Cases and Examples: Amity Business School

Amity Business School
Cases and examples

Concepts that need clarificationsAmity Business School
• Basic and applied research

• Market research process
• Problem identification and formulation
• Research designs:
• Exploratory
• Conclusive
– Descriptive and Causal
• Qualitative and quantitative

BASIC AND APPLIED RESEARCH Amity Business School
Basic Applied
•Pure •Research conducted
•Research conducted when a decision must
to expand knowledge be made about a real
•Verify acceptability to life problem.
a theory
•To learn more about a
concept
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE 1 Amity Business School
• A study published in the journal of marketing

noted that delivering consistently good service is
difficult as organizations have realized
• Attempting to explain why?
– Author collected data via personal and group
interviews with managers and employees in various
service organizations
– Identified various factors that potentially affect service
quality
-contd
Intent of the study not to solve the specific

problem rather it was to seek insights by
collecting information or observations
about service quality from managers and
employees
Practical example 2 Amity Business School
• Research was under taken by Coca-Cola to

determine whether convenience store shoppers
prefer fountain cokes to bottled or canned cokes.
• The researchers found that thirst satisfaction is
the priority among consumers visiting
convenience stores with self –service gasoline
pumps
• These consumers buy a large size fountain drink
85% of the time
EXAMPLES Amity Business School
• Should we increase the price of our

laundry detergent from Rs120/= a kg to
Rs135/= a kg
• Should we pack in glass or plastic
containers
• Should we offer coupons to stimulate
consumer demand for our product?
MARKET RESEARCH Amity Business School
PROCESS
JUSTIFY NEED FOR MARKET RESEARCH
KFC Case
• In a major push to become a prominent player in
the brazilian market, KFC (kentucky fried
chicken) researched brazilian consumers and
decided to open operations in sao paulo
• However, although the research identified how a
potential customer segment viewed KFC, it did
not include thorough research of possible
competition
contd
• KFC failed to ask potential customers

to compare its products to popular
charcoal-broiled chicken available on almost
every corner of the city
• Brazilians found the local chicken tastier

than colonel’s recipe
• Information generated was therefore not

complete enough to be useful
2.Resources available for Amity Business School
implementation
Situation A
Brenda Page, product manager for
Healthy Life corporation, is wondering
whether or not to conduct marketing
research to estimate the likely market
share for Natslim, a new, all natural, diet
soft drink
-contd
On the basis of production and market cost estimates for

Natslim, its break even sales translate into a 10% share
of the diet drink market.
Currently 30 brands of diet drink are on the market.
Three brands have been leading sellers for the long time
and enjoy a market share in excess of 20% each ,
whereas each of the other brands has a share of 5%or
less.
----contd
Page believes Natslim is as good as any other

brand on the market. How ever , she is uncertain
about the market share Natslim may attract if it
is introduced. From her experience and
understanding of the diet-drink market, she
estimates that Natslim’s share will range from 2
to 8%, with an outside chance of exceeding 8%
----contd
Should Page test –market Natslim before

making a decision about full-scale
production?
Situation B
Jerry Wilson , a advertising manager for Nice

smell corporation, is uncertain about which of
two television commercials X or Y, to use for his
company’s brand of deodorant.
-contd
Commercial X employs a fear appeal:
– A man wearers a competing brand of deodorant, only to

be embarrassed later at a party where every one avoids
him, apparently because his deodorant is ineffective
-Contd
Commercial Y uses a romantic appeal; a

man wears Nice Smell’s brand of
deodorant ,goes to a party , and is pleased
to discover that several women are
attracted to him, apparently because of the
effectiveness of his deodorant.
• Risk involved in making decision is greater

in ----- case.
• Choosing right commercial ensures
success if NSC
• Benefits of MR is more in situation B than
in situation A
DEFINE RESEARCH Amity Business School
OBJECTIVES
SCENERIO
Pac N’ Sac, Inc., producer of a variety of paper

containers for consumer products , suffered a sales
decline of 15% during the past year. Alarmed by this
sharp decline and wondering whether or not a change in
the promotional strategy would help boost sales, Pac N’
Sac’s marketing manager contacted marketing research
department.
-contd
The research department proposed a well

designed comprehensive customer study to
evaluate promotional strategies, including the
one then being used. The marketing manager
reviewed the proposed study found it to be
sound , and approved it.
-contd
Does anything appear wrong with the

approach taken by the marketing
manager and the research department in
attempting to arrest Pac N’ Sac sales
decline?
-contd
Yes, marketing manager assumed that the

problem was apparently with promotional
strategy------
If this assumption is wrong- research may

be valueless.
-contd
What if the cause of the sales decline is really customer

perceptions that Pac N’ Sac’s products are over priced
or have deteriorated in quality?
Under these circumstances even the best promotional

strategy that you select from the different alternatives
will do little to boost sales if promotion is not the cause of
the sales decline in the first place.
-contd
What if total industry sales of paper containers

had declined by 30% during the past year
because of stiff competition from new , non
paper containers?
In this situation, the decline in industry sales is

the real problem, and Pac N’ Sac’s sales decline
is merely a symptom of it.
MR will prove less useful…….

IMPORTANT LESSON
AT LEAST SOME TIME AND EFFORT MUST

BE EXPENDED VERY EARLY IN THE
RESEARCH PROCESS TO IDENTIFY THE
CORRECT PROBLEM TO BE RESEARCHED.
CONDUCT SOME EXPLORATORY

RESEARCH TO DEFINE PROBLEM
ACCURATELY , BEFORE DESIGNING THE
PROJECT
Avoid making mistake in problem
definition.
Case: Mc Donald’s Arch deluxe

Buoyed by its success in attracting children with happy meals

,Mc Donald embarked on capturing more adults to revive
sagging profits.
The company introduced the Arch Deluxe burger with an

unprecedented marketing campaign, touting it as “the burger
with the grown up taste.”
However , Arch Deluxe received only luke warm support from

adults despite heavy spending on promotion.
-contd
• Did McDonald's conduct any MR before deciding

to introduce Arch Deluxe?
• Yes It did
• In fact the research indicated that Mc Donald’s

target adults thought Arch Deluxe was unique,
appealing, and definitely something they would
buy.
-contd
Then what went wrong?
-contd
• The consensus of the industry analysts and

experts is that the research the company
commissioned, though quite sophisticated,
focused solely on product attributes because of
the apparent assumption that a “bigger and
better hamburger” was all that mattered in
influencing adult consumer’s choice.
-contd
Thus the research examined the “wrong”

problem in that it failed to investigate what adult
consumers look for in a fast-food restaurant.
Instead of seeking to under stand the dietary

needs of adult consumers Mc Donald’s research
concentrated on developing a “me too” product.
-contd
• This error, in turn, stemmed from

management’s apparent eagerness to
compete with Burger king’s Deluxe
category
-contd
• Had management been less myopic and

considered the needs of the adult market
rather than focusing solely on product
attributes, the “problem” addressed by the
consumer research would have
encompassed more than just evaluating
the Arch deluxe burger.
• Other wise the money spent on research
would have yield more relevant insights.
Mc Donald’s focused only on one issue-
Company’s should try

focus initially on all
pertinent issues
IDENTIFY DATA NEEDS Amity Business School
Answer depends upon how clearly we

have defined research objectives.
Scenario :
Consolidated Bakeries, marketer of a national Brand of
snack food items, decide to conduct MR to evaluate its
market position relative to competitors. Specifically, the
purpose of the research is to determine current market
share and ascertain whether consolidated Bakeries
relative market share is likely to improve ,stay the same,
or deteriorate during the next several years.
What kind of data should Consolidated Bakeries collect
through the research project?
Data need to accomplish first part of CB

research purpose: to determine current
market share:
– Its own sales figures and total industry sales figures
• Data requirements for fulfilling the second less

concrete part of research purpose- to asses CB
future market position-are not as clear cut.
• A variety of data may be able to shed light on
what the future looks like for CB, although none
are likely to provide complete and accurate
picture.
-contd
1. Brand loyalty of consumers towards CB

1. Has CB consistently enjoyed a loyal clientele up to now?
2. If so, its future market position will probably be as good as its current
position
2. The market shares of CB’s competitors and trends in market

shares during the past several years.
1. Does consolidated Bakeries have any large ,strong competitor(s), or
2. Is its competition spread across a number of relatively weak firms?
3. In the past has CB’s market share been increasing, holding steady or
declining? What about the shares of its competitors?
Answer to these questions can provide some clues about what the future may
hold for CB
3. Consumers perception about CB’s snack foods and about competing brands
on dimensions such as quality, price and availability.
CASE ON RESEARCH PROCESS
NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES AT

BURGER KING

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Amity Business School

Cases and examples

• Basic and applied research

• Qualitative and quantitative

• A study published in the journal of marketing

Intent of the study not to solve the specific

• Research was under taken by Coca-Cola to

• Should we increase the price of our

• KFC failed to ask potential customers

• Brazilians found the local chicken tastier

• Information generated was therefore not

On the basis of production and market cost estimates for

Currently 30 brands of diet drink are on the market.

Page believes Natslim is as good as any other

Should Page test –market Natslim before

Jerry Wilson , a advertising manager for Nice

Commercial X employs a fear appeal:

– A man wearers a competing brand of deodorant, only to

Commercial Y uses a romantic appeal; a

• Risk involved in making decision is greater

Pac N’ Sac, Inc., producer of a variety of paper

The research department proposed a well

Does anything appear wrong with the

Yes, marketing manager assumed that the

If this assumption is wrong- research may

What if the cause of the sales decline is really customer

Under these circumstances even the best promotional

What if total industry sales of paper containers

In this situation, the decline in industry sales is

MR will prove less useful…….

AT LEAST SOME TIME AND EFFORT MUST

CONDUCT SOME EXPLORATORY

Case: Mc Donald’s Arch deluxe

Buoyed by its success in attracting children with happy meals

The company introduced the Arch Deluxe burger with an

However , Arch Deluxe received only luke warm support from

• Did McDonald's conduct any MR before deciding

• In fact the research indicated that Mc Donald’s

Then what went wrong?

• The consensus of the industry analysts and

Thus the research examined the “wrong”

Instead of seeking to under stand the dietary

• This error, in turn, stemmed from

• Had management been less myopic and

Mc Donald’s focused only on one issue-

Company’s should try

Answer depends upon how clearly we

Data need to accomplish first part of CB

• Data requirements for fulfilling the second less

1. Brand loyalty of consumers towards CB

2. The market shares of CB’s competitors and trends in market

CASE ON RESEARCH PROCESS

NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES AT

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