Expert selection of marketing databases

The selection of online sources to answer marketing queries was investigated by interviewing fifteen professional intermediary searchers. Results indicate an overall performance ranking for the hosts which were most used by these intermediaries. Selection of databases was influenced by cost, type and level of coverage, and the geographical focus of a database. The features and services offered by a host had little influence on database selection. Frequently-used databases were assessed for particular types of marketing information. The results were used to build a prototype expert system which recommends databases for marketing queries. The approach seems feasible, but more research into intermediaries’ expertise is needed.