The Role of Marketing Research in Public Policy Decision Making

Why do public policy-makers ignore marketing and consumer research? A case study of policy-making for alcohol advertising

“…Notably, informative for constructing such a conceptual framework are Wilkie and Gardner's (1974) and Dyer and Shimp's (1977) seminal reflections on the role of marketing research in public policy-making, as well as a set of more recent studies on the utilization of marketing research in policy-making (Hastak and Mazis 2014;Hastak, Mazis, and Morris 2001;Polonsky, Carlson, and Fry 2003;Stead, McDermott, and Hastings 2007). Yet, since none of these studies, either, provides an explicit framework or typology of reasons for policy-makers' potential lack of attention to marketing research, we begin by compiling and classifying the factors implicitly noted in these studies into an explicit conceptual framework.…”

“…Another factor related to the building of policy mandate is the "negative halo effect" of marketing research, due to being research conducted by business school professors (Wilkie and Gardner 1974). Policy-makers are often apt to assume that all research in business school disciplines, such as marketing, is conducted to support corporate interests, industry associations, or lobby groups (see Stead, McDermott, and Hastings 2007).…”

“…It has been noted throughout decades (Dyer and Shimp 1977;Hunt 2002;Wilkie and Gardner 1974;Wilkie and Moore 2012) that marketing and consumer research (hereinafter briefly "marketing research") does not always receive attention in public policy planning. Although exceptions exist -such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's long-time cooperation with marketing scholars (Hastak and Mazis 2014), as well as authorities' use of social marketing insights to promote healthier consumer lifestyles (Gurrieri, Previte, and Brace-Govan 2012), Hastak, Mazis, and Morris (2001) observe that generally, "academic [marketing] research has not played a major role in the policymaking process" (181).…”

“…To answer this question, we provide a case narrative of our involvement with public policy-making around alcohol product advertising in Finland, following the introspective observation tradition of Wilkie and Gardner (1974), Dyer and Shimp (1977), and Hastak and Mazis (2014) (see also, Holbrook 2007;Gould 1995Gould , 2008. Notably, the purpose of this study is not to provide an ultimate answer to the question of whether, or to what extent, the advertising of alcohol products causes increased alcohol consumption in general, or risks harming specific consumer groups, such as adolescents.…”

“…Nor is the purpose to provide a comprehensive meta-analysis on studies on alcohol product advertising. Rather, our overall purpose is to make the following two contributions to the general literature on the role of marketing research in public policy planning, in particular (Dyer and Shimp 1977;Hastak and Mazis 2014;Hastak, Mazis, and Morris 2001;Polonsky, Carlson, and Fry 2003;Stead, McDermott, and Hastings 2007;Wilkie and Gardner 1974). First, we unpack, explicate, and elucidate a set of previously discussed factors, as well as identify certain previously unidentified factors, that may cause limited attention to marketing research among policy-makers -especially when it comes to consumer behavior issues with potential health implications.…”