MI 2

Subaru

The company/brand wants to test out two different new versions of

its brand identity to make a final decision on one.

Update: Check the article Brand Identity: What It Is and How To

Build OneLinks to an external site. if you do not understand the
concept “brand identity”

To make it easier, you can think of “brand identity” as the logo, as it

is central to this concept.

Introduction and research background

This section should provide an overview of the specific scenario

being addressed by your market research plan, including
information about the company and its market. The overview should
be based on relevant conditions and data that is believed to
influence and lead to the management decision problems in the
scenario. In the absence of necessary data, you can make
reasonable assumptions of what might be the case. The section
should conclude with a clear statement of the management
decision problems and the key objectives of your market research
plan.
Company background
While Subaru was founded in 1955, the firm started as an aircraft research company named
Fuji Heavy Industries in 1915, however they would soon reorganize to become the chief
aircraft manufacturer for Japan during World War II (Subaru n.d). After the war effort, the
company pivoted towards car manufacturing, thus creating the Subaru brand. After more
than half a decade of operating, Subaru has become one of the world’s leading automakers
which is best known for engineering, safety, reliability, and functionally (Subaru n.d).
Industry overview
The car market in Vietnam has developing strongly in recent years thank to the economic
growth leads to the increasing of the demand for personal transportation contribute to a
growth in the number of cars sold. According to Vietdata (2023) the total sales volume across
the market of member units of the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association (VAMA)
reached 404,635 units in 2022, a 33% increase compared to 2021 while there were more than
360 thousand passenger cars sold. However, with intense competition from domestic and
international rival firms, Subaru has appeared in Vietnam since 2009 and has met many
difficulties in brand shares and market shares of automobile manufactures. Therefore, Subaru
has not captured any market share in Vietnam (Figure 1).

Management decision problem

Base on the fact that Subaru has not captured any market share in
Vietnam (Figure 1), the company wants to change its brand identity
in order to attract more customers as well as increase their cars
volume sales. With lack of brand awareness

Figure 1: Market share of leading automobile manufacturers in

Vietnam in 2022 (Statista 2023).

https://www.statista.com/statistics/976550/vietnam-automobile-
manufacturers-market-share/

Research problem, including research objectives and questions

This section should provide a clear and justified translation of the

management/marketing decision problems into an equivalent
research problem. The identification of the research problem should
then be followed by statements of research objectives and detailed
questions that match with each research objective.

Research objectives Research questions

1. To understand buying 1.1. How do Vietnamese

motivations of Vietnamese consumers perceive
consumers regarding and evaluate different
passenger cars brands. passenger car brands in
terms of quality,
reliability, design,
safety, technology and
price?
1.2. Are they willing to buy a
car in a well-known
brand with higher price
or buy a car in a smaller
brand with lower price
but with the same
quality?
1.3. What factors influence
Vietnamese consumers'
decision to purchase a
passenger car and how
important are these
factors compared to
each other?
1.4. What brands come first
in their mind when talk
about famous
passenger cars brands?

2. To determine the 2.1. How familiar are

consumer awareness of Vietnamese consumers
Subaru cars and logo. with the Subaru logo
and what associations
are they have with it?
2.2. Have they ever used or
experienced a product
from Subaru?
2.3. How do they perceive
 and evaluate Subaru
products in terms of
quality, reliability,
design, safety,
technology and price?
2.4. What come first in their
mind when talk about
Subaru?
2.5. How do they compare
Subaru cars to other
cars brands regarding
design, quality and
price…?

3.

Research design

This section builds on the research objectives and detailed

questions identified previously. You will comment on the nature of
your proposed project e.g., exploratory, descriptive, causal
research, to name some, or a combination of these natures. Your
comments should be supported by a well-argued justification. Then,
propose a research design that follows either a qualitative or
quantitative approach, or both, and provide a rationale for the
selected design. Please also determine if you are going to use
secondary data or primary data, or both. Providing the rationale for
your decisions is always required.

1. First objective (Exploratory research/Primary

Data/Quantitative)

2. Second objective (Exploratory research/Secondary

Data/Quantitative)

3. Third objective
Data collection Plan

In this section, you should clearly identify the process that will be
used to gather the necessary data to answer the research
questions. Please specify what data collection methods and
communication techniques will be applied, in what order will they
be applied, and why has this approach been suggested. Note that
different research objectives might be achieved by using different
data collection methods.

You are also required to present and discuss your sampling methods
in this section. Your discussion should include but is not limited to
the following information: the target population and sample size,
sampling frames, sampling methods used in each stage of the
sampling process, as well as relevant errors that may be associated
with your proposed data collection process and their respective
remedies. Please note that you will need to explain your answers
with rationale rather than simply presenting the information.

1. Data collection method and communication techniques.

For the first 2 objectives,

References

https://subaru-middleeast.com/history-of-subaru/

https://www.subaru.asia/mig/en/about-us/subaru.php

https://www.vietdata.vn/post/the-vietnamese-car-market-in-2023-
facing-numerous-challenges