The Purpose of Market in Business - Research Proposal Example

Introduction Market research is important for businesses in order to continually adapt and change to the changing demands by the s. It is also important to choose the appropriate research method in order to determine the exact information that is needed by the business. Since it is the customer that is the foundation of businesses, it is important that a market research is effective. It is a systematic organized procedure that primarily collects and analyzes information about the business situation before the actual business commence. It usually includes interaction with potential customers regarding their work, interests, opinions, trends and buying habits as well as paying attention to customer insights for future plans regarding products and services. The purpose of market research is to: 1) know the customer needs and wants; 2) to know if the customer is satisfied with the product or need; 3) identify potential target markets; and 4) establish the best advertising strategy for a given group of customers (Bull, 1994). Aim and Objectives The purpose of this study is to determine what particular research method is deemed effective in addressing the shortcomings, from the planned success, the consortium has experienced in the past three years. As a consortium of twenty-five tour operators in the United Kingdom that sells about 100 holidays and has 6000 customers that have already placed orders in the past, it is important to know which part of the services provided by the operators is most liked and least liked by the customers. The primary aim of this paper is to determine what are the services that need to be upgraded and services that are unnecessary. This paper will try to present a method that will be able to answer the following questions. Are the customers satisfied with the way we serve them a.) What the customers like the most among our services b.) What the customers like the least among our services c.) What are the needs of the customers that are not met d.) What are the competitors doing Methodology This study is operated under the quantitative paradigm wherein the survey method will be utilized in order to elicit the relevant information needed to complete research (Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias, 1992). Besides, quantitative research plainly and distinctively specifies both the independent and the dependent variables under investigation (Matveev, 2002). It also follows resolutely the original set of research goals, arriving at more objective conclusions, determining the issues of causality and eliminates or minimises subjectivity of judgment (Kealey & Protheroe, 1996). The research variables were primarily analyzed in order to provide description on the factors that concerns the topic of the study. The variables of the study imply quantitative research wherein the data, situations, or other facts collected will be explained or correlated with other data. Basically, this research based its findings through quantitative research methods because this permits a flexible and iterative approach. Through this method, qualitative elements that do not have standard measures such as behaviour, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs are analysed. As such, the information that the informants of the study shared to the researcher will be accordingly examined, analysed and interpreted to answer the research questions presented. In order to gather the necessary data, the research will employ the survey method. The survey method will be implemented in three successive data collection procedures. These include the pretest of the questionnaire, the actual survey, and the back-checking after the analysis of the data. The pretest of the survey is necessary in order to identify possible shortcomings of the instrument that may hinder the efficient collection of valid and reliable data. On the other hand, the back-checking that will be implemented is to provide assurance that the results of the analysis are consistent with that of the available information and facts in the field. This research project will be accomplished by conducting a questionnaire survey using a sample of at least 400 customers that have placed a booking on the tour operators. The questionnaire is given to most of the customers. To analyze the findings of the survey, the researcher will made use of the Likert rating scale along with computation of the weighted mean of each survey item. The data collection instrument will be a structured questionnaire that based on Likert scale. A Likert Scale is a rating scale that requires the subject to indicate his or her degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement. By rating scale we mean the scales that are usually used to measure attitudes towards an object, the degree to which an object contains a particular attribute, (Like or dislike), toward some attribute, or the importance attached to an attribute (Barnett, 1991). In addition to Likert scale, questions that can obtain insights and suggestions of the customers are included in the survey. In order to determine what the competitor is doing, it is important to compare what competitors offer. It is also necessary to develop a checklist of factors important to customers from the competitors. Such data are easily obtained from a variety of sources, direct contact to competitors, their loyal customers, the local libraries, banks, and other government agencies (Bull, 1994). The proposed questionnaire is short but concise in order to increase the response rate (Statpac, 2007). The proposed questionnaire is given in Appendix 1. Questionnaire Evaluation The proposed questionnaire is almost similar to the one given by the owners but they differ in some ways. The topics given in the questionnaire are broad and do not have ways where the respondents can explain their choices. In this way it is difficult to determine what the reasons why a respondent answered that way are. The questions presented are the closed-questions types that helps the researcher save time by restricting the answer set, the researcher can filter out useless or extreme answers that might occur in an open format and the data can be used to produce patterns, charts, graphs, tables and statistical analysis but difficulty can be experienced when trying to interpret and explain in detail what the charts, tables mean. The difficulty is attributed to the fact that it is very difficult to quantify the quality. Whereas in using open-ended questions, the participant is free to answer however he/she chooses, rich subjective data can be solicited, normally reflects a wide range of respondents' opinions but it requires more thought and time to complete and difficulty can be experienced when coding responses into a more quantified form. In the "Basics of Developing Questionnaire" by McNamara (2007) showed several pointers in developing a questionnaire. It must not include so many questions; it must also start with the demographic data so as not to shock the respondents with more challenging questions; attempting to get their comments in addition to their ratings will help the respondents explain their answers; include questions regarding the questionnaire itself for evaluation purposes; the questions must be straight forward and at the same time not broad enough that may elicit different interpretations from the respondents. Some questions (6-10) are answerable by "yes or no" but presented in a way that can be answered in Likert scale. This poses difficulty in the part of the respondents to quantify their "yes" as excellent and "no" as poor. Also, it does not ask the respondent what particular comment they have to say about the question. For instance in question 6, if they answered poor, it would be difficult to know what part of the lay out they did not like or it do they mean the overall lay out of the site is bad. There is no definite line that really separates excellent from good and poor from pair. This is where the comment part is important, in this way the researcher will be able to know what particular part of the lay out they did not like. Therefore there is a need to reconstruct the phrasing of the questions. The questions 1, 4 and 5 are vague in such a way the respondents might not be able to exactly understand what the researcher would like to mean. For instance in question 1, the respondents might be confused with what kind of products and services they will evaluate. Question 4 also poses the same kind of dilemma on the part of the respondents, some might say excellent if the staff is polite and friendly but poor if the respondents will encounter staffs that are arrogant. Analysis The survey results showed that the respondents are composed of 44% males and 56% females. Analysis on the results showed that 26% of the respondents said that the offered selections of products are poor and also 24% said that it is excellent. 24% reported that the service is friendly and 26% cannot comment on the speed of the service. 24% said that the knowledge of the staff on the products is poor but also 24% said that it was good. About the internet site, 30% said that it was fair and 26% said the lay out is good but 34% reported that they are not avid users of the net. 22% reported that they will recommend us to a friend but also 24% have no reaction. 28% are negative on whether they would come back again and also 28% are positive on whether they have obtained the services they expected. 22% for said that the overall service is both excellent and good and also 22% reported that it cannot determine the quality of service. The data also showed that 22% of the respondents spent 200 - 400 in the tour. The results reflected the sentiments of the respondents that they are not really satisfied with the services offered by the company. It can be seen in the data that the numbers of those respondents that are satisfied with the services is lower but the reason why their answers are these are not determined. The questionnaire lacked the capability to determine what specific reasons why the respondents answered in such way. The data also did not show the suggestions of the respondents so as to improve the quality of service given by the company. The data also lacked other respondents profile such as age, working or not, and their educational attainment. It is important to determine such factors since it will help plan future sales program and services. The comment part of the questionnaire is also vague that the researcher do not know what question does the respondents comment is for. Questionnaires must be versatile and dynamics that allows the collection of both subjective and objective data using both the open or closed type of questions. But, a questionnaire is only as good as the questions it contains. There are several guidelines that must be satisfied before it can be really considered an appropriate research tool. The majority deals with making the questionnaire understandable and free of bias. Careful review and evaluation is important to iron out mistakes that might cause confusion and misinterpretation of the questions. It is until then that this can be used as a powerful evaluation tool. It is therefore recommended that the questionnaire be changed into a more specific and detailed one. It must contain spaces for the respondent's comments at each question to give the respondents chance to explain their choices. Appendix 1 Proposed questions A. Profile of the respondents a. age b. gender c. educational attainment d. how long have you been travelling Please write the number corresponding to your answer and your suggestions and comments after each topic. 5 - Strongly Agree 4 - Agree 3 - Uncertain 2 - Disagree 1 - Strongly Disagree B. Staff Efficient Friendly Accommodating Professional C. Website Site Layout On-line bookings Efficiency of online services Fast D. Services Fast Customer Complaint Program Number of products offered Satisfaction of the products bought E. Over-all rating of the facilities and services offered: Reference: Barnett, V (1991), Sample Survey principles and methods. Hodder publisher. ISBN: 0 340545534 Bull, G. & Passewitz, G. (1994), Conducting Market Research. CDFS-1252-94. Small Business Series, Ohio State University Fact Sheet Ed. (2007) Questionnaire Design .Copyright (c) 1997-2007 StatPac Inc.General Considerations Frankfort-Nachmias, C & Nachmias, D (1992) Research methods in the social sciences (4th ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. Kealey, DJ & Protheroe, DR (1996), The effectiveness of cross-cultural training for expatriates: An assessment of the literature on the issue, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 20(2), 141-165. Matveev, AV (2002), The Advantages Of Employing Quantitative And Qualitative Methods In Intercultural Research: Practical Implications From The Study Of The Perceptions Of Intercultural Communication Competence By American And Russian Managers. Russian Communication Association. New York, U.S.A. McNamara, C. (2007), Basics of Developing Questionnaires, Copyright 1997-2007. Adapted from the Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development. Appendix: Read More