Marketing Research Assignment
SECTION A: Multiple Choice Questions
Q1. The degree to which measures are free from random error and therefore yield consistent results over time and across situations is the basic purpose of:
a) Validity
b) Testability
c) Reliability
d) Sensitivity
Q2. Secondary data is commonly used for:
a) Fact finding to identify consumption patterns and trends
b) Collecting data for customer databases to segment customers and develop direct marketing initiatives
c) Model building to estimate market potential and forecast sales for new product development
d) All of the above
Q3. Consumer ethnography is:
a) An unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small group of people
b) Anthropology and sociology based studying of consumers through observation and immersion
c) Designed to obtain information from one or a few situations that are similar to the researcher's
d) A direct approach to qualitative research that poses questions about information sourced from historical records
Q4. When a respondent in a personal interview is asked questions about shopping at a specific department store in the shopping mall, and then is asked general questions about shopping at that mall, what type of mistake has been made in questionnaire design?
a) Filter effect
b) Order bias
c) Double-barreled effect
d) Loaded effect
Q5. The main purpose of discovery-oriented marketing research is to:
a) decide what to do about a planned change.
b) find out what is happening and why.
c) try out a new product in a test market.
d) describe changes in the internal environment.
Q6. The research proposal:
a) is used primarily to summarize the problem definition process.
b) does not include proposed research methods.
c) lays out the proposed method of conducting the research.
d) is a request to a researcher who will study the problem.
Q7. The major emphasis in exploratory research is on:
a) determining the frequency with which something occurs.
b) the discovery of ideas and insights.
c) the relationship between two variables.
d) determining cause-and-effect relationships.
Q8. Which of the following might NOT be considered a benefit of using secondary data?
a) Secondary data help clarify the problem under investigation better.
b) Secondary data cost less to collect than primary data.
c) Secondary data suggest improved methods or data for addressing research problems.
d) Secondary data fit the problem under investigation better.
Q9. Which of the following is FALSE?
a) Internal secondary data is the least costly of any type of marketing research.
b) Secondary data usually has the advantage of being faster to collect than primary data.
c) Although secondary data provides a good starting point for a research project, it will always be necessary to collect primary data at some point.
d) One of the advantages of secondary data is that secondary data generally is much less costly to collect than primary data.
Q10. Which of the following is NOT an example of primary data collection?
a) Telephone survey of manufacturers.
b) Computerized literature search of Google.com to learn about the U.S. trade deficit.
c) Asking restaurant patrons to complete a survey after their meal and dropping it in the suggestion box before exiting.
d) Observation of oil patches in driveways of homes to determine the socioeconomic status of the neighbourhood.
Q11. Which of the following statements is NOT true of motives?
a) Marketers have an interest in consumer motives because it is believed that motives are stable and thus offer a strong basis for predicting future behavior.
b) A motive might be considered an inner state that produces goal-oriented behavior.
c) For marketing purposes, motives and attitudes are essentially the same thing.
d) Marketers believe that an understanding of the motives behind a behavior might allow them to better influence future behavior.
Q12. Which of the following is an example of the communication method of obtaining data?
a) The researcher classifies people into social class strata by personally rating the furniture in their homes via on-site visits.
b) A researcher infers people's reactions to a product display by noting how long they stand in front of it.
c) A researcher assesses the popularity of various museum exhibits by noting tile wear in front of each exhibit.
d) A researcher measures consumer attitudes by means of subjects' responses in a one-to-one interview
Q13. Which of the following is considered a strength of the observation method:
a) can give very good estimates for past behavior.
b) depends on the memory and mood of the respondent in the reporting of an occurrence.
c) is considered to be more objective than the communication method.
d) is generally a faster means of data collection than the communication method
Q14. When a researcher wants to study the members of the Curtin Marketing Association (CMA), and selects a sample from its membership list, the membership list is an example of a(n):
a) Sampling frame
b) Reverse directory
c) Systematic sampling list
d) All of the above
Q15. A research study that publishes findings indicating that "Curtin undergraduate students Attitude Towards Smoking Cigarettes on Campus rose by 0.86 measurement units as their Susceptibility to Normative Influences increased by 1
measurement unit", is demonstrating which type of research:
a) Casual
b) Exploratory
c) Descriptive
d) Causal
Q16. When the head of the marketing research department instructs field interviewers to interview owners of DVD players in a shopping mall such that they each interviews 10 Sony owners, 8 Panasonic owners, 6 Toshiba owners, and 4 owners of other brands, this represents what type of sampling procedure?
a) Systematic sample
b) Area sample
c) Quota sample
d) Multistage sample
Q17. Which of the following are examples of projective techniques:
a) Word association tests, sentence completion, role-playing, thematic apperception
b) Consumer ethnography, sentence completion, role-playing, thematic apperception
c) Word association tests, in-depth interviews, role-playing, thematic apperception
d) Word association tests, sentence completion, role-playing, focus groups
Q18. When a respondent is asked how a new product tastes and he answers: "Poor," and the interviewer asks: "What do you mean by ‘poor'?", this is an example of:
a) a verbatim question
b) verification
c) interviewer cheating
d) a probe
Q19. A research study that publishes findings indicating that "250,000 "Surfer Barbie®" dolls were purchased between June 2013 and January 2015 in Perth, by female parents aged 28-35" is demonstrating which type of research:
a) Casual
b) Exploratory
c) Descriptive
d) Causal
Q20. Which of the following is the best example of a good "research objective":
a) To increase sales of Nandos new Periburger by 34% amongst all 18 - 25 year old male customers during February - March 2014
b) To sell more chicken stuff
c) To increase brand awareness of Nandos' new slogan by 34% amongst all 18
- 25 year old male customers during February - March 2014
d) To determine 18 - 25 year old, male Nandos customers' brand awareness of their new slogan from February - March 2014
SECTION B: Short Answer Questions
QUESTION 1: FOCUS GROUPS AND INTERVIEWS
You have been hired to conduct a research project for a local sporting club in your city. The club has identified the following research problem:
"The young people of your city are no longer using the sporting club as a means for regular exercise or community participation"
You are required to run a QUALITATIVE research study to further explore this problem and determine possible solutions.
a) Develop 3 research questions you will explore through the study to best address the research problem
b) Who should the sample of your study be (use specific application of the 3 most important segmentation bases of the population), and why?
c) Describe how you could implement a systematic AND a stratified sampling procedure to collect data on the population in this study.
Now the sample has been considered, the focus group data collection methodology is to be utilized to address this research problem.
d) Describe a desirable focus group environment. Ensure it is relevant to your research problem and the methodology implemented.
e) List and describe 4 ways in which the moderator of these focus groups could influence the data collected (for better or worse):
The researchers have decided to further explore the research questions you developed through some semi-structured in-depth interviews.
f) Develop 3 in-depth interview questions, in order, and with their intended wording. Explain the reasoning behind such questions, and develop 3 probes for each. (9 marks)
"In-depth interview Question 1":
Explanation of question and probing:
"In-depth interview Question 2":
Explanation of question and probing:
"In-depth interview Question 3":
Explanation of question and probing:
QUESTION 2: MEASUREMENT AND QUESTIONNAIRES
Exhibit 1.1 shows an extract of a questionnaire the sporting club has developed for a study on current members' satisfaction of their facilities. The survey was conducted using the club's membership listing as a sample frame.
Exhibit 1.1: Sporting Club Questionnaire
1. How often do you use the facilities at the club? Please check one. Infrequently
Occasionally Frequently All the time
2. A total of $3 Million was spent installing brand new facilities and employing coaches and other professional staff. Are you satisfied with the facilities at the sporting club and the assistance provided by it's staff?
Yes No
3. Compared to the top three sporting clubs in Perth, how would you rank this club?
Better
About the Same Worse off
No comment
a. Identify the main issue with each of the questions in Exhibit 1.1 and why it is an issue.
Develop an improved alternative question (including items, anchors, scale points, etc.) to replace the original in the questionnaire.
Question 1 in Exhibit 1.1 is not a good question because:
It should be replaced by this question:
Question 2 in Exhibit 1.1 is not a good question because:
It should be replaced by this question:
Question 3 in Exhibit 1.1 is not a good question because:
It should be replaced by this question:
You have been tasked with examining who non-users of the sporting club are, and why they do not utilize its services.
b. Produce a nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scale question that address this aim. These should include the question, as well as sufficient instructions, items, scale points, and scale anchors. (4 marks)
Nominal question:
Ordinal question:
Interval question:
Ratio question:
c. Develop 1 semantic differential and 1 constant-sum scale to explore what attributes of sporting clubs are most important to the school students.
These should include the question, as well as sufficient instructions, items, scale points, and scale anchors. (6 marks)
Semantic differential:
Constant sum:
It has been decided that the full research instrument should be pre-tested to ensure that it is performing as effectively as possible.
d. 2 reasons for pretesting this questionnaire are: (4 marks)
Reason 1:
Reason 2:
e. Describe who a suitable sample of respondents for the pretest is:
QUESTION 3: INTERPRETING AND COMMUNICATING RESULTS (25 marks)
You are a research consultant hired by a group of video game developers to research the ways in which consumers play video games. The group specializes in sports, actions, and family games.
After conducting exploratory research through several focus groups and in-depth interviews, you have collected a large amount of qualitative data.
You have identified the quotes below (Exhibit 3) as most useful.
Exhibit 3:
"I think fanatics would be likely to get into very severe arguments to defend their interest. People who would be an Xbox fanatic would go crazy online if someone was to say PlayStation was better."
"All gamers think they are better than other gamers."
"There are some people that just get sooooo into gaming, it's their life and the way they see themselves, whilst others don't even care."
"If there was a Zelda t-shirt I wouldn't buy it, even though it's my favourite franchise ever. I think it would be upsetting to see other people who aren't really into it wearing stuff you like because it's a part of your identity."
"Fanatics are freaks!"
"I bought all the sailor moon figurines when I was in Japan; I think it's just if you love the character you want to be surrounded by it"
"The people who would have been teasing gamers back when we were in primary school and high school, like jocks, they probably all play Call Of Duty now."
"When I see people at parties playing Fifa, I know that I'm a better gamer than them and that I could destroy them in the game, so I don't even want to be associated with them."
"In gaming you could go really far, because there are such fanatical fan bases for certain things. For some, if Nintendo made an anything, they would buy it. Like on 4Chan there's this awesome thread of people comparing all the stuff they've got."
"I would never attend a gaming convention, it would be full of nerds and geeks."
"I spend so much of my time thinking about games that I don't know what I would do if I couldn't play them. Others are probably thinking about sports or what they are doing on the weekend, but I'm thinking about that next time I'm playing League of Legends and strategizing how I'm going to play it."
a) From the qualitative data provided, list and describe 3 themes that have emerged, with specific reference to the data in Exhibit 3.
Theme 1:
Theme 2:
Theme 3:
This research was also supported with a descriptive quantitative study of which the following results were found (see Table 5).
Table 5: Video game consumers' descriptive results (Sample size = 256)
Group1 Age2 Genre3 Other4 Involvement5
Sports 22.5 12.1 1.5 3.5
Action 16.5 12.2 10.8 5.3
Family 35.4 3.1 1.4 2.8
1 Genre of video games respondents most commonly play
2 Mean age of respondents
3 Median hours spent playing this genre of video games per week
4 Median hours spent playing other genres of video games per week
5 Question: To what extent do you feel interest and enthusiasm towards participating in the video game sub-culture? Measure: 7 point Likert Scale anchored with 1 (Strongly Disagree), 4 (Neutral), and 7 (Strongly Agree) Statistic: Mean
b) Based upon your interpretation of the findings in Table 5, make 3 conclusions about the consumer groups depicted.
Ensure you discuss the psychographic profile of a typical consumer for each of the (distinct) groups.
Make reference to several variables from Table 5 to support your interpretation of the data. (9 marks)
Sports
Action
Family
c) Which of the group or groups is not "involved" with video gaming as indicated in Table 5.
d) Your clients are looking to develop a series of marketing communications to promote their video games.
Based upon the qualitative and quantitative findings detailed in Exhibit 3 and Table 5, detail 2 recommendations for your client to maximize the effectiveness of their campaign.
Recommendations need to be specific strategies linked with the 4Ps of marketing.
Make specific reference to the qualitative and quantitative data / results to support your recommendations. (6 marks)
Recommendation 1:
Recommendation 2:
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.