Essay on Market Research Projects

Submitted By schneider123
Words: 1804
Pages: 8

Seminar für Allgemeine BWL,
Marketing und Marktforschung
Prof. Dr. Marc Fischer

Worksheet No. 1 – Solution Outline (Design of Market Research Projects, sampling fundamentals and sampling procedures)
1.) Since Blu-ray players have only recently been introduced in the German market, only few experiences on the purchase and usage behavior of consumers exist. The company
SimSing wants to determine whether it is worthwhile for the company to enter the market for Blu-ray players. Therefore, it is interested in the customer needs and expectations with respect to Blu-ray players. As a marketing expert, you have been assigned to design an appropriate market research project.
a) Identify and briefly explain the stages of a market research project. Illustrate the different stages with regard to the determination of customer needs and expectations for Blu-ray players.
 1st Step: Problem definition (Manager has a management problem that has to be transformed into a market research problem; formulation of market research project aims):


Formulation of project aim (e.g., determining customer demands with regard to Blu-ray players in order to open up new markets)



Identification of responsible managers/departments (e.g., strategic marketing, R&D, engineering, management accounting)



Definition of possible deliverables (e.g., catalog of requirements for Bluray players and weighting of requirements)



Narrowing down the scope of analysis (e.g., narrowing down requirements like potential playback formats, price, user friendliness)



Clarification of cost responsibility (e.g., strategic marketing, cost controlled by management accounting)

 2nd Step: Project design (Design of a detailed data collection and data analysis plan): 

Selection of data collection type (primary versus secondary research; e.g., survey, interview, experiment, conjoint measurement study)



Selection of data analysis method (e.g., univariate/descriptive: determining the rank order of preferences; correlations: determining potential relations between preferences)



Determination of the composition and scope of the sample (e.g., N = 100 customers, who have once bought a DVD-player)



Design of data collection instrument (e.g., design of questionnaire, number of questions, scaling; pretesting of the questionnaire)

© Dr. Alexander Himme

1

Seminar für Allgemeine BWL,
Marketing und Marktforschung
Prof. Dr. Marc Fischer


Consult with stakeholders in the organization on the project concept (e.g., checking if the design meets the expectations of the stakeholders and the projects goals; checking if the design is in line with the cost budget)

 3rd Step: Execution and analysis (Planning, organizing, controlling of data collection):


Possible evaluation and selection of external service providers (e.g., GfK)



Anticipation of potential obstacles and how to overcome them (e.g., dissatisfying response rate → change of questionnaire design or provide better incentives for the participation in the survey)



Definition of the deliverables of the data analysis (e.g., aggregation level of the results)



Determination and control of milestones (e.g., data collection = 3 months, data analysis = 3 months)



Possibly integrate the external service provider (e.g., benefit from its experience with previous market research projects; benefit from its data analysis competencies)

 4th Step: Communication of results (Formulation of research report and presentation of results; the report and the presentation have to be adapted to the various interests of different stakeholders):


Identify the result recipients (see 1st step, engineers, strategic marketing, different marketing departments within the firm, etc.)



Define the manner in which the results will be conveyed (e.g., presentation and written report)



Define the contents of the communication