When a company acquires consumer-panel data from firms like A.C. Nielsen Company and Information Resources Inc., which of the following steps to improve the quality of a company marketing intelligence system is the company resorting to?

A) training and motivating the sales force to spot and report new developments
B) motivating distributors, retailers, and other intermediaries to pass along important intelligence
C) hiring external experts to collect intelligence
D) using external network
E) purchasing information from outside research firms and vendors

E