What Makes the Consumers Behave - Research Paper Example

Marketing Type of Research Needed According to Matsuno (1997), consumer’s attitudes and behaviors (such as before or during the buying process, or even what drives them to repurchase a particular item), is influenced by both internal and external factors. External factors include culture, packaging, purchase context and situation, pricing, etc. Internal factors include personality, personal values, etc. But external or internal, investigating these factors aims at answering the question, ‘why’? In other words, Kellogg’s wants to find out what makes the consumers behave and respond to their cereal and snack products- or ads on these products- the way they do. There are essentially two types of research that Kellogg could adopt here: Qualitative and Quantitative. Quantitative Research aims to generate numerical data, i.e. data that is convertable into numbers (Johnson & Christensen, 2008). In other words, this research would do if Kellogg’s was to investigate, for instance, which of its products sell best, or which regions are the best markets for specific products, etc. Qualitative Research, on the other hand, aims to investigate the ‘why’. In other words, it aims to explore and gain insight into the behaviors, attitudes, concerns, value systems, aspirations, motivations, etc of a people (Johnson & Christensen, 2008). These are non-numerical data. Kellogg’s research, so as to gain insight in to these factors (i.e. attitude and behaviors), will involve in-depth interviews. From the definition above, we can infer that this process will require qualitative research. Another distinguishing factor between the two research styles has to do with the nature of their findings, or the data they generate. Numerical data can be said to be ‘definite’. In other words, 5 is just that. It does not imply 4 or 6. And in cases where the numbers are not as ‘whole’, they can be rounded off to the closest ‘whole’. Data generated through qualitative research is not as definite. Although marketers have always conducted surveys and studies on consumer behavior, they have equally resigned to the fact that they can never get any definite answers. There is hardly anything definite about values or even attitudes. By the very nature of data needed here, quantitative research cannot apply. Data Collection There are several data collection methods that can be used in this research. However, depending on the key focus of this research, i.e. consumer attitudes and behaviors, the most important methods would be focus groups and interviews (Gill, et al. 2008). In this case, picking a focus group is the first step. These two (focus group and interview) are basically similar. However, focus group combines both interview and participation, and is directed at a specific group. The aim is to understand the group dynamics of a particular people. The assumption here is that there is a link that ties members of a group. For instance, marketing research has always found a correlation between demographics and a people. This is where the significance of culture and religion, for instance, in influencing consumer behavior comes in. Kellogg’s operates in the whole of Australia (Kellogg, 2008). Before this research begins, it is important for the company to recognize that not all consumers in all parts of Australia have the same reasons for behaving or responding the way they do, even if such response and behavior seems the same. For instance, the presence of a strong competitor in a particular region may also influence such consumer behavior and attitudes (Matsuno, 1997). Therefore, focus groups based on several factors including gender, age, and occupation, etc, need to be considered. By taking part in focus groups, the researcher gets access to insights and data that may not emerge outside such an interaction. This is helped by the fact that focus groups mainly answer the same question types, thereby revealing the ‘link’ that ties the group. Interviews should be in-depth dialogues between the interviewer and interviewee. This allows the interviewer to access rich and detailed data that would facilitate sound analysis. While telephone interviewing can at times be successful, face-to-face dialogue remains the best form of interview. At times, telephone interviews may not be taken seriously by the interviewee. But most importantly, getting telephone numbers is easier when dealing with specific people. As it were, this research does not exactly mark specific to be interviewed. The randomness of respondents (discussed under sampling below), makes getting telephone numbers cumbersome or even impossible, and thus, telephone interviews become hard to conduct. Target Respondents Target respondents refer to those to whom data collection methods should be directed. In other words, target respondent are the source(s) of data (Beam, 2005). Before target respondents are picked, it is important to know what aspects relating consumer attitudes and behaviors are to be investigated. These may include culture (which may require investigating people from different regions that display explicit cultural elements), age (which involves assessing the average attitude of different age groups, e.g. children, youth and the old, to snacks and cereal products), gender and families (which involves understanding the dynamics of family preferences for cereals and snack products, e.g. who like them most, who doesn’t, how d those who like them influence those who don’t, who does the buying, etc), amongst others. Once these aspects have been outlined, then the next step is to know where the respondent who can provide data in answer to them can be found. Target respondents should then be picked from different places of the country, e.g. New South Wales, Queensland, urban and rural areas, elementary schools and high schools, churches and offices, etc. These should reveal the role of age, regional culture and religion, amongst many others, on consumer attitudes and behaviors. Whole families (or other groups) should also be part of target respondents. In this case, the family (or other groups, e.g. church) should be seen as a single target respondent. In families, various members play different roles in influencing the preferences of the whole family, as well as the purchase behaviors. For example, it is possible that the person who does the shopping most of the time will influence the taste of the family members. But this may change when families go shopping together. Children are known to be adventurous and may want to try something new. In the end, the family may find that they actually love the new product. By understanding these dynamics is to get access to the attitudes and behaviors of group consumers. Sample Size and Selection Method Picking a sample for study, that is, the number of respondents to use, is key to an research. Unfortunately, it is not possible to study an entire population. This is impractical, inefficient and may be considered unethical. Selecting an appropriate sample is informed by the objective of the research. In other words, it can be rigorous or less so. But ultimately, a sample is considered appropriate if it will provide enough information upon which valid inferences can be made (Marshall, 1996). Kellogg’s sampling will be informed by the complexity of the issues it is dealing with, i.e. consumer attitude and behavior. For this research, two main sampling methods may be used. The first is random sampling. This method assumes that every Australian is independent and can make individual decisions on what to buy or not to buy, or even respond individually to specific marketing stimuli. This would provide the national sense for the research. The second method, which is the most important, is stratified random method. As the name suggests, this is a type of random sampling (Marshall, 1996). This method recognizes that individuals belong to certain groups on the basis of the factors already discussed above, i.e. age, gender, culture, etc. This sampling method would provide the most important data. National Random sampling may bring forward too many individual issues that may be impossible to deal with. On the other hand, it is easy to provide for various groups within the nation (rather than every individual). In other words, while national random sampling merely provides information on national attitudes and behaviors, stratified random sampling provides data that can be applied in making practical marketing or product decisions. As already mentioned above, the sample picked should be appropriate to provide enough information that can inform valid decision making. In other words, the sample method should provide enough representatives of the total population, e.g. in terms of percentage, etc. (Marshall, 1996). For Presentation to the Board of Directors If this research is to be presented to the Board of Directors in two weeks, then a few things would have to change so as to deal with the short time limit given. What would change is sample size. Rather than dealing with various subgroups around the country, for instance, perhaps the sample should involve the same focus sub-groups in only a few regions. But it should be noted that the principle of validity must remain. This means that irrespective of the squeezed sample size, the same guiding principles must be followed so as to get relatively valid information on which the board can make sound decisions. Bibliography Beam, M 2005. Suggestions for survey design: things to consider when conducting a survey. http://www.mtsac.edu/administration/research/pdf/tips/SurveyDesignandProcess.pdf (accessed 27th May, 2012) Gill, P, Stewart, K, Treasure, E & Chadwick, B 2008. ‘Methods of data collection in qualitative research: interviews and focus groups’, British Dental Journal, vol. 204, no. 6, pp. 291 – 295. http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v204/n6/abs/bdj.2008.192.html (accessed 28th May, 2012) Johnson, B & Christensen, L 2008. Educational research: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications. Kellogg 2008. Kellogg acquires Specialty Cereals Pty Ltd, A leading natural cereal manufacturer in Australia. http://www.kellogg.com.au/KelloggAcquiresSpecialtyCerealsPtyLtd/tabid/378/Default.aspx (accessed 28th May, 2012) Marshal, MN 1996. ‘Sampling for Qualitative Research’, Family Practice, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 522-525 Matsuno, K 1997. Note on consumer decision making processes: consumers as problem solvers. Babson College. http://faculty.babson.edu/isaacson/M_E7000/cons/cons1.doc (accessed 27th May, 2012) Read More