Market Research

Market Research: A Necessary Tool in 21st Century §Education.§Marketing is a legitimate management process. In §today s educational minefield a school cannot afford §to be complacent in it's marketing strategy and yet §the concept of marketing still doesn't sit neatly on §the lap of education for many of those who are in §the forefront of that process. Marketing is a term §usually identified with business and commerce and to §relate it to the world of education is not always §easy or straight forward.However, if we ignore the §profit motive then Marketing can be made to fit §schools. Previously schools could afford to be more §complacent about their services and the products §they offered but with the advent of parental and §pupil choice, not only of schools, but of subjects §within schools, educational establishments must look §towards satisfying consumer demand or at least §appear to be doing so. With school funding linked to §the number of bums on seats (Davis and Ellison, §1997), it is necessary for schools to have an §effective marketing strategy.