Limitations of Marketing Research and its Process

Marketing research is a social science, which studies consumer behavior. The consumer behavior is of complex nature and changes with the passage of time and moods of the consumer. There are cases where the same respondent has given different answers to the same question to two different interviewers. There are also cases where the same respondent has given different answers to same question to the same interviewer at different times. For this reason one cannot expect 100% mathematical accuracy in data collection. The research findings are greatly influenced by the character and ability of research personnel. Inexperienced and non-qualified persons are often appointed as field interviewers. They can prove to be extremely dangerous as far as research findings are concerned. Same of them may not even visit the sample members but fill the data forms all by themselves or they may collect incomplete and based information. To avoid this limitation, there should be a proper selection of the field staff. Again, they must be given adequate training to deal with the research problem.