CHAPTER ONE

1.1     INTRODUCTION
It is generally agreed that the health of a company organization depends, on its capacity to interpret the behavior, attitudes and needs for the individual consumers or industrial users who make up its market. To this end, according to Donald (1990:5) marketing research comes play, according to him will assist firms in recognizing and reaching to marketing opportunities and problems. The term marketing research covers a wide variety of activities all of which provide information intended to improve the ability of managers to make better decisions concerning the marketing of products, services, concept, and ideas in an organization. The importance of marketing research has grown considerably in recent years as it has become more obvious to marketers that accurate and timely information as needed concerning the consumer and the market place in order for the best possible decisions to be made regarding the various elements of the marketing program (Barner, 1991:4).
Kotler (1996:124) stated that in the long history of business management has often devoted most of its attention t managing money, materials, machines and men. Today, management has recognized the critical importance of a fifth resources: information. The role which information plays in any business cannot be over emphasized in recent times.
Understandably, adequate information is the likeblood of decision making profit margin can be enlarged, product, product features enhanced and customer’s satisfaction guaranteed if sufficient and reliable marketing information could be obtained.
In the light of this, this research is intended to study and appraise the use of marketing research in a marketing organization. A well planned and modeled marketing research is a since-que-non for proper integration of the various marketing mix of any organization. Non-usage of ineffective marketing mix. Organization may try to justify their involvement or non-involvement in marketing research to numerous problems/opportunities.
In this study, the researcher will evaluate the extent of the use of marketing research in a marketing organization.

1.2     BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The entire business environment is experiencing major global changes that have a direct impact on companies and their consumers competition is intensifying and generating changes in the way that consumers make purchase decision. Nowadays, the marketing research is the essential activity in large and small companies, which manages avoid to make decision without it.
A marketing research is a continous process for gathering data in product characteristics, suppliers capabilities and the business practices that surround them plus the analysis of that data to make acquisition decision (Walter, 1997). Marketing decision in contemporary organizations are some of the most important decision made by managers. The decision of what consumer segments to serve with what products or services, at what price, through which channels, and with what type and amounts of promotion not only determine the marketing posture of a firm, but also affect decisions in other areas as well. The decision to emphasize quality products for instance, affects decisions on procurement, production personnel, quality control and so on.
Successful new product marketers learn how to delight customers by studying their needs and behaviors. Marketing research can provide you with that information and it’s an investment well worth marking to help you beat the odds and succeed in product development (Kristin, 2000).
Developing an understanding of consumer needs, wants, perceptions, is a prerequisite to effective decision making. Many companies are discovering that the decisions involved in creating and distributing goods and services for selected consumer segments have such long run implications for the organization.
Marketing research is the specific marketing function relied upon to provide information for marketing decisions.
However, it should be stressed at the outset that merely doing marketing research does not guarantee that better decisions will be made. The quality of each stage of a marketing research project will either contribute to better decision making or will make it an ever-elusive goal.
The marketing research suggests that connection between research and decision making in business organizations. More succinctly, marketing research produces the information manages needs to make marketing decisions.
Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collection process, analyzes the results; and communicates the findings and their implications. Effective marketing research involves few steps and follows a procedure. According to the type of problem, market researchers use different methods for their research in the steps.
Although conduction the activities of marketing research requires using a variety of research techniques, the focus of the research should focus on decisions to be made rather than the collection techniques used to gather information to facilitate decision making. This focus is central to understanding the  marketing research function interms of what it should be and to the effective and efficient use of research as an aid to decision making.
Marketing decisions are affected by many internal and external environmental variables, so the marketing decision maker needs a great deal of information related to these variables, to predict their directions and their expected effects on the internal activities of the organization and the market, in order to make the rational marketing decisions in an uncertainty environment facing the marketing administration. The marketing success in the organization depends basically on the availability and the accuracy of marketing information from its multiple sources (Sultan 2012).
All marketing organizations trying to find out and determine the nature of the markets and their trends, needs and changes that occur in these markets, as well as trying to know the competitors, prices, options and other marketing information which is the key to success for any marketing decision.

1.3     PROBLEM OF THE STUDY
The business environment today is truly global, which requires high speed product development to maintain and increase the competitiveness of organizations. The development of product and service is perhaps the most significant activity within a firm. It is also one of the most risky decisions. Many years, millions of dollars are spent developing products and services that an average fail for more often than they succeeds. Inability to acknowledge the present of marketing research in decision making in marketing organization result in business failure.