Marketing Problem That Body Shop Is Facing in Marketing Its Product - Research Proposal Example

Research proposal Table of contents Introduction 2 Company Background 2 Product profile 3 Problem statement 5 Objectives of the study 6 Primary question 7 Secondary questions 7 Significance of the study 7 Methodology 8 Research design 8 Quantitative research method 8 Qualitative research method 9 Data collection methods 11 Data analysis techniques 13 Ethical considerations and Limitations of the study 13 Resources 14 Confidentiality and privacy 14 Suspicion 14 Proposed budget 15 Timeline of the research 15 Conclusion 16 References 17 Introduction Research is an important tool in marketing. It helps in identifying a problem and solving it through application of research techniques. This study is dedicated to establishing the marketing problem that Body Shop is facing in marketing its product, the Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm. Data will be collected through interviews among a sample of 35 people in Melbourne. Qualitative analysis will be used which will entail induction. Company Background Body shop is a UK based international producer, marketer and distributor of a wide range of cosmetic products and gifts. Among the firm’s products are a wide range of skin care products, fragrances, hair care, bath and body, make up and gifts. The firm was founded by entrepreneur Dame Anita Roddick in Brighton England in 1976. By 1978, the store started expanding into foreign markets Belgium being the first. In July 1983, Australia had its first Body Shop outlet in Melbourne. The expansion Australia continued with more outlets opened up countrywide. The company has been operating in many countries as a franchise describing itself as “an activist organisation” (Rendtorff 2009, 109; The Body Shop 2012). This has expanded the company’s reach and has been in talks in venturing into the lucrative Chinese market (Rendtorff 2009). In 2006, the firm was acquired by the giant cosmetic firm, L’Oreal Group. Over the years, the firm has won numerous awards in product excellence and CSR. The firm has also run numerous successful campaigns dealing with social matters ranging from animal welfare to safe/humane cosmetics. Through the years, the company’s CSR and acquisition by L’Oreal Group has been questioned on various grounds. One of the issues raised was that L’Oreal Group was still using animals for testing some of its products, a practice that contravenes The Body Shop’s ethical ideals. Nonetheless, the firm has emerged victorious and continues to supply the market with safe and ethically manufactured products. Since its inception, the firm has been used as a example of good consumer relation marketing and as a good corporate citizen embarking on effective and efficient corporate social responsibility. The Founder, Dame Anita Roddick, has constantly indicated that The Body Shop is “committed to establishing non-exploitative trading relationships with indigenous people" and that the Body Shop “is driven by values rather than profits” (Body Shop 2012) Product profile Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm is one of the many skin care products that Body Shop produces, markets and distributes in all its markets. As per company tradition, the brand is marketed as a natural product with a strong emphasis on the history of the ingredients and the CSR role that the firm plays in associating with its suppliers. This particular brand, Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame oil Body Balm, is sourced from northern Ghana where it is hand prepared by over 430 women in 11 villages in Tamale. The Spa Wisdom is also presented as a natural product, devoid of any harmful ingredients such as mercury and hydroquinone. These natural ingredients are, as per company philosophy, purely natural and are not tested on animals at all. This is in line with the company’s programs of protecting animals from misuse by testing potentially harmful components on the animals. Body Shop upholds transparency and has thus listed its full ingredients as follows on its website. Water (Solvent/Diluent), Glycerin (Humectant), PPG-2 Myristyl Ether Propionate (Emollient/Skin Conditioner), Cyclopentasiloxane (Skin-Conditioning Agent/Emollient), Stearyl Alcohol (Emollient), Glyceryl Stearate (Emulsifier), Beeswax (Emulsifier/Emollient), Cyclohexasiloxane (Conditioning Agent), PEG-100 Stearate (Surfactant), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) (Skin-Conditioning Agent/Emollient), Panthenol (Skin/Hair Conditioning Agent), Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter (Emollient), Benzyl Alcohol (Preservative), Phenoxyethanol (Preservative), Ximenia Americana Seed Oil (Emollient), Fragrance (Fragrance), Algae Extract (Natural Additive), Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer (Stabiliser/Viscosity Modifier), Methylparaben (Preservative), Allantoin (Skin Soothing Agent), Populus Tremuloides (Aspen) Bark Extract (Natural Additive), Lactic Acid (Skin Conditioning Agent), Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster), Butylparaben (Preservative), Ethylparaben (Preservative), Hexyl Cinnamal (Fragrance Ingredient), Isobutylparaben (Preservative), Propylparaben (Preservative), Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Benzyl Salicylate (Fragrance Ingredient), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone (Fragrance Ingredient), Caramel (Colour), Orange 4 (Colour) {Bodyshop.com, 2012}. Below is an image of the product Fig 1. Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm (Image not to proportion) The product is packaged in glass cylindrical jars with brown chocolate labelling along its waist. The packages are only in amounts of 200ml/6.8OZ (193g) and goes for $38.95 from the firm’s online store with an additional $8.95 as standard delivery charges (Body shop.com 2012). This is the same type of packaging used worldwide as is the company’s policy. In fact all Body Shop outlets worldwide are designed and made to smell the same for a globalized marketing approach. Problem statement Since its inception, Body Shop has taken pride in developing high quality natural products among them Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame oil Body Balm. The firm has also been at the frontline of corporate social responsibility in the various markets it operates in among them Melbourne. The firm uses its CSR and ethics records and environmental conservation as its major marketing tools. It has ran campaigns against human rights abuses, animal protection especially campaigning against use of animals in testing cosmetic products and have been actively involved in community support programs such as sports. Body Shop uses ethics and nature element as a marketing concept as opposed to product efficacy. This is not sustainable given that every other company, whether in the cosmetic industry or otherwise has turned to green marketing and ethicality marketing. For this reason, Body Shop has to develop a new concept on which to market its products and gain competitive advantage. There exists a knowledge gap that the researcher intends to fill; what is the degree of influence of the “how” and the “what” of a product/service in consumer decision making. This is because the existing literature on marketing does not give valid analysis on the subject and it does not indicate the effectiveness of each. The research will therefore investigate the effectiveness of marketing Spa Wisdom on its ethical background as opposed to its effectiveness given that there are competing products in the market with similar properties and ingredients such as Nivea’s Irresistibly Smooth Body Lotion enriched with Ginkgo Extract, Shea Butter, and Vitamin E (Nivea.com). Objectives of the study The main objective of the study will be find out how potential consumers are influenced by history of a product in making a purchase decision as opposed to the promised efficiency of the product by the marketing message. To achieve this objective, the study will be guided by a set of questions. Primary question i. To find out how consumers perceive ethicality as opposed efficiency of Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm? Secondary questions ii. To investigate the level of acceptance of ethical marketing among consumers of body balms. iii. To find out how much influence a product history has on a consumer’s final purchase decision for a body balm. iv. To investigate the most influencing aspects that consumers consider before making a purchase decision for body balm. Significance of the study By collecting primary data, the researcher will further contribute to the existing literature on consumer decision making patterns. The findings will be of great significance to various individuals and institutions. For instance, the findings may be relevant to persons involved in marketing and social activism. Generally, this research will address an important issue facing Body Shop and other marketers in this age of green marketing and green living. Furthermore, the research will offer greater knowledge of why marketers need to be more innovate and develop marketing concepts that will earn the firm and the brand sustainable competitive advantage. Methodology Research design Research design is usually concerned with the way the research will be conducted. It entails issues such as what is the question to be studied, the relevant data and the type of data to be used as well as the methods that will be applied to analyse that data (Adert et al., 2008). Based on the problem at hand regarding marketing of Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm, this research will employ qualitative as opposed to quantitative research design. Quantitative research method Quantitative research is the systematic practical investigation of social matters via statistical, mathematical, or computational techniques. Quantitative research methods are interested in establishing and using mathematical presentations, ideologies and hypotheses related to a phenomena. Quantitative design is concerned with counting and quantifying or measuring the social characteristics of social life and data is given in mathematical forms such as percentages, ratios, statistics etc (Blaikie, 2009). Quantitative research tries to classify social behaviour as discrete while qualitative tries to explain and discuss the social behaviour, putting into mind that social behaviour is not discrete. Usually, quantitative research techniques are employed to certify hypotheses formed from qualitative research. Quantitative research has its own strengths which include; it permits the study and description of social behaviour and events that are not easily observable; enables analysis and rationalization of causal dependencies between social matters; it is suitable for quantitative descriptions, assessment between places or groups. However, it has the following weaknesses (Blaikie, 2009): It tries to simplify and suppress the complex reality into abstract and constrained idea It is only applicable for measurable/quantifiable issues It is difficult to study processes as it produces static view of the reality It presumes relatively broad knowledge on the topic of study so as to be proficient to ask the “correct” questions It is quite complicated to describe the views, meaning and intents of the actors. Qualitative research method Qualitative research method is a technique of inquiry used in a wide range of academic subjects but is basically associated with social sciences and also in marketing research. The main intent of qualitative study is to gain a deep understanding of the human behaviour and the force behind such behaviour. Fundamentally, qualitative research techniques explore how and why certain behaviour occurs as compared to quantitative which focuses on what, where and when behaviour occurs. In addition, qualitative research uses a small sample as opposed to large samples used in quantitative research (Gravetter and Forzano, 2011). Qualitative research method, viewed conventionally produces knowledge that is only applicable on a particular issue researched on and any further generalization of deductive are just informed assertions. Qualitative research designs are more interested with providing discursive descriptions and studying social actors’ interpretations and meanings (Gravetter and Forzano, 2011). Qualitative research methods have the following strengths; Useful for explaining complicated phenomena Important for deep stud of a small number of cases Provides individual case information Offers an understanding and description of individual experiences of the participants Researcher is capable of exploring dynamic processes Data is collected in a natural setting Researchers in qualitative study are responsive to changes occurring during the study and may alter the focus of the study as such Weaknesses of qualitative study entail; Obtained knowledge is not readily applicable to other populations or settings It is difficult to make quantitative predictions It is complex to test hypothesis and theories with huge number of participants Data analysis takes time as compared to quantitative Results can be easily influenced by personal biases and ideologies of the researcher Qualitative research design will be used due to the idea that perception of individuals differ significantly. In addition, flexible qualitative research design gives the researcher freedom while gathering data for the study. This study is aimed at exploring the marketing problems of Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm. Quantitative research design entails collecting quantifiable data which in this study is not applicable as we seek to study the main factor influencing the decision of using Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm as opposed to competitor products. Besides, this study is only interested in a small sample due to human and material resource availability which is suitable for qualitative research. The study will be conducted in Melbourne. It is obvious that the effectiveness of the product influences the market of a product and the study seeks to access the effects of “what” as opposed to “how” in marketing of the Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm. Data collection methods Since this study employs qualitative study designs, data collection will entail the qualitative data collection techniques. The data collection methods will be primary method. Primary data gathering will entail the use of open ended interviews. The interviews will assist in collecting data regarding amount that consumers are willing to spend on similar products, their age and the rating of the effectiveness of the product as well as the factors that influence them to buying body balm. Secondary data sources entail the use of information from existing data bases. This source of data cannot be used in this study as it entails comparing various existing or published data which in this case are scarce. Besides, secondary sources may be out of date and may not match the situation being investigated. Thus, primary data collection is preferred over secondary data collection methods in that, it gives the researcher with first hand information regarding the subject of study and helps in reaching valid conclusions. Nevertheless, it has its own delimitations. For example, the chosen participants may not be willing to participate in the study as they may perceive no benefit in engaging in such a study. Besides, most participants may deem such an exercise as time wasting. Thus, requires for aggressiveness and persuasion power of the researcher which will help lure the participants to give information required for a successful study (Gravetter and Forzano, 2011). Regardless of these limitations, primary data collection techniques will still be applied in this study as it is necessary in obtaining the individual views on the influence of ethicality verses effectiveness of a product on its market. Sample selection It is not possible to study the entire population of all Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm users in Melbourne or in the international market. Thus, this study, just like any research study will rely on sampling with the intent of obtaining a sample of the population to conduct the study. Sampling is defined as the process through which the researcher identifies a sample representative from the whole population. The group selected should be able to represent the entire population in order to avoid any form of bias (Grinx, 2004). In this study, randomization will be used in choosing the sample in order to avoid bias. The location of the research is Melbourne and the sample will include people shopping at various Body Shop stores, to respond to interviews. Simple random sampling will be employed in choosing the participants. In simple random sampling, each participant is chosen at random and by chance in a way that every individual has the same probability of being chosen during the sampling process. Simple random sampling enables the researcher to only draw superficially convincing results concerning the entire population based on the selected sample. Simple randomization is preferred in this study because of its advantages which include; free from categorization error, little superior knowledge of the chosen population, and simplicity of interpreting data (Firebaugh, 2008). The study will entail a sample size of 35 participants. Data analysis techniques Crude data is analysed through appropriate data analysis techniques in order to draw conclusions that the researcher is looking for. Data analysis is the process through which the obtained data is inspected, cleaned transformed and modelled with the objective of emphasizing useful data, proposing valid conclusions and enhancing decision making (Yates et al., 2008). Data is usually analysed using various techniques depending on the type of data obtained. For quantitative data, statistical data analysis techniques are used in the analysis and may entail use of regression analysis, SPSS, etc. For qualitative data which entail descriptions, the data is analysed using qualitative data analysis techniques such as multivariate analysis that involve four stages; data coding, entry, checking and analysis (Adèr et al., 2008). Induction technique will be utilized in analyzing data obtained in this research study. Induction involves forming a hypothesis regarding a behaviour or event and then comparing to similar behaviour or event in order to verify, or modify hypothesis (Blaikie, 2009). The analysed data will be presented in tables for easier understanding. Ethical considerations and Limitations of the study This research is limited by a number of issues. These are: Resources Marketing research predominantly uses large samples from the niche market (Bryman 2008). This particular research however, does not have the human resources, finance and machinery to carry out large-scale interviews. As such, the sample is kept relatively small at 35. The validity and reliability of the findings might be questioned courtesy of sample size and its inclusiveness. Confidentiality and privacy This research will handle personal data such as spending patterns. The research will use that data with the consent of the respondent only. Nevertheless, it may be difficult to obtain such information from respondents especially regarding their spending patterns. Despite the research’s intention to assure respondents of the protection of their privacy, they may fear that their views might be accessed by unauthorised persons who may bother them with unwanted marketing attempts and spam emails. This research has no way of managing this limitation other than assuring respondents about the confidentiality of the research and its purpose. Suspicion Some of the respondents may be suspicious of the intentions of the researcher. Furthermore, some respondents may hesitate to participate in the study in fear of being reprimanded for revealing information to the researcher. Proposed budget The research proposes the following budgetary allocation for listed activities. 100% Institution funding Project period 01/05 to 31/05/2012 Budget period 01/05/2012 to 15/05/2012 Researcher Description Request ($) Stationery 50 Other supplies 70 Travel 100 Printing 10 Total Costs 230/= Timeline of the research Activity Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6-day 10 responsibility Research familiarization Δ▬▼ Researcher Population and sample identification Δ▬▬▬▼ Researcher Questionnaire formulation Δ▬▬▼ Researcher Sampling (sample selection) Δ▬▼ Researcher Data collection Δ▬▼ Researcher Data analysis Δ▬▬▼ Researcher Data interpretation Δ▬▼ Researcher Report preparation Δ▬▼ Researcher (*Only week days are counted in the above timeline) Conclusion Research is crucial in reaching to comprehensive decisions in marketing. Body Shop concentrates in manufacture and distribution of variant beauty products in the international market. Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm is one of its popular products that are marketed across the globe in the competitive body balm market. The problem is that Spa Wisdom Africa Shea Butter & Sesame Oil Body Balm is marketed on ethics and CRS rather than the efficacy of the product. This was the main motive for the proposed study. The use of qualitative research design will be used in this study in order to help describe and explain behaviour. Primary data will be collected through interviews administered to 35 people who purchase from Body Shop stores in Melbourne. The obtained data will be analyzed through qualitative data analysis that will entail induction process. This data will be presented in tables and will be useful for other studies. References Adèr , H. J., Mellenbergh, G. J., and Hand, D. J. 2008, Advising on research methods: a consultant's companion. Huizen: Johannes van Kessel Publishing. Blaikie, N. 2009, Designing Social Research 2nd Ed. New York: Polity. Caroll, A & Buchholtz, A, 2011, Business & Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management. Sydney: Cengage Learning. Firebaugh, G, 2008, Seven Rules for Social Research, Princeton University Press. Gravetter, F. J. and Forzano, B. 2011, Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences 4th Ed. London: Cengage Learning. Grix, J. 2004, The foundations of research. London, Palgrave Macmillan. Mallin, C 2009, Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study Approach. Sydney: Edward Elgar Publishing Nivea Australia http://www.thebodyshop.com.au/Product.aspx?Id=695 Rendtorff, J, 2009, Responsibility, Ethics and Legitimacy of Corporations. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press The Body Shop Australia http://www.nivea.com.au/products/body-care/smooth/Irresistibly-Smooth-Body-Lotion Read More