DE LA SALLE JOHN BOSCO COLLEGE

Mangagoy, Bislig City

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT

Module Number 2
Module The Research Question
Description
Duration 4 hours
Week Number 2
Date

I. TOPIC
1. The Problem Formulation
2. The Marketing Research Proposal

II. OBJECTIVES
1. Identify the key steps in formulating the problem
2. Outline the various steps in problem formulation process
3. Describe the elements that make up the marketing research proposal

III. CONTENT

OVERVIEW

Market research can give you insight into your market, your competitors, your products,
your marketing and your customers. Research problems range from simple to complex,
depending on the number of variables and the nature of their relationship.

Problem definition involves stating the general marketing research problem and identifying
its specific components. If you understand the nature of the problem as a researcher, you
will be able to better develop a solution for the problem. Inadequate problem definition is a
leading cause of failure of marketing research project.

THE PROBLEM FORMULATION

The first step in any marketing research study is to define the problem, while taking into
account the purpose of the study, the relevant background information, what information
is needed, and how it will be used in decision making. The tasks involved in formulating the
marketing research problem include discussions with management, including the key
decision-makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and
qualitative research. These tasks should lead to an Understanding of the environmental
context of the problem. The environmental context of the problem should be analyzed and
certain essential factors evaluated. These factors include past information and forecasts
about the industry and the firm, objectives of the firm, buyer behavior, resources and
constraints of the firm, the legal and economic environment, and marketing and
technological skills of the firm.

The researcher should avoid defining the marketing research problem either too broadly or
too narrowly. An appropriate way of defining the market research problem is to make a
broad statement of the problem and then identify its specific components.

The research problem or the research questions should be formulated in a sequential

manner. This will reduce the chances of ambiguities to a minimum. There is no hard and
fast rule for formulating the research problem. One can adopt a logical manner to reach the
desired research problem, objectives and research questions. Before deciding about the
research area or the research problem in specific the researcher should ask two questions

PHANDORA V. CUNAHAP, MBA

Instructor
 DE LA SALLE JOHN BOSCO COLLEGE
Mangagoy, Bislig City
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT

for himself: does he have the desired knowledge in the particular research area or not and
does he have interest in conducting research on that particular area. Knowledge is
necessary in order to deal with the research justly and clearly. On the other hand, interest
enables the researcher to give proper concern, time and energy in the accomplishment of
the research.

A good problem formulation is:

1. Interesting — keeps the researcher involved in it throughout the research process

2. Researchable - can be investigated through the collection and analysis of data, using
case study or other techniques
3. Understandable and logically build up — well formulated and has logical structure
with main question and following sub-questions
4. Manageable — fits the level of researcher's level of research skills, needed resources,
and time restrictions
5. Purposeful — establishes cooperation between researcher and business which
should lead to economical and practical development of both sides
6. Ethical — does not embarrass or harm participants

The Six Key Steps in Formulating Marketing Problem/s are:

1. Meet with client

At the earliest stage of the market research in order to correctly define the problem
the researcher must meet the manager needing the study. The two goals in this step
are:
a. to develop rapport and open communication lines, and
b. to obtain as much information as possible about the problem/opportunity

Generally, the planned and unplanned changes in the marketing environment are the
sources of marketing problems. The nature of the problem and the type of research
required can be properly provided by understanding the basic source of the problem.
Planned change is intended for the future, while the orientation of unplanned change is
toward the past. Research on planned change tends to be proactive, while research on
unanticipated or unplanned change tends to be reactive. The basic issue in planned change
is how to go about the change that the firm desires to bring about. The task at this step is
to know whether the problem needing information resulted from planned or unplanned
change.

Planned change may include development and introduction of new products, improved
distribution, more effective pricing and promotion with the intention of increasing revenues.
On the other hand unplanned change can come as a response to new technology, new
product introduced by the competitor, misuse of product, unexpected new idea from
customer complaint or a change in demographic or lifestyle of target customers.

2. Clarify the Problem/Opportunity

Researchers play a key role in problem formulation because they bring a new
perspective to the problem/opportunity situation. In this step the researcher help
managers get the accurate the heart of the problem. Researchers posed as
consultants in determining together with the manager the root causes and clear
paths of action. The true nature of the problem should be spotted. In order to help
find out the problem the researcher may conduct exploratory research.

PHANDORA V. CUNAHAP, MBA

Instructor
 DE LA SALLE JOHN BOSCO COLLEGE
Mangagoy, Bislig City
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT

Providing different angles on the problem is an important thing the researcher can do
for a manager. Majority of managers, especially those were part of the company for
extended years are afflicted by normal thinking. Normal thinking is developing
routine ways of seeing the business and its environment and responding to different
conditions. Researchers can help them get to the heart of the problem. Normally this
is a positive thing, however sometimes it can be a barrier to identifying the true
nature of a problem.

3. State the Manager’s Decision Problem

A decision problem is the basic problem or opportunity facing the manager for
which marketing research is intended to offer answers.

For instance, consider a laundry shop that has been open for half a year but has yet
to make profit. The owner makes costs as low as possible. The revenue from the new
business has not materialized as quickly as forecasted. Although on the mind of the
owner posed several questions like the business' lack of success and how to
successfully move forward, the initial decision would be "Why are my shop's revenues
so low?" This situation is not expected, so the problem came from unplanned change.

The decision problem faced by the owner of the laundry shop is a case of discovery-
oriented decision problem. Discovery-oriented decision problems typically ask "what"
or "why" and generate information that can be used by managers to make important
decisions. These problems are frequent with unplanned changes in the marketing
environment for which managers simply need basic information. In dealing with
unplanned changes the researcher is asked to give facts that decision makers can
apply in strategizing. Information about customer satisfaction, overall awareness of
customers or consumer perceptions can be provided by the researcher. Discovery-
oriented decision problem however, seldom provide actionable solution. The purpose
of discovery-oriented decision problem is to (fifer, insights essential for the managers
to craft better decisions. Another form of manager's decision problem is strategy
oriented decision problem which is usually directed at "how" planned change should
be implemented and focus on making decisions. For instance, the initial research for
the laundry shop pointed out that awareness level of the customers among its target
market is only 35%. "How to best increase awareness?" is the appropriate strategy
oriented decision problem in this situation. The researcher may determine
effectiveness of two proposed advertising campaign for increasing awareness level.

4. Select Research Problem/s

Research problems restate the decision problem in research terms, from the
researcher's perspective. Specifically a research problem establishes the research
that can be done in order to provide answers to the decision problem. The example of
laundry shop with the owner facing the discovery-oriented decision problem of "Why
are my shop's revenues so low?" the researcher could offer several possibilities of
research to obtain the answer to the problem, which are:
a. find out sales levels required to breakeven
b. evaluate shop traffic and pattern of obtaining laundry service
c. look into the present customer satisfaction
d. evaluate the perceptions of the present target market about the laundry shop and
its competitors
e. find out the level of awareness of the target market

Typically, in strategy oriented decision problem there are only limited possible
research problems. The reason mainly is that the focus has transferred to making a

PHANDORA V. CUNAHAP, MBA

Instructor
 DE LA SALLE JOHN BOSCO COLLEGE
Mangagoy, Bislig City
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT

choice among selected alternatives. In the example of the laundry shop, from
discovery-oriented decision problem to strategy oriented decision problem, the
question would be "How do I increase the shop traffic?" Some strategic option could
be increasing level of sales promotion, introduction of advertising campaigns,
rearranging the store layout and others. Perhaps the best area to consider for
research in this example is advertising in the presence of factors like the manager's
experience, the available budget and the results of discovery-oriented research.

Possible research problems can come from the client during the process of clarifying
the problem, through exploratory research for new ideas or the experiences and
insights of the researcher. At this step the significant thing to do is to specify the full
range of possible research problems.

Developing a framework to discover the potential issues, the potential business

outcomes required and finally the approaches necessary to develop the right direction
is often times recommended. The researcher may use the framework to understand
the core issue. So for the laundry shop business, the driver of lower revenue could be
the amount of spend per client due to less repeat business or low amount of service
per visit. Probably, low awareness driven by low promotional activities or. poor Word-
of-mouth is the reason for low revenue. Therefore, low revenue is not the only
problem but less repeat business, less customer awareness as well as low amount of
service, per visit are the research problems that could be established.

s The trade-off between benefits of the information to be acquired, the significance of

the decision to be made later and cost of obtaining the information should be
evaluated. The researcher ought to review each possible research problem with
consideration on money, time and effort.

Going back to the laundry shop example with the discovery-oriented decision
problem of "Why are my shop's revenues so low?" there could be quite a few potential
research problems. Collecting information from present customers, the researcher
can determine customer satisfaction. Gathering information from target market even
those who are not yet the customers of the shop could reveal perception of the target
market about the shop as well as the perceptions of competitors. It would be costly
though to address these three problems in market research. The researcher working
closely with the owner of the laundry shop should attempt to answer too many
research problems or it may lead both of them to half-baked results. Enthusiasm
alone will not do good jobs.

Budget limitation makes it impossible to do all things so the best choice must be
considered.

5. Prepare and Submit a Research Request Agreement

The research request agreement summarizes the problem formulation process in

written form and is submitted to managers for approval. It includes the following
sections:
a. Background — This includes the events that led to the manager's decision
problems in order to gain deeper understanding of the problem.
b. Decision problem — This contains a short discussion of the sources of the
problem whether these is planned or unplanned change as well as if the problem
is a discovery oriented or strategy oriented one.
c. Research problem(s) — This is the list of research problems and the input that
each would provide to the decision problem. The cost and benefits of each

PHANDORA V. CUNAHAP, MBA

Instructor
 DE LA SALLE JOHN BOSCO COLLEGE
Mangagoy, Bislig City
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT

research problem is provided here. The justification for the final choice of the
research problem is also supplied in this section.
d. Use — The manner each information will be used is written in this section. For
discovery oriented decision problems key information to be obtained and how this
information will be used by manager must be pointed tout. For strategy oriented
decision problems how information will be used by manager to make action
decision must be pointed out.
e. Targets and their subgroups — The groups from which the information must be
collected should be specified to determine appropriate sample. Logistics — Time
and money estimation to conduct the research is available in this section.

The research request agreement must be submitted to the decision maker for
approval. It is best that the approval is in writing.

THE MARKETING RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Marketing research is at the heart of addressing the four P's of marketing: product, price,
place and promotion. That is, the product must satisfy a need, be priced at the right level
in a place where it will be seen by the right people and promoted to generate sales. A
proposal is a rationale for undertaking a research project and as such it must be
persuasive, written in non-technical language and thorough in its analysis.

Systematic planning is required at all the stages of the marketing research process. The
procedures followed at each stage are methodologically sound, well documented, and, as
much as possible, planned in advance. Marketing research uses the scientific method in
that data are collected and analyzed to test prior notions or hypotheses.

A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research
idea, that you have a good grasp of the relevant literature and the major issues, and that
your methodology is sound. Generally, a research proposal should contain all the key
elements involved in the research process and include sufficient information for the readers
to evaluate the proposed study.

Regardless of your research area and the methodology you choose, all research proposals
must address the following questions: What you plan to accomplish, why you want to do it
and how you are going to do it.

The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality of your proposed
study, but also on the quality of your proposal writing. A good research study may run the
risk of rejection simply because the proposal is poorly written. Therefore, it pays if your
writing is coherent, clear and compelling. The following are the common elements of a
research proposal in marketing research:

Abstract

An abstract is the first part of the marketing research proposal. It explains why the
research is taking place, the goals of this research and brief information on the
methodology and theories used.

Introduction

PHANDORA V. CUNAHAP, MBA

Instructor
 DE LA SALLE JOHN BOSCO COLLEGE
Mangagoy, Bislig City
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT

The introduction part is aimed a.t giving the readers an overall idea of the marketing
research. The introduction must include the information needed to carry out the research
in a smooth and effective manner.

For instance, if the purpose of research is to study the impact of television viewing habits
on young generation, then the first information required is the kind of television programs
and channels, which are influencing the youngsters in a positive or negative way.

Addressing the Research Problem

A research problem is the situation that causes the researcher to feel apprehensive,
confused and ill at ease. It is the demarcation of a problem area within a certain context
involving the WHO or WHAT, the WHERE, the WHEN and the WHY of the problem
situation. Research problem leads to a hypothesis for the project.

Research Design

The researcher must give a complete description of the research design he will be following
in his work. The research design can be exploratory, casual, descriptive or adopted.

Cost Analysis

Estimated costs for marketing research make an important part of the proposal. The
decision making authorities must be given a succinct idea of the cost which will be
incurred on the research. This part must include a complete breakdown of cost in relation
to the research tools.

If more research analysis tools are being employed by the researcher, then a comparison of
tools and their cost must be presented to the research committee. This section also
emphasizes on validity and reliability.

Timetable and Reporting

The proposal must include the duration of the marketing research project. The research
administration is interested in knowing the stages where the primary, intermediary and
final report will be submitted. It is recommended that the research includes Critical Path
Method (CRM) or Program Evaluation. and Review Technique (PERT) in this section.

IV. REFERENCE

1. Camilar-Serrano, Angelita Ong and Palad, Rolando (2016). Marketing Researh, Mindshapers Co. Inc.

PHANDORA V. CUNAHAP, MBA

Instructor