Marketing research

Marketing research is, according to the American Marketing Association, the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information -- information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes, and communicates the findings and their implications.

Often interchanged with market research, it is understood that marketing research is a broader term.