Category: Marketing Research

Importance of Marketing Research in Digital Era: Analytical Essay

Research is generally about finding or searching out something that can aid in the solution of any problem. It is a systematic inquiry aimed at providing information to solve managerial problems (Anyanwu, 2016). The primary purpose of research is to inform action, to prove a theory, and contribute to developing knowledge in a field or study. It remains a tool for building knowledge and for facilitating learning. Other significance of research according to Anyanwu (2016) portrays research as a means to understand various issues and increase public awareness. Marketing research remains an aid to business success, since every decision is guess work without research. Research can shed light on’ issues the business did not even know existed, and can raise questions the business hadn’t realized even needed answers.

Marketing Research (MR) is the function that links the consumers, customers, and the publics of the organization to the marketer through information, and this information is used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. The biggest advantage of undertaking MR is getting consumer feedback, to understand the consumer, to know whether the business idea envisioned is already existent in the market probably in the form of another product or service. MR is what helps marketing decision makers’ shift from intuitive information gathering to systematic and objective marketing investigation (Ekerete, 2003). MR means the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of marketing data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation. It is the process of examining the buyers, the product these buyers want, and where they are currently interested in getting it. This remains that this is an effective way to learn more about the customers, competitors and the entire marketing publics. Marketing research strengthens the business research in product development, pricing strategies, promotional strategies, and distribution strategies, understanding the target market and their characteristics to serve them better. According to Ibekwe (2008), MR needs not be underestimated and remains the simplest way for a business to keep up with market trends and maintain a competitive edge by sizing up business opportunity. Moreover, MR can be carried out at various stages of a business life cycle, from pre-launch and beyond. Having a greater understanding of the market from the very start will enable the marketer to create a sound business strategy, and to establish and grow a business brand into one better than the competition. Marketers should be able to understand what their market is able to do, and what they prefer to do. It is therefore fundamental for a business through marketing research to understand the target market, pondering to know: What is the total addressable market? What are all of your targets’ demographics? What are their psychographics? What do they need or want? Do they want to buy your product? Where do they spend their time and why? Very importantly, marketing research is conducted to known: What organizations or businesses really want to find out? What are the processes that need to be followed to chase the idea? What are the arguments that need to be built around a concept? What is the evidence that will be required for people to believe in the idea or concept?

Marketing Research and Digital Era

Online marketing research is an electronic transaction and has similar features of a new innovation because, it is a shift from the traditional face to an online mediated research transaction. It means performance information gathering acts over the internet through an online research website (Sekaran and Rogers, 2013). An online MR means that the researcher is willing to send and retrieve information through the internet (Klomsiri, 2010).

Online researches are research transaction that are controlled and coordinated via the internet. It is an internet mediated research activity. It is a branch of electronic transaction that allows the target audience to access, evaluate and respond to questions online without physically being present or interfacing between the researcher and the respondent. In the advanced countries, the number of online research are increasing in geometric progression. The experience and prospect of online research in Nigeria are not the same considering their positive apt of being the internet aspirers in the world (World Internet Statistic Report, 2012). Even with the online research industry still at the nascent stage and facing logistics issues, bad network, high cost of data, poor power provision, poor access to technology, this is a potential channel for the marketing researcher to actively engage the customers and consumers (respondents).

The world according to Heraclitus is in a continuous flux that is, Omni Flux in all things. These changes could also affect the nature of business data collection. Information technological changes have manifested since the last decade of the 20th century. The significant ones include the internet information (Internet Research). Also the influences of technology have led to changes in the technology adoption model which manifested in the changes in the researchers habit in the developing nations like Nigeria. According to AAB Nigeria (2013), the question is therefore whether the marketing researchers are ready for this. Can marketing researchers embrace online data collection or online research like citizens of developed countries? Can an online research deliver appropriate decisions? Nigeria being a developing country has numerous issues affecting the growth of existing industries let alone the acceptance and success of a relatively new industry such as online research.

In spite of this, Nigeria still occupy the position of the most populous black nation in the world with a big market potential for online MR. However, amidst all these difficulties, some Nigerian online researchers are assumed to be doing well. They have been able to convince their target audiences to trust them and embrace online research (Philip Consulting, 2015).

Role of Marketing Research (MR)

MR consists of systematically gathering information about people or companies and then analyzing it to better understand a target group of people. The results of this marketing research, help businesses make more informed decisions about the company’s strategies, operations, and potential customer base. Understanding industry shifts, changing consumer needs and preferences, and legislative trends, among other things, can shape where a business chooses to focus its efforts and resources.

The purpose of MR is to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and up to date market information. Competitive marketing environment and the ever-increasing costs attributed to poor decision making require that marketing research provide sound information. Sound decisions are not based on gut feeling, intuition, or even pure judgment. Managers make numerous strategic and tactical decisions in the process of identifying and satisfying customer needs. They make decisions about potential opportunities, target market selection, market segmentation, planning and implementing marketing programs, marketing performance, and control. These decisions are complicated by interactions between the controllable marketing variables of product, pricing, promotion, and distribution. Further complications are added by uncontrollable environmental factors such as general economic conditions, technology, public policies and laws, political environment, competition, social and cultural changes. Another factor in this mix is the complexity of consumers. Marketing research helps the marketing manager link the marketing variables with the environment and the consumers. It helps remove some of the uncertainty by providing relevant information about the marketing variables, environment, and consumers. In the absence of relevant information, consumers’ response to marketing programs cannot be predicted reliably or accurately. Ongoing marketing research programs provide information on controllable and non-controllable factors and consumers; this information enhances the effectiveness of decisions made by marketing managers.

Marketing Research is therefore very important with economy being competitive with each passing day. Conducting marketing research is one of the best ways of achieving customer satisfaction, reduce customer churn and elevate business. In summary therefore, marketing research:-

1. provides information and opportunities about the value of existing and new products, thus, helping the business to plan and strategize accordingly,
2. helps in determining what the customers need and want. Marketing is customer-centric and knowing the customers and their needs will help the business to design their product or services that best suit them,
3. By understanding the needs of the customers, the business can also forecast their production and sales. One of the most difficult aspects for a production manager is to keep inventory stacked. What is the requirement and how much should be produced to fulfill the needs of the customer? MR helps to determine that.

To stay ahead of competitors, marketing research is a vital tool to carry out comparative studies. Businesses can device business strategies that can help them stay ahead of their competitors Abadom and Chukundah (2013) further considered the following benefits of marketing research:

1. Make well-informed decisions: The growth of an organization is dependent on the way decisions are made by the management. Using MR techniques, the management can make business decisions on the basis of obtained results that back their knowledge and experience. MR helps to know market trends, hence to carry it out frequently to get to know the customers thoroughly.
2. Gain accurate information: Marketing research provides real and accurate information that will prepare the organization for any mishaps that may happen in the future. By properly investigating the market, a business will undoubtedly be taking a step forward, and therefore it will be taking advantage of its existing competitors.
3. Determine the market size: A researcher can evaluate the size of the market that must be covered in case of selling a product or service in order to make profits.
4. Choose an appropriate sales system: Select a precise sales system according to what the market is asking for, and according to this, the product/service can be positioned in the market.
5. Learn about customer preferences: It helps to know how the preferences (and tastes) of the clients change so that the company can satisfy preferences, purchasing habits, and income level. Researchers can determine the type of product that must be manufactured or sold based on the specific needs of consumers.
6. Gather details about customer perception about the brand: In addition to generating information, MR helps a researcher in understanding how the customers perceive the organization or brand.
7. Analyze customer communication methods: MR serves as a guide for communication with current and potential clients.

Types of Marketing Research

Two main types of MR could be identified: pure and applied MR. These are further divided into three types of research bearing some characteristic features: Quantitative research, Qualitative research, and Mixed research. Other types of marketing research include: Descriptive, explorative, causal, Longitudinal, Cross-sectional and Action research.

Pure (Basic) research aims to develop knowledge, theories and predictions. The main motivation here is to expand man’s knowledge, not to create or invent something. According to Travers, ‘Basic Research is designed to add to an organized body of scientific knowledge and does not necessarily produce results of immediate practical value.’ Such research is time and cost intensive. It is used to solve a problem by adding to the field of application of discipline.

Applied research aims to develop techniques, products and procedures, designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge’s sake. The goal of applied research is to improve the human condition. It focuses on analysis and solving social and real-life problems. This research is generally conducted on a large scale basis and is expensive. As such, it is often conducted with the support of some financing agency like the federal government, public corporation, World Bank, UNICEF, and others. According to Hunt, ‘applied research is an investigation for ways of using scientific knowledge to solve practical problems’ for example:- improve agriculture crop production, treat or cure a specific disease, improve the energy efficiency of homes, offices, how can communication among workers in large companies be improved. This type of research can also be called Action Research, interested in the workability of ideas.

Exploratory Research: is used in obtaining preliminary information that will help identify and formulate the problem and hypothesis. It is done to understand what is happening and why something is happening. Some of the most common methods of exploratory research are focus groups, interviews, literature research (library, newspaper, magazines, trade publication and online), and ease analyses. Exploratory research is systematic and flexible and allows the researcher to investigate whatever sources he or she desires. Such research may consist of going to the library and reading published secondary data: of asking questions, salespersons acquaintances for their opinions about a company, its products and services, and prices; or of simply observing everyday company practices. Exploratory research allows the researcher to define the problem more precisely and generates hypotheses for the upcoming studies. It is a type of research design whose primary objective is the provision of insights into and comprehension of the problem situation confronting the researcher.

Descriptive Research: is used to identify the marketing problem and or the potential for a market. This type of research is used to identify the characteristics of the target group or the average user of the product or service. Descriptive research allows for specific predictions and different levels of correlations among variables. Descriptive research provides answers to questions such as who, what, when, where and how, as they are related to the research problem. Who- may be defined as firms (competitors) customers. What- defined as brands, or sizes that are being purchased. Where-places where customers are purchasing products. Why-descriptive research cannot conclusively answer the question of why using descriptive research, but via causal research designs. When and how do the buy?

There are two types of descriptive studies, and they are: cross-sectional study and a longitudinal study. A cross-sectional study involves a sample of the market, population at a certain point in time while Longitudinal designs: is a type of research design involving a fixed sample of population elements that is measured repeatedly on the same variables. The sample remains the same over time, thus providing a series of pictures which, when viewed together, portray a vivid illustration of the situation and the changes that are taking place over time. A longitudinal study involves a panel or fixed sample of element at a certain point in time. An example of a longitudinal study involves the manufacturer, distributor, individual stores, and consumers. Any one of these elements can be replaced with another. In other words, the distributor can be of new management or the department store or a competitor.

In a longitudinal study, there are two types of panels, and they are: continuous panels and discontinuous panels. In most scenarios, panel members are compensated in one fashion or another for their efforts. In a continuous panel, the study relies on a fixed sample of respondents who are measured repeatedly over time under the same conditions. In a discontinuous panel, the study relies on a fixed sample of respondents who are measured, under various conditions over time.

Panel: A sample of respondents who have agreed to provide information at specified intervals over an extended period

• Casual Research: is marketing research done to test a hypothesis; the cause and impact of a hypothesis. For example, causal research may be used in a business setting to quantify the effect that a change will have on its current operations, and what it will have on future production levels to assist in the business planning process.
• Conclusive Research: Research designed to assist the decision maker in determining, evaluating and selecting the best course of action to take in a given situation.
• Cross-sectional Research (Design): A type of research design involving the collection of information from any given sample of population elements only once.
• Single cross-sectional Research (Design): A cross-sectional design in which one sample of respondents is drawn from the target population and information is obtained from this sample once.
• Multiple cross-sectional Research(Designs): is a design in which there are two or more samples of respondents and information from each sample is obtained only once.

Analytical Essay on Marketing Research: Definition, Objectives and Types

Introduction

The subject of marketing research is the result of consumer oriented marketing. Today, it has become necessary to study systematically the different aspects relating to marketing process with regard to fulfilling the expectations and needs of the consumer by the right thing (product), at the right time and at the right place. In the simple words, marketing research is concerned with all those factors, which have a direct impact upon the marketing of products and services. It links the organisation with its marketing environment. It involves gathering, analysing, processing and interpreting the information to help the management to understand the environment, identify problem(s) and opportunities and develop the courses of action to achieve the marketing objectives. Marketing research is directly interested in offering sound alternative solutions to all marketing problems relating to exchange of goods and services from marketer to buyer.

Definitions of marketing research

“Marketing research is the systematic problem analysis, model building and fact finding for the purpose of improved decision making and control in. the marketing of goods and services.” -Philip Kotler

“Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording and analysis of the data about marketing problem towards the end of providing information useful in marketing decision making” -Cundiff and still

Objectives/need of marketing research

According to Still and Cundiff, marketing research is needed the following circumstances:

1. Knowing the consumer’s taste for the new products.
2. Accelerating the demand of the present product and finding out the reasons of lesser sales.
3. Finding out the public interest, habits and changes in them.
4. Finding out the quantum of sales, trends and reasons for them.
5. Knowing about the pricing policy.
6. Finding out the effect of packaging on the psychology of the customers.

Scope of marketing research

Marketing research can be successfully applied to do the research under the following areas:

1. Analysis of the market size according to age, sex, income, and standard of living of the customers.
2. To know about prospective customers.
3. To get a knowledge of competitors’ share in the market.
4. Estimating the territorial demand of different markets.
5. Studying the market changes and market conditions affecting the market changes.
6. Knowing about the profitability of different markets and the market segments.
7. Analysing the working of various channels of distribution.
8. To know all about competitors and their products.

Importance/Benefits 0f Marketing Research

P. White has pointed out the following benefits of marketing research:

1. Marketing conditions and their potential may be known through marketing research.
2. Information about customers is obtained.
3. Test and improvement of present selling activities is possible through data collection.
4. Sales territories can be distributed more efficiently after conducting marketing research which gives the potential of each territory.
5. Determination of sales quota is possible.
6. Study of old commercial policies and test of new policies may be conducted easily.
7. Efficiency of promotion can be determined by the promotional analysis.
8. Power and weaknesses of competitors may be studied and fair policies may be determined.
9. Knowledge of this fact may be obtained by customers like one product in comparison to others.
10. Knowledge about habits of customers and retailers may be obtained.

Types of marketing research

1. Exploratory Research

As the name implies, the objective of exploratory research is to explore or search through a problem to provide insights and understanding. Exploratory research could be used for any of the following purposes:

1. Formulate a problem or define a problem more precisely.
2. Identify alternative courses of action.
3. Develop hypotheses
4. Isolate key variables and relationships for further examination.
5. Gain insights for developing an approach to the problem.
6. Establish priorities for further research.

In general, exploratory research is meaningful in any situation where the researcher does not have enough understanding to proceed with the research project. Exploratory research is characterized by flexibility and versatility with respect to the methods because formal research protocols and procedures are not employed. It rarely involves structured questionnaires, large samples, and probability sampling plans. Rather, researchers are alert to new ideas and insights as they proceed. Once a new idea or insight is discovered, they may redirect their exploration in that direction. That new direction is pursued until its possibilities are exhausted or another direction is found. For this reason, the focus of the investigation may shift constantly as new insights are discovered. Thus, the creativity and ingenuity of the researcher play a major role in exploratory research.

Further, the researcher are not the sole determinants of good exploratory research. Exploratory research can greatly benefit from use of the following methods

• a) Survey of experts
• b) Pilot surveys
• c) Case studies secondary data analysed in a qualitative way
• d) Qualitative research

2. Descriptive Research

As the name implies, the major objective of descriptive research is to describe something Usually market characteristics or functions. Descriptive research is conducted for the following reasons:

1. To describe the characteristics of relevant groups, such as consumers, salespeople, organizations, or market areas.
2. To estimate the percentage of units in a specified population exhibiting a certain behaviour. For example, we might be interested in estimating the percentage of heavy users of prestigious department stores who also patronize discount department stores.
3. To determine the perceptions of product characteristics. For example, how do households perceive the various department stores in terms of salient factors of the choice criteria?
4. To determine the degree to which marketing variables are associated. For example, to what extent is shopping at department stores related to eating out?
5. To make specific predictions

3. Causal Research

Causal research is used to obtain evidence of cause-and-effect (causal). Marketing managers continually make decisions based on assumed causal relationships. These assumptions may not be justifiable, and the validity of the causal relationships should be examined via formal research. For example, the common assumption that a decrease in price will lead to increased sales and market share does not hold in certain competitive environments. Causal research is appropriate for the following purposes:

1. To understand which variables are the cause (independent variables) and which variables are the effect (dependent variables) of a phenomenon
2. To determine the nature of the relationship between the causal variables and the effect to be predicted

Like descriptive research, causal research requires a planned and structured design. Although descriptive research can determine the degree of association between variables, it is not appropriate for examining causal relationships. Such an examination requires a causal design, in which the causal or independent variables are manipulated in a relatively controlled environment. A relatively controlled environment is one in which the other variables that may affect the dependent variable are controlled or checked as much as possible. The effect of this manipulation on one or more dependent variables is then measured to infer causality. The main method of causal research is experimentation.

As for example, In the context of the department store patronage project, a researcher wishes to determine whether the presence and helpfulness of salespeople (causal variable) will influence the sales of housewares (effect variable). A causal design could be formulated in which two groups of otherwise comparable housewares departments of a particular chain are selected. For four weeks, trained salespeople are stationed in one group of housewares departments but not in the other. Sales are monitored for both groups, while controlling for other variables. A comparison of sales for the two groups will reveal the effect of salespeople on housewares sales in department stores. Alternatively, instead of selecting two groups of stores, the researcher could select only one set of department stores and carry out this manipulation for two comparable time periods. Salespeople are present in one-time period and absent in the other.

Relationships among exploratory, descriptive, and causal research

Descriptive, and causal research are major classifications of research designs, but the distinctions among these classifications are not absolute. A given marketing research project may involve more than one type of research design and thus serve several purposes. Which combination of research designs should be employed depends on the nature of the problem. Here are the following general guidelines for choosing research types:

1. When little is known about the problem situation, it is desirable to begin with exploratory research. Exploratory research is appropriate when the problem needs to be defined more precisely, alternative courses of action identified, research questions or hypotheses developed, and key variables isolated and classified as dependent or independent.
2. Exploratory research is the initial step in the overall research design framework. It should, in most instances, be followed by descriptive or causal research. For example, hypotheses developed via exploratory research should be statistically tested using descriptive or causal research.
3. It is not necessary to begin every research design with exploratory research. It depends upon the precision with which the problem has been defined and the researcher’s degree of certainty about the approach to the problem. A research design could well begin with descriptive or causal.
4. Although exploratory research is generally the initial step, it need not be. Exploratory research may follow descriptive or causal research.

Role of marketing research

Marketing research and its role can be discussed under the following heads

I. Manufacturers and Marketing Research:

Every agile manufacturer is expected to design the most matching policies and marketing strategies. A policy is the guiding principle established by the firm to govern the actions usually under repetitive conditions.

Strategy, on the other hand, is a kind of plan formulated basically to meet the challenges of special circumstances. It is a counter plan to kill the plans of competitors.

II. Distributors and Marketing Research:

Though production has the pride of place in any economic system, distribution becomes still more important because, production has no meaning unless it is made to absorb by markets through marketing efforts.

III. Advertising Agencies and Marketing Research:

Advertising agency does the work of planning and placing of ads created, copy-testing, media selection, assessment of ad effectiveness and so on. They do render a valuable service like consultation, research, planning of incentive campaign plans for salesmen and dealers, merchandising and the like. As marketing research is one of the major services rendered by advertising agencies, each such agency has an independent marketing department.

IV. Government and the Marketing Research:

Today’s states are no more ‘police’ states but ‘welfare’ states. That is why; modern governments have turned commercial to prove their worth in protecting the legitimate interests of consumers at large.

Marketing research process

Marketing research process involves the following steps:

• STEP 1: DEFINING THE PROBLEM AND SETTING THE OBJECTIVE
• STEP 2: CONDUCTING SITUATION ANALYSIS
• STEP 3: CONDUCTING AN INFORMAL INVESTIGATION
• STEP 4: PLANNING AND CONDUCTING A FORMAL INVESTIGATION
• STEP 5: ANALYSING AND INTERPRETING DATA
• STEP 6: PREPARING A WRITTEN REPORT

STEP-I-Defining the problem and setting the objectives:

The precise definition of the problem helps in determining the techniques to be used, the extent of information to be collected. It is said that a problem well defined is half solved. If the problem is clearly defined, it will help the researcher to handle the problem effectively. After defining the basic problem, the researcher must specify the objectives of the study. It is essential for the researcher to have a clear picture of the purpose of the research, because this will guide the rest of the research process.

STEP-II-Conducting situation analysis:

Situation analysis means collecting information about the business. The researcher tries to make himself familiar with the situation surrounding the problem, business environment, its market, its competitor(s) and industry in general.

STEP-III-Conducting an informal investigation:

After obtaining the information about the business environment, the researcher must conduct an informal investigation (investigation with people outside. The researcher may talk to outside people like wholesaler, competitors, advertising agencies, consumers etc. This step will determine whether a detailed study is necessary and feasible or not.

STEP-IV-Planning and conducting a formal investigation:

If the informal investigation shows that the detailed enquiry is necessary, then the researcher plans the enquiry i.e., to decide where and how to obtain desired information. The planning of enquiry includes the following steps:

• (a) Selecting the sources of information.
• (b) Deciding methods of data collection.
• (c) Preparing frames and forms.
• (d) Pre-testing the forms
• (e) Planning the sample
• (f)Collecting the data

STEP-V-Analysing and interpreting data:

Data are analyse to draw conclusion in the light of which policies can be framed. The various statistical techniques are being used. The analysis of data enables the researcher to interpret the data and draw conclusion and to make recommendations. The real value of research lies in giving specific recommendations to the company.

STEP-VI-Preparing a written report:

The last step is making the written report clearly presented and highlighting the findings. The presentation should be such that the decision maker should be able to take decisions effectively after going through the findings and recommendations.

Conclusion

Marketing Research also known as Market Research is a field of study mainly concerned with the identification and study of markets. But in deeper sense it indeed has a wider implication. The main objective of marketing research is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing activities. A well carried out marketing research contributes to the prosperity of the enterprise at the micro as well as on the macro level. Each and every stakeholder in business be it the producers, distributors and advertisers derives benefits from marketing research.

Market Information System and Marketing Research Systems: Analytical Essay

Market Information systems

MIS is an Info method which helps in providing the management of an group with Info which is used by management for decision making. A management info method (MIS) is a subset of the overall internal controls of a business covering the application of people, documents, technology, and procedures by management accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy. Management Info methods are distinct from regular Info methods in that they are used to analyze other Info methods applied in operational activities in the group.

That area of study should not be confused with computer science. IT service management is a practitioner-focused discipline. MIS has also some differences with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as ERP incorporates elements that are not necessarily focused on decision support. MIS has a major impact on the functions of any group. The group derives benefits from the methods in the following form(a) Speedy access to Info, (b) Interpretation of data,(c) Quick decisions,(d) Speedy actions,(e) Increased productivity and thereby increases in the profit(f) Reduced transaction cost.

Components of the MkIS system

A marketing information system (MIS) is intended to bring together disparate items of data into a coherent body of information. An MIS is, as will shortly be seen, more than raw data or information suitable for the purposes of decision making. An MIS also provides methods for interpreting the information the MIS provides. Moreover, as Kotler’s1 definition says, an MIS is more than a system of data collection or a set of information technologies:

‘A marketing information system is a continuing and interacting structure of people, equipment and procedures to gather, sort, analysis, evaluate, and distribute pertinent, timely and accurate information for use by marketing decision makers to improve their marketing planning, implementation, and control’.

Internal reporting systems: All enterprises which have been in operation for any period of time nave a wealth of information. However, this information often remains under-utilized because it is compartmentalized, either in the form of an individual entrepreneur or in the functional departments of larger businesses. That is, information is usually categorized according to its nature so that there are, for example, financial, production, manpower, marketing, stockholding and logistical data. Often the entrepreneur, or various personnel working in the functional departments holding these pieces of data, does not see how it could help decision makers in other functional areas. Similarly, decision makers can fail to appreciate how information from other functional areas might help them and therefore do not request it.

Marketing research systems: The general topic of marketing research has been the prime ‘ subject of the textbook and only a little more needs to be added here. Marketing research is a proactive search for information. That is, the enterprise which commissions these studies does so to solve a perceived marketing problem. In many cases, data is collected in a purposeful way to address a well-defined problem (or a problem which can be defined and solved within the course of the study). The other form of marketing research centers not on a specific marketing problem but is an attempt to continuously monitor the marketing environment. These monitoring or tracking exercises are continuous marketing research studies, often involving panels of farmers, consumers or distributors from which the same data is collected at regular intervals. Whilst the ad hoc study and continuous marketing research differs in the orientation, yet they are both proactive.

Marketing intelligence systems: Whereas marketing research is focused, market intelligence is not. A marketing intelligence system is a set of procedures and data sources used by marketing managers to sift information from the environment that they can use in their decision making. This scanning of the economic and business environment can be undertaken in a variety of ways, including.

Marketing intelligence is the province of entrepreneurs and senior managers within an agribusiness. It involves them in scanning newspaper trade magazines, business journals and reports, economic forecasts and other media. In addition it involves management in talking to producers, suppliers and customers, as well as to competitors. Nonetheless, it is a largely informal process of observing and conversing.

Marketing models: Within the MIS there has to be the means of interpreting information in order to give direction to decision. These models may be computerized or may not. Typical tools are:

• Time series sales modes
• Brand switching models
• Linear programming
• Elasticity models (price, incomes, demand, supply, etc.)
• Regression and correlation models
• Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) models
• Sensitivity analysis
• Discounted cash flow
• Spreadsheet ‘what if models

These and similar mathematical, statistical, econometric and financial models are the analytical subsystem of the MIS. A relatively modest investment in a desktop computer is enough to allow an enterprise to automate the analysis of its data. Some of the models used are stochastic, i.e. those containing a probabilistic element whereas others are deterministic models where chance plays no part. Brand switching models are stochastic since these express brand choices in probabilities whereas linear programming is deterministic in that the relationships between variables are expressed in exact mathematical terms.

The MIS process

Control what metrics to contain in your marketing information system.

This is a identical thoughtful stage in building an operational MIS. All statistics has a rate, together material and chance rates, so containing the exact metrics is serious.

• Quantity the incorrect things and you’ll create bad conclusions and unused cash. An illustration is computing followers to your Facebook page. Sure, there’s a minor improvement to taking extra followers, but their involvement to ROI is comparatively small. Creating results that emphasis on growing the number of followers prospective unused extra cash than necessary by the ROI you’ll understand.
• Quantity too various metrics and investigation converts problematic. It’s like annoying to discovery a indicator in a haystack. The huge quantity of hay (unusable statistics) pelts the beneficial statistics — the indicator. Just as you container extent approximately, doesn’t mean you would.
• Gathering metrics rates cash. Statistics is only wealth its rate after the worth it subsidizes to better executive overshadows the rate of assembly the statistics — & be certain to contain the social rate of assembly and investigating this statistics to extra budgets in getting the statistics

Gather Relevant Statistics

Certain statistics approaches from inside bases, such as sales records, accounting figures, website analytics, and intelligence from your sales-force. Other statistics approaches from outside bases, containing rival results, economic metrics, attending support metrics, and Facebook Insights. Your marketing research statistics container similarly form portion of your marketing information system, such as recurrent examinations of customer satisfaction.

Plot Statistics

It’s identical problematic to sort conclusions built on rare statistics because the statistics comprises imperceptible designs that strength then specify fitting activities. Plotting statistics consents managers to rapidly perceive alterations in serious metrics finished period. Certain, you can use the graphing role of Excel or other statistics database, but different statistics conception software styles the profession smooth calmer.

Communicate Result

Additional persons have the info from your MIS, the improved. However, not everybody is successful to appreciate boards of rare statistics or smooth conceptions similar in the console overhead. That’s for your MIS necessitates explanation complete the lens of marketing awareness.

Make Marketing Decision

The last stage in the procedure is expending metrics after your marketing information system to variety conclusions that improve your presentation results. (Hausman, 2012)

Summary

Marketing information systems are intended to support management decision making. Management has five distinct functions and each requires support from an MIS. These are: planning, organizing, coordinating, decisions and controlling.

Information systems have to be designed to meet the way in which managers tend to work. Research suggests that a manager continually addresses a large variety of tasks and is able to spend relatively brief periods on each of these. Given the nature of the work, managers tend to rely upon information that is timely and verbal (because this can be assimilated quickly), even if this is likely to be less accurate then more formal and complex information systems.

Managers play at least three separate roles: interpersonal, informational and decisional. MIS, in electronic form or otherwise, can support these roles in varying degrees. MIS has less to contribute in the case of a manager’s informational role than for the other two.

Three levels of decision making can be distinguished from one another: strategic, control (or tactical) and operational. Again, MIS has to support each level. Strategic decisions are characteristically one-off situations. Strategic decisions have implications for changing the structure of an organization and therefore the MIS must provide information which is precise and accurate. Control decisions deal with broad policy issues and operational decisions concern the management of the organization’s marketing mix.

A marketing information system has four components: the internal reporting system, the marketing research systems, the marketing intelligence system and marketing models. Internal reports include orders received, inventory records and sales invoices. Marketing research takes the form of purposeful studies either ad hoc or continuous. By contrast, marketing intelligence is less specific in its purposes, is chiefly carried out in an informal manner and by managers themselves rather than by professional marketing researchers.

Reference:

1. Kotler, P., (1988) Marketing Management: Analysis Planning and Control, Prentice-Hall p. 102.
2. Agnilar, F.. (1967) Scanning The Business Environment, Macmillan, New York, p.47.
3. Business directory, (n.d). Retrieved from Marketing Information System: http://www.businessdirectory.com/definitaion/marketing-information-system.html

Argumentative Essay Establishing the Need for Marketing Research

Executive summary

The main topic of the given assignment is the new Virtual Reality service provided by the Marriott Hotels. It was broken down into several stages in order to develop a sufficient marketing research. The group has elaborated on such topics as establishing the need for marketing research, the design of the research and has considered the possible problems that may arise during the research. For the challenges were established the wide range of companies across the hospitality industry. In the section entitled, research design determined the type of the investigation was made. The given marketing analysis is conducted by exploratory design. Additionally, the group has designed efficient data collection forms, such as online surveys with well thought-through questions. As for the research objectives, the main goal was to accommodate various hospitality industries by a provision of well-thought-out travels for guests, visitors, and clients. In the aim to create a pleasant guest experience throughout their stay in Marriott Hotels. Regarding the description of the research, it must be mentioned that the clarity and methods of data collection illustrated in the examples and appendix. By the end, the research introduces the analysis plan and techniques that were used to accomplish the assignment.

Introduction

Technology is advancing in a faster pace than ever before, and this is changing the expectations of guest as well as the way the hospitality industry controls it business. However, some of the major development in the industry has been a great improvement for various hotels and every other business related to hospitality industry, while some are changing the way hotel developers design their buildings, structures and management. For decades, the hospitality industry has been stable without the market being affected, there have been so many progresses with steady revenue pouring in consistently throughout the years. Technology has also been discovered to be heading in a direction that will facilitate more dramatic changes than ever before. And these expected changes are to turn the industry from age of labour to the age of wireless which simply means as equipment becomes more efficient, less labour will be required.

During the recent years hospitality industry has moved towards technological and digital advancement which has become more connected and responsive to guest experience. In the next few years from now the way guest perceive and spend their time in a hotel would be clearly different in terms of guest booking their accommodation. Checking in and out of the hotel would definitely change, and the way guest access various sectors in a hotel would also change in the coming years of 2025 with the aid of technological advancement. This will also enhance swift change in the framework and structure of a hotel and it will take a whole new design completely.

However, it has been clearly predicted that all hotels will undergo various technological development with the use artificial intelligence, infrared sensors, robotic receptionist, 3D food imaging and processing as well as virtual reality products which will also reduce the amount of human interactions in prominent roles.

Establish the need for marketing research

A strengthening global economy lies at the heart of industry growth. Each year, the global traveller pool is flooded with millions of new consumers from both emerging and developed markets, many with rising disposable incomes and a newfound ability to experience the world. A sleeping giant has truly awakened the impact of which cannot be underestimated (www2.deloitte.com, 2018).

One of the vital key factors for guest in hotel industries has to do with guest experience or memories which had to do with the experience the guest have while staying in the hotel or accommodation provided. other factors considered is the services and products render in the hotel, during the research a conclusion was made that guest aren’t happy about the experience or service delivered to them in the hotel which was used to come to an actual solution to cub this guest problems and complains. During the research it was discovered that with the use of VR (virtual reality) it could be presented to the guest staying at the hotels which gives them some good experience and memories of their actual locations and countries they visited. You could be in Chicago and imagine how the life in Taiwan and how much tourist attractions they have in that countries.

In the hospitality industry, virtual reality has been of great importance, base on the amount of quality information the average and normal guest needs before they could book a room in a hotel, which is preferable than reading through the descriptions in a booklet or the hotel magazine which may or may not be trustworthy. It also allows the guest to experience themselves. However, this product allows guest to experience a virtual recreation of a room within a hotel or any tourist attraction buildings or structures as well as looking at one of the nearby attractions. This also gives room for the hotel industry to benefit from the type of “try before you buy” marketing that has been common place within the food industry for decades (www.revfine.com,2018). However, the practical uses for virtual reality technology do not stop when the customer has booked a hotel room. People inside the hospitality industry can continue to use the VR to deliver information and allow guest to experience nearby attractions once they have arrived, adding to the hotel experience itself.

Problems

The clear focus of the research is to help the client find suitable contents for hotel travels and as the digital consumer and travelers evolves, it was discovered that the guest is looking for more rich content and it is also believed that providing rich, great content to consumers will help them with their travel making process, and it would help with the conversion process. This had to do with the problem various hospitality industries had which prevent them from generating profit and increasing their market base, a certain ground must be created to facilitate the process of changing the hotel travels in the hospitality industry. So, a research was carried out to establish a unique VR travel experience using Oculus that shows what the future of travel could be. However, this also need to feel real. What came out of the research was the Teleporter, the Phone both. It was also discovered that the teleporter however would go beyond virtual reality. It would also combine 3D visual and audio elements with a physical experience something which later came to be wildly known as 4D (www.digitaltrends.com,2018).

A research was conducted in such a way that all this necessary equipment would serve their purpose for the development of the new product that would be introduced into the hospitality industry. During the research it was discovered that the booth which would have a user step into the booth (after signing a waiver, naturally), put on the headset and headphones, and transported into a virtual lobby. Within that lobby, the user is transported again to two locations, Hawaii and London, where they can experience what it feels like to be in those two different environments (www.princeton.edu, 2018).

Research objectives

The objective of the research is to assist different hospitality industries in providing an easy way to improve hotel travels for guests and to help them create a valid guest experience during their stay in the hotel environment. During the research some certain information was discovered that the guest is looking for more rich content and it was also believed that providing rich, great content to consumers will help them with their travel making process, and it would help with the conversion process.

So, there was a focus on how to create a unique VR travel experience using Oculus that explores what the future of travel could be, and importantly it needed to feel realistic.

Research Design

As the research has been analysed, the design is identified. The exploratory research is used. Exploratory research is a marketing research conducted to collect preliminary information necessary to better identify problems and proposed assumptions (hypotheses) within which marketing activities are expected to be carried out, as well as to clarify terminology and prioritize research objectives (Jupp, 2006). For example, it was suggested that the low level of implementation was due to poor advertising, but exploration showed that the main reason for the lack of sales was the poor work of the distribution system, which should be studied in more detail at subsequent stages of the marketing research process. Exploration research revealed such components as loan size, reliability, staff friendliness, etc., and also determined how to measure these components. For an exploratory survey, it may be sufficient to only read published secondary data or to conduct a selective survey of a number of specialists on this issue. On the other hand, if the exploration is aimed at testing hypotheses or measuring the interrelationships between variables, then it should be based on the use of special methods. This choice was made because the focus of the exploratory research is on the finding of concepts and visions as opposed to collecting statistically precise data (Team, 2014) .

Information type

In this case both primary and secondary information types are used. Primary data – information collected by the researcher specifically to solve a specific problem. Most often, the conduct of marketing research is understood as the collection of primary information. Methods for collecting primary data are divided into methods for collecting qualitative data, methods for collecting quantitative data and so-called mix-methods. Secondary data is a collection of data previously collected from internal and external sources for purposes other than marketing purposes. In other words, secondary data are not the result of special marketing research. Secondary data is divided into external and internal. External sources are laws, decrees, decisions of state bodies, official statistics, data of international organizations, etc. Syndicated data are also obtained from external sources. Internal sources include financial and accounting reports, mission reports, complaints reviews, interviews with employees and managers of the company’s structural units, etc. These types of information have been chosen because all the information that is used in the research was gained from the available published sources and also from the surveys that were made by people who have done the research, so the information was gained for the exact purpose. There is a consistence between the research objectives and the information types. As the research objectives are to promote the product and to convince it, the information is collected in order to make the investigation be interesting for the target group and to help the product to be in-demand.

Methods of accessing the data

One of the key factors for the company’s success in the market is the timely receipt of reliable and complete information about changes in the external environment, as well as its effective analysis and correct interpretation. The information was obtained by screening the information available online and observation of consumers (online surveys were used). There are two ways of collecting information when performing advertising activities: quantitative and qualitative marketing researches. During the qualitative research it is possible to collect detailed information about the concept, opinions, beliefs, needs of customers and consumers, and then you can study the impact of these parameters on the behavioural criteria of clients. Qualitative research provides an opportunity to receive direct feedback, information from consumers themselves. Thanks to this type of marketing research, researchers can find out how customers express their own thoughts and opinions in words. This analysis provides an opportunity to get more information about why buyers have exactly this behaviour and not any other. While quantitative analysis is a way to understand customer associations and the characteristics of an already existing position thanks to numbers. Obtained as a result of this type of research voluminous numerical information is completely reliable and can be extended to complete integration. During the obtaining all the necessary data some difficulties occurred. All the surveys took a lot of time to observe the information. In order to observe the material, there was used one of the observation types which is “the structured observation”. The structured observation is the one that uses a number of pre-distributed categories, according to which certain reactions of individuals are recorded. Used as the primary method of collecting primary information.

Description of the research

Design data collections forms

In a process of gathering data, it is important to develop and maintain a certain style of data collection form in order to obtain needed information from the chosen target audience. It is required to make sure that the structured questions, which consumer can understand, are estimating the satisfaction from a customer perspective in the desired way. The questions must be asked by using the coveted level of measurement. Accordingly, only after that, the gathered data can be appropriately analysed and diagnosed. Nevertheless, any marketing researcher must be able to measure the gathered data. In fact, measurement is another important aspect in the process of gathering the information.

In order to build the accurate measurements, the researcher must go through a series of considerations while creating the survey questions to respondents. Marriott Hotels before launching the “VRoom Service” has designed a special type of the questionnaires. By developing this questionnaire, a list of researches was made, furthermore were considered various question formats and numbers of factors. Question development process was made by considering the focused topic and stayed brief, with no use of redundant words. The researchers made sure that the research objectives will be met through the appropriate structured questions.

The developed survey has the several stages in asking different types of questions. By the first page come the classification and demographic questions, which are gathering the personal information, such us age, gender and nationality. The second stage are warm-ups questions. They are easy to answer; however, they provide fundamental sources to the researchers. The third stage are the transitions, which are consist of statements and questions. In the last stage are complicated and difficult to-answer questions, where a respondent has to commit himself or herself to completing the questionnaire.

Sample plan and size

As understood from the information giving above, the chosen design collection form by Marriott International was questionnaires posted on the Web, which can be also called surveys. The Marriot International has 500 hotels in more than 50 countries across the globe, in fact, it is worldly known for its best-delivered services and gained the trust of its customers. Those factors helped to distribute the questions to the broad audience of the future customers.

The new service product of the Marriott International dedicated to the specific target group of their customers. The desired group are the often travellers. In order to distinguish the audience of the oriented product from all the customers need to find a specific way to reach them. The researchers target group for questionnaires were tourists travelling all around the world. Evidently, the first step was to define the desired target group from the all customers and find a specific way to reach them. This process was done online through the cooperation with the popular travel booking site Booking.com. Additionally, it was done through the social media monitoring, such as Facebook and Instagram.

Data selection

The researchers have done that by smart developed questions and well-chosen respondents. Primary data was taken from researches of international respondents. The questions had both quantitative and qualitative characters. Secondary data was taken from the researches of traveling public developed by the Department of Tourism (Tapoi & Matauraka Tapoi, No date).

Data analysis plan

The process of analysing the data was made in several stages. Firstly, by analysing with statistic tools. The statistic tools are implemented with the help of the specialized software “SPSS Statistics”. “SPSS” is the “Statistical Package for the Social Sciences” computer software that allows to statistically analyse data, do the marketing researches and analyse those researches. The software is one of the market leaders in the field of commercial statistical products (ibm.com, No date). The second stage contained the process of researchers’ analysis of the derivation done by SPSS. Based on the final data conviction is made.

Conclusion

With the quick evolve of the hospitality and tourism industries the advanced technologies start to take a major part of making it more suitable. With the growing competition in hands of the industries comes advanced technologies, which make the industry more attractive for the new generation.

By the help of the research was established how wide the certain product would be demanded and what the challenges was faced in order to bring to life the service of VR in hotel industry of Marriott Hotels. Nevertheless, the ways of making the product to work as effective as it does consist of features as approach, design methods, sample plan and size, and the selecting process.

The assignment described all the details of how this successful marketing research was developed. The process of developing the research was challenging for all the group members, however, it brought a lot of insights on this research and has taught the team how virtual reality would play an important role in the hotel travel industry and create a good guest experience during their stay in the hotel. It would also assist the guest to have more insight about the country they plan to visit and more knowledge about the culture and tourist attractions in the country.

References:

1. Bethesda, M., 2015. Marriott Hotels Introduces The First Ever In-Room Virtual Reality Travel Experience. [Online] Available at: http://news.marriott.com/2015/09/marriott-hotels-introduces-the-first-ever-in-room-virtual-reality-travel-experience/
2. ibm.com, No date. IBM SPSS software. [Online] Available at: https://www.ibm.com/analytics/spss-statistics-software
3. Jupp, V., 2006. Exploratory research. [Online] Available at: http://methods.sagepub.com/reference/the-sage-dictionary-of-social-research-methods/n75.xml
4. Kazantzakis, N. 1946. Zorba the Greek. Jaber & Faber
5. Tapoi, T. M. & Matauraka Tapoi, T., No date. Department of Tourism. [Online] Available at: https://www.otago.ac.nz/tourism/research/projects/index.html
6. Team, F., 2014. 3 Types of Surveys Research. [Online] Available at: http://fluidsurveys.com/university/3-types-survey-research-use-can-benefit-organization/ [Accessed 20 09 2018].

Importance of Marketing Research and Benefits of Digital Data Collection for the Company

Introduction:

Oman air is one of the most famous and well-companies in Oman and it has already won the hearts of its clients (Allen Jr, 2016). It came into being in 1993 and is a four-star air-line. It is among those airlines who are pioneers to start the air services in Oman. Since its beginning, it has played a significant role in the development of Muscat and helped a lot to improve its economy by making it suitable for business traffic (Wippel, 2016). It has its air flights in time and has always tried its best to facilitate the customers. There are a lot of positive points of Oman Air but nothing can be perfect. There are always some weak points and in this assignment, we are going to discuss the problems that occur in airline. In this assignment, we will discuss the importance of marketing research and benefits of digital data collection for the company.

Marketing Research:

In this section, I have to discuss marketing research and its importance in detail. There are few points that are necessary to describe to elaborate the importance of marketing research. Let us discuss what we actually mean by marketing research? Marketing research is an important term that is usually used by business companies and industries. Marketing research is usually done to promote products and services. Marketing research is usually done by the management of business companies and industries. There are different methods for marketing research and now a day’s modern methods are in use. Oman Air is a company that is providing the facilities of air transportation to the public and as there are number of competitors so it is important for Oman Air to do marketing research on annual basis (Peterson, 2016). It is processes that links the customers, clients with the management of the companies and inform them of the processes and operations along with facilities that a company usually offers. It also monitors and evaluates the marketing process of a company and informs the top management about recent performance. (Al-Aali, 2012)

Why marketing research is important?

There are different steps of the marketing process i.e. the problem is usually identified and presented to the top management, the research plan is made, the relevant information is collected, data is analyzed and action is taken. Let us see why it is important for Oman Air?

• First of all, marketing research is important to understand your customers and clients. The marketing research is done to know the priorities and demands of customers. Oman Air has launched several projects and intends to launch different services in near future, so it is important for the company to do marketing research.
• The second point is to know about the business competitors and their business strategies. As I have already mentioned that there are a number of competitors of Oman Air and it is important for the company to have information about them. The competitors have introduced a number of services and modern technologies so Oman Air should be very careful. It is the age of technology and 21st century and different companies are introducing modern strategies as well (Alkaabi, 2014). Marketing research is important for the company so the top management may know the situation. The market research will let you know about the companies that are on the top and that are going down.
• The companies are required to test their products before launch in front of the public. For example, Oman Air has launched the air flights to different countries for its customers so it was something new for the clients. The marketing research will allow the company to test their services before launching. If the test becomes successful, it can easily launch on a big scale and if there comes any problem then the company may work on it and it will help the company to retain its repute.
• Marketing research will never let you go out of business and will retain the strength in the business market. The companies like Oman Air is always in the eyes of national and international media and management should consider the factor that the company’s repute is more important than anything else (Searle, 2016). If there will be strong marketing research, the company will get know about its weak points, its problems and demands of customers. It will help the company to improve its system and if there is weak marketing research then there will big problems and complex situation in the near future.
• The last point that I am going to discuss here about marketing research is the growth of the business. The growth of business highly depends on marketing research and business strategies. And it is important to know that business strategies can only be made if we do strong marketing research otherwise it will not be possible. The marketing research is important for all the business companies and industries for the development of business on huge scale. In short, it is a pillar that gives support and strength to the business and relevant industry.

Digital and Non-Digital Data:

There are two ways to get the data of customers either digital or non-digital. The company has planned to introduce the digital data services for the customers. There are benefits of both types as digital data can give the accurate results as compared to non-digital data.(Amit, 2012) but it is to be noted that customers are habitual of non-digital data and they need time to get adjust in new method. They feel ease in the previous method because in digital method, they need to provide a lot of data and details in digital type of data. Moreover, the digital type of data can fluctuate on daily basis because of the instruments used so the customers may feel it burden. The company should ask the views and opinions of customers and should adopt the methods accordingly. The collection of digital data from customers has several benefits and some of them are as follows:

• It will help to reduce the costs of a company because when we collect non-digital data, we have to use a number of instruments and tools for the purpose. We have to engage a large number of employees and have to give them salaries as well. We have to display a lot of information about the data collection via different forums for the public and of course it will increase the cost. The digital data collection will reduce all these costs and the company will get ease and comfort while dealing with customers.
• The company can collect a large range of data by adopting this system because non digital data can only access to limited number of customers. It has certain limitations and can entertain specific people. Another factor is time management; non-digital data collection takes a lot of time and energy as well.
• The modern technology usually involves digital data collection, because the methods that involve non-digital data collection are ancient ones and there are no enough benefits of this method (Al Hatmi and Tan, 2013).

Conclusion:

The conclusion of the draft shows that company has eligible and elegant management. The management always remains busy in working for the welfare of people. But there are some factors that need to be improved. After the completion of this paper, there will some important messages for the readers as well. The management should take care of the customers and they should introduce the things that they like. The way of data collection should also be according to the choice of the customers. The companies are required to test their products before launch in front of the public. For example, Oman Air has launched the air flights to different countries for its customers so it was something new for the clients. The marketing research will allow the company to test their services before launching. If the test becomes successful, it can easily launch on a big scale and if there comes any problem then the company may work on it and it will help the company to retain its repute. The marketing research will never let you go out of business and will retain the strength in business market. The companies like Oman Air is always in the eyes of national and international media and management should consider the factor that the company’s repute is more important than anything else. If there will be strong marketing research, the company will get know about its weak points, its problems and demands of customers. It will help the company to improve its system and if there is weak marketing research then there will big problems and complex situation in the near future.

References:

1. AL HATMI, Y. & TAN, C. 2013. Issues and challenges with Renewable Energy in Oman. Gas (BCM), 4, 212-218.
2. ALKAABI, K. 2014. Geographies of Middle Eastern air transport. Geographies of air transport, 231-46.
3. ALLEN JR, C. H. 2016. Oman: the modernization of the sultanate, Routledge.
4. Amit, R. and Zott, C., 2012. Creating value through business model innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53(3), pp.41-49.
5. Nataraja, S. and Al-Aali, A., 2012. The exceptional performance strategies of Emirate Airlines. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 21(5), pp.471-486.
6. PETERSON, J. E. 2016. Oman in the twentieth century: Political foundations of an emerging state, Routledge.
7. Rumelt, R.P., 2012. Good strategy/bad strategy: The difference and why it matters. Strategic Direction, 28(8).
8. SEARLE, P. 2016. Dawn Over Oman, Routledge.
9. WIPPEL, S. 2016. Port and Tourism Development in Oman: Between Economic Diversification and Global Branding. Under Construction: Logics of Urbanism in the Gulf Region. Routledge.

Marketing Makes Consumers Happier

Major online retailers have held their positions for many years. Each of them has its own secret to success, but there is one thing they have in common: trust on the part of customers. It is built as a result of constant interaction with the audience and receiving feedback, which increases brand awareness and sales.

Trust and happiness are closely linked. According to Marketing and Happiness research, the top two reasons for loss of brand trust are poor customer service (poor quality products, ads that don’t match reality, etc.) and price changes. But the negative customer experience, which is associated with emotional reactions, can be turned into a positive one if companies focus on making sure that customers have a positive experience when communicating with them.

There have been significant changes in the world and in the way we live our lives over the past centuries, but this has not affected the main components of happiness.

Health, self-esteem and relationships with others remain important components of human happiness. When we experience joy and fun, our brain produces endorphin, oxytocin, serotonin and other happiness hormones. Although these emotions are short-lived, their effects are remembered for a long time. If these emotions will be associated with your online store, customers will return again and again.

To make customers happy, it is worth focusing on a few important points.

A quality product does not guarantee complete customer satisfaction. To be happy, he needs to get quality service in every way.

Provide customers with a variety of payment options. Provide all possible payment options for purchases (cash, cards, e-money, etc.) both when paying online and when receiving your order via courier.

Promptly confirm your order and inform us of any changes in its status (configuration, shipment from stock, etc.). Give feedback as quickly as possible. Use different channels for order confirmation: email notifications, SMS-informing, phone conversation with a company employee.

If possible, specify delivery intervals and dates on the site. For example, on the page of Ozon.ru online-store next to the ‘Add to cart’ button each product has information on the nearest delivery date.

Don’t forget about customers after ordering. Implement loyalty programs to encourage repeat purchases. How do you interact with users who have already made a purchase?

One of the most effective ways to build communication with users who have already purchased from your online store is based on RFM analysis. RFM-segmentation (R – recency, F – frequency, M – monetary) allows you to segment users based on the amount of time spent on the order, frequency of purchases, and the size of the order.

The RFM segmentation of the e-mail subscribers allows to:

– Gain insight into the quality of the customer base

– To detect the most loyal clients

– Identify those who need more attention

– Identify the critical points of communication with the customers

– Launch automated campaigns for effective repeat sales generation and retention rate management

As exemplified by a large electronics and home appliances online store, implementation of RFM segmentation based scenarios led to a 4.5 times increase in repeat orders.

To win the love of modern customers, you need to think about their feelings, to care and save their time. You can make them happy by creating a positive shopping experience. Provide quality service, think through the details, and show your customers that you are thinking of them first.

Social Media Marketing Content Research

1 Literature Review

Social Media Marketing

Social Media has been established as an important medium to reach an audience and researchers have written on how Social Media can be integrated with traditional marketing tools.

(Bansal & Bharti, 2014) A shift in trends was detected with Social Networking Sites (SNS) emerging as a marketing tool for brands. One of the important applications discovered was how brands can facilitate the creation of online communities using SNS. Online communities provide a wealth of information and are great sources to gather feedback. Response to products and services can be useful for improvement for same.

(Si, 2016) The author in this paper titled “Social Media and its role in Marketing” presents his viewpoint on the shift brands and companies have taken from traditional media to social media. In the paper, he discusses about what social media is and how it is useful as a marketing tool. He emphasizes on two points in the favor of social media marketing: Economical and Higher Reach. One of the major roles of Social Media, as perceived by the author, is to have a way to connect with the target group that seems genuine and authentic to the customers as if they were talking to a person and not a company. The paper also discusses the use of social media promotion in Bangladesh, which according to a Regus International Survey tops the list of countries where companies use social media. As compared to USA’s 35%, 52% of companies in Bangladesh reported an increase in sales after using social media.

(Ismail, 2017) This paper titled “The influence of perceived social media marketing activities on brand loyalty” discusses whether social media marketing is helpful in building brand loyalty. The author begins with the hypothesis that social media marketing has a positive effect on brand loyalty. To test the hypothesis data is collected via a structured questionnaire from 346 students of the University of Northern Malaysia between the ages of 19 and 25. The results of the study were helpful in proving the hypotheses correct. The author concludes that those who follow certain brands on social media tend to be loyal to that brand and its products and hence social media marketing proves to be an effective tool for brands to build that connection with the customers.

(Felix, Rauschnabel, & Hinsch, 2016) Co-authored the research article titled “Elements of strategic social media marketing: A holistic framework” where they present the four main pillars of social media marketing. The paper identifies the following four dimensions for a social media strategy:

• Scope: The brands can be defenders or explorers meaning they use social media as a one-way communication tool or for communication with a variety of stakeholders.
• Culture: This is further divided into the conservatism and modernism approaches taken by the brands.
• Structure: Whether the companies follow a centralized approach where one person is responsible or where all the employees are accountable for social media marketing.
• Governance: Whether the company has autocracy or anarchy when it comes to designing the rules for the social media marketing strategy.

The author concludes that a proper mix of all four elements is imperative for an effective social media marketing strategy.

Social Media Marketing Applications

Since companies figured out that social media can be utilized as a marketing tool, various authors have put forward how different organizations and industries are using Social Media Marketing. They have also examined how social media helps these firms as well.

(Ramsaran-Fowdar & Fowdar, 2013) In the article titled “The Implications of Facebook Marketing for Organizations,” the authors have discussed the widely used tools for Facebook marketing and its perceived benefits for organizations. According to the authors, organizations can utilize Facebook to create a strong profile of their target audience that allows them to connect with the customers. Firms make use of Brand fan pages and Advertisements to capture their attention. One of the main advantages identified by the authors is the possibility of sending tailored messages for an individual. Facebook and other social networking sites offer economic alternatives for marketing and are considered to be a better replacement for telemarketing. Social networking sites are a great tool for Interactive Marketing.

(Banerjee, 2015) Banerjee wrote an article comparing the traditional v/s social media marketing efforts in the FMCG sector in India. Banerjee interviewed key personnel from seven different companies in the FMCG sector and 70 customers to get their opinion. One of the important conclusions drawn was that social media provides an opportunity for two-way communication. This leads to the higher brand association and brand advocacy.

Social Media Marketing is increasingly being utilized in the retail industry as well. A paper on the Impact of Social Media Marketing in the Retail Industry (Sharma, Mathur, Chadha, & Shandilya, 2014) discussed that Facebook is one of the top most utilized platforms in Social Media Marketing in industries like Footwear, F&B, Toys, and Electronics. Word of Mouth marketing is found to be one of the major advantages here.

For luxury brands, social media is found to have a great impact on consumers. (Godey, et al., 2016) In their research, they discussed that social media marketing is not just important for building brand awareness but also for creating a distinct brand image. One of the important findings of their study was that social media marketing had a higher impact on brand image than on awareness. They found a positive impact on brand loyalty and preference as well.

Social Media Marketing is important not just for B2C brands but for B2B brands as well. (Vasudevan & Kumar, 2018) Research on Social Media and B2B brands from an Indian perspective revealed that on social media the lines between B2B and B2c get blurred. Social Media is used to promote more informational content. While analyzing these brands on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn it was found that more than 50% of posts were brand related and 67% of posts were of a B2B nature.

Branding content on social media platforms

(Lozan, 2019) A website published an article that conducted a study of 101,421,493 posts to analyze what kind of content worked best for which platform. Posts with emojis in caption lead to an increase in engagement while questions in caption lead to a decrease in engagement. Captions with less than 10 words are found to be more engaging. Instagram was found to be the platform that generated the highest engagement as compared to Facebook and Twitter.

(Parsons, 2013) An analysis of official Facebook pages of 70 global brands revealed that polls provide an effective way to engage with consumers. Content such as contests or sweepstakes sees the active participation of consumers as well. Hence Interactive content would ultimately help increase sales for the brand.

(Gutiérrez-Cillán, Camarero-Izquierdo, & José-Cabezudo, 2017) For Facebook brand pages there were three types of post categories identified either for entertainment purposes or utility purposes. The three categories were: Information posts, Interactive posts, and Image posts. Research findings indicated that Information posts and Interactive posts were found to have more impact on consumer engagement than image posts.

(Pletikosa & Michahelles, 2011) A content analysis of Facebook brand posts identified three categories to distinguish between different posts. Post Type included status, photo, video, and links. Post Category included descriptive questions, Announcements, promotional advertisements, Questions, and Competitions. The day of the week on which the post was put up was also taken into account.

Social media content and consumer engagement

With social media emerging as an important platform for marketing activities researchers have tried to understand what kind of content works for social media platforms.

(Barger, Peltier, & Schultz, 2016) Authors Barger, Peltier, and Schultz did an extensive literature review of papers that focused on consumer engagement through social media. Their research paper offered FIVE categories of precursors that affect consumer engagement on social media.

• Brand Factors: Attitude, warmth, word of mouth, traditional v/s social media marketing spends, etc. are factors that affect consumer engagement.
• Product Factors: Product quality, experience, and type of product has an effect on levels of engagement.
• Consumer Factors: The authors elaborate on reasons why consumers engage with brands which could include entertainment, information gathering, bond with the brand, etc.
• Content Factors: The format of the message and the purpose of the message of branded content affect consumer engagement.
• Social Media Factors: Perceived characteristics and usefulness of platforms.

(Vries, Gensler, & Leeflang, 2012) There are two variables that define the popularity of a brand post: Likes and Comments. The factors such as interactivity and vividness of the message as well as the use of informative or entertaining content determine the number of likes and comments on posts. The extent to which a particular post has received positive comments also affects the level of engagement.

(Ashley & Tuten, 2015) In the research article titled “Creative Strategies in Social Media Marketing: An Exploratory Study of Branded Social Content and Consumer Engagement” take a content analysis approach to analyze the content strategy of the top 28 brands across various social channels. The content was taken from Facebook, Twitter, and blogs of the brands and was collected for a period of one week. The content categories were further divided into message strategies, sales promotion and user-generated content. The number of likes and comments for the posts was also analyzed. The research led to the conclusion that brands use functional appeal more in the message content than emotional appeal. Emotional and entertaining content on the contrary has been proved to be a better source of engagement and hence the authors recommend a change in the strategy to appeal to a larger audience.

(Lee, Hosanagar, & Nair, 2018) One of the interesting observations was that content that has an emotional angle to it or brings out the personality of the brand has a higher rate of brand engagement than informational content. Researchers identified 8 variables each for both informative and personality-related content and the metrics to study engagement include likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates.

(Ordenes, Grewal, Ludwig, Ruyter, Mahr, & Wetzels, 2019) Research has shown that speech, i. e., the actual text message, and images have a considerable effect on consumers. Message sharing by consumers is higher if brands use repetitions and alliterations in the composition of messages. If coupled with images message sharing is higher.

2 Bibliography

1. Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative Strategies in Social Media Marketing: An Exploratory Study of Branded Social Content and Consumer Engagement. Psychology and Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.
2. Banerjee, B. (2015, January). TRADITIONAL vs. SOCIAL MEDIA AS A MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS TOOL IN FMCG SECTOR IN INDIA. Asia Pacific Journal of Research, 1, 154-162.
3. Bansal, H., & Bharti, C. (2014). A Study on the Emergence of Social Networking Sites as the Tool for Marketing. In G. Hegde, & G. Shainesh (Eds.), Social Media Marketing: Emerging Concepts and Applications (1st ed., pp. 175-1184). New Delhi: Excel Books.
4. Barger, V. A., Peltier, J. W., & Schultz, D. E. (2016). Social media and consumer engagement: A review and research agenda. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 10(4), 268-287.
5. Felix, R., Rauschnabel, P. A., & Hinsch, C. (2016). Elements of strategic social media marketing: A holistic framework. Journal of Business Research.
6. Godey, B., Manthiou, A., Pederzoli, D., Rokka, J., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., et al. (2016). Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity and consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research.
7. Gutiérrez-Cillán, J., Camarero-Izquierdo, C., & José-Cabezudo, R. S. (2017). How brand post content contributes to users’ Facebook brand-page engagement. The experiential route of active participation. Business Research Quarterly, 258-274.
8. Ismail, A. R. (2017). The influence of perceived social media marketing activities on Brand Loyalty. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 29(1), 129-144.
9. Lee, D., Hosanagar, K., & Nair, H. (2018). Advertising Content and Consumer Engagement on Social Media: Evidence from Facebook. Management Science.
10. Lozan, T. (2019, November 14). Social Media Content Research. Retrieved March 3, 2020, from SocialInsider: https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/social-media-content-research/
11. Ordenes, F. V., Grewal, D., Ludwig, S., Ruyter, K., Mahr, D., & Wetzels, M. (2019). Cutting through Content Clutter: How Speech and Image Acts Drive Consumer Sharing of Social Media Brand Messages. Journal of Consumer Research, 45, 988-1012.
12. Parsons, A. (2013). USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO REACH CONSUMERS: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGES. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 17(2), 27-36.
13. Pletikosa, I., & Michahelles, F. (2011). A Case Study of the Effects of Moderator Posts within a Facebook Brand Page. Social Informatics – Third International Conference, (pp. 161-170). Singapore.
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15. Sharma, A., Mathur, R., Chadha, A., & Shandilya, K. (2014). Impact of Social Media Marketing in the Indian Retail Industry. In G. Hegde, & S. G (Eds.), Social Media Marketing: Emerging Concepts and Applications (1st ed., pp. 287-301). New Delhi: Excel Books.
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18. Vries, L. D., Gensler, S., & Leeflang, P. S. (2012). The popularity of Brand Posts on Brand Fan Pages: An Investigation of the Effects of Social Media Marketing. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 83-91.

Definition and Key Elements of Marketing Research Procedure

Marketing Research: Definition

The way toward social affair, examining and deciphering data about a market, about an item or administration to be offered available to be purchased in that market, and about the past, present and potential customers for the item or administration; investigation into the attributes, ways of managing money, area and requirements of your business’ objective market, the industry overall, and the specific contenders you face.

Precise and intensive data is the establishment of all fruitful business adventures since it gives an abundance of data about planned and existing customers, the opposition, and the business by and large. It permits business owners to decide the possibility of a business before submitting generous assets to the endeavor.

Market research gives pertinent information to help explain marketing difficulties that a business will in all likelihood face- – a basic piece of the business arranging process. Truth be told, techniques, for example, market division (recognizing explicit gatherings inside a market) and item separation (making a character for an item or administration that isolates it from those of the contenders) are difficult to create without market research.

Types of Data

There are two types of data in any Research Method:

I. Primary Data

Primary information is information that is gathered by a researcher from direct sources, utilizing techniques like surveys, interviews, or experiments. It is gathered in light of the examination venture, straightforwardly from primary sources. When leading primary research, you can assemble two fundamental kinds of data: exploratory or specific. Exploratory research is open-ended, encourages you characterize a specific issue, and typically includes detailed, unstructured meetings in which long answers are requested from a little gathering of respondents. Specific research, then again, is exact in scope and is utilized to take care of an issue that exploratory research has distinguished. Meetings are organized and formal in approach. Of the two, specific research is the more costly. When leading primary research utilizing your own assets, first choose how you’ll scrutinize you’re focused on gathering: by direct mail, telephone, or personal interviews.

II. Secondary Data

The term is utilized conversely with the term secondary information. Secondary information is information accumulated from studies, surveys, or experiments that have been controlled by others or for other research. Secondary research uses outside information assembled by government agencies, industry and trade associations, worker’s organizations, media sources, chambers of business, and so on. It’s usually published in pamphlets, newsletters, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers.

Research Method

There are two types of research methods:

I. Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is tied in with discovering what individuals think, however why they think it. It’s tied in with hearing individuals to discuss their thoughts so you can comprehend their motivations and sentiments. Face-to-face interviews and group discussions are the most ideal approach to get this sort of top to bottom criticism. With focus groups, you work with little examples of your objective market, commonly with four to eight individuals. Or on the other hand you could conduct one-on-one interviews. Qualitative statistical surveying can be important when you are growing new items or thinking of new marketing activities and you need to test reactions and refine your methodology. Qualitative research is tied in with getting individuals to develop their answers so you can get more understanding into their perspectives and conduct. It’s everything about getting underneath individuals’ responses to discover what is driving their decisions.

II. Quantitative Research

Quantitative market research ordinarily incorporates customer surveys and questionnaires. These can be led face-to-face with a clipboard and pen, via phone, by means of post or email, on the web or by means of your site. Survey questions must be deliberately thought of with the goal that the outcomes give significant information. Don’t simply inquire as to whether individuals think about your business – ask how regularly they visit, what items they purchase and what other place they go to purchase similar items and why. Answers on an organized questionnaire are generally closed-ended, at the end of the day, they expect respondents to look over a particular determination of answers and don’t take into account the respondent to qualify their answer or elaborate. So a nursery place proprietor may ask, “How regularly do you purchase plants and cultivating supplies?” and respondents would need to pick between five alternatives:

• never
• once a year
• two to three times a year
• once a month

By posing loads of individual’s similar inquiries, it’s conceivable to develop a clearer image of how customers act.

Research Design

There are three types of research designs:

I. Exploratory

It is a great deal like exploration or investigator work energized by interest. Researchers should utilize their senses to discover hints and adventure into new domains looking for data. Adaptability is significant in exploratory research and it will undoubtedly bring about new thoughts, disclosures and experiences.

II. Descriptive

Descriptive research as the name proposes is utilized for depiction or to portray phenomenon or idea. Compared to exploratory research, descriptive research follows an unbending methodology. Its information assortment strategies are profoundly inflexible when contrasted with the unstructured and adaptable methodology utilized in exploratory research.

III. Causal

Casual research is successful regarding recognizing co-variation between variables however with regards to distinguishing causality. Causal research recognizes if there is a causal connection between at least two variables. It is profoundly organized like descriptive research and is additionally known for utilization of control systems utilized during experimental designs

Sampling Techniques

Sampling helps a ton in research. It is one of the most significant elements which decide the exactness of your research/survey result. On the off chance that anything turns out badly with your sample, at that point it will be straightforwardly reflected in the conclusive outcome. There are two type of sampling techniques:

I. Random Sampling

Random sampling alludes to an assortment of determination techniques where sample individuals are chosen by some coincidence, however with a known probability of choice. There are four types of random sampling:

a. Simple Random

Simple random testing is the fundamental examining technique where we select a gathering of subjects for concentrate from a bigger gathering. Every individual is picked totally by some coincidence and every individual from the population has an equivalent possibility of being chosen for the sample.

b. Systematic Random

Systematic sampling is a sort of probability sampling technique in which sample individuals from a bigger population are chosen by an arbitrary beginning stage however with a fixed, occasional interim.

c. Stratified Random

Stratified random sampling is a method of sampling that includes the division of a population into littler sub-bunches known as strata. In stratified random sampling or stratification, the strata are shaped dependent on individuals’ shared traits or attributes, for example, salary or education.

d. Cluster Random

In cluster sampling, the scientist partitions the population into independent gatherings, called clusters. At that point, a simple random sample of clusters is chosen from the population. The scientist leads his investigation on information from the sampled clusters.

II. Non-random Sampling

Non-random sampling is a technique in which samples are selected on the basis of some factors rather than randomly. This technique is used when it is not possible to use random sampling due to time or cost constrains

a. Convenience Sample

As name suggests, convenience sampling is about collecting information from a group of people who are conveniently available for example schools, malls or references maybe used to select a sample

b. Judgmental Sample

Judgmental sampling selects a population on the basis of existing knowledge, or professional judgment of the sample. Judgment sampling is best when just a set number of people have the attribute that a researcher is keen on.

c. Quota Sample

Quota sampling intends to take a custom fitted sample that is with respect to some trademark or attribute of a population. The population is separated into gatherings (likewise called strata) and samples are taken from each gathering to meet a quota.

d. Snow Ball

Snowball sampling or chain-referral sampling is characterized as a non-random sampling technique in which the samples have characteristics that are uncommon to find. This is a sampling technique, wherein existing subjects give referrals to enroll samples required for an examination study.

Planning Process of Marketing Research for AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities Marketing Research Process

AvalonBay Communities is a property management business for apartments with a presence in 11 areas in the United States: California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. In addition to managing apartment properties, AvalonBay also develops, redevelops, and acquires existing apartment properties for continued expansion and increased presence in the market. With such a varied real estate presence they have an in-house marketing research team to plan and develop solutions for problems such as filling vacancies in their properties, what segment to target their property offerings to, or seeking the next opportunity for acquisition, development, or re-development. It is important for the in-house marketing research team to have broad knowledge about the market in order to tailor their marketing research plan appropriately and to use the correct data sources for collection.

The problem and research objectives

AvalonBay Communities currently operates with three separate brands: Avalon, Eaves by Avalon, and AVA (Avaloncommunities.com, 2019). Operating under three different brands helps AvalonBay to differentiate from their competitors and to have a broader appeal to their customer segments. Recent strategic planning discussions led the company to consider whether to expand into new markets such as 55+ retirement communities and student apartment housing, but instead they decided to focus on deepening their knowledge about their existing customer base for a less risk-based opportunity (Shaver, 2012). To further explore the existing segments, AvalonBay hired the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm to perform an analysis to evaluate the management decision to learn more about existing customers in their target market segments with regards to their apartment preferences (Shaver, 2012). AvalonBay Communities wanted to determine that it would be more profitable for them to expand and improve the customer experience for existing segments than it would be to invest in pursuing new and unfamiliar target segments. They wanted to answer questions such as, “How can we profit from our aging properties that no longer have the high-end appeal that they once had? How can we offer more variety in our properties to attract a broader segment of customers and without having to invest a lot of money in the process?” (Shaver, 2012). This would involve expanding beyond the core brand for high-end customers, Avalon, to broaden the markets for the more casual living brand, AVA, and the value-oriented brand for families, Eaves (Shaver, 2012).

Research plan

In order to seek answers to the questions, AvalonBay Communities needs to determine the most cost-efficient plan for collecting the information needed. This is based in part on an estimate of how much profit AvalonBay would expect to make when the vacancies in the aging properties are filled, versus the estimated costs of gathering the research. Hiring the consulting firm, McKinsey & Co. was an upfront investment that returned results that gave them insights as to the next steps to take in the marketing research process. If their budget is large enough, they can continue to work with McKinsey & Co. since they already have familiarity with the background of the company, or they can choose to pursue other marketing research sources and techniques. Primary research works well in this situation since AvalonBay Communities wants to customize the customer experience with their properties, and a good way to gather this information is with observation of customer behavior, reaction, and preferences as they visit the sales office for the apartment properties. The sales office personnel can further assist with gathering marketing research by asking a predetermined list of survey questions and recording the answers as they show the properties. Emails can be collected as customers visit the sales offices and used to send follow up questionnaires to further explore customer response and impressions of the properties to assess their appeal to customers.

Social media presence is another way to pursue marketing research and analytics can show customer behaviors such as how often a site is visited, responses can be monitored and data mined for further analysis of customer feedback, and 360-degree virtual photo tours can be updated regularly to showcase available properties as well as new and coming soon properties. Hosting open house events that can be advertised on social media sites as well as locally in the towns where the properties are located, and sent out through email and mailed flyers and postcards can also serve as marketing research opportunities because customers will certainly provide feedback and some may come with real estate agents, who are another resource of feedback of their clients’ responses.

Data collection

Questionnaires and surveys should have questions that require more than yes or no responses, and a mix of open ended and short answers questions should be included as well. According to Kotler & Keller (2015) collection of information is the most costly and susceptible to errors so it is important to consider the variables that may influence the accuracy and consistency of data in the collection process. The way that questions are worded, the method that is used to collect the responses whether online or in-person, and the type of setting that is used to collect data, such as the collection of personalities that are present in a given focus group, can all impact the quality of information collection (Kotler & Keller, 2015).

For a property management and development/re-development business like AvalonBay Communities, they will need to have sensitivity to the income levels, ages, gender, and other demographic characteristics of their customers as they develop questionnaires and surveys, collect the information, and interpret the data, as the variances in the responses and customer preferences can be affected by demographic differences. They should consider asking questions such as, “What amenities are important you I choosing a community to live in? Would you be interested in committing to a 2-year lease with a locked-in rate? What social opportunities should your living environment provide? Would a maintenance response guarantee and 30-day move-in guarantee increase the likelihood that you would choose an AvalonBay communities apartment over another property offering?” (Avaloncommunities.com, 2019). They will want to ask questions to determine what is important their customers and what brings value to their customers.

Analysis of the information

Once the collected information has been evaluated for usefulness, AvalonBay can isolate the pertinent information to mine the data and observe any trends and patterns in customer behaviors and traits (Kotler & Keller, 2015). Kotler & Keller (2015) also pointed out that any noted trends in customer behavior patterns should be tested before coming to any conclusions. For example, if the gathered data shows that the younger and trendier segment prefers the streamlined look of the reception area at an apartment property in Rhode Island and in California, AvalonBay will want to test whether the same holds true for other properties in the same states and also in other states, and gather additional feedback information from the new sites, before coming to the conclusion that this would attract the same segment at all properties. If not, and the trend proves not to be true on a bigger scale, AvalonBay risks over-investing in upgrading multiple properties with little return on their investment if it fails to attract the targeted segment.

Presentation of the findings

Following the analysis of the information findings, the marketing research team will want to present what they have found in their conclusive research. AvalonBay’s marketing research findings determined that customers who reside in AVA apartments are a younger segment who are more technologically connected and value the experience of a front lobby that has a community table with an iPad or iPhone present for the staff member on duty as opposed to a front desk with a computer and pencil and pens (Shaver, 2012). The Eaves properties attract customers who prefer value over atmosphere, yet the marketing research findings proved that the front lobby in Eaves properties while not a desk either, had a table that was more similar to a kitchen table and had a homey, welcoming feeling (Shaver, 2012). Based on the marketing research findings, there seems to be a lucrative market and interest from the target segments for Eaves and AVA properties that would make it a worthwhile investment for AvalonBay to invest in the marketing research to explore opportunities for converting Avalon high-end properties that have lost some of their original high-end allure due to the inevitable aging of the assets to Eaves and AVA properties to expand those market segments.

Decision-making

AvalonBay Communities can make the decision to proceed with expanding the marketing of their Avalon properties that have fallen from their original status of high-end appeal due to the aging of the properties based on the marketing research findings that they can accommodate the needs of the AVA and Eaves customer segments with less investment than it would take to invest in re-developing the high-end Avalon properties. Proceeding with the marketing research, although an investment in and of itself, will also cost less than the expected profit return of the newer customer segments it will attract to the expanded AVA and Eaves property offerings. Making the decision to move forward with the marketing research will assist AvalonBay Communities in maintaining their competitive market in the real estate apartment property market.

References:

1. Avaloncommunities.com. (2019). Our strategy. Retrieved from https://www.avaloncommunities.com/about-us/strategy
2. Businesswire.com (2015). Avalonbay communities ranked #1 among top apartment companies for online reputation. Retrieved from https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151221006135/en/AvalonBay-Communities-Ranked-1-Top-Apartment-Companies
3. Kotler, P., & Keller, P.L. (2015). Marketing management. (15th ed.). New York: Pearson.
4. Shaver, L. (2012). Inside Avalonbay’s three-brand strategy. Retrieved from: https://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/property-management/marketing/inside-avalonbays-three-brand-strategy_o/