Importance of Statistics in Marketing – A Concise Account

Over the years, the corporate ambience has cultured a potent need for research and development. While research is just as important an area in other fields such as finance, sales, or human resources, the scope of research in the dimension of marketing and sales management has only amplified with time. Corporations at the very top are investing millions of dollars in marketing research that includes both qualitative and quantitative research. Regarding the latter type, marketing innovations depend a great deal on the findings of quantitative research.

Statistics and Marketing

The statistical inferences delivered from the carriage of these researches are vital factors in determining the direction of an organization’s marketing flow. Be that product development, market development, promotional campaign plans, or knowing the customer standpoint, statistics run the state of affairs in contemporary marketing. The field of statistics contains a whole area of study relevant to marketing. Sophistication of these statistical methods goes a long way in enlightening the marketer about multiple aspects of marketing that aid him in the decision making process. Different methods help in different ways.

MDPREF

For example, there is a statistical analysis termed as multidimensional preference analysis (MDPREF) that employs the use of columns and rows for consumers and products respectively. With the help of this data analysis, the marketer can determine consumer preference patterns for different products. Essentials of the target market come out in the open along with the areas of potential market growth. Also various ideas can be deciphered through these patterns about product innovations.

Standing Out

Then there is multidimensional scaling (MDS), which throws light on the comparative analysis of the product and its competitors. Consumer standpoints generated from this analysis pave a path of illustration regarding the similarities and differences between different products. This, in turn, helps the marketer in descrying the product’s competitors and hence empowers him to develop the marketing base in productive accordance. In other words, the incorporation of insight produced from this method enables the marketer to develop the unique selling proposition of the product, thus making it score an edge over its counterparts.

Conjoint Analysis

Furthermore, another statistical strategy is conjoint analysis, the application of which evaluates consumer preference. Each product has a number of attributes. By employing conjoint analysis, the marketer succeeds in uncovering those combinations of attribute levels that have a high level of consumer preference. Consumers are given choices of different sets of attributes out of which they have to choose the one that will motivate them to a purchase. This is indeed valuable insight that facilitates the process of feature development, a prime context of marketing.

A Complimentary Hand

The aforementioned methods of statistics are just marginal accounts of the otherwise paramount contribution that statistical procedures are making to the field of marketing. Multiple innovations and advancements in marketing can be attributed to statistical findings, the utility of which has only diversified with the passage of time. Insight is key for business success and sustaining the freshness of that insight is exactly what statistics accomplishes. To cut a long story short, marketing owes a lot to statistics, given the consistency of value generation the latter continues to accomplish for the former.

Source by Benjamin A Roussey