IMT-03: MARKETING RESEARCH

PART A Q1. Discuss the nature and scope of Marketing Research. Identify some problems in different areas of Marketing where Marketing Research can be helpful. of marketing research is very wide and

Ans. The nature and scope comprehensive, which includes:

1. Product Research studies product modification, product innovation, product life cycle, etc. 2. Consumer Research studies consumer behaviour, needs, wants, likes, dislikes, attitude, age, sex, income, location; buying motives, etc. 3. Packaging package of the quality reduces the Research studies the the product, improves of the package, and cost of packaging.

4. Pricing Research studies the market and future price trends, pricing of the product, suitable method of pricing, price for the product, and compares the companies price with the competitor's price. 5. Advertising Research studies the advertising of the product, objectives, budget, message, layout, copy, slogan, headline, etc. and other sales promotion techniques. 6. Sales Research studies the selling activities of the company, sales outlets, sales territories, sales forecasting, sales trends, sales methods, and effectiveness of the sales force, etc. 7. Distribution Research studies the channels of distribution, suitable channel for the product, identifies the channel functions like storage, grading, etc., and evaluates the competitor's channel. 8. Policy Research studies the effectiveness of the policies on marketing, sales, distribution, pricing, inventory, etc. 9. International Marketing Research studies the foreign market, collects data about consumers and foreign competitors from different countries.

10.Motivation Research studies consumers' buying motives, factors that motivate consumers to buy a product, and consumer behaviour in the market. 11.Market Research studies the markets, market competition, market trends, etc., and estimates the demand for new products. 12.Media Research studies various advertising media and cost, suitable media for advertising, and media planning. There are problems in different areas of marketing where marketing research can be helpful: Problem: Customers looking for discounts. Solution: Find other ways to persuade customers to buy. Problem: Customers do not seem to understand the companys objective. Solution: Develop a clear sales message. Problem: Where to start with sales and marketing planning. Solution: Make sales targets clear. Problem: Target in marketing campaign. Solution: Narrow focus with micro marketing. Problem: Effectiveness of marketing campaign Solution: Measure and understand customer's need. Q2. Is a research design always necessary before a research study can be conducted? In what may do exploratory, descriptive and causal research design differ? Explain with the help of an example.

Ans. Research design is always necessary before a research study can be conducted because it is considered as a "blueprint" for research, dealing with at least four problems: 1. 2. 3. 4. Which questions to study Which data are relevant What data to collect, and How to analyze the results

Descriptive research encompasses much government sponsored research including the population census, the collection of a wide range of social indicators and economic information such as household expenditure patterns, time use studies, employment and crime statistics and the like. While exploratory research provides insights into and comprehension of an issue or situation which should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme caution. Moreover, exploratory research is conducted to explore a problem to get some basic idea about the solution at the preliminary stages of research that may serve as the input to conclusive research, and information is collected by focus group interviews, reviewing literature or books, discussing with experts, etc.

which is unstructured and qualitative in nature, conducted to simplify the findings of the conclusive or descriptive research, if the findings are very hard to interpret for the marketing managers. The way in which researchers develop research designs is fundamentally affected by whether the research question is descriptive or explanatory which affects what information is collected. For example, if one wants to explain why some people are more likely to be apprehended and convicted of crimes, one needs to have hunches about why this is so. However, causal research argues that phenomenon Y (e.g. income level) is affected by factor X (e.g. gender), and some causal explanations will be simple while others will be more complex. For example, one might argue that there is a direct effect of gender on income (i.e. simple gender discrimination). Most causal thinking in the social sciences is probabilistic deterministic, which is working at the level that a given factor decreases) the probability of a particular outcome. For example: increases the probability of working part time; race affects the having a high status job. Q3. rather than increases (or being female probability of

A marketing manager needs to find the causes for the decline in market share of his company. The manager decides to conduct marketing research. How should he go about finding a supplier of research services?

Ans. In conducting marketing research, the manager should know the function that links the consumers, customers, and public to the marketer through information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems, generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions, monitor marketing performance, and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Through marketing research, the manager may be able to find a supplier by specifying the information required to address the issue, designing the method for collecting information, managing and implementing the data collection process, analyzing the results, and communicating the findings and their implications. A marketing manager would find that marketing research is a systematic method of gathering, recording, and analysis of data about issues relating to marketing products and services which would be very useful for his purpose in identifying and assessing how changing elements of the marketing mix impacts customer behaviour. Marketing research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either by target market: 1. Consumer marketing research 2. Business-to-business (B2B) marketing research Or, alternatively, by methodological approach:

1. Qualitative marketing research 2. Quantitative marketing research The basic task of marketing research for a marketing manager is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information. Thus, competitive marketing environment and the ever-increasing costs attributed to poor decision making require that marketing research provide sound information. Marketing managers make numerous strategic and tactical decisions in the process of identifying and satisfying customer needs, as well as make decisions about potential opportunities, target market selection, market segmentation, planning and implementing marketing programs, marketing performance, and control, which are complicated by interactions between the controllable marketing variables of product, pricing, promotion, and distribution. Consequently, marketing research helps the marketing manager link the marketing variables with the environment and the consumers, and helps remove some of the uncertainty by providing relevant information about the marketing variables, environment, and consumers. Q4. a) Distinguish between a Focus Group Interviews and an in-depth interview.

Ans. When doing qualitative research, one needs to decide which is right for the client, either an in-depth interview, focus group, or maybe a combination of both which depends on the clients goals. Dimensional Research recommends focus groups when the client wants to gain multiple perspectives in an interactive group setting, since one of the main benefits of focus groups is that they get the participants brainstorming, and when trying to evaluate market acceptance, capture challenges and issues, or understand objections to new technologies or processes, the focus group dynamic is ideal. While the in-depth interview is a technique designed to elicit a vivid picture of the participants perspective on the research topic, and the researchers interviewing techniques are motivated by the desire to learn everything the participant can share about the research topic. As a rule of thumb focus groups and interviews cost about the same per participant, so with the exception of travel, not a consideration for phone interviews or online focus groups, cost should not be the driving consideration in choosing the research approach. Interviews are appropriate for eliciting individual experiences, opinions, feelings, as well as addressing sensitive topics. And the strength of the method is that it elicits in-depth responses, with nuances and contradictions, gets at interpretive perspective, i.e., the connections and relationships a person sees between particular events, phenomena, and beliefs. While focus groups are appropriate in identifying group norms, eliciting opinions about group norms, and discovering variety within a population. With the benefit of eliciting information on a range of

norms and opinions in a short time, and the group dynamics stimulate conversation, and reactions. b) In which cases would an In-depth Interview be more applicable than a Focus Group Interview?

Ans. Although many people immediately think of focus groups when they think of qualitative research, there is another qualitative approach that may be better suited to delving deep into issues and challenges, and that is in-depth one-onone interviews, which offer greater value than focus groups and should be considered whenever qualitative results are needed. Furthermore, In-depth Interview is more applicable than a Focus Group Interview for a number of critical reasons: More Quality, since one-on-one interviews uncover the best thinking of each and every participant without the drawbacks of group dynamics, while in a typical focus group, a small percentage of the participants do most of the talking. More Quantity of Information because researchers obtain at least twice the amount of information per participant in an in-depth 20-minute interview than in a typical 10-member, 90-minute focus group. More Depth since it captures all the relevance and salience of qualitative information of focus groups which can get beyond surface answers and produce a rich database of interviews that generates analyst reports, identifies broad themes, and produces a body of knowledge of the range and depth of reactions. More Statistics because conducting one-on-one interviews to which content analysis is applied, provides the basis for an array of traditional and proprietary analyses, and this level of detailed data produces a reservoir of knowledge that can be used and compared over time in ways not possible with standard focus group research.

In essence, the value received from in-depth one-on-one interviews when compared to focus groups is significantly greater, and the research investment is more cost-effective since more of the budget is used to elicit information from each and every respondent, rather than for other incidental costs of hosting a focus group. Q5. a) What do you understand by selecting samples from the universe?

Ans. In explaining the concept on selecting samples, it would be answered with the first question as to how many people are in the group the survey is supposed to represent (called the sample universe), and statistically, this only becomes an issue if the sample universe numbers below 10,000 individuals. Thus, if one wants to survey the donor base and it has only 3,000 people, then the sampling figures are different, but if the group of people is 10,000 or more,

it does not matter whether the survey represents a city with about half a million people, or the entire population of some 200 million adults which is the number of survey responses one needs is the same in each situation. The second question is how much potential margin of error needed in the survey, where most researchers use the 95% confidence interval as their basis which means that if the same survey were done 100 times, then 95 of those times the answers would fall within the same range. Thus, the number of people interviewed determines what that range is. If there are subsamples within the total population, the overall sample size must be large enough that these subsamples are also large enough to analyze, where a survey of 200 people divided evenly into two age groups means 100 respondents in each age group, small, but usable for a high-level look at opinion differences, but try to divide that sample into six key age groups, and the subsample sizes become too small to allow comparison. Discuss the various methods of probability examples to illustrate cases in which each of the be most applicable. SECOND Ans. Probability sampling is a sampling technique wherein gathered in a process that gives all the individuals in the chances of being selected. b) sampling. Use methods would

the samples are population equal

Through probability sampling, the researcher must guarantee that every individual has an equal opportunity for selection and this can be achieved if the researcher utilizes randomization, and its advantage is the absence of both systematic and sampling bias, and when done properly, the sample is therefore representative of the entire population. There are various methods of probability sampling, namely: SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING is the easiest form of probability sampling because the researcher simply needs to assure that all the members of the population are included in the list and then randomly select the desired number of subjects.
STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING is also known as proportional random sampling, and this is a probability sampling technique wherein the subjects are initially grouped into different classifications such as age, socioeconomic status or gender, and usually used to study a particular subgroup within the population.
SYSTEMATIC RANDOM SAMPLING can be likened to an arithmetic progression wherein the difference between any two consecutive numbers is the same. An example of which is a clinic having one hundred (100) patients. The first thing to do is pick an integer that is less than the total number of the population which will be the first subject e.g. (3). Then select another integer which will be the number of individuals between subjects e.g. (5).
CLUSTER RANDOM SAMPLING is done when simple random sampling is almost impossible because of the size of the population.

MIXED/MULTI-STAGE RANDOM SAMPLING involves a combination of two or more sampling techniques enumerated above.

PART - B Q1. State whether you agree or disagree with the statement Correct identification and clear definition of the research problem are more crucial to the success of a market research study than sophisticated research techniques. Justify your answer with suitable examples.

Ans. It is true that correct identification and clear definition of the research problem are more crucial to the success of a market research study than sophisticated research techniques because the research problem is basically the heart of the research process, and without such, no research process can take place. In formulating the research problem, the variables must be eminent and easily identifiable while a hypothesis should accompany each research problem because once a research problem is clearly defined, it should be translated into a research hypothesis that states, a relationship between two or more variables in one (or more) population(s). Thus, the assignment will reflect on the linkage of the research problem, research hypothesis and the existing variables. Firstly, the research problem will be explored, its importance, sources of the research problem, considerations as well as steps to be followed when formulating a research problem. Secondly, identification of variables will be discussed using the three common types of variables and the four prominent scales of measurement. Correct identification and clear identification of a research problem is the first step and the most important requirement in the research process that serves as the foundation of a research study, and thus if well formulated, then a good study will also follow. Thus, in order for one to solve a problem, one must know what the problem is, and the large part of the problem is in knowing what one is trying to do. A research problem and the way it is formulated, determines almost every step that follows in the research study, and formulation of the problem is like the input into the study and the output is the quality of the contents of the research report, often accompanied by research questions. An important point to keep in mind when defining or formulating a research problem is that it should be specific and focused, and expressed as a general question about the relationship between two or more variables which also introduces the necessity of defining clearly all concepts used and of determining the variables and their relationships. Q2. Discuss the various steps in Questionnaire design.

Ans. Market research is all about reducing business risks through the smart use of information which is often cited that 'knowledge is power', and through market research, one will have the power to discover new business opportunities, closely monitor your competitors, effectively develop products and services, and target the customers in the most cost-efficient way.

However, in order to get useful results, one needs to make sure in asking the right questions to the right people and in the right way. The following are the various steps in preparing a Questionnaire Design which are provided to help avoid some of the common pitfalls when designing a market research questionnaire: A good questionnaire is designed so that the results will tell what one wants to find out. Make sure that everything needed is covered when it comes to analyzing the answers, and how it is going to be used. Select the best method to use in asking questions, either through postal surveys, face-to-face, web surveys, and telephone. Select which is best to use, either Qualitative or Quantitative because the method used will generally be determined by the subject matter being researched on and the types of respondents being contacted. Keep the questionnaire short, which will be about 10 to 15 questions. The questions must be clearly understood by the respondent by using simple and direct to the point. Start with something general by avoiding questions that are too personal, such as financial matters, age, even whether or not they are married. Place the most important questions in the first half of the questionnaire by putting the most important items near the beginning, but the partially completed questionnaires will still contain important information. Leave enough space to record the answers, particularly on questions which may require a long answer. Test the questionnaire on colleagues which will give time to make any final changes, and get feedback. What sampling scheme you will muse in following situations? A study to find out preference and people for shampoos in urban market.

Q3. a)

Ans. Shampoo remains the key hair care segment, accounting for 41 per cent of sales, and although overall sales have remained flat year on year, medicated shampoos are offsetting a decline in the two-in-one shampoo sector. Thus, sales of medicated shampoos are driven by traditional brands, such as Head & Shoulders.

The customer's desire for greater convenience appears to be declining in importance, with the "two-in-one" shampoo/conditioner sachet market now accounting for only nineteen (19) per cent of the overall shampoo market, with sales down by seven (7) per cent. Retail purchase data shows that on the occasions when people buy a shampoo and a conditioner at the same time, they are more likely to pick up the shampoo and conditioner from the same brand. Over half of the sales are made through sales promotions, particularly "multibuy" promotions have proliferated in both the shampoo and conditioner sectors, with a quarter of volume in both these markets sold through such offers. Procter & Gamble, particularly Clairol Shampoo, is the largest manufacturer with a twenty-one (21) percent market share by value. While the L'Oreal group, particularly Garnier Shampoo, follows with a sixteen (16) percent share, but its sales are declining at four percent year on year as the Elvive brand suffers. Hair shampoo consumers tend to shop for promotions and new products, mostly influenced by advertising messages that shampoos need to be changed regularly, or possibly because of the glut of multi-buy promotions, consumers are now much more fickle than in the past. As a result, new brands have made life more difficult for established beauty brands as consumers like to experiment. b) A survey to study the potential users of microwave oven in Delhi.

Ans. The latent demand for microwave ovens in India is not actual or historic sales, nor is latent demand future sales which can be either lower or higher than actual sales if a market is inefficient (i.e., not representative of relatively competitive levels). Inefficiencies arise from a number of factors, including the lack of international openness, cultural barriers to consumption, regulations, and cartel-like behaviour on the part of firms. However, latent demand is typically larger than actual sales in a market. The study on the use of microwave ovens is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved, by which all the current products or services on the market can cease to exist in their present form (i.e., at a brand-, R&D specification, or corporate-image level), all the players can be replaced by other firms (i.e., via exits, entries, mergers, bankruptcies, etc.), and there will still be latent demand for microwave ovens at the aggregate level. In order to estimate the demand and potential users of microwave ovens across the states or union territories and cites of India, a multi-stage approach should be used, but before applying the approach, one needs a basic theory from which such estimates are created. And while the debate surrounding beliefs about how income and consumption are related is interesting, in this study a very particular school of thought is adopted, particularly on the demand and consumption for microwave ovens across the states or union territories and cities of India.

c)

A survey to study the usage of laptops in the small office segmentAll India Level.

Ans. An example of a survey to study the usage of laptops in offices is Lenovo being the worlds fourth-largest PC maker restructured its global operations from four regions (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and China) to five, and making India as a major part of the companys strategy and it was listed as a separate region to be managed. India had just 7.5 million PCs compared with Chinas 40 million which presented a huge opportunity for Lenovo and it wanted to double its market share in three to four years, and expected to find natural success in India as the Indian market was similar in nature to the Chinese market. However in India, Lenovo was lagging behind competitors like Dell, HP (Hewlett-Packard) and local brands like HCL (Hindustan Computers Limited, and had only a 7.3 per cent share in the Indian PC market. Lenovo India has customized LES Lite stores for the Indian market, and these Lite stores are smaller versions of Lenovos exclusive stores and have lower costs and also lower break-even points as compared to bigger metro stores. Thus, the strategy with Lenovo Lite store is to expand into Indias key tier 3-5 cities/towns, around 150-250 square feet in size. Lenovo leads in India with single largest deal worldwide, and supplies the Tamil Nadu (South Indian State) government with 3 lakh laptops. As such, in total, Tamil Nadu state government plans to give away 68 lakh laptops to students in 5 years. While the other competitors of Lenovo in India like Acer and HCL are also in line to supply said laptops. Q4. Explain the process of new product development and highlight the role of marketing research in developing a product.

Ans. In New Product Development Stage, market research methods and tools used may vary according to the product type, the extent of incremental change from other products, the investment and risk factors, and the costs of seeding the new product in the marketplace. New Product Development is a sequential decision process, a series of decisions, and the key to concentrate attention on the precise new product decision at hand, and think through the market research and creative tools needed for that stage. The concept also involves product launch, branding research, or market sizing and targeting engagement, and since each company is unique with its own set of issues and opportunities, the process begins with identification and clarification engagement called decision mapping that identifies the most relevant problems, opportunities, and issues most relevant, and serves to clarify the decision agenda. The role of marketing and market research in developing a product involves the following strategy areas:

Positioning Segmentation Product launch New product development advertising strategy Corporate and product naming Company branding Brand equity measurement Pricing Brand development Brand strategy Product concept testing Identifying opportunities Targeting positioning.

Marketing research does not make decisions and it does not guarantee success, and it is important that research reports should specify alternative courses of action and the probability of success, where possible, of these alternatives. However, it is marketing managers who make the final marketing decision and not the researcher. Marketing research does not guarantee success because it is simply the recognition of the environment within which marketing takes place, and in the fields of science and engineering researchers are often working with deterministic models of the world where y = f(x), and that is, x is a necessary and sufficient condition for y to occur. In the social sciences, marketing and marketing research, the phenomenon lends itself to deterministic modelling by determining how much to spend on promotion in order to achieve a given market share, by which there are a great many more intervening variables, including: the media used, the effectiveness of the promotional message, the length and frequency of the campaign, not to mention the many dimensions of the product, price and distribution. Q5. a. Write short note on the following: Data Gathering techniques.

Ans. There are various Data Gathering techniques which are done through: Interviews are conducted one-on-one or with a small group which can be used throughout the data gathering process, but they are perhaps most useful during the performance analysis stage, and when trying to determine what the real performance deficiency is. Although the process is time-consuming, it is useful because one can gather specific information and ask follow-up questions to get more detail on items of particular interest. Panels of Experts are used to get the collective observations and opinions of the best of the breed, and are particularly useful when there is not one correct solution or procedure, such as conducting a goal analysis.

Direct observation of work performance is an excellent means of gathering data which are usually done in conjunction with another data gathering method that is used to fill in the gaps and answer questions. Surveys are used in gathering data from a large number of people and when it is impractical to meet them all face to face, which can be formal, where the results are subject to statistical reliability and validity, and informal, where results are anecdotal. Reviews of Performance Data on organizations that may include data about time and attendance, rates of production, and cost of goods sold which can provide valuable information to substantiate the performance deficiencies under consideration and lead to potential causes. b. Product Research.

Ans. Product research serves several goals that involve new product design and market validation research, or assessing existing products which drives the companys product research design, and may be needed to increase the probability of optimum decisions and successful market impact. Effective product market research, particularly for new products and existing products is well integrated with R&D and technical product design functions, and for consumer or business B2B product market research, a global approach should be done, incorporating appropriate market research at each design stage. Thus, the goal is to align astute technical product R&D, product innovation and design with market demand. Furthermore, product research is a business and engineering term which describes the complete process of bringing a new product to market. Thus, many organizations have product research methodologies that provide a standard framework for planning and managing development efforts. As such, there are several stages in the product research process: Idea Generation Concept Development and Testing Business Analysis Beta Testing and Market Testing Technical Implementation Commercialization

Most industry leaders see product research as a proactive process where resources are allocated to identify market changes and seize upon new product opportunities before they occur, which is in contrast to a reactive strategy in which nothing is done until problems occur. Many industry leaders see product research as an on-going process, or commonly referred to as continuous development in which a product research team is always looking for opportunities, and because this process typically requires both engineering and marketing expertise, cross-functional teams are a common way of organizing a development project.

PART C Q1. Amul is planning to launch a new flavour of ice cream and wants to get a snapshot of the potential market. The ice cream has coconut-white chocolate flavour and is aimed at the premium market. What type of research design is appropriate? Develop the research questions and hypothesis.

Ans. The design research for Amuls new flavour of ice-cream brands should target the youth group, and be done using very unique methods, developed especially for the product. Said methods would help a lot in bringing out hidden insights from the minds of the youth, which today forms a major part of the population, since one does not just eat ice-cream, people relish ice-creams, and the entire experience is an involving one. In this region, where ice-cream is the desert of the choice, it becomes an everyday experience. Thus, creating delight and breaking the monotony is more difficult. Therefore, Amuls ice cream must create a comfortable environment for the youth where they can get some privacy along with playfulness away from the judging eyes, since the target market would like their ice-creams to look personalized and match the visuals they see in the media and outdoor advertisements. Phase 1:
The primary research starts by observing the ice-creaming eating behaviour of people, followed by how to talk to them, and asking how they feel about it because youth eating ice-cream is a time of bonding between friends, and has strong associations with fun and being young. Phase 2:
Taking the idea of childhood further, a questionnaire should be created akin to fun learning books that kids learn from, not only they have to write but also draw shapes, connect things, solve small puzzles. Some of the things would involve drawing an ice cream from their imagination, by guessing the right name of the brands, choosing favourite colours, joining the dots, and connecting the most appropriate combinations. The users will be supplied with a lot of colouring pens and watch how they become involved in it, just like they do while eating ice-creams.

Phase 3:
Further, retail outlets and other outlets should be analysed on how the users choose the ice-creams, and how they eat that ice-cream afterwards. Phase 4:
Finally, put together print advertisements of major ice cream brands and remove the logo or any identification mark, then ask users to guess which brand it belonged to. Q2. Discuss in detail various methods by which sales forecasting can be done.

Ans. Sales forecasting is especially difficult when one does not have any previous sales history as a guide, as is the case when working on preparing cash flow projections as part of writing a business plan. There are all sorts of ways to estimate sales revenues for the purposes of sales forecasting, and one point to remember when sales forecasting is that if one plans to work with a bank for financing, one will want to do multiple estimates so as to have more confidence in the sales forecast. Sales Forecasting Method #1
For a particular type of business, one should know the average sales volume per square foot for similar stores in similar locations and similar size. Sales Forecasting Method #2
For a specific location, know how many households needing the goods, how much will they spend on these items annually, and what percentage of their spending will the company gets, compared to competitors. Sales Forecasting Method #3
Make an offer and an estimate of where the company perceives to be in six months and calculate the gross sales per day, and multiply by 30 for the month, then scale proportionately from month one to month six, that is, build up from no sales or few sales up to the six month sales level, then carry it out from months six through 12 for a complete annual sales forecast. Instead of forecasting annual sales as a single figure, the company should use one or two of the sales forecasting methods above and generate three figures: pessimistic, optimistic, and realistic, then put the figures in by month, as depending on the type of business. In addition, the company has to put in expenses by month, including big purchases by season, or however materials/goods are bought, and analysing how much of the sales are by cash, how much by credit card, how much by extending credit.

Q3.

Distinguish between Semantic Differential scale and Likert scale. Give examples.

Ans. Semantic differential is a type of a rating scale designed to measure the connotative meaning of objects, events, and concepts which are used to derive the attitude towards the given object, event or concept. Accordingly, semantic differential was designed to measure the connotative meaning of concepts in which the respondent is asked to choose where his or her position lies, on a scale between two bipolar adjectives, such as being "Adequate-Inadequate", "Good-Evil" or "Valuable-Worthless". Subsequently, semantic differentials can be used to describe not only persons, but also the connotative meaning of abstract concepts which is a capacity used extensively in affect control theory. The Semantic Differential question scale offers a bipolar pair of adjectives between which the respondent must choose along some form of scaling (typically a five-point scale). However, the pairs of words need not be opposite and may be used to discover fine differences in viewpoint, and are often adjectives. Unmarked scales are more difficult to code afterwards, although this can be done with a Likert scale type overlay, and the advantage of which is that they are not dependent on the interpretation of words, such as 'somewhat' can mean a lot or a little to different people. Relatively, a Likert scale is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires which is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey research, such that the term is often used interchangeably with rating scale. The scale is named after its inventor, psychologist Rensis Likert, who distinguished between a scale proper, which emerges from collective responses to a set of items (usually eight or more), and the format in which responses are scored along a range. Furthermore, the Likert scale is simply a statement which the respondent is asked to evaluate according to any kind of subjective or objective criteria, generally the level of agreement or disagreement is measured which is considered symmetric or balanced because there are equal amounts of positive and negative positions. Q4. Discuss the advertisements. methods of pre-testing and post-testing of

Ans. Pre-market research can be conducted to optimize advertisements for any medium: radio, television, print (magazine, newspaper or direct mail), outdoor billboard (highway, bus, or train), or Internet. As such, different methods would be applied to gather the necessary data appropriately.

Pre-testing also known as copy testing, is a form of customized research that predicts in-market performance of an ad, before it airs, by analysing audience levels of attention, brand linkage, motivation, entertainment, and communication, as well as breaking down the ads Flow of Attention and Flow of Emotion. The methods used to pre-test advertisements are based upon either qualitative or quantitative criteria, in which the most common methods used to pre-test advertisements are concept testing, focus groups, consumer juries, dummy vehicles, readability, theatre and physiological tests. Measuring attention is very important in pre-testing, where the data tells where customers look at and which parts of the ad they ignore, and which is also used to identify weak spots within an ad to improve performance, to more effectively edit 60s to 30s or 30s to 15s, to select images from the spot to use in an integrated campaigns print ad, to pull out the key moments for use in ad tracking, and to identify branding moments. While post-testing is conducted after the advertising, either a single ad or an entire multimedia campaign has been run in-market, in which the focus is on what the advertising has done for the brand, for example increasing brand awareness, trial, frequency of purchasing. Furthermore, post-testing provide either periodic or continuous in-market research monitoring a brands performance, including brand awareness, brand preference, product usage and attitudes, and simply track changes over time, while others use various methods to quantify the specific changes produced by advertising, either the campaign as a whole or by the different media utilized. Overall, advertisers use post-testing to plan future advertising campaigns, so the approaches that provide the most detailed information on the accomplishments of the campaign are most valued. Thus, different types are conducted as part of post-testing advertisements, and recognition is a necessary condition for effective advertising. Q5. a) Write short on the following. Advantages and disadvantages of open ended and closed ended questions.

Ans. Advantages of Open-Ended Questions: Open-ended questions allow respondents to include more information, including feelings, attitudes and understanding of the subject which allows researchers to better access the respondents' true feelings on an issue. Open-ended questions cut down on two types of response error, do not allow respondents to disregard reading the questions and just "fill in" the survey with all the same answers.

Because they allow for obtaining extra information from the respondent, and can be used more readily for secondary analysis by other researchers than can surveys that do not provide contextual information about the survey population.

Disadvantages of Open-Ended Questions: If open-ended questions are analysed quantitatively, the qualitative information is reduced to coding and answers tend to lose some of their initial meaning. Because open-ended questions allow respondents to use their own words, it is difficult to compare the meanings of the responses. The response rate is lower with surveys that use open-ended question than with those that use closed-ended questions.

Advantages of Closed-Ended Questions: Closed-ended questions are more easily analysed in which every answer can be given a number or value so that a statistical interpretation can be assessed. Closed-ended questions are also better suited for computer analysis. Closed-ended questions can be more specific, thus more likely to communicate similar meanings. In large-scale surveys, closed-ended questions take less time from the interviewer, the participant and the researcher.

Disadvantages of Closed-Ended Questions: Closed-ended questions, because of the simplicity and limit of the answers, may not offer the respondents choices that actually reflect their real feelings. Closed-ended questions also do not allow the respondent to explain that they do not understand the question or do not have an opinion on the issue. T-test and z-test.

b)

Ans. Z-test and t-test are basically the same, since they compare between two means to suggest whether both samples come from the same population. However, there are variations on the theme for the t-test, like if one has a sample and wish to compare it with a known mean (e.g. national average) the single sample t-test is available, but if both of the samples are not independent of each other and have some factor in common, i.e. geographical location or before/after treatment, the paired sample t-test can be applied.

There are also two variations on the two sample t-test, the first uses samples that do not have equal variances, while the second uses samples whose variances are equal. Data types that can be analysed with z-tests are data points which should be independent from each other, and Z-test is preferable when n is greater than 30, in which the distributions should be normal if n is low, if however n>30 the distribution of the data does not have to be normal. Data types that can be analysed with t-tests are data sets which should be independent from each other except in the case of the paired-sample t-test, where: n<30 the t-tests should be used, and the distributions should be normal for the equal and unequal variance t-test (K-S test or Shapiro-Wilke). There are limitations in the tests, and if one does not find a significant difference in the data, then one cannot say that the samples are the same. c) Null hypothesis.

Ans. The null hypothesis typically corresponds to a general or default position, and might be that there is no relationship between two measured phenomena or that a potential treatment has no effect. The choice of null hypothesis (H0) and consideration of directionality is critical, such as considering the question of whether a tossed coin is fair (i.e. that on average it lands heads up 50% of the time). Thus, a potential null hypothesis is "this coin is not biased towards heads" (one-tail test) where the experiment is to repeatedly toss the coin, having a possible result of 5 tosses is 5 heads. Under this null hypothesis, the data are considered unlikely (with a fair coin, the probability of this is 3%), and the data refute the null hypothesis in which the coin is biased. Alternatively, the null hypothesis, "this coin is fair" allows runs of tails as well as heads, increasing the probability of 5 of a kind to 6% (two-tail test), which is no longer statistically significant, preserving the null hypothesis. Therefore, this example illustrates one hazard of hypothesis testing: evaluating a large number of true null hypotheses against a single dataset is likely to spuriously reject some of them because of the inevitable noise in the data. The null hypothesis is a hypothesis about a population parameter, and the purpose of hypothesis testing is to test the viability of the null hypothesis in the light of experimental data. So depending on the data, the null hypothesis either will or will not be rejected as a viable possibility.

CASE STUDY I
Rex Contact Lens Company Contact lenses are a modern way of correcting vision. The market has grown rapidly and changed tin character in recent years. Prices have remained high, but Rex Contact Lens Company came up with a plan for selling contact lenses by mail, a system that would permit it to sell at a much lower price than was currently available. Before making the investment necessary to develop this new channel of distribution, Rex wanted to make a better forecast of possible sales than it had made up to date, and it chose to use the survey method for the forecast. Two thirds of the total retail market was estimated to be replacement sales. The average life of a contact lens was thought to be about one year. If 20 million wore contacts and replaced each lens once a year the total replacement market was 40 million lenses a year. Rexs concept was for a mail-order replacement service for contact lenses. Catalog sales wore booming in many product areas. And the proposed plan would fit with this national development. A catalog would be prepared with pictures and descriptions of contact lenses and their advantages. A toll free number would be provided for quick service. Lenses would be shipped in sealed bottles within 24 hours of receipt of order and overnight delivery would be available at extra charge. Customers would mail in orders with payment or provide credit card identification for phone orders. Customers for a single contact lens were projected much lower than the current market level 0 and in addition, this low cost would reduce or perhaps eliminate customer need for insurance. Before going further, Rex set about to make an improved forecast for sales. They conducted a survey among wearer of both regular glasses and contact lenses to determine their attitudes towards the proposed mail order sales; the services they would want, the different kinds of contacts they were interested in (hard, soft, extended wear, gas permeable, tinted, bifocals); and the probability they would order lenses by mail. Questions: 1. Which data collection method would you prefer? Why?

Ans. Data Collection is an important aspect of any type of research study, and inaccurate data collection can impact the results of a study and ultimately lead to invalid results. Thus for this case, quantitative and qualitative data collection methods can both be used. Rex Contact Lens Company may use the Quantitative data collection methods which rely on random sampling and structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into predetermined response categories, and they produce results that are easy to summarize, compare, and generalize.

Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from theory and/or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of interest. Yet, depending on the research question, participants may be randomly assigned to different treatments. However, if this is not feasible, the researcher may collect data on participant and situational characteristics in order to statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome, variable, but if the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select participants. Paper-pencil-questionnaires can also be sent to a large number of people and saves the researcher time and money, since people are more truthful while responding to the questionnaires regarding controversial issues in particular due to the fact that their responses are anonymous. Moreover, web based questionnaires, is a new and inevitably growing methodology is the use of Internet based research which is often quicker and less detailed. While qualitative data collection methods, also play an important role in impact evaluation by providing information useful to understand the processes behind observed results and assess changes in peoples perceptions of their well-being. Furthermore, this type of method can be used to improve the quality of surveybased quantitative evaluations by helping generate evaluation hypothesis, strengthening the design of survey questionnaires and expanding or clarifying quantitative evaluation findings. 2. How would you analyze the data gathered from this study?

Ans. Analysing is a tool which will help Rex Contact Lens Company in gathering information about what is happening in the optical industry, what needs to be changed, how people are reacting and to solve problems related to change. The company can also use this tool to decide what method to use in gathering information and to guide them in collecting, analysing, providing feedback and developing action plans. In order to make a change, the company would need to gather information to gain a clear understanding of the situation, issue or problem; to help others understand the change needed; and to move change forward, and although information can be a catalyst for change, information itself will not change behaviour. Yet information can however, clarify the kinds of behaviours and actions needed to create the desired outcomes. Rex Company must gather information during the planning stages and then continue to seek information as they build commitment, anchor and monitor the change. However, before they begin to gather information, the following questions should be taken into consideration: Why do they need more information and how will it be used? Who can provide meaningful and relevant information? What method(s) will be used? What resources and time will be required to collect and analyse data?

Who might be involved in planning, gathering and/or analysing this information? How will confidentiality be maintained? How will the summary of results be shared with those involved (if applicable)? What concerns might people have about the process and use of this information?

Once the company is ready to begin use these five steps for gathering information, they must: 1) Decide on the most appropriate method for getting the information needed 2) Collect the information 3) Decide what the information says 4) Respond, provide feedback or report as appropriate 5) Plan the next steps 3. Design a suitable questionnaire. CASE STUDY-II Ans. Contact Lenses should never be supplied without a detailed and extensive examination of the eyes carried out by a dedicated Contact Lens Specialist. The aim of the survey is to gain an insight into how contact lens wearers currently cope when they use their lenses, their general health as well as their visual needs both at work and at play, which all have a bearing on the final choice of lens design perceived to be most suitable for their individual clinical needs. Thus, the questionnaire may be formatted like this: 1) Do you wear: o o o Glasses Contact lens Nothing

2) Have you ever been in a situation when you would have liked to remove your contact lenses and not had a case with solution to put them into? o o Yes No

3) Would you be interested in a disposable case pre filled with solution, which remains sterile until opened? o o Yes No

4) How much would you be happy to pay for it? 5) Where would you be most likely to want to buy the case? o Pharmacy, please specify a name that you have in mind

o o o o

Convenience Store From hotel mini bar From Spa or Health Club Others, please specify

6) How frequently do you replace your contact lenses? o o o o Daily Two weekly Monthly Other

7) If you have had a contact lens related eye infection, what was the reason? 8) How much difficulty do you have driving in glare conditions with your contact lenses? o o o o o o Dont drive for reasons other than my vision None at all A little bit A moderate amount A lot So much that I cant do this activity

9) How much difficulty do you have performing any activity due to dim lighting with your contact lenses? o o o o o o Dont drive for reasons other than my vision None at all A little bit A moderate amount A lot So much that I cant do this activity

10) During the past month, how often have you experienced focusing difficulties with your contact lenses? o o o Dont know Not applicable Never Occasionally Fairly often Very often Always

CASE STUDY - II
JINGLE BELLS Coca-Cola Drink Coca-Cola was the first theme out of the gate. Delicious and Refreshing came along in the late 1880s, most likely appearing on an oilcloth sign attached to a soda fountain awning. Since then, those two words have worked hard for Coca-Cola in about a trillion different ways. Before long, theme lines began to make definite statement about the product. In the early 1920s, Thirst Knows No Season helped consumers think of Coca-Cola as more than a summertime drink. Later that decade, It Had To Be good To Get Where It Is added prestige. And Just Around The Corner From Everywhere emphasized widespread availability. In 1929, the most famous commercial slogan of its time The Pause That Refreshes marked a return to promoting coke simply as the quintessential quencher, Into the Age of Aquarius, when Things Go Better With Coke captured the lively spirit of the times. By then, the world had become much more sophisticated dining on frozen dinners and dressing modern. This was reflected by Cokes breakthrough TV commercials in colour. Have a Coke And A Smile was unleashed in 1979 among a flurry of disco music (which only made it sound better), More recently, Coke had to have twice the themes since there was twice the Coke. In 1985, one campaign had to position Coke (previously known as New Coke), and another had to differentiate Coca-Cola classic from its sister product and competitive brands. The big winners? Catch The Wave for the junior model, and for the original formula. Red, White and You conjured images of Americana. After All, Coca-Cola classic had just established itself as a national treasure on par with the entire state of Florida. These days, its Always CocaCola. With so many different themes, jingles and slogans added to its name over the decades, Coke was utterly confused as to which theme strikes the right chord with Cokes audience (basically everyone over the age of 12 who drinks liquid). Coke primarily wanted to identify if at all there lies any difference among the appeals rendered by the jingles- Market research thousands of people surveyed, poked and prodded questioned How does this jingle appeal to you? Question: 1. Some marketers are of the belief that advertising Coke through Aguilera has shown much larger sales of Coke as compared to cities which believe and practice endorsing Coke via non- Aguilera advertisements. Write a research proposal for conducting a research to verify this statement.

Ans. A Research Paper on Coca Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company Limited is the world's largest beverage company and is the leading producer and marketer of soft drinks, and due to the facing of highly competition in the market, the Company used more than million dollars in the R&D, marketing and production, in order to design a new product to gain a higher margin. As such, this research is mainly focusing on how Coca-Cola Company Limited uses strategies in order to competitive in the mature market. An example would be advertising Coke through Christina Aguilera, the famous singer, would gain much larger sales of Coke as compared to cities which believe and practice endorsing Coke via non-Aguilera advertisements. Firstly, the issues of the Company will be identified, and then SWOT analysis of the company will be conducted. After that, evaluation of alternative strategies will be stated and finally recommendations and implementation will be given. Problem or Issue Identification The non-alcoholic carbonated or non-carbonated drinks have reached the mature market, and Coca-Cola Co. has to develop strategies in order to remain in the strong competitive market. Situation Analysis Strengths o Global Soft drink industry leader o Brand recognition o Large varieties of product o Highly distribution o Different age group o Product Innovation o Growth of market share
Weaknesses o Competition within the company, as Coca Cola Co. has a wide range of product line such as Coca Cola Classic, Diet-Coke, Sprite, POWERade, Dr Pepper, Fanta and Aquarius which will increase the competition between each other. o Highly rely on the carbonated beverage o Limited product range o Vest amount of investment in the marketing campaigns
Opportunities o Worldwide economic and population growth o Soft drinks dominate the Australian beverage market
Threats o Political and economic instability in many developing countries o Competition in national, regional and global soft drink companies o Consumer attitudes changes