Understanding the Market — Entrepreneurship STD 11 Commerce — Question

Good marketing information is that which can be used for deriving meaningful decisions and which creates value. Good marketing information has numerous qualities.
These characteristics are discussed briefly: (Any six)

1. Relevant: Information should be relevant for the purpose for which it is required. What is relevant for one user may not be relevant for another. The user will become frustrated, if information contains data irrelevant to the task in hand. e.g. a marketing research company may give information related to user's perception of the quality of a product. This information is not relevant for the manager, who wants to know opinions on relative prices of the product and its competitors.
2. Clarity: The information presented should be clear and precise. The presentation of information is important to the user. Information can be more easily assimilated, if it is aesthetically pleasing. e.g. a marketing report that includes graphs on data will be more concise and clear as well as more aesthetically pleasing to the users within the organisation.
3. Completeness: Information should contain all the details required by the user, otherwise it may not be useful as a basis for making a decision. e.g. if an organisation is supplied with information regarding the costs of supplying a fleet of cars and servicing and maintenance costs are not included, then the estimate arrived on the basis of the given information would be incorrect.
4. Precision and accuracy: Information need to be precise and accurate. However, to expect hundred per cent accuracy would be unrealistic, yet a reasonable degree of accuracy should be there, otherwise it would result in faulty decision-making. e.g. if government statistics based on last census, which wrongly show an increase in the number of births in a specific area, then plans may be made to build schools in those areas. In such a case, the investment will not generate anticipated returns as it was based on inaccurate information.
5. Objective: Information should be collected, keeping in mind a well-defined objective. Information collected without an objective is totally irrelevant. e.g. if the objective behind collecting information is to assess demand for a product, then it would be irrelevant to collect information about company's reputation.
6. Confidentiality: As far as possible, efforts should be made to keep the information confidential, otherwise it could be used by competitors and rivals and the desired result could not be achieved.
7. Strategic value: The relative value of information for decision-making can increase or decrease its value to an organisation. e.g. an organisation requires information on a competitor's performance that is critical to their own decision on whether to invest in new machinery or not. This information is of strategic value as it will help an organisation to take a long-term decision.
8. Reliability and authenticity: Reliability deals with the truth of the information. One can only use that information confidently, if one is sure that it has been collected from reliable sources, and is authentic.
9. Punctuality: Information must be available on time for the purpose for which it is required. Information received too late will be irrelevant. e.g. if you receive a brochure from a theatre containing information that there was a concert by your favourite band yesterday, then the information is too late to be of use.
10. Economy: Information should be made available within set cost levels that may depend on individual situations. If costs are too high to obtain information, then an organisation should look for other sources for collecting the desired information. However, the accuracy and reliability of the information should not be compromised upon.