Marketing information systems in Fortune 500 companies: a longitudinal analysis of 1980, 1990, and 2000

Soon after the MIS concept was formed in the mid-1960s, the marketing funct ion applied it to its own information needs, creating a formal effort calle d the marketing information system, or MKIS. This study surveys Fortune 500 companies to reveal their pattern in MKIS usage. The findings are compared to two previous studies a decade apart. It provides a gauge of the evoluti on of computer use not only in marketing but also in large firms. This: stu dy is the first where the marketing managers reported a decrease in the exi stence of an MKIS in their firms. Nonetheless, the study found that many fi rms are linking their marketing plans with their information resources. Bes ides telephone, facsimile, and e-mail, electronic commerce is widely adopte d in these large firms. Most importantly, many marketers today are using co mputers and the Internet. They are more and more knowledgeable about comput er technologies and actively taking part in creating computer applications to meet their own information needs. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.