What role might marketing research play in the facilitation of the exchange process?

The goal of research is to understand how things work and turn that knowledge into the development of new processes and products. For example, look at the way PayPal revolutionized the online exchange of money. The market research could have been as simple as asking a few neighbors if they would buy more online if it were safer and easier. It also could have been as complicated as surveying thousands of people and building and testing prototypes in a multi-phased development cycle. Without research, though, the need for PayPal would not have been recognized and the exchange process not simplified.

Another example is how critical market research can be captured during the exchange process. This is commonly called POS or Point of Sale data. It includes capturing buyer Demographics and things (stores usually get this data by getting consumers to sign up for cards that are swiped at checkout or asking for a zip code at every transaction). This key information can help facilitate the exchange process because, for example, if a customer swipes their Blockbuster card and the computer recognizes that they have an overdue movie or a credit for a free movie, it can affect the amount of cash that is exchanged. This helps companies manage their customer databases better.