American Express Malaysia Market Research

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Introduction

American Express, a global banking and financial organization, is well established in credit card business in Malaysia, with its HQ in Kuala Lumpur and 4 Branches at Penang, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. Operating in the country for the past 20 years, it has become market leader in the charge card segment and has been steadily improving its charge card sales year on year. Thus, its yearly sales target is 15,000 new cards but it has been consistently achieving over 24,000 new charge accounts per year. However, the bank management now find that the Penang Branch, which otherwise is the top performer in sales of charge cards among all Amex Branches in Malaysia, has been steadily losing ethnic Chinese charge card customers over the past 12 months.

Research is needed to find out why the Penang Branch of the American Express Bank is facing decline in charge card sales to ethnic Chinese people. The research needs to investigate the factors affecting choice of charge cards by this community and seek out what the community members seek in their preferred charge card, find out what factors like social, economic, demographic, cultural, etc influence such choice, and collect information that may help the bank adopt suitable strategy for helping it recover and improve its charge card client base among ethnic Chinese people in Penang.

The American Express Bank management is aware of the intense competition in the small Penang market where so many local and foreign banks compete amongst themselves for improving card sales. It also realizes the changed situation after its acquisition by Maybank. While it is aware of the fact that increase in card usage depends on extent of their acceptability by merchant establishments as also the customer’s preference for card over cash when making payments, it also realizes that it may have to resort to tailor made strategies by way of product differentiation, target marketing or innovative marketing communications for driving up its charge card sales volumes in a close market like Penang. It also hypothesizes the given situation as one of market saturation in a limited-demand environment characterized by multiple product and service providers (banks).

Under the circumstances, a research on charge card usage by ethnic Chinese in Penang would provide vital information for evolving and implementing suitable strategy, which could invariably improve corporate profitability of the bank in the long run.

Objectives

Identify the factors that determine choice of charge cards by the ethnic. Chinese community in Penang; this will include any factors that restrict usage of cards or general factors that may determine consumer preferences.
Find out the features or facilities that ethnic Chinese seek in a charge card.
To determine the size of the market, the market trends, and consumer needs and buying patterns.
Draw conclusion from factors so determined which might be successfully used to evolve and implement suitable marketing strategies to improve Amex charge card sales to ethnic Chinese people of Penang.

Hierarchy of Information

Information is vital to for any research process and choice of information sources depends on the qualitative or quantitative nature of the research. Accordingly, owing to the qualitative nature of the research under consideration, following information may be considered for sourcing and basing research on

Essential Information

Information on how the Penang ethnic Chinese community take consumer decisions and what may be the factors like social, economic, demographic, cultural, etc., that may influence their choice of particular charge cards. What mass communications and media like television, radio, Internet, newspapers, films, etc., are used by the ethnic Chinese population for gathering information and how this information influences their consumer preferences, particularly for choosing charge cards.

What are the expectations of the ethnic Chinese in a charge card as regards product features, convenience, costs, service delivery, etc., and what gaps are identified between present product features and expectations so determined; this includes the consideration of features presently provided by charge cards of other competing banks in Penang.

Desirable Information

Details of income and expenditure patterns of the Penang ethnic Chinese.
The economic characteristics and data on Penang in particular and on Malaysia in general.
An overview of government banking and financial policies, and card purchase and holding criteria based on local regulations and laws in force.
Details on how the card system functions, particularly use of POS at Merchant establishments, shopping malls, etc.

Competitor Information

Comparison of features and cost structure of payment cards-credit, debit and charge – sold by leading banks in the captive market.
Information on trends in the charge card industry and innovations adopted by other competing banks in the captive market.

Background

Charge Cards

Charge cards are payment cards similar to credit and debit cards and can be used to pay for purchase of products and services. The difference is in their terms of payment. Unlike credit cards, which require only a minimum percent to be paid by due date of a bill and interest as applicable is charged on outstanding amount, charge cards require the holder to pay in full by due date and do not charge any interest. The card issuer sets a preset limit on the card, which is based on customer’s transaction history on the card.

Presently, the minimum income required of a charge card applicant in Malaysia is around RM 18,000 per annum. Some charge cards also provide withdrawals of cash and charge the cash transactions. Examples of charge cards are the American Express Card, Diners Club International Card, HSBC Amanah MasterCard, etc.

American Express Malaysia

American Express Company is an internal banking and finance organizations with Branches and presence across the world. In Malaysia, it has 4 Branches located one each at Penang, Sarawak, Joho and Sabah. The charge cards issued by American Express Malaysia are the American Express Personal Card, the American Express Gold Card, the American Express Platinum Card and the American Express Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Gold Card

Maybank

This is another name for the Malayan Banking Berhad. It is licensed by the Malaysian Central Bank the Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and is in operation since 1960. It is now one of the largest commercial banks of Malaysia. In 2006, it acquired the American Express charge card business in Malaysia for RM 80 million to consolidate its position as the national leader in bank lending.

Research Methodology

Considering the limited budget of £ 2,000, the mostly qualitative and semi-quantitative nature of the research, which is involved, the small catchment area to be studied, the time in which to complete entire research project and the ready availability of information resources on media like the Internet, the following methodologies are recommended:

Desk Research

Various sources of information and data are nowadays available on the internet and can be accessed readily, conveniently and at low cost even from one’s desk at home by searching and downloading from the websites and without going to external source sites. Hence, following information sources may be recommended for sourcing and obtaining relevant, authentic, reliable, and accurate and upto-date information relating to the topic under research:

Peer reviewed and online journals like the following:

The International Journal of Market Research
International Journal of Research in Marketing
Harvard Business Review
Journal of Money, Credit and Banking
The Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods
Journal of Empirical Generalizations in Marketing Science
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
European Journal of Marketing
Journal of Marketing Communications
Journal of Strategic Marketing
Advances in Consumer Research
Journal of Consumer Marketing
Psychology and Marketing
Journal of Financial Services Marketing

Websites with links to various journals/online articles/scholarly papers:

www.highbeam.com
www.worldbank.org
www.jstor.org
econpapers.repec.org

Other online databases hosting innumerable peer-reviewed work papers, research papers, reports, articles, papers, etc:

ERIC Database
EBSCOhost
SSRN library

Other online resources of well known publishers:

John Wiley & Sons
Blackwell Publishing
McGraw Hill

Government & Company websites providing free information on American Express, Malaysian banking and financial regulations, banking statistics, data on Malaysian banking, details on Penang and information on cultural, social, etc issues relating to local ethnic Chinese and other population:

www.americanexpress.com
www.bankinginfo.com.my
www.maybank2u.com.my
www.unescap.org
www.americanexpress.com.my
www.global-eshop.biz

In-depth Interviews

In-depth and non-directive interviews to be taken of 10 customers visiting American Express Branch in Penang and cover questions like whether the customer uses the American Express charge cards, where (s) he uses it, what (s)he likes in the card’s features, what more (s)he expects from it, etc.

This would need to be done during rush hours or when maximum transactions are envisaged (e.g. end or beginning of a month) and target those customers who can spare the time required for the interview, which may range anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour Also, the interviews need to address general research objectives.

In-depth and focused interviews of 10 customers visiting popular Penang shopping malls like Kompleks Bukit Jambul, Island Plaza, Gurney Plaza and Prangin Mall and based on prepared set of questions relating to the research objective, including upon their purchase behaviour, consumer choice, etc. This would also require an interview time of around 1 hour per interview.

Interviews shall attempt to obtain as representative a sample/data as possible by including participants (both external interviews and FGD participants) across diverse social, economic, cultural, vocational origin as possible. The interview shall be structured and face-to-face ones and the sample of respondents need to be interviewed and re-interviewed in course of a semi-longitudinal study, as time constraints may permit research. All interviews in which the respondents are not forthcoming with direct answers to given questions, a probe needs to help obtain the acceptable responses from them.

Focus Group Discussion

A focus group comprising essentially of ethnic Chinese needs to be selected and interviewed as a collective group or community in a quite and ideal location where, with a note-taker, the moderator would be able to pilot research related questions and record the same in a tape recorder or audio-visual recording devices A sample size of say 12 participants from diverse age groups, economic status and vocations need to be assembled so as to provide as representative a sample as is possible. Time taken for the FGD would be around 2 hours with two separate sessions with sufficient break in between The group members could be successfully sourced from any one or more of the following associations in Penang:

Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC)
Penang Chingay Association
Malaysia Chinese Association
Chinese Penang Association
Chinese Town Hall
The Teong Guan Association

As operational staff involved in daily functions in the bank, front line staff provide customer services, market bank’s products and attend to customer issues They could provide valuable feedback on customer requirements, issues relating to services, customer feedback on charge cards, etc which could substantially influence research outcomes The interview needs to be well designed led by a well prepared, qualified researcher and an assistant, lasting for around 1 hour for each session and is to be scheduled so as to include all staff across hierarchy, or may be based on a sample size of 10-12.

Reporting

A report is to be prepared based on the research, summarizing it, deriving an objective and analytical conclusion, and mentioning the outcomes and implications that need to be factored into future market strategy for improving sales of Amex charge cards to ethnic Chinese in Penang-the key objective of the research. The report may be written and few copies made. However, as most corporates now require, a power Point presentation is also to be made that can be shown to key stakeholders of the Bank.

Accuracy

The research is qualitative and its objective is to determine as yet unknown factors that determine charge card sales to ethnic Chinese community in Penang. It necessitates no hypothesis to be tested or any analysis of research data to be made for arriving at measurable and quantitative outcomes. The research shall only attempt to examine previous or existing data sources relating to the issues under research and help identify the broader determinants of consumer choice that impact consumer preferences in the close charge card market in Penang by considering a particular community and provide a basis for formulating strategic marketing plans for improving market share to that community. The research outcome is only limited as to its reliability and integrity by the researcher’s own bias, if any and only needs an objective and unbiased attitude to be maintained throughout.

Resources

A specialist person well qualified and equipped to act as Moderator for interviews and focus group discussions: £750
Expenses for Focus Group Discussions @ £40 per head for 12 persons: £480
Room and audio-visual equipment hiring and refreshments for FGD: £400
Cost of printed questionnaires and reports: £70
Total Expenses approximated: £1,700

Staffing

2 persons would be deputed to conduct the interviews and FGD, take notes, record audio-visual information and write their observations in detail later on. They would also interact regularly with management of Amex, Penang to ensure that the quality, ethics, integrity and research methods adopted are of high standards and are as per client specifications. On completion of the project, a final reports would be made and presented by the deputed persons

Ethics

The entire research shall be conducted as per the Code of Professional Conduct outlined by the market Research Society, UK and personal data access and storage shall be within the provisions of the Data Protection Act, 2001 It shall be ensured that the information obtained from participants shall be through informed consent, maintain confidentiality of research results and information derived, honour right to privacy of the participants among other issues.

Timetable

When an approval for the research is granted, work shall be commenced. The design of the interviews and FGD shall begin on the 3^rd Nov 2008 and the final report will be presented in the last week of Dec 2008 ending on the 31^st at the most. The plan is thus to complete the entire project within a total timeline of 8 weeks.

Quality Issues

The individual in charge of the research project is a marketing professional with in-depth experience in the banking and finance sectors and has prepared various other reports relating to the card industry. His resume and list of clients serviced are available for perusal if requested. The assistant has been with the university since 2006 and both are members of the market Research Society and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Their qualifications and experience in the field is extensive and they shall strive to execute the project by following all ethical and quality issues professionally and in client’s best interests.

Terms of Proposal

20% payable as and when the contract is awarded.
30% payable at the start of the project.
50% on completing project and on submission of final report to the client.

Critical Commentary of the Market Research Proposal for American Express Malaysia

The document critically examines the research proposal for American Express Malaysia to be undertaken for identifying factors responsible for decline in sales of American Express Charge Cards to a captive ethnic Chinese community in Penang, Malaysia. It tries to discern the relevance of the rationale behind the proposal, examines the objectives, research methodology to be adopted and the pros and cons of adopting such methodology in the instant case.

According to Sekaran, U. (1992, p. 4), research is a ‘systematic and organized effort to investigate a specific problem that needs a solution’. Kotler, P. (2000, p.103) states that ‘Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company’. White states that a proposal is a ‘sophisticated advertisement of approaches and abilities’ (1997, p. 218)The proposal under study considers a research that combines the above stated characteristics of a research related to a marketing problem in an organization American Express and further clearly outlines a scientific and qualitative methodology to be adopted. It tries to attract a sponsor for the research and states the problem simply and effectively.

In so far as the effectiveness of a proposal is concerned, it needs to have a clearly defined objective. As Easterby-Smith et al (1991) have stated: “Most organizations will only see research as valid if it is seen to lead to practical outcomes’. The practical outcomes and qualitative or quantitative results are based on a clearly defined objective and a well executed research design based upon sound research principles, methods and practices. It is desirable of research to produce concrete statistical outcomes that can stand the test of reliability, accuracy, validity, quality, etc. The specific research objective, research environment, type of research data required and nature of the participants do influence the research outcomes.

Kerlinger (1986) points out, that ‘the most satisfying and usable relationships are those that can be generalized, that is, applied from the specific instance of the research findings to many phenomena and to many people’. In the instant case, where a particular problem is to be researched upon, the research methods do appear to indicate this underlying generalization, so much a nature of theories and principles. In this respect, also, the proposal under study does follow along well tread research paths and attempts to find out and identify specific objectives which can influence future course of more generalized marketing strategies that American Express may adopt in sales of charge cards or even similar products or services in a macro environment.

The scope of a research project or the rationale for selecting a particular methodology or design depends to a considerable extent on the cost of the project and how much a sponsor is willing to spare for the same, if it cannot be self-financed Costs do limit further research on initial findings of research and any research which can proceed only midway and fails because of cost considerations may best not be started at all. The resources, time and money are all wasted. Also, cost is a limiting factor not only for the completion of the research for obtaining definite results or outcomes but also in the methods that may or may not be adopted in the research.

Zigmund (2000) recommends that “a cost-benefit analysis be undertaken before starting off on a research project.” The cost budget of £2,000 is a limiting factor and needs a cost controlled research design based upon intelligent use of available resources, some free, others cheap or some more costly than others. A clearly spelt out list of proposed expenditures in the instant case denotes an objective oriented approach to achieving results through the proposed research. However, Diener and Crandall (1978), point out that the “costs and benefits of research are often both impossible to predict and difficult to measure”

The cost also constrains the choice of research methods. As Patton (1984) warns, “an inevitable trade-off will be faced between gathering as much data as possible (and then face the costs of doing so) or reducing costs, time and hence data….” The proposal under study being limited in time and cost constraints, does attempt to achieve maximum results from an intelligent use of free resources on the web. The choice of internet websites and other online resources also throws light on the preference of the researcher to choose reliable and accurate sources like American Express and government websites and this surmounts a substantial cost barrier to research.

Use of internet sources also reflects the growing trend among researchers to access readily available and cheap information sources, which may include e-books and authentic, peer reviewed online journal articles. But, as Sleeman (2002) points out, “with the growth of electronic environments such as the Internet, what is ‘unique’ and ‘published’ or ‘unpublished’ is increasingly blurred.” The research needs to exercise due care in this regard if the outcomes are to preserve its unique and stand-alone character.

Continuing along same lines, it appears that the study of Amex charge card sales to ethnic Chinese people in Penang is one of qualitative rather than a quantitative nature. It only attempts to find answers to ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘what’ of the specific problem viz., that of decline in charge card sales to ethnic Penang Chinese population. “In so far as the study needs to determine and map the captive market’s social and cultural behaviour and attitudes towards a particular product, find out their motivations, and even evolve new marketing ideas based on the research outcomes, the research is best done by following a qualitative method” (Smith & Fischer 2001).

Willig (2001) asserts that, “qualitative researchers are interested in how people make sense of the world and how they experience events.” Also, “One of the greatest strengths of the qualitative approach is the richness and depth of explorations and descriptions and those who are not familiar with qualitative methodology may be surprised by the sheer volume of data and the detailed level of analysis that results even when research is confined to a small number of subjects” (Myers, 2002).

And again, Ragin (1994) distinguishes between quantitative and qualitative research thus: ^“The key features common to all qualitative methods can be seen when they are contrasted with quantitative methods. Most quantitative data techniques are data condensers. They condense data in order to see the big picture….Qualitative methods, by contrast, are best understood as data enhancers.

When data are enhanced, it is possible to see key aspects of cases more clearly” (p.3) A qualitative approach is based on cost constraints, need for discovering unknown factors behind real life phenomena as compared to a quantitative method relying on accurate measurements. The qualitative nature of the study contemplated in the case of Amex charge cards do justify the methods proposed to be adopted in this document.

The selection of research tools like the interview and focus group discussion depend on the nature and circumstances of the study. Desk research as proposed to be adopted in this document only attempt to circumvent the cost, time and resource limitations. The mode of research suggested is also quite effective in as much as it produces outcomes having reliability, validity, stability and consistency. Data sources used are both primary and secondary, although an initial secondary research is proposed which again, is a result of the cost and resource constraint. The choice of research tool is one of compromise, of weighing the options. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages and may be more suited to a particular case than another. The particular problem faced by American Express needs to determine the root cause of the issue by targeting a particular community.

The problem is that of bringing together member of a particular community, and involving them in thread-bare discussions enlightening their views on the issue and which could be profitably applied by the bank in achieving their research aims. Incidentally, Stringer (1999) also advises that “ you should ensure that the diversity of groups in a social setting are represented” The appropriate size and constitution of a given sample group from the larger target population need not be reemphasized as the correctly constituted representative group is required to be studied and the proper size/quality of data is required to be collected.

The choice of methods like interviews and focus group discussions is based on the nature of the research; it seeks to explore social and cultural issues relating to a particular group or community, the ethnic Chinese community in Penang. The captive market considered is small (Penang is a small part of Malaysia) and seeks to address problem of declining purchase of charge cards by a particular community. Thus, while phone or online interviews do not have that personal touch and are not preferable in this case, a face-to-face interview mode may be preferable here.

Arksey and Knight (1999) state: “Interviewing is a powerful way of helping people to make explicit things that have hitherto been implicit – to articulate their tacit perceptions, feelings and understandings”(p. 32) Gray, David E. (2004) also opines that “there are a number of situations in which the interview is the most logical research technique”, and that “if the objective of the research, for example, is largely exploratory, involving, say, the examination of feelings or attitudes, then interviews may be the best approach” (p. 214).

The sources of information outlined in the proposal fits this criteria of the researcher in as much as it seeks to explore Chinese socio-cultural practices and their supposed interactions with Amex charge card sales by focusing on three different groups or classes of respondents, namely the Amex staff at Penang Branch, the Chinese community frequenting well known local Chinese organizations and associations representing their values, choices, interests best among available choices of data sources, as also the focused discussions which will be facilitated by arranging to congregate and involve in face to face and detailed, focused and structured set of interview questions and focus group model developed by professional researchers well knowledgeable and trained in the field of market research. Use of audio as a recording tool is also recommended and the correct technique to derive correct outcomes of research, as has been proposed to be adopted by the proposal under study. “Audio is valuable because it can be used as a kind of talking diary that captures an entire conversation” (McNiff et al., 1996).

Ethical issues also are addressed in that, the research proposal tries to adhere to the professional code of ethics of marketing professionals and complies with the copyright acts prevalent in the UK and other places, including Malaysia. As Korac-Kakabadse et al. (2002) suggest: “one of the challenges of ethical behaviour is that it lies in a ‘grey zone’ where clear-cut dichotomies between what is right and wrong may not exist.” However, the researcher and those who avail their services do need to ensure participant safety, privacy, right to information related to research, right to freedom of speech, right to give informed consent, etc. “The ethics of research stipulate that the privacy and anonymity of participants must be respected during the research process” (American Psychology Association, 1992).

Carrigan and Kirkup (2001) suggest that “an important safety-net can be provided by ethical contracts.” This means that required effort needs to be reflected in research as also in the attitudes to research as reflected in the proposal itself to assuage any fears of risk to the participants and/or respondents. According to Willig (2001), “researchers should protect their participants from any harm or loss, and they should aim to preserve their psychological well-being and dignity at all times.” also, the research contemplated is also action oriented and necessarily so. “This kind of research is mainly carried out by the persons facing a problem or considering adopting a practice” (Krathwohl, 1998).

Analysis of the data stresses on the qualitative aspect rather than on quantitative method, as appropriate in the particular case. An answer to reasons for the decline of ethnic Chinese use of charge cards in Penang is specific to Penang, the Chinese community and the American Express company for whom the study is to be conducted. Further quantitative study on the mater may later be called for and conducted, which could help reinforce the outcomes that evolve from the research contemplated.

Reporting is also an important aspect that the proposal has focused on. The reports are professional result statements which need to convey appropriate inferences and outline the strategic direction that may need to be taken by American Express for improving the declining sales of their charge cards to the Penang ethnic Chinese population. If effective, it could base the launch of further studies and hence would be truly productive by effective use of scarce resources utilized by the research.

In a cost constrained time bound study of the kind envisaged, use must be made of the best available cheap resources and all relevant information sourced as effectively and productively as possible. Thus, in addition to individual interviews and focus group discussions, the researcher may do well to rely on already available research on the related field of study, that may be available in the market or the internet, or even in academic journals (online or printed) like approved research papers and working papers. Thus relevant research may borrow from studies by Davis (1989), Rogers (1995), Evans and Schmalensee (1999), Rochet and Tirole (2002), Chakravorti and To T (2000), Chakravorti and Shah (2001), Wright (2004) and Hayashi (2006).

Also, there is the study by Zmud (1979) and Assael (1981) who found that older people are expected to be more resistant towards new technology. Then, that by Hayashi and Klee (2003) that studied “the relationship between consumer’s choice of payment instrument and usage with the use of technology such as computers” and, though there may be many more, another study is notable: “the concept of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness” as put forth by Davis (1989), Davis et al (1992) and Rogers (1995) in Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), which may be useful for taking the research considered in this document in the right direction.

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