Discussion 1: Athletic Shoe Store A medium sized shoe store focusing on athletic
ID: 427209 • Letter: D
Question
Discussion 1: Athletic Shoe Store
A medium sized shoe store focusing on athletic shoes found out some recent slippage in store sales. Kate, the store manager, is concerned that the styles the store offer may no longer in fashion among some target group customers. Because the store manufactures its own line of shoes, styles must be chosen at least 10 to 12 months before they hit the store. It was assumed that athletic shoes are selected and purchased primarily for their functional attributes but Kate is now beginning to think that the more symbolic attributes may play a larger role than what was believed previously. Your marketing research firm has been contracted to provide marketing research into these issues.
1. Which research design might be most appropriate under the circumstances? Why?
2. Identify research questions(3<) on the issue.
Discussion 2: The Communicon Company
The Communicon Company is a large supplier of residential telephones and related services in southeast United States. The R&D group at the company recently designed a prototype with memory function that would store the number of calls and the contents of the calls for as long a period of 72 hours. A similar product introduced six months earlier by Telecon Company, a competitor of The Communicon Company, was marginally successful. However both models suffer from a technical flaw. The audio quality on calls that lasted for over 20 minutes would begin to deteriorate due to technical limitations. Despite the flaw, management was excited about the new product and decided to do a field study to measure consumer reaction. A random sample of 1,000 respondents was to be chosen from three major metropolitan centers in the Southeast. The questionnaire was designed to find out respondents’ attitudes and opinions toward this new instrument.
1. Which research design might be most appropriate under the circumstances? Why?
2. Is this appropriate method for data collection? If YES, tell me why. If NO, suggest another way(s) of properly collecting data in this situation.
Discussion 3: Types of Exploratory Research
What type of research design would you suggest for each of the following situations and why?
1. Zales jewelry retailer wants to better understand why men buy jewelry for women and how they select what they buy.
2. The owner of local McDonald’s store located by your university is planning to build a playland and wants to know which play equipment is most interesting to children.
3. Vivien(underwear brand) wants to better understand women’s body images.
4. The director of on-campus housing in Chung-Ang University proposes some significant changes to the physical configuration(??/??) of the current on-campus dorm rooms for freshmen and new transfer students.
5. The research center at Calvin Klein suggests a new cologne(??) for men has been developed and must be promoted by a famous sports celebrity
6. The vice president of marketing in charge of new locations for Lotte Mart must decide on the best location for this store in our town.
Discussion 4: Riverside County Humane Society
The demand on the Riverside County Humane Society (RCHS) had increased rather dramatically over the past several years, while the tax dollars the society received to provide services had remained relatively unchanged. In an effort to halt further decline in the quality of its services and to provide better care for the pets at the center, the membership committee of the board of directors began making plans for a member/contributor drive. The organized drive was to be the first of its kind for the local chapter, and the committee members wanted it to be as productive as possible.
As the plans began to evolve, the committee realized that the organization had only scattered pieces of information about its current members. It did have a list of members and contributors for the past five years that had been compiled by the RCHS staff. In addition, it had access to the results of a survey done by a staff member several years previous and their opinions of shelter services and programs. However, the organization had only sparse knowledge of the profile of its typical member and contributor, about why they belonged or contributed, how long they had been associated with the Humane Society, and how the services should be improved. The committee members believed that information on these issues were important to conduct a successful membership drive, and they commissioned some research to secure it.
One of the first things the researchers did was to contact other Humane Society chapters to determine what kinds of research they had done, particularly with respect to identifying the characteristics of their members. The researchers also interviewed key Riverside Humane Staff members for their thoughts and ideas regarding RCHS membership. The researchers also held a focus group among members of the Membership Committee. These research activities produced the following general facts about membership and contribution:
1. The people who used center facilities are not necessarily the same people who would become members.
2. Most contributors do not care about being a “member” because the membership does not confer any rights or privileges, except a newsletter.
3. The female member of the household is mostly making the decision regarding membership or contribution to the RCHS.
4.The majority of the members in RCHS are female and at least 35 years old.
5. Many retired or elderly people are contributing to or joining the RCHS.
6. The average contribution is about $15 to $25.
7. People in the community have a generally positive perceptions of the RCHS.
8. Most people have heard about RCHS primarily through education programs conducted by the society.
9. The emotional appeal in a membership drive is likely to have the best chance for success
Questions
1. What kind of research design in being used?
2. Is it a good choice?
3. Write some research questions on your own.
4. What kinds of response errors that may have presented during the study?
Explanation / Answer
Discussion 1: Athletic Shoe Store
1. I would choose the descriptive research design because Kate is looking to bring about a change in the sales of the shoes. Therefore, by creating a survey and getting results from customers, the research firm can help Kate understand the exact reason for low sales.
2.
1. What do you look for when buying a pair of athletic shoes?
2. Does the brand make a difference when making a purchase?
3. Does the look of the shoe matter more than the functionality of it when making a purchase?
Discussion 2: The Communicon Company
Discussion 3: Types of Exploratory Research
1. Explanatory Research: – This form of research tries to understand why and how a certain process is done.
2. Evaluation Research – This form of research understands how effective is the program.
3. Qualitative research design – This form of research tries to understand the current issue or topic.
4. Ethnographic study – This form of research is involved with culture.
5. Experimental design research: - This form of research is used to find out the Cause and Effect of two variables.
6. Exploratory Research: - This form of research answers the “what” and “why” questions.
Discussion 4: Riverside County Humane Society
1. Exploratory research is being used as it is trying to draw some inferences from the given data.
2. Yes, it is a good choice, as the research team is looking to understand who are the members.
3.
4.