Marketing managers often commission formal marketing studies of specific problems and opportunities.
They may request a market survey, a product-preference test, a sales forecast by region, or an
advertising evaluation. It’s the job of the marketing researcher to produce insight into the customer’s
attitudes and buying behavior. Marketing insights provide diagnostic information about how and
why we observe certain effects in the marketplace, and what that means to marketers.2
Good marketing insights often form the basis of successful marketing programs.When an extensive
consumer research study of U.S. retail shoppers by Walmart revealed that the store’s key
competitive advantages were the functional benefit of “offers low prices” and the emotional benefit