Managers of small businesses and nonprofit organizations can obtain marketing insights by observing things around them. Managers can conduct informal surveys using small convenience samples. Small organizations can obtain most of the secondary data available to large businesses.

International marketing researchers follow the same steps as domestic researchers. The international researcher may have a difficult time finding good secondary data. International researchers often must collect their own primary data. Reaching respondents is often not easy in other parts of the world. Cultural differences from country to country cause additional problems for international researchers. Language is the most obvious obstacle. Even when respondents are willing to respond, they may not be able to because of high functional illiteracy rates.

Is it a benefit or a detriment for consumers if large companies sell this data to others? How might data threaten a companies competitors?