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Introduction
The twentieth century provided the marketer with a wealth of sophisticated primary marketing research tools and techniques. Advances in the areas of quantitative and qualitative research have made it much easier for the marketer to better understand the marketplace, the competition, and, most importantly, the customer ([15] Jones, 2006; [8] Drozdenko and Drake, 2002). Paper and pencil mail surveys have been replaced by computer assisted telephone interviews systems which are now rapidly transitioning to web-based interactive survey tools. While focus groups still dominate the qualitative research scene, other techniques ranging from dyads and triads to ethnographies are helping the marketer better understand the customer and their wants and needs. Even the qualitative area is becoming technology-based with the growth of online focus groups, bulletin boards and e-communities.
Within the past decade, however, a third component of the marketing research process has surfaced and should now be considered on equal footing with quantitative and qualitative research. Marketing analytics has gained substantial ground as technology has made it feasible for marketers to mine and analyze large databases. While the process is not new, its implementation and uses today are. In an environment where customer relationship management or total customer relationships ([13] Hax and Wilde, 2001) is the reigning paradigm, marketers need to gather as much relevant information on the customer as is practically and ethically possible. This data need to collected, verified and turned into pertinent information. The information then needs to be analyzed, interpreted, and converted into intelligence. In turn, the intelligence then needs to be comprehensively linked to the goals and needs of the organization, thereby making it actionable. By comprehensively following this process marketing not only becomes more credible and usable, but also it becomes more accountable ([19] Rosenwald, 2004).
To some degree, however, marketers have been lax or slow to thoroughly embrace the marketing analytics component of the research process ([2] Nada Nasr and Eshgi, 2005). In some cases, this is due to a misguided perception that technology will do all of the work for them. Coupled with this is the reality that many marketers have not practiced their data mining and statistical skills for years or never have received training in these areas. Thus, other functions such information technology has gained...