Category: 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].

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/

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.

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.

Background of the study

My research into trying to answer the question of what makes a potential hotel guest choose to stay or not stay at one of the Sapphire hotels started with finding out as much as possible from previous information what product attributes are sought by customers when choosing their accommodation.

First, the internal records of every sapphire hotel were an important starting point. Relevant data included the final books of entry for the last five years this being the balance sheet and profit and loss account. We then had a look at the day and month receipts of the various facilities such as the gym, information center, swimming pool, child care centers as well as the bills paid for additional services this being room service, laundry and limousine services. The day receipts were able to give a much clearer picture of the customer preferences for the year and any changes from season or any other factor including change of taste and fashion over the years.

Most significant though was the information we were able to analyze the customer database. Started two years ago has details of the characteristics and transactions of the customer detailing age, gender, preferences, residential address, marital status and comments or complaints by them. This gave us a individual picture of customers’ demographic and psychographic characteristics.

Additionally, government and state publications, periodicals and journals gave us additional information on population trends of different cities where we have hotels. Specific publications and past research studies on the tourism and hotel industry specifically with regard to customer preferences were also scrutinized. In order to find out more about our competitors, we decided to make use of internet resources specifically company websites taking note of their offerings for clients. Additionally internet data research companies provided relevant information relating to business and demography. Most interesting was the research website hotelbizclips.com that provides recent newspapers, magazines, reports and research papers with significant information on customer behavior and future trends.

In making an assessment of the secondary data that we collected we discovered a valuable source of new ideas that is become a prerequisite to collecting primary data for our research. It helped us define the problem and provided a better understanding of the problem.

The benefit of secondary data is that it offered savings or cost for it would have been very expensive to collect all this data. It was also a saving on time for it brought information from a wide area and from different sources. The information we were able to get was also accurate and reliable because a lot of it was from the government and research from reputable organizations. Yet the secondary data collected has its limitations by definition. It was collected from the past for a purpose other than the current research hence the problem of fit will occur.

Problem statement

To identify ways in which we can anticipate and have in place customer-preferred services and products at our hotel chain. Sapphire hotels wish to carry out business expansion and they have targeted to increase market but they have to know the important service. They have been growing market wise in the recent past, therefore at the moment the problem is which market segment that will increase revenue so that they can concentrate on it.

Research questions

• What aspect of the current service are guests most pleased about and which are the most dissatisfied with?
• What type of guest use the various services?
• What benefits do guests seek from our leisure and premium services?
• How much does the presence or absence of these services affect their decision to stay or not to stay?

Methods of data collection and measurement

Having reviewed the information that already exists we will use our present knowledge as a starting point to the search for new information. This enables further research on those areas that will provide benefits data. We should also ask ourselves the crunch question’ what would happen without the information to convince ourselves whether or not the research is valid.

Qualitative research

The collection of primary data on customer preferences at the Sapphire Hotel will start with a qualitative research so that we may have a clear idea about the marketing problem that we may have a clear idea about the marketing problem. A clearer design of a structure study will enable us to bring out a representative and quantifiable result.

Again we are able to get a basic feel of the problem and understanding of its depth before going ahead with the more analytical portion of the study.

Examples include individual and group interviews, case studies and observation. Quantitative research will give us a view of the range and complexity of hotel visitors detailing their activities and concerns. Things that cannot be directly observed and measured such as feelings thoughts and behaviors that took place in the past can only be obtained through qualitative research methods.

The sampled customers will be contacted through observations and the filing of a questionnaire. Employees and the management interview will be face-to-face interviews and some of them will be required to fill a questionnaire.

Quantitative research

The survey we intend to conduct has a principal advantage is that we will be able to collect a lot of data about an individual at one time. It is also versatile and can be employed in all kinds of settings and in any location. It is also easily used among different sectors from teenagers, young mothers and old-age pensioners. Surveys can be adapted to any research objectives, they will be designed to cover a wide variety of topics and subjects ranging from room service, customer comments on food or the gym.

This is often a search for information on attitudes of guests and potential guests towards our offerings.

The choice of data collection method may be personal interview, telephone interview, mail survey or email survey. Interviews may have the respondent and interviewer. Indirect contact as in the personal interview. This method is costly and is affected by the environment (mood of the respondent or interviewer, the time and the place) the advantage of personal interview is that it has a high response rate as compared to other methods of research.

When the fieldwork is complete and all data is collected they need to be tabulated and analyzed to obtain accurate and reliable information. This involves sorting the data into categories, counting and summarizing. Attitude measurement enables us to predict how guests will behave and also explain what they have done. An example of an attitude measurement method we intend to use is the Likert scale.

Designing the questionnaire

In designing the questionnaires a number of guidelines are followed;

Determine the kind of information required to carry the research. This is essentials it contains the objectives of the research.

Determine method of data collection.

Determine the nature of questions that is the contents of all questions.

Decide how to rephrase the questions.

Define the problem to address by the research.

Decide on the sequence of the questions and layout.

Sample questionnaire

Questionnaire asked to employees

The rationale behind this questionnaire is to collect data relating to the nature of the international hospitality industry, its market segment and its services. All data collected will be analyzed and used in the Sapphire hotels.

Furthermore, all data gathered will be kept confidential.

Questions: employees

1. How long have you been employed at the company?
2. What is your job function?
3. What tasks do you perform in carrying out your job function?
4. On average, how many customers do you interact with daily?
5. What type of services do travelers usually demand most throughout the year?
6. What market segments most demand swimming pool services, childcare services, catering, accommodation and residential?
7. What information to you give to customers regularly?
8. What problems do you encounter when serving customers?
9. On average, what is the total number of sales transactions you record on a daily basis?
10. Why do you usually take so long to transfer the sales information?
11. Do you encounter any problems in serving a customer using the current products?
12. What other products and services are sorts for customers which you do not have?
13. How long does it normally take to prepare for a customer?
14. What type of skills to you has?

The questionnaire asked to the customers

The rationale behind this questionnaire is to accumulate data relating to the customer views and opinions.

Questions: customers

1. How long have you been a customer?
2. Why do you prefer to patronize the hotel?
3. How often do you patronize the restaurant?
4. What type of products and services do you usually prefer?
5. What brand of products do you demand the most?
6. What brands do you want to be added to the offering of the company?
7. How effective and efficient is the management of the company?
8. Do you get the value for your money?

Sampling design techniques

A preliminary study will be carried out so as to formulate a sampling frame from where a sample will be selected. This will consist of the number of customers who visit the restaurant, the books of account, the website of other restaurants, the reasons why the restaurant is not performing very well. Systematic random sampling will be used to select the sample which will give at least 80% of the population.

Sampling is a limited number taken from a large group in order to test and analyze on the assumption that the sample will represent the whole group. We decided to take a sample from the airport entrance and the market centers as well as a specific sample of resident guests of sapphire hotels. This sample has to be well representative of hotel guests in major cities.

In selecting the sample, we identified our target population which was visitors to various cities and the best way to get to them before they mix with the general population was in the airport. The three main ways of selecting the sample were random sampling, quota sampling and judgment sampling.

The best-known method being random, sampling was our choice. It has two characteristics that make it very useful being that it is possible to calculate the levels of confidence and limits of accuracy. For the purpose of our study, we further used an alternative sampling design known as stratified random sampling. Here the universe or population is further subdivided into groups that are mutually exclusive but together include all items of the universe and secondly a simple random sample is chosen from each group.

The first step in drawing our random sample was to make a list of all members of the population also known as a sampling frame. We then decided to stratify our sample by geographical regions taking into account of population density. To improve the accuracy of the sample we further stratified the sample according to age, gender, social class and income levels.

Because we had different levels of interest in the views of members of all subgroups focusing mostly on business travelers. We used weighting as a means of achieving this enabling us to reduce the number of respondents from a large group and the results thereof were weighted up by this factor.

Limitation of the Study

This market research has certain constraints that will affect the results. This includes:

• Time factor will render certain aspects not to be investigated in details because of the deadline period to finish this research.
• The study assumes that effective and efficient marketing strategies are employed in identifying the market segments
• My study also assumes that the many strategies that are applied by Multinationals and they are geared towards increasing market share and remain competitive.
• The researcher is a student, he will be researching with the trust that managements will co-operate.
• The research will be carried out by a full-time student thus having enough time for coverage of the topic.

References

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Introduction

The proposed product is an online system for animal shelters and potential pet owners. It will help people to adopt their favorite animals. This system will be developed for both smartphones and desktop computers. The main goal of this paper is to conduct market research pertinent to this project.

Market Research

The target market for this application is people who are looking for a pet and all the existing in the United States animal shelters. Therefore, it is difficult to determine the size of the market. However, official statistics show that approximately 85 million families in the country own a pet (“Facts + Statistics: Pet Statistics”). The animal shelter has a long history. It began in 1866 when the first animal welfare organization was established (“We Are Their Voice”).

It was called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Since then, the animal protection community has developed into a great movement that includes thousands of volunteers and animal shelters.

The offered application will satisfy the needs of an enormous number of people who want to help stray animals. There are millions of individuals who are looking for a pet, but they do not know where to get the necessary information. This will be an online matching system that facilitates searching processes. Therefore, the prospective buyers of this application are people aged 15 to 60 who are active computer and smartphone users. However initially, the system will be distributed for free and will be financed by donations or fund-raisers. Therefore, the launch of this product will require substantial investments.

The main motive for buyers is their sympathy and desire to help stray animals. It is a well-known fact that most animals in shelters are eventually euthanized. That is why many people are eager to help them. Also, this program will reduce expenses for shelters. It will additionally motivate them to use this product. Therefore, potential buyers are located throughout the country. However, the target customers are mostly urban.

There are several ways to differentiate this business. First, it is necessary to make the service excellent. It will require creating a user-friendly interface and constantly monitoring the work of the system. Second, it is important to use different channels of distribution. A social media campaign and pop up public events where people can sign up for the application might be very helpful.

In a value proposition, it will be addressed one of the most important social issues, stray animals. This system is an innovative tool that might be helpful to resolve this problem. Also, different forces support the business objectives of this project. However, the most important factor is the animal sheltering trend. Statistics show that the number of pets in U.S. families has become twice as big for the last forty years (Rowan).

Moreover, this social trend is actively supported by different government organizations and public figures. American people are becoming more and more concerned about animal welfare problems. According to official data obtained from shelters, pet adoption rates are getting higher (Rowan). Also, there are other relevant statistics. For example, shelters spent around $2,400 million in 2007 versus $800 million in 1972 (Rowan). The main factor that leads to such growth is an increase in population. Also, quality of life is getting better. That is why people can afford to live in houses, which are an appropriate place for pets.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this project has great potential due to current social trends in the country. Millions of people want to find a pet and help stray animals. This system will be a convenient instrument addressing the needs of animal shelters and animal lovers.

Works Cited

Rowan, Andrew. “Animal Sheltering Trends in the U.S.” The Humane Society of the United States. Web.

“Facts + Statistics: Pet Statistics.” Insurance Information Institute. Web.

“We Are Their Voice.” ASPCA, 2016. Web.

Introduction

Marketing research is a very important concept. It is an element that has been utilized by many organizations in an effort to succeed in their day to day operations. Marketing research can be defined as a systematic process of gathering data that is associated with issues concerning marketing products and services, recording it and finally analyzing it for effective decision making.

Marketing research entails a process or function that brings together various components of a market for instance the consumers, the public as well as the customers to the marketer. This is made possible through appropriate information.

Information is therefore considered to be a very pivotal tool in the marketing research process since it allows for making of appropriate decisions in an organization with respect to how it ought to carry out its practices in order to satisfy its customers and hence achieve maximum productivity and profitability (McDaniel and Gates 1998).

This piece of work gives a discussion of the concept of marketing research with much emphasis being given to social media research. The main focus of this report is an examination of methods of conducting exploratory marketing research specifically using social media.

The methods of marketing research that will be discussed in details are; online focus groups and online market research communities. Case examples will also be given to enhance our understanding of the concept of social media marketing research through showing how organizations can utilize social media as market intelligence.

Discussion

Marketing research is a complex process that involves more than just promotional activities. In the contemporary business world, the need for marketing research has significantly increased with increased level of competition. It is therefore necessary to have a clearly designed marketing plan in order to have a successful organization. It is always necessary to understand the customer’s needs while conducting a marketing plan.

This is however only possible through carrying out of effective marketing research, which ensures that all the market attributes are put into consideration in the process of producing products and services. This allows for customer satisfaction, an aspect that is very crucial in the growth and development of any organization. This is because customer satisfaction does not only attract new customers but also help in retaining the existing ones.

The public is a very essential element when it comes to the business world. This is because it keeps businesses on the move through providing a source of consumption of the products and services produced by the businesses. For this reason, there is need for business enterprises to be more concerned about the needs and preferences of the customers to ensure that they satisfy them.

This allows for formation of a good organization-customer relationship and loyalty, an element that is very crucial for business sustainability. Marketing research is a tool that has enabled various organizations to attain competitive advantage through the understanding of the different characteristics of customers and hence coming up with ways of appropriate means of serving them to satisfaction (Zikmund and Babin 2006).

There are various marketing research methods, each with its advantages and disadvantages. The methods are also suited for use in different situations.

This therefore necessitates that there is critical decision making in the determination of the method of marketing research to be utilized in a certain circumstance to allow for attainment of the best results possible. The basic and commonly used marketing research methods include personal interviews, observation, surveys, field trials as well as focus groups among others (Westwood 2005).

Personal interviews entail confronting the participants. Open-ended and unstructured questions are usually used to probe information from the interviewee. When personal interview are used as methods of carrying out marketing research, helpful insights into customer attitudes are attained which in turn assist in uncovering different issues that are associated with new products and service development.

A drawback that is associated with personal interviews is the fact that they are usually more subjective especially in relation to surveys and hence the results got after the analysis of the data is not statistically reliable since they do not depict a fully representative sample of the total population.

Observation on the other hand is a method that offers very accurate results in regard to customer behavior. This is because unlike other methods like personal interview and focus groups there is no interference of the customers but rather the marketer or researcher take the data in a natural setting which could not cause the customers to change behavior on realization that they are under observation.

This could be achieved through video taping/recording. The other method is the field trials. This involves placing new products in strategic locations or stores with an aim of testing customer response under normal selling conditions. This method is deemed to be very effective in making appropriate changes for instance enhancing the packaging of products, making modifications on products as well as adjusting prices accordingly.

Another commonly used marketing research method is focus groups. This involves a moderator leading a discussion among a group of individuals using a set of queries or topics. To allow for achievement of better results, the focus group sessions take place at neutral places to avoid any form of influence.

Each group session takes a maximum of two hours. To get significant outcomes, results from at least three groups are required (Byers and Wilcox 1991). Surveys also get a lot of utilization as marketing research method. It entails use of questionnaires to analyze a sample group from a population.

The sample should be as representative as possible to yield good results and hence the larger the sample, the more appropriate and reliable the results attained. There are various ways through which surveys are carried out for instance in-person surveys where face to face interviews are used, telephone surveys, mail surveys as well as online surveys.

All these methods are aimed at gaining insights into customers’ behavior in an effort to make the necessary adjustments in regard to development of products and services and hence increasing productivity and profitability through increased sales (Calder 1977).

Social media involves the social sites or networks where the users or members usually participate for various reasons (Brogan 2010). The realization that social media attract a significant pool of members of the public has made different companies including business organization to target them with the aim of improving their business operations.

Social media research is a technique that has gained a lot of recognition and utilization by a majority of organizations. It has received both positive as well as negative criticism. One reaction is that the marketers usually gain insights from consumers without their consent or knowledge for instance through observation.

All in all, social media type of marketing research has been deemed to be very fruitful since the ability to collect, evaluate and analyze the information gathered from this research allows business organizations to be in a good position to develop consumer insights as well as allowing better monitoring of the performance of their products in the market (Evans 2008).

In a nut shell, social media marketing research is a kind of qualitative research. It entails a marketer engaging with online communities and having conversations. It delivers knowledge and insights through the act of listening to what different people say or perceive different brands of products.

It is concerned with being keen to small details which make up customer behavior for instance their perceptions, opinions, attitude as well as beliefs in respects to products and services offered by a given organization. It is after the gathered information is effectively analyzed that brands and products are influenced and optimized including participating in media marketing campaigns (WebProNews 2011).

Although most of the marketing research methods could be conducted using social media, there are some which are more effective and commonly used in social media research.

Some of the marketing research methods used in social media marketing research include the following: Online communities which could take the form of private and public blogs and social networks, search engine optimization (SEO) and linking research, online focus groups which take the nature of depth interviews, keyword search analysis as well as content monitoring services and text analysis software.

All these methods are aimed at coming up with as exhaustive information about the customers as possible in an effort to optimizing the products development for the sake of allowing for maximum customer satisfaction (Gillin and Schwartzman 2011).

For the sake of this assignment, I will look at two methods in details. They are; online focus groups and online market research communities.

The Online Focus Groups

Online focus groups could be defined as methods of qualitative marketing research which is more inclined to internet technology as well as extensive computer connectivity. Secure web sites are the meeting points of observers, respondents and the moderators. Commonly, an online focus group consists of about 10 to 30 respondents, a number of observers and one moderator.

In these groups, the moderator is charged with the responsibility of posting questions after which the respondents are expected to post their comments and opinions on the posted questions. The observers on the other hand take note of the proceedings.

Online focus groups are divided into real-time and bulletin boards. In bulletin board group, the moderator, observers and respondents are not required to meet at the same time as it is the case for real-time online groups. A secure web site is the meeting point. The moderator sets rules and regulations and posts the queries. The respondents do not see the observers hence the probability of sincere responses, away from pretence.

Online focus groups have been deemed to be very effective when it comes to concept testing. The respondents are shown concepts (advertising or new products concepts) online, after which they give their reactions.

This way, a lot of issues could be gathered for instance product awareness and preferences, their purchase as well as use. Online depth interviews are also tools used in online focus groups and are most appropriate when getting views and opinions from busy experts.

There are various benefits associated with online focus groups. They are able to probe information on sensitive and personal issue that could be useful in decision making. They are also used to supplement other marketing research methods for achievement of better results.

Another advantage is that online focus groups method provides written qualitative data since the respondents post their opinions, perceptions, and attitudes online.

There is also the aspect of posting images on online blogs for easy interpretation and understanding. Facial expressions of the respondents can also be viewed via web-cam. The online focus groups are also fast and convenient as the participants do not need to travel but are rather connected via computers and the internet.

Online focus groups also have some drawbacks. They are only appropriate for respondents who are well vast with computer and internet use. They also require a reliable internet connection and they are therefore not ideal in areas where internet connection is limited.

Another problem is the verification of the identity of the respondents. The online focus groups should only be used when the moderator can easily verify the respondent’s identity so as to ensure that the responses come from the expected and targeted respondents (Morgan 1988).

Online Market Research Communities

This is the second method of discussion. It involves a setting where a targeted group of participants come together to discuss research related topics on a regular basis from the discussions, reports and recommendations, which are attained and they help in decision making.

Market research online communities are a product of social networking and community tools and online qualitative capabilities. The market research online communities provide relatively cheap, fast and up to date insights on customers’ needs and products performance. This is because communities can cut the time cycle and the participants are observed on an ongoing basis (Sterne 2010)

One identifies a targeted audience over some time, get ideas from prospective customers, evaluate customer experiences, carry out qualitative tracking of a brand alongside competitive brands, undertake exploratory research and finally refine product concepts on a continuous basis. They help in gaining insights on products, services, advertising, promotion, positioning, and branding and customer experiences among others.

When comparing and contrasting market research online communities and online focus groups, the former are better in terms of cost and speed. Market research online communities are also more objective than online focuses groups. However, market research online communities require a lot of skills and coordination to gather appropriate data (Stewart and Williams 2005).

Case examples of the application of social media marketing research include the use of market research online communities in the Communispace Corporation which develops, administers and facilitates private online communities for organizations in the United States and other parts of the world. Groundswell is another organization in the UK that utilizes market research online communities.

Peanut Lab, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and E-Rewards companies are other examples of companies that have utilized social media as a marketing research tool. Social media has been used by organizations to gain a competitive advantage through marketing intelligence.

Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center was for instance able to gather important information through its community in regard to why patients prefer some facilities to others hence refuting the conclusion that was made about choice of a facility based on reputation of the center (DeVault 2011).

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it is evident that marketing research is one of the most important activities in an organization. This is more so in the contemporary world where the market has been characterized by a very high level of competition. The main goal of any organization is to maximize its sales. This is because the level of sales is the major criteria which determine the profitability of an organization.

Therefore, marketing is of great importance to an organization. There are various marketing research methods each suited for some situations. The different marketing research methods are also associated with some benefits as well as drawbacks and hence the need to choose the most appropriate method for a given situation.

Marketing research that is conducted through social media has been associated with some notable advantages over other means. For instance, it allows the researchers/marketers to have exhaustive data for analysis, from a vast number of media users who would otherwise not be available via other means.

The fact that social media research can be attained through interacting with the social media users as well as through listening to the social media research chatter or else a combination of both means is also advantageous. It also facilitates achievement of a variety of research project goals with ease.

However, social media research is mostly suited for usage studies, attitudinal studies, custom research as well as media tracking studies whose main focus is on the distinctive attributes or characteristics of a given social media platform. This does not however disqualify it from use in other areas in any way.

Reference List

Brogan, C. 2010. Social Media 101: Tactics and Tips to Develop Your Business Online. New Jersey, John Wiley and Sons.

Byers, Y. P. and Wilcox, R.J. 1991. Focus Groups: A Qualitative Opportunity for Researchers. The Journal of Business communication. 28:1.

Calder, B.J. 1977. Focus Groups and the Nature of Qualitative Marketing Research. Journal of Marketing Research, 14, 353-364.

DeVault, G. 2011. Social Media Research. Web.

Evans, D. 2008. Social Media Marketing: An Hour A Day. New York, John Wiley and Sons.

Gillin, P. and Schwartzman, W. 2011. Social Marketing to the Business Customer: Listen to Your B2B Market, Generate Major Account Leads, and Build Client Relationships. New York, John Wiley and Sons.

McDaniel, D.C and Gates, H.R. 1998. Marketing Research Essentials. 2^nd Ed. New York, Taylor & Francis.

Morgan, D.L. 1988. Focus Groups as Qualitative Research. Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, Inc.

Sterne, J. 2010. Social Media Metrics: How to Measure and Optimize Your Marketing Investment. New Jersey, John Wiley and Sons.

Stewart, K and Williams, M. 2005. Researching Online Populations: The Use Of Online Focus Groups For Social Research. Qualitative Research 5 (4) 395-416.

Westwood, J. 2005. The marketing plan workbook. U.K., Kogan.

WebProNews. 2011. Internet Marketing and Online Business. Web.

Zikmund, G.W and Babin, J.B. 2006. Exploring Marketing Research. New York, Cengage Learning.

Before embarking upon the topic, it would be appropriate to elaborate the terms marketing research, qualitative research and quantitative research. Marketing research is the process of planning, collecting and analysing data relevant to a marketing decision. (Lamb et al, 2005:219) Qualitative Research is collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data by observing what people do and say. Whereas, quantitative research refers to counts and measures of things, qualitative research refers to the meanings, concepts, definitions, characteristics, metaphors, symbols, and descriptions of things. (Quoted in geocities.com) In simple words, qualitative research concentrates upon the reasons of the individuals’ views regarding some specific product or services, while quantitative research is eager to collect and gather the data to find out the percentage and ratio of the individuals using the product.

The characteristics of a qualitative interviewer are quite different from those of a quantitative research interviewer. Since a qualitative interview schedule is not a structured one, and is based upon open ended questions, there is some flexibility while conducting the research process. A good qualitative researcher contains an ability to probe from the respondents regarding the subject under study according to the situation; on the other hand a good quantitative researcher has command over submitting requests for the starting interview before the respondents.

A good qualitative researcher can skillfully start the topic of his own choice, which he has to sum up within the limited time prescribed in the instructions table, while a good quantitative interviewer maintains the interest of the respondent till the end of questions prepared in the interview schedule. A good qualitative research has capability of shaping the questions keeping in view the aptitude of the respondents; on the other hand, a good quantitative researcher bounds the respondents to stay with him until the interview schedule is over.

In a qualitative research process, a good researcher has dexterity to assess and judge the view point of the respondent; it is therefore, he avoids enquiring anything that may create uneven and unpleasant situation during the research process. On the contrary, a good quantitative researcher displays his proficiency in asking even obnoxious questions in a sugar-quoted way from the respondents. Similarly, a good qualitative researcher can estimate the biased ness and prejudiced by examining the expressions as well as body language of the respondent; while a quantitative researcher knows how to measure the level of prejudice.

A good qualitative researcher maintains command over examining latent and hidden information from the respondents; on the other hand, a quantitative researcher has learned how to quantify the same. A qualitative researcher has dexterity on maintaining the central position in a focus group discussion without losing his command in a population consists of respondents from different strata and age-groups; on the other hand, a quantitative researcher is well acquainted with handling of the situation while interviewing the new respondent regarding the same questions.

References

Lamb, Charles W. Jr., Hair, Joseph F. Jr. & McDaniel, Carl. (2005) Essentials of Marketing. Web.

Sampling Errors and Measurement Errors in Statistical Research

The term “sampling error” refers to the error occurring when attempting to estimate statistical parameters of a certain population by using data obtained from a sample (Cozby & Bates, 2015, p. 148). Sampling error is always present in statistical research, because a sample, in practice, can never give results which are exactly equal to the population parameters. Also, sampling error increases if there is a selection bias present in the sample (i.e., if representatives of the population with a certain trait were more likely to be selected as participants than representatives of that population without that trait).

However, there exist ways to assess the magnitude of sampling error, such as the confidence intervals. If there is a n% confidence interval for a given statistic, this means that in n% of samples, the mean will lie within than interval (Field, 2013). For example, if a given statistic has the mean of 100, and a 95% CI of (90; 110), this means that in 95% of similar samples, the mean will lie between 90 and 110 (George & Mallery, 2016).

The method of confidence interval calculation is more “effective” when there is no selection bias, that is, sampling is random, and no members of the population are more likely to be selected than some other members of the population. This is probably because the confidence interval is calculated based on the given sample, and it accounts for random error, but not systematic error. It may also be possible to state that mitigating the error resulting from selection bias, or assessing its magnitude, is very difficult (or, in fact, impossible, if it is unknown whether there is a selection bias in the sample), so it is paramount to be careful to avoid selection bias.

The term “measurement error” denotes the error occurring because of non-complete reliability of an instrument; that is, the latter may give different results at different instances of measurement, even though the true value of the measured characteristic remains unchanged (Cozby & Bates, 2015, pp. 100-103). (For instance, an IQ test which gives different results depending on the mood of the participant is unreliable. However, a tape measure is 100% reliable when measuring the length of an object, for it always produces the same result.)

Using unreliable instruments in behavioral and marketing research is, generally speaking, pointless, for the results of such studies will be unstable, imprecise, non-replicable (Cozby & Bates, 2015, p. 101), and practically unusable. Nevertheless, in such studies, there is usually no way to gain a 100% reliable measure of a characteristic, and researchers have no way other than to be satisfied with reasonably unreliable measurement instruments.

To increase the reliability of a test (and to reduce the measurement error), an effective way is to increase a number of items assessing a particular trait (Cozby & Bates, 2015). There exist several ways to measure the reliability of a test. Most of them are based on the Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient (Cozby & Bates, 2015, p. 102). For instance, the notion of test-retest reliability; the same respondents are measured twice, at different points of time, and a correlation coefficient between the two results is calculated. However, this requires testing the same individuals twice, which is not always possible. Therefore, there exist methods which do not require re-testing, for instance, split-half reliability (the correlation between two halved of the test results are obtained) or Cronbach’s alpha (the average of the Pearson coefficients obtained by calculating all possible split-half reliabilities) (Cozby & Bates, 2015). Cronbach’s alpha is probably one of the most popular reliability assessment methods. As the mean of multiple Pearson correlation coefficients, it can range from -1 to 1 (Warner, 2013). The closer the value is to 1, the greater is the reliability, and the lower is the measurement error; the value of.8 is often considered to indicate sufficient reliability (Cozby & Bates, 2015).

From the discussion above, it is clear that it is probably easiest to identify the measurement error (thanks to the possibility to estimate its magnitude using, e.g., Cronbach’s alpha). It can also be modified by using a better (more reliable) instrument, or adding more questions to the used one, if the latter is already agreeably reliable.

Sampling error resulting from the fact that a population parameter is estimated from a statistic is always present, and it can be estimated rather decently using confidence intervals. Also, it can be lowered by increasing the sample size (Cozby & Bates, 2015).

However, sampling error resulting from selection bias will usually be the hardest error to identify, because sampling bias is rarely present on purpose; in most cases, it results from factors which were overlooked/unnoticed by the researchers. Even when it is known that there exists a selection bias, its exact effects are usually very individual for each case, and are virtually impossible to measure.

When Does Statistical Significance Mean Managerial Significance?

There is no universal rule for determining whether statistical significance entails managerial significance; managerial significance needs to take into account multiple factors, some of which will often not be mathematical (Timpany, n.d.). In addition, statistical significance depends on sample size (Field, 2013), from which it follows that even a small, practically negligible difference between two groups will be statistically significant if the sample size is large enough.

Nevertheless, non-significant results should not be dismissed outright; e.g., if α=.05, a result with p=.06 or especially p=.051 should still be taken into account, because these values are too close to α, and it would be unreasonable to think that a result with p=.051 means “no difference” and p=.049 means “true difference”. In such borderline cases, many other factors should be taken into account.

A good statistic to consider is the effect size, which assesses the magnitude of the difference between groups. There is no standard way to calculate an effect size, and in different statistical tests, different effect sizes are usually calculated (such as R², partial η², etc.) (Warner, 2013). However, there usually exist more or less standard “verbal” labels (small/medium/large effect), which help determine whether the difference is practically/managerially significant; for instance, a small effect is rarely practically important, whereas a medium one may deserve attention (Warner, 2013).

On the whole, a variety of factors should be taken into account when considering managerial significance (Wang, 2010). In particular, it should be considered whether the magnitude of the difference (not only the effect size, but also the absolute difference should) really matters in practice. For instance, two types of employees may gain a mean annual salary equal to $100,000 for the first group and $100,600 for the second group, and the difference is statistically significant, but it is doubtful that this difference will be practically significant. On the contrary, a difference of 30 mg in the dose of an active ingredient in two different batches of medical pills may be crucial, and even if it is not conventionally statistically significant (e.g., p=.08), the potential effect of such a difference should be taken into account, and it is likely that this result will be managerially significant.

In other words, there are no standardized methods of determining whether statistical significance in a particular case entails managerial significance. Therefore, when making a decision about managerial significance, the magnitude of the difference and its potential impact should be considered.

References

Cozby, P. C., & Bates, S. C. (2015). Methods in behavioral research (12th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

George, D., & Mallery, P. (2016). IBM SPSS Statistics 23 step by step: A simple guide and reference (14th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Timpany, G. (n.d.). Statistical vs. managerial significance. Web.

Wang, X. (2010). Performance analysis for public and nonprofit organizations. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Warner, R. M. (2013). Applied statistics: From bivariate through multivariate techniques (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Introduction

Companies advertise their products and services using commercial messages in various media. The most courageous companies implement inclusive marketing that targets all consumers regardless of their socio-economic, ethical, cultural, and gender backgrounds. Coca-Cola and ThirdLove are the most successful companies using inclusive advertising that receive benefits in the form of consumer recognition and market growth.

Background

Companies choose their marketing strategies relying on their business types and corporate focus. Marketing professionals advise wholesalers to target a specific group of consumers to eliminate financial losses and save costs (Dimitrieska et al., 2019). Indeed, it is easier for companies to reach their full potential by obtaining more chances to provide the best services to a limited audience by targeting. In contrast, inclusive marketing has more advantages as it positions the business as a company respecting and valuing all consumers. Dimitrieska et al. (2019) believe that companies with inclusive marketing are more effective, successful, and profitable than their competitors. The reason is that by hearing the voices of marginalized and underrepresented individuals, marketers satisfy their needs and promote equality among customers (Dimitrieska et al., 2019). When companies announce their inclusiveness, they should better understand that diversity requires them to acknowledge many consumer characteristics: ethnicity, age, gender, beliefs, and life experiences. Thus, they learn to accept and respect various cultures and identities.

Best Practice Examples

Some businesses succeed in inclusive advertising, proved by their slogans and a significant number of customers worldwide. For example, Coca-Cola utilizes the most effective inclusive marketing that highlights the simple idea of all people having in common a love for the taste of the drink (Bump, 2021). The company was ahead of the whole world in its tolerance and inclusiveness to the audience since, back in the 1970s, it began shooting commercials with representatives of different nations, countries, and races. The slogan “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” set the beginning of inclusive marketing as it promotes that Coca-Cola values all consumers regardless of their backgrounds (Dimitrieska et al., 2019). The recent campaign promotes the “together, we are beautiful” slogan, where diverse individuals sing lines of the song in different languages, enhancing inclusion and humanity. Coca-Cola’s campaigns towards diversity among customers keep them satisfied and increase the company’s sales.

Inclusive marketing is crucial for some brands, promoting self-confidence. ThirdLove, the lingerie company, targets women of different ages with different bodies, races, and nations. Unlike its alternative, such as Victoria’s Secret, which limits body size diversity, ThirdLove’s brand positioning meets the need of many women worldwide. For instance, it provides 78 sizes of bras, twice as many as other companies do, justifying the company’s intention to serve all women (Zhou, 2022). Its slogan “designed for all figures” fits large-size models and transgender models who were neglected for many decades. ThirdLove’s Facebook cover photo depicting older and younger women in a lingerie line also targets different generations (Bump, 2021). Such accurate strategies help the company improve its sales by 347% annually (Zhou, 2022). The company receives applause on social platforms and competes with giants in lingerie, a market leader due to the idea of inclusiveness empowering women worldwide.

Applications

Inclusive marketing portrays the actual world of the customers but not a place full of perfect models. Therefore, companies should follow inclusive marketing because it enables them to meet the needs of diverse customers and build brand loyalty for the targeted audience. When consumers see similar representatives of their groups in ads or the company’s messages, they align with the brands (Dimitrieska et al., 2019). Thus, representing people from as many possible diverse backgrounds benefits companies by creating close relationships, facilitating trust, and increasing sales annually. From the customer’s point of view, the emergence of inclusive marketing allows many people to be heard. People who were underrepresented and those who had a limited choice in the products now have a chance to choose between different brands. It helps the customers to feel accepted, respected, and fully recognized as equal customers in the brand’s audience (Bump, 2021). Inclusive marketing indeed forces social change contributing to the self-confidence of many representatives.

Conclusion

To conclude, the evolution of advertising is an efficient development for companies that aim uniquely to promote their products. The most successful practices of inclusive advertisement targeting consumers from diverse backgrounds lead to universal recognition. Campaigns utilized by Coca-Cola and ThirdLove exemplify how diversity among consumers brings better brand positioning and sales growth.

References

Bump, P. (2021). 7 brands that got inclusive marketing right. HubSpot. Web.

Dimitrieska, S., Stamevska, E., & Stankovska, A. (2019). Inclusive marketing-reality or make up. Economics and Management, 16(2), 112-119. Web.

Zhou, Y. (2022). From Victoria’s Secret to ThirdLove. 2021 International Conference on Social Development and Media Communication, pp. 1378-1384. Atlantis Press.