Marketing Research and Buyer Behavior
How to increase the brand loyalty towards Coke?
The objective is to ascertain the factors that increase the brand loyalty of teenagers between the ages of 13 to 19 towards Coke.
Create your sampling design:
There will be a two step sampling process.
1. A discount on Coke will be launched in five states of USA where the study is to be carried out.
2. The five states have been selected randomly with the help of a random number generator.
3. In each of the five states a discount program for Coke drinkers will be launched where on a website answering two questions namely your e-mail ID and age group will allow the user to get a discount coupon on Coke.
4. A sample of those Coke drinkers between the age group of 13 -19 will be selected randomly and the questionnaire mailed to them.
Care will be taken that each state has a proportionate representation in the sample that is selected. The sampling frame will be all Coke drinkers in the USA and the sample size will be 50 respondents from each state.
Create your data collection, measurement instrument(s), and data preparation design.
The questionnaires will be sent to drinkers of Coke and will be asked to complete the questionnaire.
The questionnaire will not save the answers unless all questions are answered.
The completed measurement instruments will be examined for all extreme answers or a particular answering pattern. Only if judgment and scrutiny pass the instruments will the instruments be used for data analysis.
The three point check for the data preparation will be to scrutinize for extreme values, check if there is a perceptible pattern of answering and check if most answers have originated from a particular area.
The design of the instrument will be:
Response Continuum: Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree
There will be a pilot test for scale development and a small sample of respondents will be used for that.
The items in the instrument will be:
1. On the whole I like the taste of Coca Cola COKE.
2. I would like Coca Cola COKE to be sweeter.
3. I want my Coca Cola COKE to taste bitter..
4. I will buy Coca Cola COKE when I am presented with five brands of soft drinks..
5. I like drinking Coca Cola COKE because of its taste..
6. I do not prefer drinking Coca Cola COKE
7. I love drinking Coca Cola COKE.
8. I do not like the taste of Coca Cola COKE.
9. I do not like the color of Coca Cola COKE.
10. I do not like the flavor of Coca Cola COKE.
The negative items on the questionnaire will be separate and their scores reversed.
This questionnaire will give the attitudes of respondents towards Coca Cola COKE. The reason why we are finding out the attitude of respondents is that those with positive attitude have a commitment towards the brand and those are the persons who will purchase the brand even when they have access to other brands.
Market Research Proposal:
1. There will be a research done on theory related to brand loyalty. In particular, the studies that are related to affective components, cognitive confidence and attitude strength that build brand integrity and brand loyalty will be studied and their import distilled.
2. There will be secondary research done from existing studies and statistics on the soft drinks industries. Syndicated studies on the soft drinks industries will be assessed from the perspective of brand loyalty.
3. There will be a primary research done on a sample size of 250 persons. Five states in the US will be selected randomly, in these states an offer of discount coupons will given for Coca Cola COKE. The person would have to indicate his age group and e-mail addresses. Randomly selected respondents will be sent a questionnaire that will test their attitudes towards Coca Cola COKE. The study will attempt to unearth the factors important for building brand commitment and brand loyalty.
4. In the questionnaire a Likert like scale will be used.
5. Factor analysis will be done to find out the factors that may define brand commitment and brand credibility.
6. The study will gain an understanding of the factors responsible for improving the attitude strengths of the customers, advancing the affective conviction of the customers, increasing brand integrity, perking up brand commitment and increasing brand loyalty.
Define different types of data:
1. There will be two types of data used; One from secondary sources and second from primary sources.
2. For the secondary sources the AMA Demographic Service data, AC Nielsen, Information Resources Inc, TNS and Synovate Consumer Opinion Panel will be used to collect panel data. We also intend to use international online panels to ascertain the factors that will increase the brand loyalty of Coca Cola COKE in the international market.
3. The online panels that will be used include Harris Interactive and Survey Sampling International.
4. However, there will also be need to use primary data. The reason is that secondary data is collected for a different reason. There are problems of definition, comparability over time and lack of awareness of sources of error.
5. Primary research will be carried out and teens between the age of 13 and 19 will be surveyed for factors that will improve attitudes towards Coca Cola COKE, increase brand commitment and improve brand loyalty.
6. The survey will initially be conducted in five states of the USA.
Measure market demand and segment the market to achieve competitive advantage.
This is what the website https://www.rts-resource.com says:
“The demand for soft drinks, sweet and savory was $6,14 bn in 2005, this demand is requested to reach $7bn by 2010 in terms of volume. In terms of volume usage, this works up to 315,000 tonnes in 2010.from the current 280,000 tonnes in 2005.
The increase in the demand is expected to come mainly from the Asia-Pacific markets and Eastern Europe.” (https://www.rts-resource.com)
In other words the fastest growing markets are expected to be Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe.
Coca Cola COKE should target that market for increased global sales.
Create your data analysis design
1. The data collected from the Likert scale in the survey will be averaged and standard deviation found to get an overall idea of the attitudes of the respondents towards Coca Cola COKE.
2. Next the item wise scores will be calculated for the ten items in the questionnaires. This will give a detailed description of the variables.
3. Finally I will conduct a factor analysis and extract three main factors that can be used to improve customer attitudes and brand loyalty.
Reference:
Malhotra, N. (5th ED.)(2001), Marketing research: An applied orientation, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ
Market Trends and Forecasts (2007), retrieved on August 4, 2007 from
https://www.rts-resource.com