Free Essay

Market Research Theory

In: Business and Management

Submitted By silw
Words 2923
Pages 12
MARKET RESEARCH 1. Discuss the importance of attitude measurement, and describe tow different approaches to measuring people's attitudes toward a given object.

There is a growing need among today's marketers to better understand their customer's attitudes and feelings toward the company's products, services, and delivery systems. Some researchers view "attitude" as a derived composite outcome of the interaction between a person's beliefs (i.e., cognitive thoughts) and expressed emotions (i.e., affective feelings) regarding those beliefs. Knowing these interactions can be helpful in predicting a person's behavior (i.e., conative action). Not all researchers accept this trilogy approach to measuring attitudes; some simply see attitudes as a global indicator of a person's feelings (i.e., affect = attitude) toward an object or behavior. No matter the approach, these is significant diagnostic value to both researchers and practitioners in understanding the different scale measurements used to capture people's belief structures versus emotional feelings versus behavior tendencies.
Tell how to correctly design and text Likert, semantic differential, and behavior intention scales, and explain their strengths and weaknesses.

Likert scale designs uniquely use a set of agreement/disagreement scale descriptors to capture a person's attitude toward a given object or behavior. Contrary to popular belief, a Likert scale format does not measure a person's complete attitude, only the cognitive structure. Semantic differential scale format are exceptional in capturing a person's perceptual image profile about a given object or behavior. This scale format is unique in that it uses a set of bipolar scales to measure several different yet interrelated factors (both cognitive and affective) of a given object or behavior.

Multiattribute affect scales use scale point descriptors that consist of relative magnitudes of an attitude (e.g., "very important," "somewhat important," "not too important," " not at all important," or "like very much," "like somewhat," neither like nor dislike," "dislike somewhat," "dislike very much"). With respect to behavior intention scale formats, the practitioner is interested in obtaining some idea of the likelihood that people (e.g., actual or potential consumers, customers, buyers) will demonstrate some type of predictable behavior toward purchasing an object or a service. The scale point descriptors like "definitely would," "probably would," "probably would not," and "definitely would not," are normally used in an intentions scale format. If the information objective is that of collecting raw data that can directly predict some type of marketplace behavior, then behavior intention scales should be used in the study. In turn, if the objective is understanding the reasons why certain types of marketplace behavior take place, then it is necessary to incorporate scale measurement formats that capture both the person's cognitive belief structures and feelings.
Discuss the differences between noncomparative and comparative scale designs as well as the appropriateness of rating and ranking scale measurements.

The main difference is that comparative scale measurements require the respondent to do some type of direct comparison between the attributes of the scale from the same known reference point whereas noncomparative scales rate each attribute independently of the other attributes making up the scale measurement. The data from comparative scales must be interpreted in relative terms and only activate the assignment and order scaling properties. Noncomparative scale data are treated as interval or ration, and more advanced statistical procedures can be employed in analyzing the data structures. One benefit of comparative scales is that they allow for identifying small differences between the attributes, constructs, or objects. In addition, their comparative scale designs require fewer theoretical assumptions and are easier for respondents to understand and respond to than are many of the noncomparative scale designs. However, noncomparative scales provide opportunity for greater insights into the constructs and their components.
Identify and discuss the critical aspects of consumer attitudes and other marketplace phenomena that require measurement to allow us to make better decisions.

In order for organizations to make informed decisions regarding their suppliers, customers, competitors, employees, or organizational members, they must gather detailed, accurate information. The selection of a supplier may rest partially on their history of on-time delivery, reputation for quality, and experience within the industry. Information concerning the preferences, purchase behavior, shopping patterns, demographics, and attitudes of consumers can be vital to the success or failure of an organization.

Similarly, in-depth profiles of competitors may reveal opportunities or challenges facing the company and can lead to coherent plans designed to create a significant competitive advantage. If consumers prefer a competitor's product, then it would be quite valuable to understand through the use of proper measurement techniques why such preferences exist.
Discuss the overall rules of measurement and explain the differences between single versus multiple measures of a construct as well as direct versus indirect measures.

No single set of rules exists for all measurements; however, certain standards can be applies to the measurement process. For example, the rules for correctly using a thermometer to measure the temperature of water would be quite different from the rules for the use of a telescope to measure the distance to a star. Even so, the rules must be explicit and detailed so as to allow consistent application of the instrument.

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using quantitative, descriptive survey research designs to collect primary raw data.
Some of the main advantages of using survey designs to collect primary raw data from respondents are ability to accommodate large sample sizes' generalizability of results; ability to distinguish small differences between diverse samples groups; ease of administering and recording questions and answers; increased capabilities of using advanced statistical analysis; and abilities of tapping into latent factors and relationships. In contrast, the main disadvantages of survey research designs tends to focus on potential difficulties of developing accurate survey instruments; inaccuracies in construct and scale measurements of factors; and limits to the depth of the data structures. In addition, researchers can lack control over long time frames and potentially low response rates, among other problems.Discuss the many types of survey methods available to researchers. Identify and discuss the factors that drive the choice of survey methods.
Survey methods are generally divided into three generic types. One is the person-administered survey, in which there is significant face-to-face interaction between the interviewer and the respondent. Second is the telephone-administered survey. In these surveys the telephone is used to conduct the question-and-answer exchanges. Computers are now used in many ways in telephone interviews, especially in management functions, data recording, and telephone-number selection. Third is the self-administered survey. In these surveys, there is little, if any, actual face-to-face contact between the researcher and prospective respondent. The respondent reads the questions and records his or her answers. Most of the emerging technology survey methods are self-administrated, although some, such as virtual reality, will require human intervention.

There are three major factors affecting the choice of survey method: situational characteristics, task characteristics, and respondent characteristics. With situational factors, consideration must be given to such elements as available resources, completion time frame, and data quality requirements. Also, the researcher must consider the overall task requirements and ask questions like, "How difficult are the tasks?," "What stimuli will be needed to evoke responses?," "How much information is needed from the respondent?," and "To what extent do the questions deal with sensitive topics?" Finally, the researchers must be concerned about the diversity of the prospective respondents, the likely incidence rate, and the degree of survey participation. Maximizing the quantity and quality of data collected while minimizing the cost and time of the survey generally requires the researcher to make trade-offs.Explain how the electronic revolution is affecting the administration of survey research designs.
With the increasing advances in telecommunication and computer technologies, numerous new, fast techniques are available to researchers for collecting primary raw data from people. The range of new techniques continues to grow and includes such methods as computer-assisted telephone interviewing methods; fully automated self-administered techniques; and electronic mail, fax, and Internet surveys. There is little doubt that the time requirements of collecting data will significantly decrease with these new methods.Identify and describe the strengths and weaknesses of each type of survey method.
It is important to remember that all methods have strengths as well as weaknesses. No single method is the best choice under all circumstances. Nor is the information researcher limited to a single method. Innovative combinations of survey methods can produce excellent results, as the strengths of one method can be used to overcome the weakness of another.Identify and explain the types of errors that occur in survey research.
The researcher needs to evaluate the errors in the research results. All errors are either random sampling errors or nonsampling errors. By far the greatest amount of error that can reduce data quality comes from nonsampling (or systematic) error sources. Three major sources of error are respondent error (i.e. nonresponse errors and response biases); measurement and design error (i.e., construct development, scale measurement, and survey instrument design errors); and administrative errors (i.e., data processing, interviewer and sample design errors). In survey research, systematic errors decrease the quality level of the data being collected. Discuss the characteristics, benefits, and weaknesses of observational techniques, and explain how these techniques are used to collect primary data.
Observational techniques are used by researchers in all types of research designs (exploratory, descriptive, causal). In addition to the general advantages of observation, major benefits are the accuracy of collecting data on actual behavior as it unfolds, reduction of confounding factors, and the amount of detailed behavioral data that can be recorded. The unique limitations of using observation methods are lack of generalizability of the data, inability of explaining current behaviors or events, and the complexity of setting and recording the behavior.Describe and explain the importance of and differences between the variables used in experimental research design.
In order to conduct causal research, the researcher must understand the four key types of variables involving experimental designs (independent, dependent, extraneous, control) as well as randomization of test subjects and the role that theory plays in creating experiments. The most important goal of any experiment if to determine what, if any, relationships exist among different variables (independent, dependent). Functional, or cause-effect, relationships require systematic change in one variable as another variable changes.Explain the theoretical importance and impact of internal, external, and construct validity measures in experiments and interpreting functional relationships.
Experimental designs are developed to control for contamination, which may serve to confuse the true relationship being studied. While a variety of issues exist regarding the concept of contamination, internal validity, external validity, and construct validity are at the center of discussion. Internal validity refers to the level of exact conclusions the researcher draws about a demonstrated functional relationship. The question is, are the experimental results truly due to the experimental variables? External validity is concerned with the interaction of experimental manipulations with extraneous factors causing a researcher to suspect the generalizability of the results to other settings. Construct validity is important in the process of correctly identifying and understanding both the independent and dependent variables included in an experimental design.

Several techniques unique to the experimental design are used to control for problems of internal and external validity. These techniques center on the use of control groups, pre-experimental measures, exclusion of subjects, matching subjects into groups and randomization of group members. These dimensions, built into the experimental design, provide true power for controlling contamination.Discuss the three major types of experimental designs used in marketing research. Explain the pros and cons of using causal designs as a means of assessing relationship outcomes.
Pre-experimental designs fail to meet internal validity criteria due to a lack of group comparisons. Despite this weakness, three designs are still used quite frequently in marketing research: the one-shot study; the one-group, pretest-posttest design; and the static group comparison.
True experimental designs ensure equivalence between experimental and control groups by random assignment of subjects into groups. Three forms of true experimental designs exist: pretest-posttest, control group; posttest-only, control group; and the Solomon Four Group.
Quasi-experimental designs are appropriate when the researcher can control some of the variables but cannot establish true randomization of groups. While a multitude of these designs exist, two of the most common forms are the nonequivalent control group and the separate-sample, pretest-posttest.Explain what test markets are, the importance and difficulties of executing this type of research designs, and how the resulting data structures are used by researchers and marketing practitioners.
Test Markets are a specific type of field experiment and are commonly conducted in natural field settings. Most common in the marketing research field are traditional test markets, controlled test markets, electronic test markets, simulated test markets, and virtual test markets. Data gathered from test markets provide both researchers and practitioners with invaluable information concerning customers' attitudes, preferences, purchasing habits/patterns, and demographic profiles. This information is very useful in predicting new product/service acceptance levels and advertising and image effectiveness, as well as in evaluating current marketing mix strategies. |
Chapter 3 (14) Identify and discuss the critical factors that can contribute to directly improving the accuracy of surveys, and explain why questionnaire development is not a simple process.
Questionnaire development is much more than just writing a set of questions and asking people to answer them. Designing good surveys goes beyond just developing reliable and valid scale measurements. There are a number of design factors, systematic procedural steps, and rules of logic that must be considered in the development process. In addition, the process requires knowledge of sampling plans, construct development, scale measurement, and types of data. It is important to remember that a questionnaire is a set of questions/scales designed to generate enough raw data to allow the researcher and decision maker to generate information to solve the business problem.Discuss the theoretical principles of questionnaire design, and explain why a questionnaire is more than just asking a respondent some questions.
Many researchers, unaware of the underlying theory, still believe that questionnaire designing is an art rather than a science. Questionnaires are, however, hierarchial structures consisting of four different components: words, questions, formats, and hypotheses. Most surveys are descriptive instruments that rely heavily on the collection of state-of-being or state-of-behavior data; others are predictive instruments that focus on collecting state-of-mind and state-of-intention data that allow for predicting changes in people's attitudes and behaviors as well as testing hypotheses.Identify and explain the communication roles of questionnaires in the data collection process.
Good questionnaires allow researchers to gain a true report of the respondent's attitudes, preferences, beliefs, feelings, behavioral intentions, and actions/reactions in a holistic manner, not just a fragment. Through carefully worded questions and clear instructions, a researcher has the ability to control a respondent's thoughts and ensure objectivity. By understanding good communication principles, researchers can avoid bad questioning procedures that might result in either incomprehensible information requests, unanswerable questions, or leading questions that obscure, prohibit, or distort the meaning of a person's responses.Explain why the type of information needed to address a decision maker's questions and problems will substantially influence the structure and content of questionnaires.
Once research objectives are transformed into information objectives, determining the specific information requirements plays a critical role in the development of questionnaires. For each information objective, the researcher must be able to determine the types of raw data (state of being, mind, behavior, or intentions); types of question/scale measurement formats (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio); types of question structures (open-ended and closed-ended); and the appropriate selection of scale point descriptors. Researchers must be aware of the impact that different data collection methods (personal, telephone, self-administered, computer-assisted, etc.,) have on the wording of both questions and response choices.List and discuss the 11 steps in the questionnaire development process, and tell how to eliminate some common mistakes in questionnaire designs.
Using their knowledge of construct development and scale measurement development (Chapter 12) and attitude measurement (Chapter 13), researchers can follow an 11-step process to develop scientific survey instruments. Refer back to Exhibit 14.4 which lists these steps.Discuss and employ the "flowerpot" approach in developing scientific questionnaires.
The flowerpot approach serves as a unique framework or blueprint for integrating different sets of questions and scale measurements into scientific structure for collecting high-quality raw data. This ordered approach helps researchers make critical decisions regarding (1) construct development (2) the appropriate dimensions and attributes of objects, (3) question/scale measurement formats, (4) wording of actual questions and directives, and (5) scale points and descriptors. Following the flowerpot approach assures that the data flow will correctly go from general information level down to a more specific level.Discuss the importance of cover letters, and explain the guidelines to help eliminate common mistakes in cover letter designs.
While the main role of any cover letter should be that of winning over a prospective respondent, a set of secondary roles ranges from initial introduction with a person to communicating the legitimacy and other important factors about the study. There are 10 critical factors that should be included in most, if not all, cover letters. Including these will help the researcher counteract the three major reasons that prospective respondents use to avoid participating in self-administered survey and personal interviews. A lottery-based incentive or compensation system can significantly improve a prospective respondent's willingness to participate. |

|

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Financial Theory Capital Markets Research

...WIL Report D Semester 1, 2015 WIL Report D Semester 1, 2015...

Words: 646 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Mkt 635 Market Research Entire Course

...MKT 635 Market Research Entire Course https://homeworklance.com/downloads/mkt-635-market-research-entire-course/ This course is designed to integrate theory and practice and develop students’ analytical skills in marketing research methodology. Students apply methods and techniques for the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of primary and secondary data toward the solution of current marketing problems. Offered online. MKT 635 Week 1 Marketing and Research Problems Marketing and Research Problems. Identify and describe in detail the fundamental source of the marketing problem or opportunity, decision problems arising from the marketing problem or opportunity, and possible research problems for each of the three scenarios (a, b, and c) under Applications & Problems #4 p. 47. The paper must be two to three pages in length and formatted according to APA style. You must use at least two scholarly resources other than the textbook to support your claims and sub-claims. MKT 635 Week 2 Assignment Propose Research Project Propose Research Project. You are a brand manager of a snack chip. Your goal is to determine what effects different levels of online advertising (see http://www.sramanamitra.com/2011/01/11/top-10-online- advertising-trends-of-the-decade/) have on a consumer’s behavior. The VP of Brand Management will want strong justification for your recommendations. Propose a research project to address this problem that focuses on the kind...

Words: 522 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Aaaaaaaaaaa

...Methods of analysing marketing opportunities Market research involves collecting, recording and making sense of all the available information which will help a business unit to understand its market. Market research sets out to answer the following questions: * Who makes up the target audience? * What do they want? * When do they need it? * Where does it sell best? * How can it be taken to them? * Why do they want/need it? * What are our competitors doing? * How is our market changing? Market research helps firms to plan ahead rather than to guess ahead In business, demand is always changing and therefore it is essential to know how things are changing. Market research requires a special form of skill and therefore market research companies are often employed because they have the necessary experience and also because market research takes up a lot of time. Methods used in marketing research Data gathering involves collecting as much information as possible about the market, usually before any further steps are taken. It relies on desk research and field research. Data is divided into primary and secondary categories. Primary data are collected in the field. Secondary data are gathered from all the material that is at present available on the subject, and is always studied first when doing desk research. Desk research This method involves the search for secondary data, whether published or unpublished. A good place to begin is with a company's...

Words: 810 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Marketing Research Analysis

...\ Marketing Research Analysis MKT/421 March, 13th, 2013 Julio Nunez Marketing Research Analysis: Kudler Fine Foods In marketing we learn the various variables that companies use to market and strategize products or a message to a large base of individuals. The difference between selling a product and advertising a product is the amount of research that goes into determining who will buy the product. The most unique component about marketing is the target demographics such as age groups, gender, culture, ethnicity, and various other target audiences are the areas a marketing strategy would have to consider to be effective. With Kudler Fine foods you come to found that you have an organization that has adopted a simple motto, which has reflected in its overall success, which is “Provide their customers with the finest selected foodstuff, wines, and related needs in an unparalleled consumer environment” (University of Phoenix, 2008). As we have seen the Kudler Fine Food organization has branch into a three location in the California area. With a successful marketing strategy the Kudler Fine Food business with see a substantial increase in its business and expansion to more individuals...

Words: 931 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Management

...course Professor’s name University name City Date Introduction Every organization’s financial success is influenced by factors operating in its external and internal environment. This can be done by adopting strategies that assist in manipulating production factors to the advantage of the company. Through the understanding of this, factors that the organization can forecast change and take advantage of the change. In respect to this, macro environment contains external factors and forces that an organization cannot change them directly hence the need for the organization to adopt and manage their environment in a way that can bring financial gains (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington 2008). Pest Analysis PEST is the study of the market in respect to politics, economy, social aspect, and technology. PEST becomes more important and relevant to a large and more complex business or proposition; however, even for very small local businesses or organizations a PEST analysis is capable of detecting one or several very significant issues that might otherwise be overlooked. It is often utilised for business development and marketing assessment and decision-making; the PEST template stimulates thinking that is proactive rather than relying on instinctive or habitual reactions (Kumar 2011). Political Political issues, legislations, and policies can be analysed through this method of analysis. It allows Apple Inc. to be in touch with the happening around the political arena that...

Words: 1303 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Market Research

...Objective of market research: -To transform the research plan into an actionable plan to control drug abuse -To analyse the impact of advertisements on drug abuse -Providing recommendations to mayor based on the research conducted Market research method: Earlier to this research, many other researches were also conducted on Boston’s drug problem. Most of these researches were based on qualitative impressions of various stakeholder’s and didn’t provide initial framework for any subsequent researches. HBS field study group attempted to lay the groundwork by a collecting data primary data and analysing it with the currently existing theory. HBS field study group had three research options available Qualitative surveys, Quantitative surveys, and One-on-One interviews. Quantitative method required several testable parameters, which were not available in the subject case. One-on-one interview method was too slow and too subjective. Therefore, the study group decided to qualitative surveys based on focus groups of eight to ten individuals...

Words: 1287 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Unit 10 - Describe the Different Types of Market Research - P1

...– Describe the different types of market research (P1) In this assignment, I will be producing a report explaining and describing the different types of marketing research. What is market research? Market research is the process of collecting valuable information to help find out if there is a potential market for a new product or service. Market research is carried out in all areas of marketing activities and the information collected concerns customers, markets, responses to existing and planned marketing campaigns and the general business environment. This means that the process needs to be continuous so that trends, opportunities and threats are identified. There are two different types of market research, primary research and secondary research. Primary research Primary research consists of a collection of original primary data. There are advantages and disadvantages of primary research. There are various forms of primary research, which are: Observations Observations are a method of primary research where companies monitor customer behaviour. This can be in the form of a ‘mystery shopper’ in a store. Experimentation Experimentations are a method of primary research where an element of the marketing mix is changed. The results are then analysed. Surveys Face-to-face surveys; postal surveys; telephone surveys and email surveys are all different types of surveys used as methods of carrying out primary research. A face-to-face survey is two-way...

Words: 1074 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Open Innovation(Lrp41 2008)

...Approach to the Competitive Challenge ´ Roger Miller, Xavier Olleros and Luis Molinie Innovation is often perceived as an unmanageable phenomenon. Bets are placed on new products with the hope that a few winners will compensate for the many losers. At best, sophisticated selection procedures impose a certain discipline and provide guidance for containing costly errors. The research that we have conducted yields a more nuanced view. Innovation, we have found, becomes manageable when managers move away from universalistic prescriptions and recognise that different rules and practices apply in different contexts. Our main argument is that both executives and public officials need to learn from the new realities of innovation. Instead of being a uniform process, innovation takes place in seven distinct ‘games’, focusing on market creation, market maintenance and innovator support. Rules for managing innovation are neither generic best practices that can be applied universally, nor narrow industry-specific recipes. Instead, distinct contexts call for specific strategies and rules to create and capture market value. Thus, innovation games are not predetermined sets of rules but leave ample room for creative competition and collaboration. Our approach urges business executives and academics to reassess the validity of conventional approaches, no matter how well established. Managers should worry far less about imitating industry best practices, and more about correctly gauging strategic...

Words: 8207 - Pages: 33

Premium Essay

Gsgdg

...The International Market Selection Behavior of Thai Rice Exporters1 T. Chaiwun ABSTRACT This study focuses on the international market selection behaviour of firms within the Thai rice exporting firms located in metropolitan Thailand, an area that has previously attracted little academic research attention. In its broadest context, the research attempts to measure and explain the extent to which managers of exporting firms systematically evaluate their foreign market selection alternatives. The main research question to be asked and addressed is: “Can international market selection behaviour be measured on a scale and, if so, is that scale a continuous (unidimensional) one which ranges over both ‘opportunistic’ and ‘systematic’ market selection behavior?” A quantitative research methodology has been used in this study and data were collected by a questionnaire that was both researcher-administered and self-administered. The results from this study indicate that international market selection (IMS) behavior cannot be measured on a continuous scale but tends to be multidimensional and better represented by two separate sub-scales, i.e. ‘systematic’ and ‘opportunistic’ behavior. Two measurement scales were thus developed and labeled SSB (systematic market selection behavior) and OSB (opportunistic market selection behavior). The scales could be shown to be reliable and valid. INTRODUCTION When entering a new or expanded country market, an exporting firm faces a number of important...

Words: 4124 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

The Place to Be

...and satisfaction levels associated with international visitors who visit national parks in throughout Victoria. The research draws attention to ways in which Parks Victoria's can increase nature based tourism. Our aim was to develop and test a questionnaire for collecting the data, which provides a suitable consistent approach to international visitors, surveying for park visitation which allows for comparisons across parks and aggregation of data from selected variables. Further investigations reveal that park management requires better understanding towards international visitors, the facilities and park services. Park management require data from individual visitors, this data would include socioeconomic and cultural characteristics, experience, norms, attitudes and preferences. The questionnaire will provide detailed information regarding overall visitor satisfaction, who are the international visitors and are they getting value for money, across-park comparisons of key variables and the core data is predominantly of interest at a park level. The method of data collection has been consistently applied across all Parks and Tourism Victoria's sites by using a set of core variables. It is recommended that * As a questionnaire is an inexpensive research program, it would make an excellent starting point based on the required data. * This research insists that there is a need for a greater understanding of the facilitators for participation of international visitors...

Words: 4827 - Pages: 20

Premium Essay

Marketing Plan

... Our financial objectives are to achieve an average sales transaction of $4.50 per customer by the end of the first year and to increase the first year profit by 5% in the second year of business. The top local competitors are profitable with revenues of over $500,000 per year (Manta.com, 2010b, 2010d) and are sustainable as most have been in business for 15 years or more (Manta.com, 2010a, 2010b, 2010d). Financial projections show that the business will have positive cash flow in the first month of operations as 34% of revenue generated. Start up expense will be $22,605 with a net profit in the first year of just over $75,000. Table of Contents Executive Summary iii Table of Contents iv Situational Analysis 1 Market Research 2 Secondary Research Information 2 Demographics. 2 Industry Trends. 3 Supply Sources. 4 Industry...

Words: 10474 - Pages: 42

Premium Essay

Wil Planet Exercise

...Wild Planet adheres to in their product development? Think about non-product benefits to the child and in the long term benefits to the Wild Planet which ensue. Wild Planet conducts Market Research for each of their products. It seems like they go through the whole marketing research process as explained in figure 4.1. They are addressing their customer needs by their value proposition, which is a combination of quality, service, and price. Their products enhance kids imagination, prompt them to be active. They design toys that kids find cool, and at the same time parents can afford and would want to buy for their kids, so they are taking care of both sets of customers, parents and kids. They do ethnographic research, watch kids in their play environment. They are also involving kids in the product development, by the Kid Inventer Challenge Program. They take opinion of kids about what kind of toys they want and they also test their newest toy ideas on the kids to get direct feedback from them. They are getting information from primary data source, which is more time consuming and expensive, but it is definitely paying off for their company, as they develop a relationship with the consumers. Specifically how does wild planet involve the children in their marketing process, what type of research is/are being employed? Wild Planet is involving kids at every step of their marketing process. Their consumer is “kids”. They are using marketplace and marketspace. They are taking...

Words: 873 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Alltel

...1) The competitive strategy of the ALLTEL Pavilion is largely focused on differentiation. With no substantial competitors in the geographic region, they are looking to create an “experience” for the audience and thus maintain the sustainability of the venue. They do this primarily through solid Marketing efforts. They are focused on the making the venue and each event as profitable as possible, by making it as highly visible as possible. Working within an established marketing budget of $20,000 per event, the team analyzes demographics, options, and potential ROI in order to make decisions about how to spend this money. Looking beyond each individual event, they are also looking to build visibility for the venue.  However, in this case the strategy of differentiation should not work in a vacuum. Many experienced concert attendees may feel that the venue makes like difference to the experience that the performer brings. It is also wise to consider some cost leader strategies as well. This could be done through a more thorough look at ALLTEL’s SWOT analysis.   They have an identified strength in how best to utilize available marketing funds and appear to have a solid process in place for overall execution at the events. However, have they adequately analyzed their opportunities? How many events do they secure each year? Are there substantial gaps? Would a marketing spend that exceeds $20,000 yield a greater return with certain events? Are the present ancillary vendors providing...

Words: 269 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Coca Cola

...in the world since 1886. Coca-Cola is the first international soft drink brand to enter the Indian market in the early 1970’s. Till 1977 Coca-Cola was the leading brand in India; later, due to FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act), they left India and didn’t return till 1993. Coca-Cola had to face many issues regarding its quality, resource exploitation and market exploitation along with price-quality trade-offs. People all over India are challenging Coca-Cola for its abuse of water resource. Coca-Cola had affected both quality and quantity of ground water. Due to its waste extracts, Coca-Cola was criticized for polluting the nearby fresh water and ground water and soil; because of this issue, farmers are suffering from water scarcity. Despite all these social and cultural issues, customers are using Coca-Cola due to its strong brand reputation all over the world. This is because Indians are now using more soft drinks and the youngsters are more in this category. However, with many studies and policy changes, Coca-Cola will be able to establish its brand reputation and increase its market share in the near future. This report is prepared from an organizational point of view. The point here is to prepare a report from a consultant point of view, as Coca-Cola has hired us to do a market study and analysis on the cultural factors the company is envisaged to face in the Indian Market. Read further to gain better understanding about the impact of culture on business processes and activities...

Words: 3353 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Research Applications Paper

...Research Applications Paper Valerie Smith University of Phoenix HRM/558 Research in Human Resource Management Human resource is where you define the strategy and plan that is necessary to implement the company’s mission, goals, and vision. Also, human resources strength in decision making and implementation of strategies and hiring process is very important to the company’s bottom line. In this paper, the goals of research in HR will be discussed, the comparison of the applications of primary and secondary research, and an explanation of how reliability and validity are used and why they are important to human resource research. The goals of research in HR are to understand the resources that are available to a company. Also, research will help a company understand what weaknesses they have and also its strengths. Research in HR is also important to understand if the company is achieving the goals that they set out to do when the creation of the company was being done. Research will provide information on how to get a project started, what resources are needed, and how many employees are needed to achieve these goals. When trying to find the right employee for the company, human resources use two types of applications for research and they are primary and secondary research. Primary research is designed to answer specific questions and data is gathered directly from the market or field (Devault, 2013). Focus groups, surveys, field tests...

Words: 536 - Pages: 3