Marketing Information system (MIS)

Definition

1:A marketing information system is a management information system designed to support marketing decision making. 2:A marketing information system is the system or way in which marketing information is formally gathered, stored, analysed and then itis distributed to managers in accord with their informational needs on a regular basis. It is also a proceeding and interacting structure of people, procedures and equipment to gather, analyze, sort and evaluate information for used by the marketers.

3:A system that analyzes and assesses marketing information, gathered continuously from sources inside and outside an organization. Timely marketing information provides basis for decisions such as product development or improvement, pricing, packaging, distribution, media selection, and promotion. See also market information system.

4:According to Donald Cox and Robert Good,

“An MIS may be defined as a set of procedures and methods for the regular, planned collection, analysis, and presentation of informationfor use in making marketing decisions. This of course is a step beyond logistics systems, which handle inventory control, orders, and so forth.”This definition of Marketing Information System (MIS) is referred from a 1937 classic paper titled “How to build a Marketing Information System,” written by Donald F. Cox and Robert E. Good.

5:According to Prof. Mudit Katyani,

“MIS is a planned tactic to do analysis of mainly three system requirements viz., people, information, and technology. It is required at all levels of management in executing operational, managerial, and strategic decisions. Its intention is to design the procedures which give a comprehensive report in a timely manner.”

Prof. Katyani’s definition of MIS gives a broad coverage of its overall concept.The diagram of Marketing Information System, i.e. MIS is depicted below.

Now let’s proceed to discuss and understand the meaning of MIS.

Meaning of MIS

Marketing Information System, abbreviated as MIS, means to collect, analyze and supply marketing information to the marketing managers. The marketing managers use this information to take marketing decisions. MIS is a permanent and continuous process.

Marketing information includes all facts, estimates, opinions, guidelines, policies and other data. This information is necessary for takingmarketing decisions. This information is collected from both internal and external sources. It is collected from customers, competitors, company salesmen, government sources, specialized agencies, so on.

MIS collects the marketing information from different sources. This information (data) is analyzed. Then, it is supplied to the marketing managers. The marketing managers use this information for taking marketing decisions. MIS also evaluates and stores the information. MIS uses modern technology for collecting, analyzing, storing and supplying information.

Features of Marketing Information System MIS

The main characteristics or features of Marketing Information System (MIS):1.Continuous system : MIS is a permanent and continuous system of collecting information. It collects information continuously.2.Basic objective : The basic objective of MIS is to provide the right-information at the right-time to the right-people to help them take right decisions.

Marketing Information system (MIS)

3.Computer based system : MIS is a computer-based system. It uses computers for storing, analyzing and supplying information. It also uses micro-films for storing information. Therefore, it is very quick and accurate.

4.Future-oriented : MIS is future-oriented. It provides information for solving future problems. It is not past-oriented.

5.Used by all levels : MIS is used by all three levels of management, i.e. top, middle and lower. It is used for making marketing plans, policies and strategies. This is used to solve marketing problems and to take advantage of business opportunities.

6.Sources : MIS collects information from both, internal and external sources. For example, information is collected from company records, publications, etc.

7.Collects marketing information : MIS collects all types of marketing information. It collects information about the consumer competition, marketing environment, government policies, etc. It supplies this information to the marketing managers.

8.Helps in decision making : MIS supplies up-to-date and accurate information. It helps marketing managers to take quick and right decisionsMarketing Information System (MIS) collects, analyses, and supplies a lot of relevant information to the marketing managers. It is a valuable tool for planning, implementing and controlling the marketing activities.

The role of MIS is to identify (find out) what sort of information is required by the marketing managers. It then collects and analyzes the information. It supplies this information to the marketing manager at the right time. MIS collects the information through its subsystems.

These subsystems are called components.The four main components of Marketing Information System (MIS) are:1.Internal Records,2.Marketing Intelligence,3.Marketing Research (MR), and4.Marketing Decision Support System.

1.Internal records : The first component of MIS is ‘Internal Record’. Marketing managers get lots of information from the internal-records of the company. These records provide current information about sales, costs, inventories, cash flows and account receivable and payable. Many companies maintain their computerized internal records. Inside records help marketing managers to gain faster access to reliable information.2.Marketing intelligence :01.The second component of MIS is ‘Marketing Intelligence’. It collects information from external sources. It provides information about current marketing-environment and changing conditions in the market. This information can be easily gathered from external sources like; magazines, trade journals, commercial press, so on. This information cannot be collected from the Annual Reports of the Trade Association and Chambers of Commerce, Annual Report of Companies, etc. The salesmen’s report also contains information about market trends.02.The information which is collected from the external sources cannot be used directly. It must be first evaluated and arranged in a proper order. It can be then used by the marketing manager for taking decisions and making policies about marketing.03.So, marketing intelligence is an important component of MIS.

3.Marketing research : The third important component of MIS is ‘Marketing Research’. MR is conducted to solve specific marketing problems of the company. It collects data about the problem. This data is tabulated, analyzed and conclusions are drawn. Then the recommendations are given for solving the problem. Marketing research also provides information to the marketing managers. However, this information is specific information. It can be used only for a particular purpose. MIS and MR are not substitutes of each other. The scope of MIS is very wide. It includes ‘MR’. However, the scope of MR is very narrow.

4.Marketing decision support system : The fourth component of MIS is ‘Marketing Decision Support System’. These are the tools which help the marketing managers to analyze data and to take better marketing decisions. They include hardware, i.e. computer and software programs. Computer helps the marketing manager to analyze the marketing information. It also helps them to take better decisions. In fact, today marketing managers cannot work without computers. There are many software programs, which help the marketing manager to do market segmentation, price fixing, advertising budgets, etc.

The essentials of a good Marketing Information System (MIS) is listed below:1.MIS must be unified and centralized.2.It must facilitate decision making.3.It must provide quick and accurate information.4.It must be economical.

Marketing Information system (MIS)

5.It must be selective.6.It must be future oriented.7.It must supply information regularly.8.It must use new techniques.

1.Unified and centralized : MIS must be unified and centralized. It collects and stores different types of market information. All of this information must be unified and centralized. That is, all the marketing information must be brought together (unified) and kept at one central place (centralized). So, it must be at the central-office. This will result in easy access and quick reference. The managers will be able to find all the required information at one place.

2.Facilitate decision making : MIS must facilitate decision making. That is, it must guide the marketing managers in decision making. It must provide required information to the managers to help in taking decisions. This information must be of a good quality. That is, it must be relevant, reliable, and up-to-date. This will result in an accurate decision-making process. So, it must not only be a data bank. It must play a positive role in the decision-making process.

3.Quick and accurate information : MIS must provide quick and accurate information. Today, managers have to take quick-decisions because the marketing is moving very fast. If they don't take quickest decisions, then they will lose many marketing opportunities. Therefore, it must provide quick information to the managers. This information must also be accurate, regular and continuous. It must be a user-oriented one. It must collect, classify, verify, store and supply information quickly and accurately.

4.Economical : MIS must be economical. That is, it must not be very costly. The expenditure on it must be minimum. It must not exceed its value. It must give maximum benefits to the company at a minimum cost. It will be economical only if it is selective. It must be particular in collecting, analyzing, storing and supplying information. It must use a minimum number of employees in its operation. It must be economical because it is not directly productive. It is a service and support function.

5.Selective : MIS must be selective. That is, it must not collect all the market information. It must only collect relevant information. It must collect information, which is very essential and useful for decision making. If it is not selective there will be a waste of time, energy, storage space and money.

6.Future oriented : MIS must be forward looking i.e. future-oriented. It must not be a past-oriented one. It must give more importance to future-oriented information. It must provide information for solving problems, which may come up in the future. The company will be successful if their marketing managers are future-oriented. The marketing managers can be so only if the MIS is also future oriented.

7.Supply information regularly : MIS must supply information regularly. The business environment is changing constantly. So, the marketing managers have to take marketing decisions continuously. Therefore, they require a regular and continuous flow of market information. This information must be provided by MIS. So, it must supply information regularly to the marketing managers.

8.Use new techniques : MIS must use new techniques for collecting, analyzing, storing and supplying information. It must use computersand micro-films. It must use new communication techniques. It must also make the use of the Internet and latest software programs. These newer techniques will increase the efficiency and accuracy of MIS. MIS will also become more economical by using new techniques.

MIS gives many benefits to the company. The need for MIS is universally accepted. A company cannot survive and succeed without MIS. Therefore, all companies must have MIS. However, the same MIS cannot be used for all types of companies. Every company must make its own MIS. It must not copy the MIS of other companies.