After a problem has been defined carefully, the manager and researcher must set the research objectives.
Exploratory research is one of three types of objectives. Others are descriptive research and causal research.
Exploratory research is marketing research to gather preliminary information that will help define the problem and suggest hypotheses.
For example, would a 10 percent decrease in tuition at a private college result in an enrollment increase sufficient to offset the reduced tuition? Managers often start with exploratory research and later follow with descriptive or casual research.