Marketing Research Assignment

Unit 18 Marketing Research Assignment - BTECHND Assignment

LO2 Be able to use marketing research techniques

Q2.1 Evaluate at least two different types of market research techniques.

Market research

Market research is the process which organisations use to analyse the market of their products in terms of available opportunities, present problems, established competitions and current legislations which allows them to create the most effective and efficient marketing strategy to maximize their profit (Malhotra, 2003).

Importance of market research

The role of market research in a marketing strategy is to provide the organisation with the sensitive information regarding the market and the potential buyers. The market research allows the organisations to be able to know about the opportunities along with the opposing forces available in the market. This helps the organisations to devise effective and efficient marketing strategies to sustain and succeed in the market. An effective market research methodology helps the organisation to accurately analyse, anticipate and satisfy the requirements of the customers. The marketing research techniques can be classified into two types, such as qualitative market research and quantitative market research techniques.

Qualitative research techniques

These types of techniques are generally applied to the market to explore the market and the opportunities available in it. This type of research methods are applied to a limited number of potential customers or a small group of people (Deshpande, 1982). Some of the examples are projective tests, interviews and focus groups.

Quantitative research techniques

These types of research methods are applied to conclude a fact. Some sampling methods are used to infer the general population from a sample. These types of research methods include a large number of people. Some of the examples of this type of market research techniques are questionnaires and surveys.

Q2.2 Explain how secondary sources of data can be used to achieve marketing research objectives in the marketing contexts stated below:

• A London based business-to-consumer College which intends to expand their operations within the Greater London area (covering M25)
• A Chinese Business-to-business manufacturing organisation which plans to enter the UK market.

The market research techniques require large amount of information regarding the market for the accurate results. Organisations conducting research on a particular market can gather the information themselves or can consider the information gathered by someone else. The information regarding the market which are collected, stored and managed by some organisations other than the one doing the research is called secondary data (SØRENSEN, 1996). The organisations that collect market information for the use of market research of other organisations are called secondary source of information.

• A London based business-to-consumer college which intends to expand their operations within the greater London area can use the secondary sources of data to get the information about the market. This college can get the secondary data from the pupil census, cohort studies, data collected by the department of education and national and international surveys conducted by several government and private firms.
• A Chinese business-to-business manufacturing organisation which plans to enter the UK market can also use these secondary sources of information to collect data required for the market research. The secondary data from these sources will allow the Chinese organisation to analyse the UK market for the opportunities, resources and competitions available in the market. The Chinese organisation can collect secondary data from the surveys conducted by several government and private firms, data maintained by the department of industry and several other firms.

Q2.3 Assess the validity and reliability of market research findings.

Like all the other marketing processes, market research can’t always be exactly accurate and correct. Validity and reliability are the two factors that are used very frequently to define the quality of the data gathered by the market research techniques.

Validity

This factor of the quality of the information gathered by the market research techniques defines the accuracy of the measurement (SØRENSEN, 1996). This defines the extent to which the research technique is measuring the correct factors without taking any other factor into consideration. This factor is associated with the targets of the research technique along with the design of the research technique. There are several types of validity that can be defined for a particular market research such as face validity, content validity, internal validity and external validity.

Reliability

This generally refers to the consistency of the measurements done in the research techniques. In other words, this factor defines the extent to which the results of the research techniques are error-free (Moorman, 1993). If a market research technique gives same score to the same factors of the market for several times, then the results of this technique is called to be reliable.

Q2.4 Assume you work as a Marketing Executive in an organisation who wishes to launch a new product aimed at smart phone users in the UK.

The senior management team has decided to conduct both qualitative and quantitative research in the London area to test the market. You have been given the responsibility of searching for market research agencies to carry out this task.

Propose a marketing research plan to obtain information in the area. This research plan, also known as a research brief, is to be sent to three potential marketing research agencies who will respond with a detailed marketing research proposal.

Prepare this research plan.

Background: The market research plan will be sent to three potential market research agencies for a detailed marketing research proposal. The plan is for an organisation planning to launch a new product aimed at the smartphone users in the UK.

Objective of research: Determine, evaluate and analyse the current opportunities in the market for the product aimed at the smartphone users, the competitors providing the same product in the market, the demand of the product in the market and the requirement of the customers regarding the product. Determine the sale figure of the product packaged in a particular way and sold at a particular price.

Methodology: Qualitative techniques like in-depth interviews, focus groups and progressive tests can be done to analyse the market (Moorman, 1993). Quantitative techniques such as surveys and questionnaires regarding the requirement of the smartphone users can be done.

Data analysis: statistical market research tools are used to successfully analyse the data collected from primary and secondary resources.

Timeframe: The market research should be completed in three months and before the holidays to allow the organisation to plan the advertising and promotional activities at the time of the New Year.

Budget: The budget for the market research for the new product should be around ten per cent of the expected gross sales of the product.

Data: The quantitative data such as the usage of smart phones in the market and demand of the specific features in the market have to be collected. Qualitative data such as the most desirable new feature and the most anticipated model of a Smartphone have to be collected.

Expertise and experience required: The personnel carrying out the research and collecting the data should have adequate amount of experience in the conduction of surveys and questionnaires

Skills: The personnel included in the research should possess significant amount of knowledge in the field of smart phones and should understand all the features a Smartphone offers.

LO3 Be able to assess market size and future demand

Q3.1 Assess the size and the trends for a market of your choice.

Market

The market of a particular product consists of the potential buyers of the product in a particular geographic area. The market of the product also consists of the other organisations offering the same product to the consumers as the competitors (Bettman, 1991). The market also consists of several resources that are used by the organisation to successfully carry out its marketing procedures and actions according to its marketing strategy along with its business functions.

Australia can be considered as the market for a particular product. The size of this market can be defined as the area of the country which is around 7.7 million square kilometres. The sixth largest country in the world, Australia is consists of 6 states and 2 territories.

The lifestyle of the people in the country is very good because of the low cost of living, good educational systems, good social systems and extensive beneficial plans from the government of the country. Australia is home to people of various cultural backgrounds and beliefs. So the current trends in the country are based on the good lifestyle and diverse cultural background of the population of the country.

Q3.2 For an organisation of your choice, plan and carry out a competitor analysis.

Competitor analysis

This is a process of the marketing strategy of the organisations which allows the organisations to determine, analyse and observe the current and potential competitors in the market helping them to anticipate the actions of the competitors (Chen, 1996).

Strategic group

This is a concept which divides the companies in a particular industry according to the similarity in business models or business strategies used by the companies. This allows the companies using similar strategies to be grouped together (Bettman, 1991). Strategic group analysis allows the companies to determine their direct competition and the basis of the competition along with the opportunities in the market.

The strategic group analysis of the company Nestle reveals its competitor to be Kraft foods. Both of them belong to the industry of coffee consumer goods and the industry group of “2095 roasted coffee”. Nestle consists of only two coffee brands which are Nescafe and Nespresso. But Kraft foods have nine different coffee brands.

Q3.3 A Chinese mobile phone manufacturer wants to enter the UK market with its new smart phone handsets. (This is a hypothetical organisation used for the purpose of assessment.)

Evaluate this organisation’s potential opportunities and threats in the UK.

A Chinese mobile manufacturer wants to enter the UK market with its new Smartphone handsets. The organisation will get some opportunities along with opposition from the Smartphone manufacturers currently holding shares in the UK market.

Market: The number of cell phone users in the UK is increasing day-by-day. The current figures suggest that half of the cell phone users in the UK are using Smartphone. Apple is holding the highest market share in the UK which is almost 30 per cent of the Smartphone market with its iPhone range. Samsung and HTC are gaining market shares at 24 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. They are accompanied by Blackberry having less than 17 per cent of the market. So the major threats of the Chinese mobile manufacturer are Apple, Samsung and HTC which are settled in the market for quite some time with their wide range of Smartphone.

Some of the major challenges for the Chinese mobile manufacturer will be to persuade the population in the market to be interested in their product and to understand the benefits of the product according to its price (Stávková, 2008). Making the people in the UK Smartphone market realize the positive price-to-performance ratio is another challenge the Chinese mobile manufacturer has to face. First they have to position their brand as reliable, cheap and authentic.Order Now