It can be said that all marketing and marketing strategies begin with marketing research. There is a strong, positive correlation between the quality of a firm's marketing research and the success of the firm's marketing strategies. Poor marketing research leads to poorly executed and poorly performing marketing strategies. On the other hand, quality marketing research facilitates a firm's ability to select the best marketing strategy using the best market tools for a given situation.

Marketers understand that marketing research is important because:

a. It helps a company to evaluate its sales force's performance.

b. It is a viable substitute for a detailed analysis of the opportunities, strengths, weaknesses and threats of an organization.

c. It helps the firm select the appropriate marketing mix.

d. It will guarantee the success of the firm's marketing strategies.

e. It will ensure that the firm is able to meet the profit expectations of Wall Street.