The market researcher must now interpret the findings, draw conclusions, and report them
to management. The researcher should not try to overwhelm managers with numbers and
fancy statistical techniques. Rather, the researcher should present important findings and insights
that are useful in the major decisions faced by management.
However, interpretation should not be left only to researchers. They are often experts
in research design and statistics, but the marketing manager knows more about the problem
biased; they might tend to accept research results that show what they expected and reject
those that they did not expect or hope for. In many cases, findings can be interpreted in different
ways, and discussions between researchers and managers will help point to the best
interpretations. Thus, managers and researchers must work together closely when interpreting
research results, and both must share responsibility for the research process and resulting
decisions.
and the decisions that must be made. The best research means little if the manager
blindly accepts faulty interpretations from the researcher. Similarly, managers may be