Assignment:
RESEARCH PAPER on ENTERPRISE (rental car service
Each student will select a topic or subject for which an in-depth research marketing analysis will be prepared. The students will need to quickly select the topic or subject, as they will need to immediately start compiling research information. See Appendix A for detailed information about the content of your analysis.
This paper will be required to follow APA format with a minimum of 15 references. The paper should be a minimum of 10-15 pages (i.e., calculations, graphs, etc. should be included as appendices and do not count toward the 10-15 page count.). The paper is expected to be in the general format discussed in Appendix A.
Your first draft is due in class 4 and the second draft is due in class 7. Your digital copy will be loaded in each of week 4 and 7 in the Coursework section of the course online.
Marketing Research Process (1 of 3)
Marketing research, like any other research, is founded on the scientific method. The scientific method is a systematic way to investigate any phenomenon. It is easy to have a hunch about why something sells, but businesses don't like making decisions involving millions of dollars based on hunches. Only rigorous research can tell us what we want to know.
Like other forms of scientific research, marketing research proceeds in a sequence of steps. The activities overlap, but generally follow the pattern shown below.
Let's examine these steps with the help of an example.
1. Defining the research objective
2. Planning the research design
3. Planning a sample
4. Collecting the data
5. Analyzing the data
6. Formulating the conclusions and preparing the final report
Marketing Research Process (2 of 3)
The financial services industry predominantly markets its products through direct sales. Companies such as Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, AXA, or Met Brokerage have several thousand brokers selling their products through one-on-one conversations. Despite their experience in the industry, they make sure the ask customers what they think of their salespeople. Northwestern Mutual, for example, has over a hundred-year history and still asks what makes a good salesperson. One reason why researchers are still working to answer that question is to discover ways in which recruiting and retention can be improved in an industry that experiences approximately 25% retention.
Defining the research objectives
The first step of conducting market research is deciding what you want to know. You should then create a hypothesis, a formal statement explaining the expected outcome of your research. For example, a financial services company might want to know how customers react to salespeople, and how much of a difference, say, the age, education, or appearance of a salesperson may make to a sale. Therefore, a hypothesis might be that older, more experienced, more articulate salespeople are more likely to convince consumers to make purchases.
Planning the research design
After developing a hypothesis, you must create a research design. This means that you must select a research method to suit the research. You can conduct surveys, analyze secondary data, perform experiments, or observe real-life occurrences. For example, a company could ask customers to fill out surveys about its salespeople. The company could even correlate salespeople's survey results to their sales.
Marketing Research Process (3 of 3)
Planning a sample
Sampling is studying a representative part of a population rather than the whole population. In our example, it might be useful to survey some customers who made a purchase and some who didn't. You must select an appropriate sample size to be sure you can generalize your study's conclusions to a larger population.
Collecting the data
You can collect data by hand or using computers. Do you think survey results differ when taken on computers rather that administered in person by researchers? Such questions need careful attention in the research process.
Analyzing the data
Raw data are just numbers. They tell a story only once you have analyzed them. Statistical analysis of quantitative date is therefore an important part of market research. You must also analyze qualitative data before you can draw conclusions.
In our example, the raw data may be respondents' answers to questions about whether the age of the salesperson matters.
Respondents may have rated the importance of age on a scale of 1 to 5, producing raw data. You need to analyze that data before you can say, for example, that 40% of respondents trust older salespeople.
Formulating the conclusions and preparing the final report.
Data analysis is the basis for drawing conclusions. In our example, you would make a judgment about whether 40% is high enough a proportion to be considered important. If it is high enough, you would draw the conclusion that the age of the salesperson is an important factor.
Researchers wouldn't choose to present management with a bad statement of the conclusion. They would explain something of the research effort, but ensuring that they don't bore the audience. They would present the conclusions and support them with date and analysis. In other words, they would convince the audience that the research is sound and its conclusions trustworthy.
As a final reminder you will follow APA format for your actual paper and include references as you think are pertinent to your project.
Powerpoint Presentation of the Paper
Each student will load a powerpoint presentation of the results of his or her (see above). The presentation will count 100 points or 10% toward the final average.
Guidelines for and Frequently Asked Questions about the presentation:
When is presentation?
You should prepare slides to present the main issues.
What key information should you cover in your presentation?
•Cursory overview of your chosen topic
•Results of your analysis
•What you saw in Appendices A & B - were there any major results in your primary research? What does your primary research show to support your secondary research or vice versa?
•What is your project's beta coefficient? What is the other important statistical data you determined such as standard deviation, linear regression calculations, etc.?
•Your final thoughts on the research results and its application to good marketing principles?