Contemporary Marketing Issues - Research Paper Example

D.A Garden Report Name Name of Institution D.A. Garden Report Preliminary Project Scope Statement of Problem and Research Objectives D.A. Garden Supplies is a firm that has been operational for thirteen years. The management of the business is divided between the owners, David and Alison. They employ five members of staff on full time and part time basis to run the garden supply and nursery segment of the business. The firm has prospered as a result of good rapport with customers, dedication to quality, affordable costs, and professionalism. The good performance coupled with a strategic location has prompted the owners to expand the business through the addition of a café. The café was subsequently expanded, but it faces competition from a new business that opened in a nearby location. It is evident that David and Alison have come up with a unique business concept that should perform well. However, there has been a continuous reduction in the overall net profits, with the gross revenue remaining at acceptable levels. Market research is an ideal solution to this problem as it would allow the owners to mitigate the causes of the reductions in overall profitability. According to Hague, Hague & Morgan (2004, p. 11), market research defines the methodological gathering, evaluation, and interpretation of data that applies to marketing decisions. It is evident that there have been changes in the environment in which D.A. Garden Supplies operates. The business needs to understand these changes and adopt strategies that will allow it to maintain high levels of sales and profitability. Therefore, one of the draft research objectives should be to determine how the Bunnings store and the new café impact the business. An additional objective should be to examine the conditions within the business and how these conditions might have affected the overall profitability. Resources D.A Garden supplies operates with five members of staff in the garden supply and nursery section and three employees in the café section. David, Alison, and their daughter can also be considered as part of the human resources available to the business. The firm operates throughout the week meaning that current employees will not be in a position to participate in the research. The business will have to contract four qualified research assistants and a supervisor to conduct the market research. When it comes to financial resources, the firm continues to generate profits despite the trend towards a reduction in its profitability. This implies that the business is in a financial position to meet the cost of the proposed market research. The market research will need significant financial resources owing to the scope of the project. First, there will be the remuneration for the researchers with each of them getting at least $35AUD per hour for the duration of the research which will range from five to eight weeks. There will also be the cost of materials and tools that will be used to carry out the research. The available physical resource at D.A Garden Supplies includes the current production and distribution facility that is located next to a suburban shopping centre. The business has expanded over the years, with the café adding more seating space. This indicates that the present facilities will be able to act as a base for the researchers. In addition to the production and distribution facilities, other relevant physical facilities will include the IT systems used to manage interactions between the business and its suppliers and customers. The IT systems will be critical in the research as they will be the source of data on sales and profitability. External Market Research Assistance Given the scope of the research, D.A. Garden Supplies will require assistance from an external market research agency. This will allow the owners to concentrate on running the business while the external agency carries out the required research. The research will focus on the customers, competitors, and the business itself. An in-house research would compromise the ability of the market research as the business owners will be unlikely to identify the areas in which they are lacking. Additionally, an external firm will provide the physical, financial, and human resources that are lacking at D.A. Garden Supplies. Research Locations The possible research locations will include the premises of D.A. Garden Supplies’ competitors. These will include the large Bunnings store as well as the new café that opened 18 months ago. The research will also be conducted at the facilities of the business as there will be a need to collect data from the owners, employees, customers, and the IT systems that are used to manage the business. The research will also be conducted at the local government level to understand the external environment in which D.A. Garden Supplies operates. Planned Research Methodologies According to Wrenn, Stevens, & Loudon (2007, p. 53), businesses can select between an experimental and non-experimental research method when conducting market research. In the case of D.A. Garden Supplies, the applicable research methodology would be non-experimental as the focus will be on observation as opposed to manipulating variables. When it comes to research design, the firm will utilise a causal approach. The rationale behind the selection of the causal approach is that it will enable the business to find the cause and effect link between factors in the internal and external environment and the steady decline in profitability (Kolb 2008, p. 27). Sample The research will begin at the business with David, Alison, and all staff members being part of the sample. One on one interviews will be the preferred method of getting information from this group of respondents. The research will also focus on the customers who frequent the café as well as the garden supplies and nursery section. It is evident that the café draws different types of customers at different times meaning that there will be a need for clusters. The relevant groups will include the customers who visit the store in the evenings, mornings, and afternoon. The expected sample size will be 150 customers from the three groups. Finally, the research will also focus on the households within a 5km radius of the suburban shopping centre. This sample will capture individuals who visit the new café and the large Bunning’s store. The expected sample size will be 200 respondents. Time As stated, the market research will be conducted over a period of between five to eight weeks. The researchers will collect data by interviewing the business owners and staff during the first week. This will be done to comprehend the objectives that David and Alison want to achieve with their business. Additionally, financial information will be obtained from the business records. The second and third weeks will focus on observing the manner in which customers are served at the business. The aim will be to identify any factors that might be harming the business without the knowledge of management. The focus will then shift to the competitors during the fourth and fifth weeks of the market research. Here, non-intrusive surveys, online research, and observation will be utilised to identify any competitive advantages that the new café and the Bunnings store have over D.A. Garden Supplies. Finally, the analysis of all the data should be done from the sixth week. This should take at least two weeks with David and Alison getting a comprehensive report at the end of the project. Data Gathering Approaches Types of Data The data that will be collected will fall into two categories. The first will be the primary research data that will cover the information that will be derived from the one-on-one interviews and questionnaires (Boon & Kurtz 2011, p. 246). The data will be qualitative in nature as it will be composed of opinions and facts that indicate the levels of satisfaction with various aspects of the business (Sarstedt, & Mooi 2014, p. 77). The second category of data will be secondary data, and it defines data that already exists (Boon & Kurtz 2011, p. 246). A relevant example will be existing information about the sales and profitability of the business. Additionally, local government statistics will be examined to understand the D.A. Garden Supplies’ immediate business environment. Data Gathering Methods One-on-one interviews will be a key data gathering method in this research project. This method will be applied to the business, and it will be unstructured in nature. This means that the interviewer will be given the freedom to cover any areas that might be relevant. This method is necessary as it will give the researchers the preliminary information that can aid the design of formal questionnaires to be issued to customers and nearby households. The other applicable data gathering method will be the unsupervised completion of questionnaires. These will be issued to the customers over a two-week period. As stated, the market research will also cover the households within a 5km radius of the suburban shopping centre. A questionnaire will be applicable as it will allow the business to target numerous households while giving the respondents the flexibility to complete the questionnaire when they have time. There is also the advantage of allowing these respondents to remain anonymous (Zikmund & Babin 2012, p. 170). The desire to analyse competitors raises ethical issues as some will be unwilling to share information that can assist other businesses. This problem can be resolved by using a non-intrusive data gathering method like direct observation. Here, the business will determine areas of interest like the meals served at the new café, waiting times, display, traffic flow in the shopping centre, and the level of professional advice at the Bunning’s store. This data gathering method is essential as it will highlight the behaviour of potential customers and give the business the means to make its services attractive to a wider target market (Zikmund & Babin 2012, p. 189). The proposed market research will also focus on secondary sources of data. The applicable data gathering method for these sources of data will be a literature review. The researchers will evaluate published statistics from the local government agencies and press to understand the changes that are taking place in the immediate external environment. This will allow the business to link the reduction in profitability to relevant factors in the business environment that might be outside the direct control of the business. Sources of Data The market research will rely on primary sources of data as well as secondary sources of data. The primary sources will comprise data from one-on-one interviews, unstructured questionnaires, and the direct observation. On the other hand, secondary sources of data will include government statistics and D.A. Garden Supplies’ business records. It is reasonable to expect that the firm will not get business records from the new café. However, the large Bunning’s is a subsidiary of Wesfarmers, an organisation that might offer detailed business records (Bunning’s 2015). This will form part of the secondary sources of data. Data Processing Methods Manual data processing is one of the options that can be utilised in D.A. Garden Supplies’ market research. Here, the researchers will process the data without reliance on any machines or tools to come up with conclusions. Businesses can also utilise data processing service experts to analyse the data generated from research. It is evident that outsourcing data processing introduces additional costs, meaning that it is applicable where a business generates massive amounts of data from research. Packaged analysis programs and specialist software packages are additional data processing methods that apply to large data sets and offer an in-depth evaluation of data. D.A. Garden Supplies will undertake a relatively minor market research. The target sample size will be approximately 350 people, meaning that the five researchers can draw accurate results through the use of manual data processing. This method offers the firm the additional advantage of being cost effective. Compliance with Legislation The need to carry out research on the firm’s competitors raises ethical issues. It will be vital for the business to ensure that it follows ethical standards when seeking information from a source that is likely to protect its business. In this case, ethical practices define actions that are considered morally correct (Silver et al. 2012 p. 38). There is also the issue of respecting the rights of customers, staff, and locals who will be subjected to interviews, questionnaires, and observation. The researchers should ensure that they do not discriminate against any groups of respondents. The Trade Practices Act will also provide a guideline on the extent of the activities that will be carried out during the market research. Finally, the privacy of the respondents will be respected with personal data being deleted at the conclusion of the market research. Final Revision of Draft Objectives The market research will begin after consultation with the owners of the business and the gaining of approval. One of the critical steps in the research process will be the development of hypothesis to guide the research. One hypothesis could state that there is a direct correlation between the opening of the new café and the reduction in the D.A. Garden Supplies’ overall profitability. Another could link demographic changes or changes at the nearby Bunnings store with the reduced profitability. These hypotheses lead to the development of the research objective. In this case, the objective of the market research will be to evaluate current management practices, competitors, and consumer trends with a view to arresting the steady decline in D.A. Garden Supplies’ profits. References Boone, L, & Kurtz, D, 2011, Contemporary marketing, Cengage Learning. Hague, P, Hague, N, & Morgan, CA, 2004, Market research in practice, Kogan Page Publishers. History: The Bunning’s Story, 2015, Bunnings, viewed 23 September 2015 Kolb, B, 2008, Marketing research: A practical approach. Sage. Sarstedt, M, & Mooi, E, 2014, A concise guide to market research: the process, data, and methods using IBM SPSS statistics, Springer. Silver, L, Stevens, RE, Wrenn, B, & Loudon, DL, 2012, The essentials of marketing research, Routledge. Wrenn, B, Stevens, RE, & Loudon, DL, 2007, Marketing research: text and cases, Routledge. Zikmund, W, & Babin, B, 2012, Essentials of marketing research, Cengage Learning. Read More