The Attitudes of Chinese Students to NIKE and PEAK Brands - Dissertation Example

? Compare the attitudes of Chinese to two different brands: NIKE and PEAK Table of Contents Research Methodology 3 References 7 Research Methodology The research methodology adopted for studying the attitudes of Chinese students to two different brands such as NIKE and PEAK have been discussed below. The research has been carried out with a mix of primary and secondary research in order to collect actual data from the field as well as validating the responses with the help of information obtained from the secondary sources. The primary research has been conducted by going to the schools, colleges and universities. The responses of the Chinese students and their outlook on the two different brands NIKE and PEAK has been obtained (Hu, 2008, p.38). The obtained information and data is called primary data. The primary data which resembles the informational data on the responses and attitude of the Chinese student on the two brands NIKR and PEAK are actual word of mouth obtained by interacting with the Chinese students (Solomon, 2004, p.58). These responses taken directly from the Chinese students are the direct expressions to the questions and interactions done with the students. This research method followed for obtaining primary data in order to determine the attitude among Chinese students towards the two brands, Nike and Peak is time consuming and cost bearing (Doole and Lowe, 2008, p.47). The research method followed in this technique requires considerable time for the collection of data and information for determining the attitude of the Chinese students on the two different brands, Nike and Peak. Also, there is considerable cost involved in conducting the research through this primary research technique. The cost of preparing the tools for conducting primary research, cost of travelling to the field, cost of the skilled workforce and the cost of analysis together increases the cost of this research method (Kardes, Frank, Kardes, Cronley, Cronley, Cline and Cline, 2010, p.27). The research conducted with the primary research tools is likely to produce reliable information and data for the purpose of study. The data collected from the responses of the Chinese students with the help of survey are accurate and highly reliable. This helps to reduce the possibilities of error in determining the correct attitude of the Chinese students towards the brands of Peak and Nike. The trend of attitude of the Chinese student towards domestic and international brands in sportswear could be correctly determined with the help of this research technique (PANNEERSELVAM, 2004, p.49). The research has been conducted with the help of survey which included designing of questions with an objective to obtain responses from the Chinese students on the sportswear brands on Nike and Peak. The survey questionnaire has been designed with questions which are close-ended (Bhattacharya, 2009, p.68). The questions were designed in order to bring out the attitude of the Chinese students towards international and domestic brands on sportswear with special emphasis on Peak and Nike. The survey with the designed questionnaire has been conducted by selecting a sample of Chinese students. The systematic method of sampling has been done in order to select sample of Chinese students in a careful manner (Kumar, 2010, p.89). The sample of Chinese students has been so selected in order to represent the entire population. Since the sample represented the population, the findings of the research is likely to produce findings that reflect the correct attitude of the Chinese students on the international and domestic sportswear brands of Nike and Peak respectively (Khan, 2011, p.90). The survey questionnaire for the collection of data has been given below: Sl. No. Survey - Questionnaire 1 Does Nike sportswear satisfy your requirements? 2 Is the Nike the most preferred brand in sportswear? 3 Does Nike sportswear reflect your lifestyle? 4 Does Peak sportswear offer a higher guarantee as compared to that of Nike? 5 Has the products of Peak been able to compete with the international sportswear brands? 6 Are you satisfied with the longevity of sportswear offered by Peak? 7 Has the products of Nike fallen in quality level as compared to previous years? 8 Are the prices of sportswear offered by Peak, competitive in the market? 9 How would you rate Nike sportswear in a scale of 0-10 (10 being the highest)? 10 How would you rate Peak sportswear in a scale of 0-10 (10 being the highest)? The above set of questions were asked to the Chinese students and the responses were obtained in a “Yes” or “No” according to the level of satisfaction, suitability of lifestyle of the Chinese students, price of the products and the quality of the products (Singh, 2010, p17). The factors determining the attitude of the Chinese students towards the sportswear of Nike and Peak has been taken into consideration while the survey was conducted. The questions were framed to determine the responses on such factors like guarantee of the products, longevity of the sportswear, etc (Kothari, 2004, p.84). The samples of data and information were collected and analyzed to determine the attitude of the overall Chinese students towards the sportswear brands of Nike and Peak. The data and information collected with the help of the primary research methodologies and the findings obtained after analysis of the data obtained from the Chinese students helped to understand the attitude of the Chinese students towards the international and domestic sportswear brands, Nike and Peak respectively. The findings were then validated with the help of a secondary research method which was adopted for the same scope of study (Goddard and Melville, 2004, p.74). The data obtained for the secondary research method is secondary data. These data and information has been obtained from the existing data sources as well as results from the previous researches on the study of attitude of the Chinese students on the international and domestic sportswear brands of Nike and peak respectively (Belk, 2006, p.94). The secondary data collection for studying the attitude of the Chinese students on the sportswear brands of Nike and Peak does not require field investigation and collection of live data. This method of secondary research is a much quicker method with much less time required to conduct the research as compared to the primary research technique (Sumathi and Saravanavel, 2009, p.51). The secondary method of research is also cost effective as the research could be conducted with the help of secondary data in much lesser cost and time. The main sources from which the secondary data and information on the subject of attitude of Chinese students towards the sportswear brands have been obtained involve books, online references, magazines, official websites of Nike and Peak, consumer behaviour reports on domestic and international sportswear brands, etc (Belk, Grayson and Schau, 2011, p.42). These sources of data are existing sources if data and may have chances of error with the actual happenings of the market. These data may have discrepancies in reflecting the current attitude of the Chinese students towards the sportswear brands of Nike and Peak and may not be fully updated. Thus the secondary sources of data obtained to determine the attitude of the Chinese students on the sportswear brands of Nike and Peak may not be sufficiently reliable to conduct the research (Belk, Scott and Askegaard, 2012, p.43). For this reason, the secondary method of research has been used to validate the findings of the primary research as conducted earlier. A validation of the results of the primary research technique with the help of secondary data helps to understand the effectiveness of the sample of Chinese students selected for study of their attitude towards the sportswear brands of Nike and Peak. The fact that the research findings are in line with the information available from the existing sources denote that the scope of error in the conducted research methodology is minimal (Blythe, 2013, p.91). On the other hand, a deviation of the primary research findings from the information available from the secondary data indicates that there has been a slight or significant change in the behaviour and attitude of the Chinese students towards the international and domestic sportswear brands of Nike and Peak respectively. The secondary data and information have been obtained from the books, online referrals, official websites and consumer behaviour reports which provide information on the customer satisfaction level of the Chinese students on the use of these two bands (Hoyer and MacInnis, 2008, p.78). The information on the suitability of the international brand like Nike and the domestic brands like Peak with changing lifestyle of the students have been revealed from the secondary sources. The increase or decrease in market capitalization of the two sportswear brands like Nike and Peak have been explored from the data available from the secondary sources (Naik, 1999, p.27). The supporting data and information as an explanation of the rise or fall of market share of the two sportswear brands are also important for the cause of research. The customer survey reports on the preference of domestic and international sportswear brands were studies. The preference of Nike sportswear and Peak sportswear among the Chinese students were studied (Wells and Foxall, 2012, p.38). The acceptance of the level of the comparative level of pricing of the Nike and Peak sportswear among the Chinese students were also examined in the secondary research method. The satisfaction of the Chinese students with the quality of products offered by Nike and Peak are important parameters for the analysis of the research (Wright, 2006, p.78). The varied range of information and data obtained through the secondary method of research were then analyzed to determine the attitude of the Chinese students towards the two different brands of Nike and Peak. References Belk, R. W. 2006. Research in consumer behavior: Vol. 10. Emerald Group Publishing Limited; UK. Belk, R. W., Grayson, K. and Schau, H. 2011. Research in Consumer Behavior. Emerald Group Publishing; UK. Belk, R. W., Scott, L. M. and Askegaard, S. 2012. Research in Consumer Behavior. Emerald Group Publishing; UK. Bhattacharya, D. K. 2009. Research Methodology. Excel Books; India. Blythe, J. 2013. Consumer Behaviour. SAGE; UK. Doole, I. and Lowe, R. 2008. International Marketing Strategy: Analysis, Development and Implementation. Cengage Learning; USA. Goddard, W. D. and Melville, S. 2004. 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