Jasmine is the manager of ticket sales for the Houston Texans, a professional football team. Since their debut in 2002, the Texans have entertained fans in NRG Stadium, which seats close to 72,000 people. Jasmine is responsible for season ticket sales, game-day sales, and group sales to ensure maximum ticket revenue for the team. She recently hired a marketing research consultant to assist her in determining the best approach for marketing season tickets. Jasmine must allocate her marketing budget across various options such as outbound telephone calls, direct mail, radio advertising, print media, and social media. She is hopeful that the marketing research will help her identify the most effective allocation of her budget across these various options. In this case, marketing research is _______.