Marketing information systems in small companies

Abstract

For the past few years, many small businesses in the U.S. have gone under and many others have downsized their operations. In order to survive, a small business must do its best to improve its competitive edge. To do so, one applaudable way is to establish and utilize the marketing information system MKIS. The MKIS has been known to create competitive advantage for companies in various industries. This study surveys 1000 small U.S. companies to explore their overall status of MKIS usage. Generally speaking, small firms are not utilizing as much of the MKIS as the larger firms. They are not fully exploiting the latest information technologies to create competitive advantages. Many marketing managers in the firms are not satisfied with their MKISs. As the global market becomes increasingly competitive, it is vital to small firms to improve their MKIS usage in the near future. Otherwise, many of them are likely to go under in the next wave of economic recession