Marketing of Southwest Airline - Research Proposal Example

Marketing Research Proposal - Southwest Airline - ID Number & Total Number of Words: 2,012 Introduction Serving mostly the domestic passenger flights throughout the United States, Southwest Airlines was established back in 1967 (Southwest Media, 2012a). On the 2nd of May 2011, Southwest Airlines decided to acquire Orlando-based AirTran Airways as part of the company’s business expansion plan (Southwest, 2012). Southwest Airlines’ decision to acquire AirTran Airways will definitely increase the number of routes wherein Southwest Airlines could take-off and land. Furthermore, the acquisition of AirTran Airways will not only allow Southwest Airlines to enjoy the benefit of economies of scale but also immediately increase Southwest Airlines’ existing customer base. With a total of 138 aircrafts (i.e. Boeing 737-700 and Boeing 717-200), AirTran Airways is operating in almost 700 flights each day throughout its 177 non-stop routes. With a total of 544 aircrafts (i.e. Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-500, and Boeing 737-300), Southwest Airlines is operating with at least 3,400 flights each day throughout its 461 non-stop routes (Southwest, 2012; PR Newswire, 2011). This makes the company one of the biggest low-cost airlines in the United States. Problem Background In Southwest Airlines’ 2008 company report, Gary Kelly – Chairman, President, and CEO of Southwest Airlines mentioned that the company stared its operations back in 1971 with the purpose of giving each individual the opportunity “to afford to fly instead of drive and to enjoy the Safety, comfort, and convenience of air travel” (Southwest Airlines, 2008, p. 2). Despite being known as one of the world’s safest airline, several news reports have been recently questioning the ability of Southwest Airlines to offer a safe flight to its customers (Smiljanich, 2011; Trumbull, 2011; Griffin & Bronstein, 2008). In relation to the company’s aging fleets, there were some occasions wherein this company’s aircrafts were seen having cracks on its aircraft’s structures (Smiljanich, 2011; Trumbull, 2011). Aside from the company’s inability to comply with the compulsory inspection set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Griffin and Bronstein (2008) reported that Southwest Airlines is hiding some serious safety and technical issues from the public consumers (i.e. toring off of the aircrafts’ roof). (See Figure I – Photo of Southwest Airlines Flight 812 with Tore Off Roof below) Figure I – Photo of Southwest Airlines Flight 812 with Tore Off Roof Source: Trumbull, 2011 Establishing a strong brand is important in terms of making Southwest Airline’s target consumers feel more associated and stay loyal with the brand. Considering the technical and safety problems that Southwest Airlines is currently facing, this study aims to address several research questions like “How will the technical and safety problems being faced by Southwest Airlines affect the customers’ willingness to patronize the brand?” For this reason, part of the marketing research problem will focus on determining Southwest Airlines’ consumer preferences and purchase behavior despite the on-going technical and safety problems. In general, failure on the part of Southwest Airlines to immediately address their technical and safety problems could make some of its loyal customers purchase their domestic airline services from other airline companies like the ABX Air, AirStar Executive Airways, Allegiant Air, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, etc.. To minimize the negative impact of spreading the news about the Southwest Airline’s technical and safety issues, this company should immediately counteract the negative news about their customers’ travel safety. Through the use of effective and non-personal marketing tool such as news paper reports, it is possible on the part of the company to make their target customers feel safe and loyal to the brand. To gain a more subjective response from Southwest Airlines’ target customers with regards to how the technical and safety issues of this company can affect their willingness to patronize the brand, the second part of the marketing research problem will focus on determining how the target customers of Southwest Airlines perceive the news the company’s aircraft safety. Research Questions How will the technical and safety problems being faced by Southwest Airlines affect the customers’ willingness to patronize the brand? Proposed Primary Research Design The proposed research design will combine the use of both qualitative and quantitative research survey study. Specifically the public consumers’ personal opinion with regards to the technical and safety issues that Southwest Airlines is currently facing determines how this particular problem can affect the brand. Therefore, to gather generalized information on how will the technical and safety problems being faced by Southwest Airlines affect the customers’ willingness to patronize the brand, a research survey study will be conducted for this purpose. The problem with the use of pure statistical quantitative research method is the fact that the researcher could only obtain a general evaluation of the research study (Leong, 1985). Similar to the use of pure observational approach Anderson (1983), the application of pure statistical quantitative research method is not considered the best option since the researcher’s speculation on the study proposition may distort the end results of the research study. Considering the benefits and limitations of using a pure statistical qunatitative method and pure qualitative approach to research, it is best to apply both research method to enable the researcher to obtain an unbias study conclusion. In general, the use of scientific-based quantitiave research method is widely accepted when confiming the credibility of a research hypothesis or research questions (Anderson, 1983). Regardless of age, gender, nationality, and educational background, a total of 100 research survey questionnaires will be distributed to the public consumers. To reach out for highly qualified research survey respondents, the researcher will purposely distribute the 100 research survey questionnaires in one of the ticket outlets of Southwest Airlines. Selecting this particular site setting will increase the chances wherein the researcher will be able to capture the personal opinion of individuals who are currently patronizing the airline services offered by Southwest Airlines. To obtain explanatory information coming directly from each target research survey respondents, this study will purposely make use of ‘explanatory non-experimental research’. In general, explanatory non-experimental research is a type of quantitative questions that uses a typical ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions followed by asking questions like ‘how’ and ‘why’ (Johnson 2000). Basically, the follow-up questions will enable the researcher determine why the research survey participants answered either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The researcher will make use the explanatory response in determining the research survey participants’ demographic profile, number of times each of the research survey participants travel each year, their preferred airline company, and the customers’ sensitivity to price. Aside from the use of explanatory non-experimental research questions, several 5-point Likert scale type of questions will also be used in gathering a more general response from the research survey participants. With anchors of 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree, a five-point Likert scale type of research questions will be used in determining how the research survey participants feel about riding an aircraft that has a technical and safety problems. Using the Microsoft Office Excel 2007 software, all quantitative information will be measured using simple statistical measurement such as the computation of frequency and percentage. To determine how the target customers of Southwest Airline perceive the news the company’s aircraft safety, this study will have to purposely gather a more subjective response from a couple of Southwest Airlines’ existing customers. To address this particular research question, this study will purposely conduct a research interview with a couple of Southwest Airlines’ existing customers. The researcher will purposely invite a couple of highly qualified research interviewees through referrals. Since the research topic presented in this study is quite a sensitive on the part of the company, the researcher will inform the research interviewee that all information they have provided in this study will be treated confidential. It means that the research interviewees’ name and other personal information that may reveal their identity to the public will not be disclosed in the official research study report. To increase the chances wherein the target interviewees will agree to participate in this study, the researcher will limit the official interview time to 25 minutes. Quantitative Research Survey Questionnaire Design To learn more about the personal background of each research participant, the researcher will ask only demographic questions related to gender. Major research survey questions will focus on determining the research survey participants’ travelling habits and attitude and behavior with regards to Southwest Airlines products and services. Specifically the second and third research survey questions aim to know more about how frequent the research survey participants are travelling via airplane. The fourth to seventh research survey questions aim to learn more about the attitude and behavior of the research survey respondents with regards to their loyalty towards the brand of Southwest Airlines. The eighth and ninth research survey questions aim to determine the research survey respondents’ opinion with regards to the technical and safety problems being faced by Southwest Airlines. Using a 5 point-likert scale type of question (i.e. strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree), the researcher will examine a couple of Likert-scale question. In line with this, the first Likert-scale question assumes that the technical and safety problems of Southwest Airlines will make the research survey participants think twice about patronizing the brand of Southwest Airlines. On the other hand, the second Likert-scale question assumes that even if Southwest Airlines offer a cheaper airfare, the research survey participants will not patronize the brand of Southwest Airlines unless that company is able to solve its technical and safety problems. (See Appendix I – Research Survey Questionnaires on page 10) Qualitative Research Survey Questionnaire Design In general, the semi-structured interview questionnaire will help the researcher in gathering useful and relevant subjective response from the research interviewees. The main reason behind the need to conduct a research interview with a couple of Southwest Airlines’ existing customers is to determine how they are mentally and emotionally affected by the news report about the company’s aircraft safety. Since a negative publicity can adversely affect the brand equity of the company, the first question purposely asked how the research interviewee (as a customer of Southwest Airlines) was affected by the news report about Southwest Airlines’ technical and safety problems. Eventually, the second question aims to determine whether or not he/she will continue to purchase airfares from Southwest Airlines. By asking the question “If yes, why? If no, why?”, the research interviewee will be encouraged to verbally express their personal opinion with regards to this matter Lastly, the third question purposely asked what the company should do in order to regain their trust and loyalty to the brand. (See Appendix II – Semi-Structured Interview Questionnaire on page 11) Proposed Secondary Research Design The proposed secondary research design will gather existing academic journals that are focused on determining the impact of product or service safety issues on the development of brand. Aside from gathering journals with regards to this matter, part of the literature review will discuss the importance of establishing a strong brand and the impact of pricing on brand development. Conclusion To be able to come up with a useful research proposal, it is necessary to identify the specific research questions that need to be addressed in the proposed research study. After conducting the proposed research survey study, the researcher will be able to gather a more generalized response from the public consumers with regards to how the technical and safety problems being faced by Southwest Airlines can affect their loyalty to the brand. The proposed research survey study will enable the researcher learn more about the Southwest Airlines’ existing customers’ travelling habits, attitude and behavior. Considering the fact that Southwest Airlines is known as a safe and reliable low-cost carrier, this study will determine how far low price airfares will work in case the public consumers’ personal safety is already at risk. After conducting the proposed research interview study, the researcher will be able to gather a more subjective response coming from a couple of Southwest Airline managers. In line with this, the researcher would know specific strategies that the company is already implementing or is willing to implement any marketing strategies in order to preserve the company’s brand equity. Appendix I – Research Survey Questionnaires 1. What is your gender? ___ Male ___ Female 2. Have you ever travelled via plane? ___ Yes ___ No 3. How often do you travel via place each year? ___ Once a year ___ Twice a year ___ Three times a year ___ More than three times a year 4. Have you ever patronized the airline services offered by Southwest Airlines? ___ Yes ___ No 5. Is Southwest Airlines your preferred airline company? ___ Yes ___ No 6. Are you satisfied with the services offered by Southwest Airlines? ___ Yes ___ No If not, why? ___________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ 7. The brand of Southwest Airlines is known for its ability to offer “low-cost” airline services. In case the company increases its airfares, would you still patronize the brand? ___ Yes ___ No 8. Have you heard the news about the technical and safety issues being faced by Southwest Airlines? ___ Yes ___ No 9. Would you still patronize the airline services offered by Southwest Airlines despite the news? ___ Yes ___ No Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly disagree agree H1: the technical and safety problems of Southwest Airlines will make me think twice about patronizing the brand. □ □ □ □ □ H2: Even if Southwest Airlines offer a cheaper airfare, I will not patronize the brand unless the company solve its technical and safety problems. □ □ □ □ □ Appendix II – Semi-Structured Interview Questionnaire 1. Recently, there are news reports talking about the technical and safety problems of Southwest Airline’s aircrafts. As a client of Southwest Airlines, how were you mentally and emotionally affected by the news report? 2. Are you going to continue purchasing airfares from this company despite the news? If yes, why? If no, why? 3. What should the company do in order to regain your trust and loyalty to the company? 4. Thank you. References Anderson, P. (1983). Marketing, Scientific Progress, and Scientific. Method Journal of Marketing, 18-31. Griffin, D., & Bronstein, S. (2008, April 2). CNN U.S. Retrieved October 27, 2012, from FAA inspectors: Southwest tried to hide safety problems: http://articles.cnn.com/2008-04-02/us/southwest.faa.inspection_1_faa-inspectors-faa-managers-southwest-planes?_s=PM:US Johnson, B. (2000, July 19). Retrieved October 27, 2012, from ITFORUM Paper #43 - Its (Beyond) Time to Drop the Terms Casual-Comparative and Correlational Research in Education: http://itech1.coe.uga.edu/itforum/paper43/paper43.html Leong, S. (1985). Metatheory and Metamethodology in Marketing: A Lakatosian Reconstruction. Journal of Marketing, 49: 23-40. PR Newswire. (2011, September 27). Retrieved October 27, 2012, from Two Great Airlines Join Forces: AirTran Airways Agrees to Acquisition by Southwest Airlines: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/two-great-airlines-join-forces-airtran-airways-agrees-to-acquisition-by-southwest-airlines-103846843.html Smiljanich, T. (2011, April 5). The Consumer Warning Network. Retrieved October 27, 2012, from Airline Safety – Is Southwest Airlines Still the Safest?: http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com/2011/04/05/airline-safety-is-southwest-airlines-still-the-safest/ Southwest. (2012). Retrieved October 27, 2012, from Fact Sheet: http://www.southwest.com/html/about-southwest/history/fact-sheet.html Southwest Airlines. (2008). Retrieved October 27, 2012, from Southwest Cares. Doing The Right Thing. The 2008 Southwest Cares Report is dedicated to the Employees, Customers, Shareholders, and other Stakeholders of Southwest Airlines...: http://www.southwest.com/assets/pdfs/corporate-commitments/southwestcares.pdf Southwest Media. (2012a). Retrieved October 27, 2012, from 1966 to 1971: http://www.swamedia.com/channels/By-Date/pages/1966-to-1971 Trumbull, M. (2011, April 4). The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved October 27, 2012, from Fuselage cracks: Is the problem with Southwest Airlines or Boeing 737s? The FAA called Monday for inspections of older Boeing 737s, after an incident on Friday in which the roof tore off Southwest Airlines Flight 812. : http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0404/Fuselage-cracks-Is-the-problem-with-Southwest-Airlines-or-Boeing-737s Read More