Deakin University: the New Branding Campaign - Research Proposal Example

Marketing Research Name: ID Number: Institution: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Executive Summary 3 1.0Purpose of the Research 4 1.1 Management Decision Problem 4 1.2 Research Questions 4 1.2.1 Research Objectives 5 1.3 Possible Strategies by University Administration 6 1.4 Time Frame 6 2.0 Type of Study 7 2.1 Research Design 7 2.2 Data Requirements 9 3.0 Definition of the Target Population and Sample Size 9 3.1 Definition of the Target Population 9 3.2 Sample Size 10 4.0 Sampling Techniques, Data Collection Methods and Types of Scale 11 4.1 Sampling Techniques 11 4.2 Data Collection Methods 12 4.3 Types of Scale 12 5.0 Proposed Budget 13 6.0 Potential management benefits and Limitations of the Study 14 6.1 Potential management benefits 14 6.2 Limitations of the Study 15 References 15 Executive Summary The study will involve a detailed examination of the perceptions of the current students of Deakin University as well as the potential students. A scientific approach will be followed in the study in an effort to obtain valid and objective conclusions and recommendations. The survey will involve stratified random sampling. The population will be divided into three strata and a sample will be selected from each in disproportionate fractions. A provisional budget for the study is estimated. It includes items of major importance in the process of the study. The budget proposed is within the limits recommended by management, that is between fifty and eighty thousand dollars. The results will be analyzed at two stages. One will involve the opinion of the target group on the advertising campaign and the second will be an assessment of the extent to which the campaign is shifting the attitude of the current and potential students. An assessment is done of how well the management can make use of the study. This is just a summary guideline of key areas that the management should pay attention to once the research study is completed. The final research study will carry a detailed recommendation section. The rationale is that no study will have meaning until it has reached viable conclusions from which recommendations can be drawn (Fowlern FJ 1988). 1.0 Purpose of the Research Generally, a study of this kind entails making an attempt to prove or disapprove a specific hypothesis (Mosier 1941). With regard to this study my hypothesis is to determine whether the current advertising campaign has shifted the attitude of current and potential students and if so to what extent. 1.1 Management Decision Problem Identifying the problem area of study is of vital importance. This assists the researcher to zero-in on what is most significant from the point of view of the person who needs to make use of the research findings. Scholars have noted that identifying the research problem is beneficial to the researcher since overlooking the same may make the project run out of understanding of the researcher (Geursen & Ehrenich 1998). The management is in need of detailed information on whether or not the advertising campaign is attaining its intended purpose. The management is at a point where it has to take a decision based on objective statistics on whether to continue with the campaign or quit it. This research is therefore justified by the fact that a professional opinion is necessary to form the basis of the course of action to be taken. The management also wants to be satisfied that the costs incurred so far in the campaign are viable and there can be future probable revenues that can be attributed to these expenses. 1.2 Research Questions The research questions should help reaches out to the objectives of the research exercise. In other words, they should be formulated from the objectives stipulated for the study (Jones & Thurstone 1955). They act as a guideline to the researcher as well as users of the research report on what the focus for the study is. The following research questions have been formulated to serve this purpose: (a) What is the opinion of the current students of Deakin University on the new branding campaign? (b) Is the advertising campaign creating new awareness to people who previously new nothing about the University? (c) Has the campaign propelled new school leavers to ponder about joining the University? (d) Should the advertising campaign continue or should it be abandoned? (e) Has the campaign caught the eye of employers? 1.2.1 Research Objectives The research objectives are a breakdown of the purpose of the research. They highlight the specifics of the study and assist the researcher not to lose focus of what is required of him/her (Groves & Couper 1995). (a) To evaluate the opinion of current students of the University on the new branding campaign. (b) To analyze the extent to which the advertisement reached out to new regions where the University was unknown. (c) To establish whether or not the advertising campaign drew school-leavers attention to the courses offered by Deakin University. (d) To form an opinion as to whether or not the campaign was a necessary venture in the first place. (e) To determine whether the campaign has changed the attitude of the employers towards graduates of Deakin University. 1.3 Possible Strategies by University Administration This research exercise can be summarized to be one of significant importance to the management. Being a fact-finding exercise means that it will equip the management with wealth of new information concerning the environment. The final report will include recommendations that will be prepared and presented in a professional manner hence a new tool in making future decisions. After successful completion of this study, the management will have a new informational dimension on which to base future strategic decisions. It will also highlight major areas of importance that the industry may be ignoring overtime. This will be a great compliment for the University since the knowledge can be applied as a competitive advantage in the future. Problem areas will also be emphasized. In the light of these, the managers will be informed on areas that require change in approach or amendment. The management will be made aware of areas of performance standards that the University has been falling short of expectations. The management will have a chance to review the concerns and address them appropriately. 1.4 Time Frame The actual research study, data analysis, and presentation are scheduled to take two months. The short duration is justified upon the factors discussed namely freshness of data and to avoid distortions that might accrue from rapidly changing conditions (Zeller & Carmines 1980. In addition, a quick report is necessary to allow the management reach out a decision in a timely manner guided by the findings of the research study. 2.0 Type of Study 2.1 Research Design The study will be a research of descriptive nature. Under this approach, the research is aimed at gathering facts concerning the phenomenon under question. Though the design faces critics from various corners, the issues can be seen to be emanating from inconsequential description rather than inefficiency of the approach itself (Mills 1959). This approach has been chosen and justified based on the research objectives intended. It will assist in getting facts on the ground concerning the advertising campaign by Deakin University. It is only fair therefore, to opt for the method that just meets the requirements of this assignment and thus its selection ahead of other available options. Explanatory research on its part tries to answer the why questions. It is applied to research studies that focus on giving answers related to reasons for certain parameters to hold (Cook & Campbell 1979). With this understanding, it becomes inappropriate to use this approach given the stated objectives. In this case, the focus is not on answering some questions but rather getting a position that the market holds regarding the advertising campaign. Finally, is the casual approach. This research aims at identifying the contributing factors to a certain phenomenon. The aim is to infer the causes of certain condition or hypothesis in an environment. Then, some inferences are drawn either deterministically or probabilistically from the information gathered (Cook & Campbell 1979). The above definition does not meet the purpose for which this study is conducted and hence the decision to select against the approach. There exist no known or unexplained conditions, which just require an explanation. In contrast, the intention is to establish the conditions themselves. The design of the research will be a logical systematic process. It will begin with the specification of the sample. At this stage, the sample size is determined for each category of population and the population of interest is clearly defined. The stratification will then be done guided by selected criteria. The samples size for the whole population is done and later allocation to each stratum is done according to fractions chosen. The marker variables will then be selected for sampling the specimen. Past research surveys in the field of education have found that demographic factors such as age, sex and financial background of family have a significant effect on the response of the specimen (Wolf 1977). For this case, the faculties of the students will also be incorporated in coming up with the samples. This is because it is more likely than not, that students from different faculties or taking different courses will have varying opinions on the advertising campaign. The samples are then selected and data gathering takes effect. Random sampling will be applied at this stage. This method of sampling is desirable because it gives each member in the group an equal chance of being included in the sample. Special attention will be paid to the accuracy of the sample data. The sample selected should be that which correctly and effectively represents most if not all the characteristics of the entire population or category. The accuracy is appropriately reached when the details of each sample are taken at a time and assessed in isolation (Ross 1978). 2.2 Data Requirements The data that will be chosen will be of descriptive nature in line with the purpose of the study. The intention is to give a clear picture of how the situation is on the ground, and upon this made valid and informed decisions to guide the future course of action. 3.0 Definition of the Target Population and Sample Size 3.1 Definition of the Target Population (a) current students These are currently the consumers of the University’s services. With this in mind, their opinion in such a massive campaign cannot be slighted. They should have an attitude of one kind or the other towards the on-going campaign. Their response, also, means a lot to the manner in which the information and opinion they hold will diffuse and reach out to outsiders. The value they attach to the campaign will go a long way in assessing the viability of the undertaking in totality. It is in the light of this that they form the main focus group for study in this research exercise. (b) potential students This group ranks the second in the order of importance to this study. This group represents school leavers who will choose their careers and consequently Institutions of their preference at least in the immediate future. They represent the future of the university. In the grand scheme of things, they can be termed as the major beneficiaries of the rebranding strategy. This is largely because the implementation and by extension benefits of the rebranding will be realized at their time. In this regard therefore, it becomes important to incorporate their views in reaching the final recommendation of this study. It is equally vital, also, to assess the extent to which the campaign will convince the group to prefer Deakin University to others. (c) Employers This is the group that consumes the end products of Deakin University. In this capacity, their opinion becomes vital. The attitude they hold regarding the campaign may greatly influence the attitude of the above two groups - current students and potential students. It is in the light of this, that their opinion cannot be ignored by any researcher who wants to form an opinion of facts in reference to the advertising campaign. 3.2 Sample Size In almost all surveys, the first decision to be taken is if it will involve a complete census of the population or samples will be applied (Parten 1950). According to Parten, decision is made guided upon considerations of the merits and demerits of each method, the type of study under question as well as the inherent characteristics of the specimen to be studied. Once the above questions are answered, and the researcher opts for the sampling method, the next issue to be settled is the size of the sample to be applied. Certain variables help answer this question as well. These include again the characteristics of the population of study and most importantly the risk tolerance levels that the researcher is willing to permit (Parten 1950). For purposes of this research, samples will be used to study the target population. This decision has been reached on grounds of some obvious reasons as follows: first, is the speed with which the data has to be collected and analyzed. As observed in many past research studies, collecting data in short spell of time allows for capturing of data that is fresh (Parten 1950). This is vitally important particularly if the opinion of the population of study is likely to change from time to time. Secondly, the cost of research is completely lowered when samples are used as opposed to total count. Finally, sampled data has been argued to produce results that are more accurate. According to Parten, when samples are used, the researcher is able to accord more time and attention to each outcome and this gives a much more accurate analysis. He challenges the use of voluminous data arguing that more accounting errors are likely to accrue and hence distort the ultimate findings of the research study. 4.0 Sampling Techniques, Data Collection Methods and Types of Scale 4.1 Sampling Techniques Sampling design follows a logical step-by-step process that stipulates how activities will be arranged during the research work (Wolf 1990). This involves the researcher deciding in advance the sampling technique he/she is going to apply in the study in question. Stratified sampling is going to be applied for this particular study. Under this approach, the entire population is divided, theoretically by considering the unique domains possessed by the members of the designated strata (Kish 1978). For the case of this study, the population will be divided and henceforth studied in three distinct strata defined by the target population. This implies the current students, potential students, and employers. Disproportionate sample design will be followed. This means that different sampling fractions will be applied to study members of each stratum (Kish 1965). The current students group, being the most important target group will take the largest share being allocated fifty percent of the total population to be studied. Next will be the potential students group taking up forty percent and the employers group taking the remaining ten percent. 4.2 Data Collection Methods Data collection methods are selected by the researcher having been guided by the characteristics possessed by the target group and the data requirements of the study (Kotler & Kotler 1998). Here, two methods will be applied: interviews and questionnaires. The sample from the current students will be issued with questionnaires to fill. This is justified because they have an in depth knowledge and understanding of the advertising campaign and the university in general hence require less guidance and supervision. Representatives from the other two groups are likely to require more guidance and facilitation from the researcher and thus the choice to use interviews to collect data. This approach will allow for clarifications and the face to face interaction can provide for a detailed assessment of the attitude of the interviewee to matters related to the study. 4.3 Types of Scale This research exercise is aimed at evaluating the validity of the advertising campaign by Deakin University and secondly the extent to which it has changed the attitude of the current and potential students of the university, these requirements have a dimension on the scale to be applied in making the final analysis. With regard to assessing the validity of the campaign, the following scale will be applied to analyze results: (a) Extremely useful (b) Of considerable use (c) Of use (d) Not very useful (e) Of no use The second major assignment is to establish the extent to which the campaign has shifted the attitude of both the existing students and the potential ones. The following scale will be used to attain the above objective. That is the extent to which the attitude has shifted will be graded as either: (a) Very satisfactory (b) Satisfactory (c) Unsatisfactory (d) Very Unsatisfactory 5.0 Proposed Budget The budget will entail the cost of hiring personnel, purchase of required equipments and expenses on other activities of concern. ITEM COST IN DOLLARS Travelling 11,000 Stationery 500 Wages 18,000 Computers 32,000 Other Machinery 16,000 Miscellaneous 1,000 TOTAL 78,500 6.0 Potential management benefits and Limitations of the Study 6.1 Potential management benefits The management is going to benefit considerably from the study going by the wealth of information the exercise is going to bring on board. It will be better equipped to face the immediate environment having extracted vital information with regard to needs of the potential students as well as the employers. The following specific benefits are likely to accrue: (a) The study will discover new opportunities. The concern for the extent to which the campaign has created new awareness to fresh regions and people means that the management will have evidence of existence of new markets. These opportunities can be capitalized by way of opening new campuses, offering new courses or some other viable ventures. (b) Ascertainment of industry needs. Information gathered from employers will give insight on what they currently require from fresh graduates. In light of this, the management can revise the content of their courses of change the mode of delivering information and learning. (c) Finally, but importantly is discovering problems either with the campaign or the university operations in general. The management will be made aware of areas of dissatisfaction and out of this, corrective measures can be undertaken in a timely fashion. 6.2 Limitations of the Study There is almost no research without inherent limitations of one kind or the other. Such limitations emanate from factors such as the type of population being studied and sometimes the type of research design chosen (Myers & Warner 1968). This particular study has limitations in matters related to the following: (a) The information that will be gathered will be partial because of use of samples meaning that views of all members of the population will not be incorporated in the analysis. (b) The opinion of the employers group has only an indirect effect on the attitude of the students. Extensive reliance on their opinion may give misleading results since their views will have an effect after the results of the study are made public. References Cook, TD & Campbell DT 1979, Causal Interference and the Language of Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. Fowlern, FJ 1988, Survey Research Methods, CA: Sage Publications, Newbury Park Geursen, GM & Ehrenreich, KB 1998 ‘A new strategy for improving business research’, The Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Vol.11, pp 85-95. Groves, R & Couper, M 1995, ‘Theoretical Motivation for Post Survey Non-response Adjustment in Household Surveys’, Journal of Official Statistics, Vol.11, no.1, pp. 93-106 Jones, LV & Thurstone, LL 1955 ‘The Psychophysics of Semantics’, An Experimental Investigation, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 39, pp. 31-36. Kish, L 1978, On the Future of Survey Sampling in N.K. Namboordi.(Ed) Survey sampling and Measurement, Academic press, New York. Kish, L 1965, Survey Sampling, Wiley, New York Kotler, N & Kotler, P 1998, Museum strategy and Marketing: Designing Mission, Building Audiences, generating Revenues and Resources, Jossey-Bass, San Fransisco. Mosier, C. I. (1941) ‘A Psychometric Study of Meaning’, Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 13, pp. 123-140. Myers, JH & Warner, WG 1968, ‘Semantic Properties of Selected Evaluation Adjectives’, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol.5, pp. 409-412. 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