Abstract
Industrial marketing research is generally speaking a low priority item for industrial companies in South Africa. However, marketing research should form the basis of most marketing planning. Marketing research budgets in industrial companies are usually small because management feels that most projects are either too expensive or too time consuming. The objective of this article is to show that industrial marketing research need not be expensive or time consuming. Industrial marketing research has failed to receive much attention in standard marketing books and journals, in spite of the fact that the size of the industrial market is larger than the consumer market in South Africa. The author discusses a simple method which can be followed by people in industrial companies with little or no marketing background. The scope of industrial marketing research and the planning of an industrial research project are discussed; besides a report on a field study undertaken among 20 industrial plastics manufacturers on the Witwatersrand to establish the 'state of the art' as far as their marketing research was concerned.
Highlights
Industrial marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording and analysing of data about industrial marketing problems to facilitate decision-making
1 This compares with the situation in the United States of America, where industrial companies with a turnover of less than $5 million spent 0,5% of turnover on marketing research. 2·P·20 Industrial companies in South Africa are, generally speaking, production-oriented and their marketing is relegated down the line
Industrial marketing research has failed to receive much attention in standard marketing books and journals, in spite of the fact that the size of the industrial market is larger than the consumer market in South Africa
Summary
Industrial marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording and analysing of data about industrial marketing problems to facilitate decision-making. Marketing research budgets for industrial companies are relatively small. According to Dekker, an average 0,40% of the turnover of the manufacturers of industrial, mining and construction machinery in South Africa was spent on marketing research. 1 This compares with the situation in the United States of America, where industrial companies with a turnover of less than $5 million spent 0,5% of turnover on marketing research. Industrial marketing research has failed to receive much attention in standard marketing books and journals, in spite of the fact that the size of the industrial market is larger than the consumer market in South Africa. Radel stated that the industrial market was 580Jo of the total South African market in monetary terms.[3] There are a number of differences between industrial marketing research and consumer marketing research. For a clear understanding of industrial marketing research, a discussion of the factors that distinguish industrial from consumer marketing research is necessary
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