research report

RESEARCH BACKGROUND:

In this assessment you are required to demonstrate the following Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs):

1) Employ the scientific approach to market research in a professional and ethical manner with a focus on critically developing insightful research questions and design

4) Analyse and interpret qualitative and quantitative information to aid the development of pertinent recommendations for marketing outcomes

5) Effectively communicate the results of research findings with specific consideration of the needs of the target audience

Augmentation are a (fictitious) provider of

augmented reality technology platforms for

brands looking to engage customers with

innovative and creative marketing connections.

They specialize in mobile and tablet

augmentations and are increasingly promoting

themselves through social media.

Seeking to expand their business, they have identified the following research problem:

RP: The brand has very little understanding of how consumers have interacted with their Pinterest page in the first month of its launch.

To address this problem, they have conducted primary descriptive and causal research through collecting quantitative data from their Pinterest page analytics, as well as briefly surveying site users.

The data is provided as an Excel spreadsheet (see Blackboard) to be input, edited, coded, and analysed in SPSS. The data collected examines the following variables:

PINTEREST DATA:

Device Used:

This data pertains to the type of device most often used by site users to access the brand’s Pinterest page. These devices include mobile, tablet, and computer.

Time of Day:

This data pertains to the time of day in which users most often accessed the brand’s Pinterest page. This has been coded into four groups: morning, midday, afternoon, night.

Interaction Time:

This data pertains to the average length of time spent accessing the brand’s Pinterest page (measured in seconds).

Monthly Social Media Visits:

This data pertains to the number of times the individual visited the brand’s Pinterest page (on all devices) in its first month of its launch.

USER SURVEYING:

Incentive

To ensure a robust scientific design, an experiment was run where some users were provided an incentive in the form of an opportunity to attend a VIP event with industry presenters and prize give-aways to complete the survey (the “treatment” group), others were provided no incentive (the “control” group).

Social Media Involvement (Likert scale):

Users were asked the following question:

“To what extent do you agree with the following statements about your general level of involvement with using Pinterest:”

	Strongly Disagree < - - - (neutral) - - - > Strongly Agree
SMI_1: I often use information on Pinterest to guide decision making	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI_2: I log on to Pinterest within the first hour of when I wake up	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI_3: Pinterest helps make decisions of what to buy easier	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI_4: I could go a week without visiting Pinterest	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI _5: All my friends use Pinterest regularly	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI _6: I am influenced by posts on Pinterest	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI _7: I get bored by Pinterest pages easily	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI _8: Pinterest is great for sharing my life with others	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI _9: I have to visit Pinterest multiple times everyday	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SMI _10: I care about what other people think of my Pinterest account	1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Social Media Perception (Constant-sum scale):

This data pertains to the users’ perceptions of the brand’s Pinterest page. Site users were asked to reveal their perception of the site in comparison to competing brands’ Pinterest pages. The question was posed as follows:

“If you had 60 minutes to spend on the Pinterest pages of the brand and who you perceive to be its competitors, how many minutes would you spend on the brand’s Pinterest page?”

Demographics:

The demographics of the users were measured through age and gender.

Psychographics:

The psychographics of users were coded into several categories pertaining to the lifestyle of the individual with respect to using augmented reality technology:

· Tech Crazy: always on the look-out for the newest innovations, these individuals keep up-to- date with the latest industry trends and are happy to take a risk on implementing something new that may be a game changer.

· Number Cruncher: obsessed with data and segmentation, these individuals are constantly collecting and analysing data to ensure decisions are made with pragmatism and evidence-based mathematical justification.

· The Creative: the type of person who values design and aesthetics over complex and technical communication, these individuals apply design principles across multiple platforms and are the creative brains behind the best ideas.