some advertisers don't set clear goals in advance. Without an achievable objective, success cannot be measured. The second reason he believes ads fail is because of a breakdown in the ad's message. The message conveyed must be relevant to the product, differentiate the product from the competition, contain at least one consumer benefit, and be believable. Another reason is that few advertisers are making use of knowledge about market segmentation and purchase concentration. Finally, he feels ads fail because too few advertisers give their ads enough exposure.

Obtaining consumer opinions through organized marketing research is essential to modern marketing. But this implies fairness to consumers, and not abuse of their confidence. The Marketing Research Code of Ethics approved by the American Marketing Association spells out minimum ethical standards for researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here is a description of a new, rigorously controlled research method that permits sales audits to be completed in a few days. even with relatively slow-moving products. Costs are usually lower than those of conventional sales tests, and the test can be conducted with experimental, handmade packages, or with point-of-purchase displays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a review of research on consumer psychology published in the "Annual Review of Psychology." Disciplines involved in consumer psychology; Overview of the consumer psychologist and his activities; Increasing formalization of the field of consumer psychology; Major social changes that are affecting both consumers and consumer psychologists.

The author presents his views on an attempted study of the relationship between sales income and marketing services. He notes that the study was to be based on reports from a number of member companies of the American Marketing Association. According to the author, the low rate of respondents points toward the need for developing better measurement tools for marketing at the time of publication.

The article focuses on the shortage of talented marketing managers. The National Industrial Conference Board Inc. reports a serious marketing manpower crisis in a current survey. According to a survey by Northwestern University's Frank S. Endicott, corporation hiring goals this year are 53% larger than last year, and last year business got only two-thirds of the graduates it needed. When college students choose other than business careers, marketing suffers along with other business functions. And when the brightest students are less and less likely to elect business careers, then the chances for the marketing team to be of a "higher intellectual level" are correspondingly reduced. It is a matter of legitimate concern for businessmen that the percentage of these talented students choosing "business" as a career has shrunk from 1957's rather puny 5% to a positively anemic 2% by 1966.

The article focuses the criteria to determine a convenient food. The "added value" is reflected in a higher retail price for an equivalent amount of products. Several criteria that can be considered in determining products' added value are discussed, including value added by manufacture and time or effort saved by the manufacturer's processes. United States Federal Trade Commission estimations of the annual sales of products termed "convenient foods" are presented, as well as annual sales and rate of growth.

The article focuses on the "Fair Packaging and Labeling Act," popularly known as the Hart Act. The effective date of the bill is presented, and queries such as what packages are covered by the act, which federal agencies will administer it, and what the act will cost are discussed. Consideration is also given to penalties for misbranded food, drugs, or cosmetics and possible conflicts with the metric system having to do with specifications of weights and measures expressed in the "Fair Packaging and Labeling Act."

The article presents information about sources of sampling errors. Product variance accounts for much of the misleading information that causes sampling errors. Several frequent shortcomings of scientific sampling and commercial research as well as common sources of bias are discussed. Methods for measuring the degree of difference in otherwise homogeneous products are detailed. Practical suggestions are presented to determine the subjective and objective product differences that affect the results of consumer research.

The article outlines the author's views on the return on investment in marketing research. A brief overview of the concept of profit accountability as a measurement of advertising effectiveness is presented, as well as methods by which the value of marketing research can be estimated. A mathematical formula for calculating a company's return on investment in marketing research is also analyzed. The author discusses the application of this measurement method to his company's marketing research operations, and also describes factors that could potentially inflate estimates.

The article focuses on bias in marketing research studies. The work of an organization's marketing research staff can be divided into phases consisting of experimental design, research execution, and interpretation of results. The author asserts that consumer interviews are one type of market research study in which validation is overlooked. Several methods for validating the information gathered from consumer interviews as well as the possibility that consumer questionnaires have been faked are discussed.

The article focuses on the impact of the "9 fixation" in retail pricing and its effect on sales promotion. Studies by researchers Charles W. Hoyt Company and by Max Brunk are examined, having demonstrated that retail food prices ending in odd digits are much more common than those ending in even digits, and that prices ending in 9 are commonest of all. Customer resistance to certain digits in retail prices are discussed. The implications of these studies for retailer seeking to maintain a consistent gross margin are detailed.

Sales-analysis models have three primary dimensions: the sales unit itself, the time period covered and the geographic boundaries of the control unit. It is the third element--the geographic boundaries of the control unit--that causes difficulties. There are so many different ways to divide the United States into smaller areas for purposes of analysis. Thirteen models have been cited as an illustration. Although not all of the following 13 models are being used for sales analysis, obviously any one of them could be so used. There ought to be an optimum--size unit that could become a standard for both industry and government. Solid arguments can be advanced for separate systems, since each of them evolved in response to a different set of requirements.

The article presents an editorial focusing on marketing questions relating to the introduction of new products. The author believes that in the past, there was little product choice. In the 1960s however, variety has brought up new questions for marketing personnel, namely when to enter a new product into the marketplace. He thinks that an evaluation period of about two and a half years is needed to truly get a good idea of how well a product might do in the grocery marketplace.

The article discusses marketing spending for the 93 of the 100 largest U.S. advertisers. The author suggests the correlation between net earnings for 1961 and 1962 implies that there was nearly perfect prediction of profitability for the succeeding year, the correlation between net earnings for 1962 with the net sales of 1961 and 1962 indicates a very accurate prediction of profitability, and the correlation between 1962 net earnings and 1961 total advertising suggests a modest relationship between earnings and advertising. Findings from 1962 also indicated that investments in print advertising were more likely than television advertising to be associated with larger profits.

The article presents an editorial discussing the interorganizational relationships between a large firm and its main advertising agency. The author believes that when a change takes place and a firm decides to switch advertising agencies, it gives the impression of a lack of stability in the client-agency relationship. Using the "Standard Advertising Register," he found that the majority of the largest industrial companies remained with their major advertising agencies over an 11-year period.

The article offers information for marketing professionals looking for a new job. A discussion is presented about methods of self-marketing and the importance of following basic rules of selling when marketing your skills to a potential employer. The author outlines the process of searching for companies that have an immediate need for a worker with your skills and focusing on those live prospects with direct mail. The contents of a job application are presented, including a resumé, cover letter, and photograph. The author focuses on the importance of applying marketing rules to oneself.

The article reports on the role of heavy users of products in marketing research. A discussion is presented about methods of conducting marketing research that account for the amount of a given product used by an individual consumer or household. A chart is presented showing purchase concentration in several product categories. The author divides households into three groups: non-users, light half users, and heavy half users. The implications of this research in advertising strategy is mentioned.

This article presents an editorial discussing how to plan a questionnaire tabulation schedule. The author says market surveys typically many variables which will be tabulated for the final report, which can be any demographic identifier. Researchers cross-reference two of these identifiers to yield beneficial marketing information. A sample matrix is shown to distinguish between areas where cross-tabulations will be made, where they will not be made, or where they may be done later.

Marketing faculty are (or should be) more fortunate than faculty of other academic disciplines because marketing faculty are more likely to understand the marketing of a product (journal article) to a customer (editor). A simple strategy is presented for improving article acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines key elements in product packaging design. Package visibility; Package information; Emotional appeal; Workability of packages.