Methods of Collecting Marketing Information - Report Example

The paper "Methods of Collecting Marketing Information" is a wonderful example of a report on marketing. The competitive advantage of any company is the privileges companies have over others in order to enhance high sales revenue either in the global market or in the domestic market. These advantages must not be exposed to other companies that sell the same products in the competitive market economy (Porter, 1979). Leakage of these competitive strategies to competitors leads to loss of secrecy and the companies, therefore, can use this information to outdo their rivals in the market.

In the competitive market, the company must ensure that all the information which can make other companies in the market gain competitive advantage is kept secret so that the company remains competitive enough in the global market. The invention of the internet and e-commerce has exposed many business enterprises to the threat of loss of information to competitors when they are not properly used by the management. Through the transformation of many organizations into networked enterprises in the current world market, the adoption of internet-based technology exposes many companies to threats and hazards which results in loss of important information.

The high level interconnectivity makes the organization to leak their information to their competitors through unauthorized access, hawking or theft of information (Viswanathan, 2000). The marketing strategies which the company uses leaks to competitors whom they use to gain a more competitive advantage in the market. The company uses fact-finding techniques to gather competitive strategies from its competitors with the aim of gaining more competitive advantage. The facts finding techniques that can be used are questionnaires, interviews, searching records, statistical sampling, observation, and secondary methods of data collection techniques.

The marketing techniques provide the company with a road map that guides the management on the steps to follow to enhance the competitiveness of the company in the market. The information collected from the competitors should be collected using methods of data collection without infringing the rights of the companies since the breach of their rights results in payment of damages. Former employees should not be used as respondents since they can be influenced to provide confidential information about the company.

Competitive Intelligence This is the ability of the business enterprise to sustain and meet a competitive age in the global market. It is very essential for the business to gather enough information relating to the competitive ability of its competitors in the industry but it must be based on the products’ quality, prices, and product differentiation. This information must be collected in the best way possible not to interfere with the rights of the competitors. The businesses collect can this information from the customers and creditors to attract favorable market opportunities, prospects, and strong competitive advantage.

The best places where the information regarding the market competition can be collected without infringing the rights of the competitors are: Public Sources The information about the competitors can be collected from public sources such as from the newspapers, published articles, and television programs without infringing rights of the competitors. These documents are authorized to be used by the general public and therefore the use of the information is legal (Porter, 1979). The information can also be obtained from the conferences organized by the company itself or from trade shows where they demonstrate their marketing strategies to the public to gain good public relations.

The information found from these sources can be legally used by the company to get the competition information. The illegal collection of the company's confidential information leads to payment of damages by the company since it has illegally acquired top-secret information which is not meant for public use.