Importance of marketing research in improving corporate social responsibility (CSR) adopted by seven up in Enugu

The study investigated the importance of marketing research in improving corporate social responsibility adopted by Seven Up in Enugu. Most firms the world over tend to adopt the same approach in delivering corporate social responsibility projects and this seems to be a myopic approach as countries differ in many dimensions and perspectives. The specific objectives were to assess the extent of the relationship between marketing research and community development projects and also, to determine the extent of the effect of marketing research on community relationship. The population of the study is 286,652.45.The sample size is 400 using Taro Yamani sample size determination method. For the validity of the instrument, the questionnaire was vetted by the research experts based on face validity in terms of relevance to the subject matter, objective of the study, coverage of the content areas, appropriateness of language usage and clarity of purpose. The value of the test of reliability is 0.930 which was conducted using Cronbach’s Alpha. Primary data was adopted for the study. Simple linear regression and Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient data analyzing techniques was applied. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between marketing research and community development projects (r = 0.895, p < 0.05).  It was also revealed that there is significant effect marketing research on community relationship (r = 0.763; t = 20.400; F= 152.224; p < 0.05). The study recommends that because individuals are different, their needs at different times are equally different. Therefore, corporate social responsibility projects through thorough marketing research should be tailored to the separate and individual needs of specific community.