Methodology
Evonth
Sample1.docxBBS301 Applying Mixed Methods Research to Business
Part 1: Methodology and Research Tools
“MOTIVATION FACTORS FOR PURCHASING ETHICAL PRODUCTS”
Chua Zheng Fei Carissa 33154863 Lim Zi Jie 33139242 Sherlyn Leong 33098776 Xue Na 33144154
Workshop Day & Time: PT A – Thursday, 1900pm
Name of Workshop Facilitator: Loh Wee Seng
Word count: 1681
Research Aim | Research Objectives | Research Questions
The aim of this research is to increase the sales volume of ethical products in the company ShopHere and its objectives – Key factors that motivate consumers to purchase ethical products.
Based on the literature review done, multiple individual variables that will motivate consumers to purchase ethical products were identified. Amongst the variables, three were recurring points touched on by multiple journals.
Motivation of Ethical Purchase
Self-Consciousness
Subjective Norm
Ease of Purchase
With these variables, the below research questions were designed:
RQ 1: Whether does self-consciousness motivate consumers to purchase ethical product?
RQ 2: Whether does subjective norm motivate consumers to purchase ethical products?
RQ 3: Whether does the ease of purchase motivate consumers to purchase ethical products?
Introduction of Methodology
The following methodology describes and justifies the research approach of this study. The methodology will start with the research aim, objectives and questions, followed by the research design and ethical considerations. The sampling design and selection will then be discussed before touching on the data collection method and tools. The data collection procedure and data analysis will also be discussed before ending off with the research limitations.
Hypothesis
1. Hypothesis 1: Self-consciousness – Self-consciousness is related positively to motivate consumers to purchase ethical products
2. Hypothesis 2: Subjective Norms – Subjective norm is related positively to motivate consumers to purchase ethical products
3. Hypothesis 3: Ease of Purchase – Ease of purchase is related positively to motivate consumers to purchase ethical products
Research Design
When conducting a research, two approaches can be used – Quantitative and qualitative. Both approaches emphasises on data collection and analysis (Bryman & Bell, 2011).
Multiple articles such as Driscoll and others (Driscoll et al. 2007), utilized a mixed method research approach where both quantitative and qualitative approaches are used concurrently. This is to allow for better comparison of data and to ensure the validity of the data found. A full picture of the study can then be obtained by doing so.
Following these articles, this research will be using both qualitative and quantitative approaches concurrently.
Semi structured interviews will be used to explore new data in the Singapore market that may be different to other cultures in the literature reviews. At the same time, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire (quantitative research) will be conducted as it was used by most of the literature reviews.
Qualitative Research
Due to the limitation of information on their research on consumer’s motivation for ethical consumption, Davies and Gutsche (2016) used the soft-laddering interview approach to conduct their empirical research. The soft-laddering interview focuses on using the process of a free flowing semi-structured interview.
In line with this form of research, participants are required to answer questions based on fair trade and post consumption of ethical product. To keep the research relevant to the motivations of ethical purchase, this research will be focusing on questions on why and how consumer are motivated to make their purchase of the products.
Quantitative Research
Based on the literatures found, Ly, Anders, Sarina Strahm, and Yiling Zhou (2017)’s research contains questions that are related to RQ1 – Whether does personal norm motivate consumers to purchase ethical product, while the research in Maichum, Parichatnon and Peng (2016) have questions that are related to RQ2. As for RQ3 – Whether does ease of purchase motivate consumers to purchase ethical product, questions are taken from Grimmer, Kilburn and Miles (2016).
In this research, respondents are presented with a questionnaire which consists of questions pointing to the study’s research objectives – Motivation factors for purchasing ethical products. The questionnaire makes use of a five-point Likert scale for selection of responses.
The main advantage of this method is that it enables researchers to conduct the questionnaire to a large number of respondents through online or offline means in a timely period (Bryman and Bell, 2011). There is also no variation in wording, as the responses are numerically convertible in order to facilitate the analysis of the gathered data (Bryman and Bell, 2011).
Ethical Considerations
When conducting qualitative research, the interaction and collection of data from participants are subjected to certain ethical issues. As such, several steps were mapped out to ensure that the participants’ dignity, rights, privacy, confidentiality and anonymity will be upheld.
It must also be conveyed that the research is voluntary and none of the participants were forced to take part in the research. After the briefing, the informed consent of the participants will be collected through a signed consent letter.
Sampling Design
The researchers of this study have decided to make use of non-probability sampling - Convenience sampling as the subjects are chosen based on the convenience of recruiting them. It is also the easiest, cheapest and least time consuming.
Another advantage of utilising convenience sampling is that it minimises the distrust of the participants. Intentions and trust are established and the participants are doing it willingly (Daraei and Mohajery, 2013). As such, the results will not be skewed as the answers received are genuine. Unwilling participants may have the tendency to take part for the sake of it and may provide inaccurate answers to get the survey over and done with.
Sample Selection
The population of the sample is not the only thing that should be taken into consideration when selecting the sample for the research, but the size of the sample as well (Adams, Khan and Raeside 2007). According to Malhotra & Birks (2007), it is a generally accepted idea that the bigger size of the sample, the more accurate the representation of the targeted population.
The researchers of this dissertation generated 100 responses from the conducted questionnaire.
Data Collection Method and Tools
In this research, the data collection from the qualitative approach was from four separate interviews conducted by all four researchers of the team. However, due to time constraint, each researcher has conducted only one interview each to gather qualitative data.
As for the quantitative approach, it made use of convenience sampling from the researchers’ friends, colleagues, and family members through channels such as the internet, emails, WhatsApp conversations and Facebook messages. The tool in which the questionnaire was conducted with was Google Forms.
In the questionnaire, a nominal scale is applied in order to record the variable of the respondents’ age range, gender, monthly income and highest level of academic qualification.
The interval scale is applied on the questionnaire questions to measure the motivations behind the purchasing of ethical products. This research uses a five-point Likert scale as an interval scale in order to measure the statements of research variable, whereas 1 is i.e. “strongly disagree” and 5 is “strongly agree”.
A detailed form of the questionnaire is presented in Appendix A.
Data Collection Procedure
Similar to that of Han and Chung (2014) where a web survey was used, the researchers of this study will distribute the questionnaire through online means. This includes the use of social media platforms i.e. Facebook, as well as through emails and personal messages from social networking services.
Data Analysis
Qualitative Research
Following QUAGOL, a method developed by Dierckx and others as a guideline, the analysis of the qualitative data collected is broken down into two main parts, preparation of coding and actual coding process (Dierckx et al., 2012).
All interviews are to be transcribed by the interviewee, with the transcripts thoroughly read several times to minimize errors. The transcript must then be read by the other members of the team to ensure familiarity of the data, as well to further minimize the margin of error caused by mistakes like missing out of data during the analysis. Key phrases that are interpreted as important should be highlighted such that they will be noted during the analysis.
The researchers will then re-read the transcripts and create narrative reports of each interview, keeping these reports to one page per interview. These reports are then read by the researchers and key concepts will be identified. To ensure that the concepts are relevant and to ensure that no other concepts are being overlooked, the researchers will have to read the interviews again with the concepts in mind. These concepts are then grouped together into common themes.
These concepts will then be analyzed and clear meanings will be provided by the researches upon analysis. Integration of the concepts will then take place to form a framework or storyline that responds to the research questions. The findings will be described upon doing so.
Quantitative Research
With reference to Maichum et al., to analysis the quantitative data collected, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software will be utilised (Maichum et al., 2016) to test the relationship among all the variables. This is due to its capacity to process large amount of data, as well as its ability to produce graphs and calculated statistics without affecting raw data (Ozgur, Kleckner, and Li, 2015).
Research Limitations
As it is for every study, this dissertation had the following limitations:
· A relatively small sample size of 100 is used due to budget, time and manpower constraint, which may carry the risk of reducing the power of study and increasing the margin of error. Ideally, a broader range of an appropriate sample size should be selected to reflect the population accordingly to different age groups, education level, monthly income and nationality of participants for a statistical quantitative analysis (Morgan & Wilson van Voorhis, 2007). This is in line with the viewpoint raised in Kamponthip Maichun et al. (2017), addressing that further studies should include samples from a diverse demographic population for more informed findings.
· This research suffers from a geographical limitation as the sample population is located in Singapore. As such, it might not paint a full image of the Australian market.
References
1. Adams, John, Hafiz T. A Khan, and R Raeside. 2007. Research Methods for Business and Social Science Students. Los Angeles, Calif. [u.a.]: Sage.
2. Bryman, Alan, and Emma Bell. 2011. Business Research Methods. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University.
3. Daraei, Mina, and Artmiz Mohajery. 2013. The impact of socioeconomic status on life satisfaction. Social Indicators Research 112 (1): 69-81. doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0040-x
4. Davies, Iain Andrew, and Sabrina Gutsche. 2016. "Consumer Motivations for Mainstream “Ethical” Consumption". European Journal of Marketing 50 (7/8): 1326-1347. doi:10.1108/ejm-11-2015-0795.
5. Dierckx de Casterlé, Bernadette, Chris Gastmans, Els Bryon, and Yvonne Denier. 2012. QUAGOL: A guide for qualitative data analysis. International Journal of Nursing Studies 49 (3): 360-71.
6. Driscoll, D. L., Afua A-Y., S, Phillips, and D. J. Rupert. 2007. “Merging Qualitative and Quantitative Data in Mixed Methods Research: How to and Why Not.” Ecological and Environmental Anthropology 3(1): 19 - 28.
7. Fisher, Kenn. 2005. "Research into Identifying Effective Learning Environments". Evaluating Quality in Educational Facilities, 159 - 167.
8. Han, Tae-Im, and Jae-Eun Chung. 2014. Korean consumers’ motivations and perceived risks toward the purchase of organic cotton apparel. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 32 (4): 235-50.doi: 10.1177/0887302X14538116
9. Malhotra, Naresh K, Daniel Nunan, and David F Birks. 2007. Marketing Research. 3rd ed. Pearson Education Ltd.
10. Maichum, Kamonthip, Surakiat Parichatnon, and Ke-Chung Peng. 2016. Application of the extended theory of planned behavior model to investigate purchase intention of green products among thai consumers. Sustainability 8 (10): 1077.doi:10.3390/su8101077
11. Ozgur, C., M. Kleckner, and Y. Li. 2015. "Selection of Statistical Software for Solving Big Data Problems: A Guide for Businesses, Students, And Universities". SAGE Open 5 (2). doi:10.1177/2158244015584379.
12. Toti, Jean-François, and Jean-Louis Moulins. 2017. "Ethical Sensitivity: Conceptualization and New Scale Development". Recherche Et Applications En Marketing (English Edition) 32 (3): 6-27. doi:10.1177/2051570717716562.
13. Wilson Van Voorhis, Carmen R., and Betsy L. Morgan. 2007. "Understanding Power and Rules of Thumb for Determining Sample Sizes". Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology 3 (2): 43-50. doi:10.20982/tqmp.03.2.p043.
14. Grimmer, Martin, Ashley P.Killburn, and Morgan P.Miles. "The effect of purchase situation on realized pro-environmental consumer behaviour." Journal of Business Research (Elsevier) 69 (2016): 1582-1586.
15. Zhu, Qinghua, Ying Li, Yong Geng, and Yu Qi. 2013. Green food consumption intention, behaviors and influencing factors among chinese consumers. Food Quality and Preference 28 (1): 279-86. doi: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2012.10.005
APPENDIX
Appendix 1
Interview Questions
1. What is your understanding of Ethical Product?
2. What do you think motivates consumers to purchase them?
3. If there is a choice, will you choose to purchase ethically and why?
Appendix 2
Questionnaire
We are four students from Murdoch University currently working on our group assignment for module BBS301 on motivation factors for purchasing ethical products. We would really appreciate it if you could take 10 minutes off and help us by participating in this survey.
All information gathered during this study will remain strictly confidential and will not be utilized in any way beyond research purposes.
1. What is your monthly income?
· $0 - $1,999
· $2,000 - $2,999
· $3,000 - $3,999
· $4,000 - $4,999
· $5000 and above
0. What is your gender?
· Male
· Female
0. What is your age?
· 18 to 24
· 25 to 34
· 35 to 44
· 45 to 54
· 55 to 64
· 65 to 74
· 75 or older
0. What is your highest academic qualification you have completed?
· Less than secondary school qualifications
· Secondary school qualifications (GCE, A-Level, etc)
· Nitec or Higher Nitec
· Diploma
· Bachelor’s Degree
· More than Bachelor’s Degree
0. I feel a strong moral obligation to behave ethically (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Self-consciousness
1. I feel like a better person when I consume ethical products (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Self-consciousness
2. Purchasing ethical products gives me a peace of mind (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Self-consciousness
3. My family members think that I should purchase ethical products rather than non-ethical products (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Subjective Norm
4. My friends think that I should purchase ethical products rather than non-ethical products (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Subjective Norm
5. Most people who are important to me think that I should purchase ethical products rather than non-ethical products (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Subjective Norm
6. I am willing to purchase ethical products for personal use (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Purchase intention
7. I will make future efforts to purchase ethical products (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Purchase intention
8. I plan to purchase ethical products rather than non-ethical products (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Purchase intention
9. Ease of purchasing is important for me when buying ethical products (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Ease of Purchase
10. I will buy environmentally friendly products only if they are readily available (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Ease of Purchase
11. Shops selling ethical products are located with convenient transportation (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree) - Ease of Purchase
*Defined as being respectful to nature, ethical products can consist of organic and environmentally-friendly products that are not tested on animals, as well as deriving from fair labor conditions (e.g. no child labor and providing adult employees with decent working conditions.)
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