Lancomes Cost of Communication - Research Proposal Example

MАRKЕTING RЕSЕАRСH RЕРОRT CHAPTER 3 & 4 Lancôme’s cost of communication Chapter 3 Data Collection and Analysis 3.1 Introduction to Data Collection and Analysis Data is referred to have the raw facts that an individual conducting the research gathers for study purposes. Data collection, therefore, refers to the process that involves the gathering of the information used by the researcher to prove some facts. Data collection helps in clarification of points under study. The researcher, therefore, must know how to obtain and use the data collected. The marketing research report of Lancôme’s cost of communication, therefore, will involve a deep research. The research conducted will be perfected by the collection of relevant data and information. Lancôme is a big company that distributes cosmetics and skin care products. The fact that the company distributes its products internationally calls for an in-depth study of the cost of communication. Data must be collected using the most relevant methods. These data is the analyzed carefully to come up with conclusions and good report (Sontakki, 2010). There are several reasons for collecting Lancôme’s cost of communication data. The first purpose is to stimulate the development of new ideas. New ideas capture through the marketing research report will be detailed for the application. The second is to highlight in crucial situations thus creating room for awareness and improvement. The cost of communication, therefore, will be improved through the knowledge produced with the aid of this report. The third reason is to assist in better decision-making in the company. Such decisions will enable better resource allocation (Weiers, 1994). 3.2 Data Sampling Method Sampling is the process of systematically selecting the representative elements of a population. When conducting research, not everybody will be used as a source of data. For this case not all the customers, stakeholders, managers or employees of Lancôme cosmetics and skin care products will be used as the source of data. Few of the population will be selected to be used to gather the necessary information concerning Lancôme’s cost of communication. The data sampling method to be used is probability sampling. The best method to be used here is simple random sampling. The reason I choose to use probability sampling in my research is because all samples have an equal chance of being the sampled. The fact that the chances of selection of the population are equal attracts uniformity in responses. Simple random sampling is a process or method whereby all members of the population have equal and independent chances of being selected. Lancôme’s employees, customers, managers and even stakeholders, therefore, will have an equal chance of being selected. Sampling reduces the cost and speeds up the data collection process. If sampling could not be used, the researcher could be forced to collect data from numerous employees. The process becomes very expensive, tedious and time-consuming. Sampling, therefore, is imperative when dealing with a large population (Wingernder, 2013 p.22). There are several data collection instruments and tools that can be used. The data collected by use of these tools and instruments will be used to the test the hypotheses. For Lancôme’s company, the best data collection instrument is questionnaire. This is a unique document that will allow collection of data from various people inform of standard questions. The cost of communication in the company is a significant inquiry therefore use of questionnaires will be very appropriate and efficient. I will, therefore, develop the document with many questions. Some of the issues will be open-ended while the majority of the questions will be closed ended. The questionnaire will entail questions that are directly and precisely structured for easy understanding by the respondent. Examples of questions that the questionnaire will be having will include: what are the methods used for communication at Lancôme’s company? What is the estimated cost of communication? How do customers rate your mode of communications? The document will be neatly arranged, attractive in appearance and as brief as possible. The use of this method in data collection leads to high level of accuracy and confidence. The high level of precision is supported by the fact that questionnaires provide cheaper means of gathering information. It also encourages the target sample to provide information without fear and intimidation. The method also ensures that the sample answers the questions at their own time of comfort. All these facts sum up to the point that the method used degree high level of confidence. 3.3 Data Analysis Data analysis is imperative. It entails examining the data collected and using these data to make deductions and inferences. Data analysis, therefore, involves extraction of relevant variables and detecting anomalies. The data obtained with the use of questionnaires, therefore, needs to be analyzed. There are several analytical and statistical techniques that can be used here. These are the mathematical methods used to extract and clarify information collected. The best combination is the measure of frequency distributions and measure of central tendencies such as mean and mode. The average value will give as the average cost of communication used by the company. How the frequency is distributed will give us and hint on how various costs are spread on various communication methods such as advertising. The measure of the central tendency will allow me to accept or reject the hypotheses (Wingernder, 2013 p.23). 3.4 Conclusion to Data Collection and Analysis Data collection is imperative to research. Without data, deductions and inferences cannot be arrived at quickly. Lancôme’s cost of communication, therefore, has been possible through data collection analysis. The data collection instrument that I choose for this case is questionnaire. The unique document with standard and precise questions will enable a cheaper method of data collection. However, in research data collection is not only limited to the use of questionnaires. There exist other numerous instruments of fact finding. Such tools include the use of interviews and observation. The best method appropriate to the field of research is chosen. The document will also address various questions touching on communication such as advertising, use of social media, use of print media, etc. The data collected, therefore, needs to be analyzed. Data analysis is essential because it harmonizes all the responses from various respondents. Statistical techniques such as measure central tendency like mean and mode finalize all process. Chapter 4 Discussion of Results 4.1 Discussion on Hypotheses Research hypotheses are statements about expected relationship between measurable events. It also refers to the expected differences between groups under investigation. Two types of hypotheses characterize research. The first type is Null hypotheses. A null hypothesis is tested by the researcher and hopeful of being rejected. The second type is alternate hypotheses. It is also referred to as the researcher’s hypotheses. It asserts the value of relationship specified by the null hypotheses as not true. An example of null hypotheses for Lancôme’s cost of communication is that there is no significant relationship between the method of communication used and the cost of communication. An example of the alternate hypotheses is that there is a significant relationship between method of communication and the cost of communication. The initial hypotheses that there no relationship between mode of communication and cost of communication is rejected. Data collected reveals that some methods have a higher cost than others. For example, the cost of using print media to advertise is greater than the cost of using social media. 4.2 Discussion on Literature and Research Results The literature studied has guided this research to this successful point. The reference materials highlighted various issues related to marketing research at Lancôme’s communication. The data collected and analyzed are referred to as the research results. The data was collected with the use of questionnaires. The use of questionnaires was an imperative method of data collection for various reasons. Among the top reasons includes that it is a cheaper way and it also doesn’t allow biases. The sample that was selected to give this information was done randomly. Simple random sampling ensured that every member of the company had an equal and independent chance of being selected (Yin, 2003). The implications of the findings are numerous. The research revealed that various methods use by the company for communication incurred different costs. For example, the most costly means of communication were print media advertising. Print media was revealed to charge a lot of money for the company to advertise. However, the use of social media proved to be cheaper. The chosen sample uniformly gave information that the use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms were more economical for the company. The assumptions made are that the chosen samples provide genuine information. Another assumption is that the respondents gave information not to the favor of the organization. All these assumptions ensured that the process of data collection and analysis was successful. The data collected and analyzed is the used to come up with the findings. The results enable proper conclusion and recommendation formulation for Lancôme cosmetics and skin Care Company. 4.3 Recommendations The marketing research recommends various issues that Lancôme cosmetics and skin care company needs to adopt. The recommendations have been arrived at through the detailed research conducted. I recommend that the company major on the methods of communication that are cheaper. The study carried out revealed that most of the customers of the cosmetics and skin care products are young people. Young people are the fans of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Such customers find it difficult to read newspapers or any other print media. The company, therefore, should focus on improving and advertising more on social media platforms. I also recommend that the company employ more qualified and expert professionals in the field of communication. These are the professionals that will guide and direct Lancôme’s cosmetics and skin Care Company to greater heights in the market. The company distributes its products internationally, therefore, calls for professionalism in the field of communication. The global market is competitive and therefore surviving is not easy in such markets. Finally, the company should encourage research done by different researchers. Different researchers will use various methods of data collection and analysis. Various such will, therefore, lead to a difference in the research findings. The company should not rely on only one type of research. References Heather, P., & Stone, S. 2000. Questionnaires (2nd ed., Vol. II, pp. 10-25). Sheffield: University of Sheffield Centre for Research on User Studies. (Heather and Stone, 2000 p.14) Yin, R. 2003. Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Sontakki, C. 2010. Marketing research (Rev. ed.). Mumbai: Himalaya Pub. House. Weiers, R. 1994. Marketing research. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Wingender, H. 2013. Needs and Use of Data Collection and Analysis. Euro courses Reliability Data Collection and Analysis, 15-43. Read More