ABSTRACT
The most characteristic aspect of marketing as a business activity is, of course, its close tie to the wants and circumstances of prospective customers. Marketing research plays a vital role in determining the nature of those wants and circumstances. Institutions in the public and nonprofit (P&NP) sector have begun to use marketing research in much the same way that corporations do now that more and more P&NP organizations are attempting to learn how consumers feel about the design and delivery of existing programs and to obtain suggestions for new offerings. Probing, or research, is one area in which the public sector has some advantages over nonprofits and over the private sector as well. Government consumer research is often liberally funded, and thus makes it possible to create national samples. P&NP organizations can use marketing research to assess consumer perceptions and to evaluate promotion efforts, both before and after execution.
