In a short essay, describe the characteristics of a marketing information system and discuss how it differs from a decision support system

What will be an ideal response?

a. A marketing information system (MIS) is a formalized set of procedures for generating, analyzing, storing, and distributing information to marketing decision makers on an ongoing basis. MIS is differentiated from marketing research in that it is continuously available. MIS is designed to complement the decision maker's responsibilities, style, and information needs. The power of MIS is in the access it gives managers to vast amounts of information, combining production, invoice, and billing information with marketing intelligence, including marketing research.
b. Developed to overcome the limitation of MIS, decision support systems have built-in flexibility that allows decision makers to interact directly with databases and analysis models. A decision support system (DSS) is an integrated system including hardware, a communications network, database, model base, software base, and the DSS user who collects and interprets information for decision making. DSSs differ from MISs in that they combine the models and analytic techniques of traditional marketing research with each access and retrieval of MISs. Well-designed DSSs adapt to the decision-making needs of the user with easy interactive processes. In addition to providing easy access to data, DSSs can also enhance decision-making effectiveness by using "what-if" analysis.