By the continuous use of a restricted number of data sources, common sense, if nothing else, suggests that the companies’ horizons will be blinkered to what is already known. Such a viewpoint implies that the companies are using data merely as a prop to shore up marketing decisions that have already been taken, i.e. the data and the sources from which they are being derived are not being used for their full marketing content. It is probable that many more marketing opportunities can be identified only by breaking out of their current, small range of data sources. Finally, these results suggest that the information collected and its use are enhanced in companies with a greater spread of export operations.