Introduction
The marketing research proposal will primarily focus on the Taste brand and the customers’ perception of its taste and communication, positioning, brand image, and brand awareness. The research question is which one of the elements is the key determining factor of the product’s low performance. The descriptive hypothesis is based on the notion that one component or combination of items has the major impact on product sales. The type of suggested study is quantitative because the questions will be closed-ended and predetermined. The data collection instrument will be questionnaires, where the respondents will give select the most influential factors and rate them.
Research Problem
The generally poor performance of the Taste brand is due to four possible causes, which are product taste and communication, product positioning, brand image, and brand awareness. Therefore, the objective is to identify the most relevant factor and take necessary actions to improve the chosen characteristic. 4P marketing mix framework is comprised of four major elements, such as product, price, place, promotion (Nuseir and Madanat, 2015). The issue is centered around the product dimension of the 4P model, where its branding and positioning corresponds to its performance. The current business needs are manifested in improving the product’s competitiveness, and thus, the marketing research will primarily address the underlying influences within the given element. In addition, it is critical to understand that any form of research should be derived from the overall strategic aims of a company.
Marketing research is one of the most important and exciting aspects of marketing. They are used by all types of organizations for a wide variety of tasks. Such research is relevant to small businesses, large corporations, technology companies, service industries, and non-profit organizations. How correctly the assigned tasks will be solved depends on the accuracy of the information possessed by the organization. It can be obtained in different ways, but in a market economy, the best way to get information is to conduct marketing research. The main emphasis in marketing is placed on identifying and meeting consumer needs, implementing marketing strategies and programs.
The purpose of market research is to provide the management of the company with information that is accurate, reliable, well-founded, up-to-date, and relevant. The highly competitive marketing environment and the ever-increasing cost of managerial mistakes require research to provide high-quality information. Effective decisions cannot be based on intuition or simple reasoning. Marketers are concerned with identifying a company’s potential, targeting a target market, segmenting the market, and planning and implementing a marketing program. There is a place to measure the success of the implementation of marketing activities and control of marketing. These decisions complicate the interaction between controlled factors of the marketing environment, such as product, price, promotion, and distribution (Hair et al., 2017). Additional complications in the activities of managers – marketers are introduced by uncontrollable environmental factors. The latter includes economic, technical, political, regulatory, competition, and social and cultural.
The marketer should also take into account the interweaving of interests of various groups of people related to the work of the company, and these can be customers, employees, shareholders, and suppliers. Marketing research helps the CMO align marketing strategy with the marketing environment and stakeholder interests. With their help, the company’s management receives the information it needs, which allows it to partially eliminate the uncertainty in business development. If it is absent, then it is impossible to predict with a sufficient degree of reliability or accuracy the reaction of consumers to the marketing programs of the company. Systematic marketing research makes it possible to obtain information about controlled and uncontrolled environmental factors and the interests of various groups. It improves the effectiveness of the decisions made by the CMO.
The research collects, analyzes, and interprets the data necessary to help the organization’s management in understanding the market environment. It is also essential to clarify problems and favorable situations, as well as in the development and conduct of promotions in the designated markets. The immediate goal of marketing research is to organize and structure the collected information in a certain way. It should be suitable for analysis and forecasting and allow analysts to make the right conclusions and recommendations (Babin and Zikmund, 2016). They, in turn, can form the basis for the development of tactics and strategies of the company. This also includes the summary and grouping of data available for visual viewing and evaluation by the company’s management to generate intuitive conclusions and apply marketing decisions.
An organization’s information needs to depend on the environment in which it operates. They are small in conditions of stability when it is easy to determine the onset of certain events without additional information, which establishes a little risk in achieving the set goals. This situation arises in the context of centralized management and planned economy, where the responsibility for decision-making lies with government bodies. In a competitive market system, most decisions are made under conditions of uncertainty, in which it is difficult to predict future events without additional information. The degree of risk in achieving a goal depends on whether the necessary information is available.
Type of Study
The type of study will be quantitative because the research already possesses a predetermined set of potential answers. The goal is to identify which one is the most relevant and plausible in the context of the Taste brand. The research design is descriptive, where the direct answers are given to the questions (Atmowardoyo, 2018). The causal model will be possible if the modified versions of the Taste product are available in order to observe the general difference in response between the variants. Another reason for selecting a quantitative approach over a qualitative one is the lack of reliability of the latter (Hair et al., 2017). Therefore, it is evident that the descriptiveness and precision of the proposed research design will enable the company to derive plausible solutions for the issue.
Marketing research occupies a special place in modern conditions of market competition. They provide operational information that allows the management of the organization to assess whether the results of their current activities are consistent with planned goals. All this makes it possible to properly organize the work of the enterprise, avoid numerous mistakes, and improve the quality of products. In addition, it is important to understand the qualitative and quantitative methodologies applied to marketing objectives. In order to do this, one needs to describe the qualitative and quantitative methods that allow him or her to obtain the necessary information to improve the marketing policy of the company. Qualitative methods include focus group method, observation, and in-depth interviews, and quantitative ones involve surveys, questionnaires, and experiments (Hair et al., 2017). It is important to focus on the main features and differences of these techniques, as well as on their significance and application in obtaining primary information.
It is critical to note the fact that carrying out any research is a rather complicated procedure. In order to avoid various errors that can serve as the basis for incorrect conclusions, it is necessary to accurately plan each action at all stages. The procedures accompanying each step should be methodologically sound, well-documented, and, as much as possible, planned in advance. Only well-organized work allows researchers to quickly conduct research and obtain data of interest to the company.
Marketing research is the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, dissemination, and use of information to solve marketing problems. To achieve the goals and objectives of the research formulated in the program, it is necessary to choose the most appropriate method for collecting primary data. The collection methods fall into two main classes, such as quantitative and qualitative (Babin and Zikmund, 2016). Quantitative methods are based on the assumption that mass phenomena are statistical in nature. That is, if one studies a sufficiently large number of manifestations of the event under study, then the phenomenon itself will be cognized. Objects are interchangeable, and their individual characteristics, as such, are not of particular interest to the researcher. In this case, it is sufficient to have a representative sample, which allows the results obtained on the sample to be extended to the general population. A sample is representative when the researcher is able to control its random errors. In other words, it is possible for him or her to ensure that the sampling error with a given probability does not exceed a certain acceptable value.
The main features of quantitative research methods include the use of statistical measurement. In addition, there is a selective method as the basis for the application of the mathematical methodological frameworks and the possibility of classifying the data obtained. This approach also has a rigid structure that allows comparative studies. Quantitative methods are most effective when information is needed on the socio-demographic characteristics of the consumer and the level of consumption of a given product. In addition, it is appropriate when all sorts of classifications of the object of study are needed by lifestyle, opinion, intention, motivation, and behavior.
Summary of Data Collection
The data collection method will be based on questionnaires due to their overall simplicity and effectiveness in this case. The research already possesses a category of potential causes, and thus, written questions are useful in identifying the weight of each factor. One of the most effective and simplest quantitative data collection methods is the questionnaire. The intent of the questionnaire is based on obtaining information from respondents who answer the questions asked to them. Respondents are asked a variety of questions about their buying behavior, intentions, relationships, awareness, motivation, demographics, and lifestyle. Items can be requested orally, in writing, or using a computer, and answers can be obtained in any of these three ways.
As a rule, the questions are structured, which means that some standardization of the information-gathering process is assumed. In structured data collection, a formalized questionnaire is developed, and questions are asked in a predetermined order. This method of the questionnaire is also called direct, and structured direct questioning is the most popular method of data collection and involves designing a questionnaire. Most of the questions on a typical questionnaire are multiple-choice questions, where the respondent is asked to choose the most appropriate answer from several options.
Various factors influence the quality of the information obtained using the questionnaire. On the one hand, there are factors related to the personality of the respondent. This includes the level of education, culture, properties of memory, protective mechanisms of the psyche, attitude to the problem under study, and to the organization or person conducting the survey. On the other hand, there are factors associated with the activities of the researcher himself, from professionalism in the choice of questions to the skill of the interviewer or interviewer. The results of the survey are negatively affected by the presence of strangers during the examination, the poorly chosen time and place of the questionnaire, and the failure to comply with the principles of anonymity.
Since it is difficult to completely get rid of negative factors, work is needed to minimize their impact on research. This requires strict adherence to regulatory requirements for the use of survey methods. It is important to clearly define the research objectives, on the basis of which the content of the questionnaire is built. The researchers need the availability of the proposed formulations of questions to the respondents, ensuring their understanding. Training interviewers in the techniques of working with respondents is critical. There needs to be the accuracy of recording answers among the subjects, standardizing the conditions for conducting a survey, stimulating their interest in participating in a study.
It is important to note that the questionnaire method has a number of advantages. First, it is easy to carry out because it is not necessary to visit respondents by handing over the questionnaire by mail or by telephone. In addition, there is no need to use technical means and attract highly qualified professionals, as in the case of using the focus group method, in-depth interviews. Secondly, the answers received are reliable, since the number of given answer options is limited. By using multiple-choice questions, one can eliminate discrepancies in results caused by differences in survey technique. Finally, the processes of encoding, analyzing, and interpreting data are relatively straightforward.
The disadvantages include the fact that sometimes respondents are unwilling or unable to provide the required information. For example, when answering questions about motivation, respondents may not be aware of their motives for purchasing certain goods or making purchases in certain department stores. Therefore, they are unable to accurately answer their intentions. Respondents may be reluctant to respond if the requested information is personal or concerns their feelings. In addition, responses to standardized and multiple-choice questions may not be valid for certain data, such as emotions and beliefs. Finally, it is quite difficult to correctly formulate the questionnaire. Nevertheless, despite these shortcomings, the survey is currently the method that is used more widely than others to obtain primary information in marketing research.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important to understand that the research objective is to identify which one of the four factors has the most impact on the Taste product’s performance. The type of study is quantitative due to the presence of a predetermined set of potential answers, which means that closed-ended questions will be implemented. In addition, the data collection tool will utilize questionnaires due to their overall effectiveness and simplicity.
Reference List
Atmowardoyo, H. (2018) ‘Research methods in TEFL studies: descriptive research, case study, error analysis, and R&D’, Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(1), pp. 197-204.
Babin, B. J. and Zikmund, W. J. (2016) Exploring marketing research. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Hair, J. et al. (2017) Essentials of marketing research. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Nuseir, M. T. and Madanat, H. (2015) ‘4Ps: a strategy to secure customers’ loyalty via customer satisfaction’, International Journal of Marketing Studies, 7(4), pp. 78-87.
