¶ … high tech global economy, market researchers are facing all new challenges and this case provided an insight into one of the major dilemmas. This case focused on the fact that marketers have been trying to get in touch with our current teen population. The objective of the case was to help differentiate between basic and applied research methods and to evaluate how ethical marketing approaches are being used by research companies. These teens are more culturally diverse and as a group out number their predecessor groups such as the baby boomers. As noted, teens have become one of the fastest growing segments of the population and they are expected to continue to grow. But, to differentiate this group from any other, these teens live in a world of X-Box, high definition satellite TV, internet ready personal computers, palms, cell phones and ATM's...
In other words, they may have the desire and, more importantly, the financial resources to out spend any other teenaged group in history. So, as potential consumers, market researcher see this current generation as a gold mine -- that is, if they can get into the teen's heads to see what they buy and why they buy it. To say the least, the pressure is on marketing researchers. They realize that they had better discover what is relevant to the new teen or they could miss out on those long-lasting relationships that could yield a sizable return on investment. As a result, marketing research companies are using new techniques to get in touch with the new teen.
In their attempt to gather information on teens that will help guide the marketing decisions of corporate America, market researchers are pulling out all the stops. From…
