XYZ RETAIL

MARKETING RESEARCH PROPOSAL

INDUSTRY: OFFLINE RETAIL

CLIENT RESEARCH PROBLEM – 2

GROUP 4
Gaurav Nair (B19017)
Ritika Deshwal (B19038)
Ronit Ray (B19040)
Sahil Gupta (B19041)
 XYZ Retail
Research Proposal

Background
The agricultural sector plays a significant role in the economic development of India. It
contributes one-sixth of the national income and provides direct employment to 50% of
the workforce. However, given the rising demands, growth needs to be more rapid, and
one of the most promising spaces in the agricultural sector is making entry into the
transgenic species for achieving better quality produce.

Management Dilemma (Decision Problem)

The marketing manager at XYZ Retail, a leading company in India, had hired a
marketing research agency to help them decide “whether to introduce genetically
modified fruits and vegetables in their retail stores.”

Benefits of this strategy

The retail chain could command premium prices for the higher quality products, and that
would have a positive impact on their bottom line. XYZ retail also has the opportunity to
become the first mover in this segment and thereby establish a significant competitive
advantage in the highly competitive retail segment. GM fruits and vegetables also have
other side benefits, which are related to their increased life expectancy compared to
organic fruits and vegetables.

The decision problem is converted into a research problem using a decision tree
approach. (Fig. 1)

Converting the decision problem to the research problem:

We are using the decision tree approach to work towards identifying information needs to
develop a comprehensive plan to introduce GM fruits & vegetables into the retail chain
stores.
 Identify potential buyers of GM
Fruits & Vegetables

Profile Customers

Customers aware of Customers not aware of Increase

GM fruits & vegetables GM Fruits & Vegetables awareness

Favourable Profile Unfavourable Understand customer

Attitude Customers attitude perception

Willing to pay the Unwilling to pay How to convince

premium price the premium them to pay the
premium

Research Objectives/Problems
1. Gauge the current level of awareness with respect to genetically modified fruits
and vegetables (product variety, mix, usage pattern of different customer
segments) and determine ways to increase awareness
2. Gain insights into consumer perceptions with respect to the purchase of
genetically modified fruits and vegetables and determine ways to shift attitude
from unfavorable to favorable
3. Shifting mindset of consumers to convince them to pay the premium price for
purchasing GM fruits and vegetables

Each of these would require different strategies based on a different set of information
(this should determine the RQs).

Research Questions
The research questions can be developed using the behavioral framework and are as
follows:

 Behavioral
o The current level of awareness among different groups (RP1)
o Where do they purchase fruits and vegetables? (RP1)
 o Who all have access to different channels for purchasing fruits and
vegetables? (RP1)
o What is the frequency of their visits to a retail chain for purchasing fruits/
vegetables? (RP1)
o What is the willingness to pay of different target segments for different
fruits/vegetable categories? (RP3, Customer Profiling)
 Situational Factors
o Availability of retail chains in their area (RP1)
o Willingness to travel to retail chain to purchase GM fruits/ vegetables.
(RP3)

 State of Mind
o Knowledge
 Reasons for purchasing or not purchasing GM fruits/vegetables
(RP2, RP3)
 Reasons for purchasing only from specific channels (RP1)
 Awareness of GM fruits/ vegetables and their qualities/ benefits
(RP1, RP2)
 Nutritional Value
 Shelf Life
o Attitudes/Perceptions
 Concerns with consumption of GM fruits and vegetables (RP2,
RP3)
 Harmful effects upon consumption
 Is there any difference in perception towards any particular
category(s) of GM fruits/ vegetables? (RP2, RP3)
 Do customers perceive value for the added cost of GM
fruits/vegetables? (RP3)

o Motives
 The status associated with the consumption of GM
fruits/vegetables (RP2)
 State of Being
o Demographic profile of different segments (Customer Profiling)

Methodology / Research Design

Most of the information sought above through the proposed research questions can be
classified as normal information as per the research design framework 1. The information
is of aware, non-sensitive nature and not likely to lead to socially desirable responses.
At the current stage where the market is non-existent, the behavior would be more
governed by opinion/attitude and, therefore, likely to be at the knowledge level. While
motives would be present even at this stage, these do not fall under our go-to-market
strategy for the time being.

1
Table 4.5, Marketing Research by Dr. Pingali Venugopal
Based on the management decision problem to assess the perception of consumers
towards GM fruits and vegetables and whether to introduce it in their retail stores, we can
define the purpose of the study to be exploratory, to begin with since results of this
research would give us certain broad insights on the awareness level and general
perception of customers pan India.

Since we must determine the product mix and also the impact on existing customers upon
introduction of GM fruits and vegetables and generalize the findings to the target
population to aid in decision making, we will follow up with a predictive study in the
subsequent phase.

Hence, for research design, we can proceed with Focus Group Discussions in the
exploratory phase, followed by a survey in the predictive study phase with reference to
the same research design framework.

Sampling Method
We can use a quota sampling method for the study based on the parameters shown in
Table 1.

Table 1 (Quota Sampling Design)

Education Income Level Location

Level Metro Tier 1 Tier 2
Non-Graduate High
Upper Mid
Lower Mid
Graduate High
Upper Mid
Lower Mid

Type of Analysis
Since we are collecting data using FGD and surveys, therefore the type of analysis will be
qualitative and descriptive in nature with Cross Tabulation for certain parameters.