While there are numerous books on marketing research and its many methodologies, books on business-to-business research have been few and far between. With such an uneven history, the appearance last year of two worthwhile books on the topic came as quite a surprise. They are similarly titled, so bear with me here.

The first, Business-to-Business Marketing Research, is actually a second edition of a 1995 book (which, to further muddle things, bore the title Business-to-Business Market Research!). Ten years after their first foray, authors Martin and Tamara Block have updated and expanded the initial edition. They provide a thorough, academic-style overview of the business-to-business research process - everything from planning to data collection to analysis - paying special attention to the use of focus groups and other forms of qualitative (covering topics such as moderating techniques, structuring the discussion guide, and group composition).

As a stats-impaired person, I found the chapters on analytical tools, conjoint analysis, multidimensional scaling and preference mapping helpful, as they explain widely-used techniques in language even I could understand. The book also comes with a CD, pre-loaded with Excel- and SPSS-formatted datasets that readers can explore and manipulate.

Nice complement

The other book, Business to Business Market Research, by Ruth McNeil, is a nice complement to the Blocks’ book. McNeil’s book has a “user’s guide” feel to it. Her style is more conversational and collegial, as if an experienced friend is giving you the benefit of her on-the-job experience. (Turn to page 36 of this issue to read a chapter excerpt.) The book also feels a bit more modern, referencing the Internet and its various research-assisting capabilities in greater depth than the Blocks’ book.

As with the other entries in Britain’s Market Research Society’s excellent Market Research in Practice series, this book is aimed at a wide audience (students, research professionals and non-professionals) so it has content - such as chapters on training and on regional differences and comparisons of B2B research around the world - that may be more useful to those considering a career in B2B research.

But there is still plenty of valuable material here for established researchers. Helpful appendices include several sample questionnaires and listings of information sources. The qualitative chapter is particularly good. McNeil covers the whole process, from interviewing tips and techniques to several good pages on presenting qualitative research results. Quantitative B2B research is covered equally well. McNeil explores many and varied examples of quantitative question types and takes you through the quantitative process, from questionnaire development to analysis and reporting.

In case it’s several years before the next spate of books on B2B research, these two texts should serve as a nice tandem to tide over interested readers. 

 

Business-to-Business Marketing Research (278 pages; $69.95), by Martin and Tamara Block, is published by Thomson (www.thomson.com/learning/texere ).

Business to Business Market Research (310 pages; $37.50), by Ruth McNeil, is published by Kogan Page (www.koganpage.com ).