Marketing Research Practices

Running Head: MARKETING RESEARCH PRACTICES 1

MARKETING RESEARCH PRACTICES 2

Phase 3 Individual Project

CTU ONLINE

Calvin Handy

Class: MKT350

Instructor: Kristin Noone

Date: 4/28/2014

Nivea Skincare Company

The Questionnaire

1. State your gender

1. Male

1. Female

1. What is your age bracket?

1. 0 – 10

1. 11 – 18

1. 19 – 35

1. 36 – 55

1. Over 55

1. Are you familiar with our new product

1. Yes

1. No

1. How did you learn about our product?

1. What things interest you most concerning our new product?

1. Which alterations would be appropriate to improve our products?

1. What good qualities are visible in competing products presently available from other brands?

1. What changes would you recommend to improve competing products currently available from other brands?

1. If our new product were accessible now, how possible would you be to endorse it to others?

1. How significant is price to you when choosing products from this brand?

1. Very significant

1. Less significant

1. Not significant

1. Not sure

1. How significant is convenience when selecting this type of service?

1. Very significant

1. Less significant

1. Not significant

1. Not sure

10. Explain why you chose the audience you did.

According to a research back in showed that over majority of the American population that consume deodorants come from young youth and teenagers. This can be attributed to the fact that this is mostly concerned about their looks and are the most active, they are also most interactive and are the working class and hence they can spread the information about our products quickly and are the ones that drive the sales. Nivea skincare company being one of the biggest in the market, it is essential that the choice of the target market included young people but also the young adult. By focusing on these segments will guarantee us a rapid market penetration of our new product. Due to this reason my research audience will mainly be based on these age groups 18 – 55 years.

10. How is the audience segmented? By geography? By personality traits? By likes and dislikes?

Due to the nature of Nivea Brands the company mostly segmented the market based on gender; this is because there is a significant difference in tastes such as scents, flavor or even the packaging of the product. For example Women are known to prefer strong and long lasting fragrant, while the male counterparts prefer a weak but long lasting one. In packaging men are contented with strong and bold cans and prefer dark colors such as black and green while ladies prefer girlish looking can especially in bright colors such as pink, white and light blue.

Due to these elaborate differences there was the need to segment the market on these grounds so that it will be easier to meet their particular needs without compromising the needs of any. By segmenting by this nature ensures that it will be also easier to establish which segment either women or men have higher consumption rates so as adjust the production accordingly and to establish the cause of the gap and guarantee that the products go fast. This also gives the company a chance to establish strategies such as marketing and distribution as per the sales from the different segment and hence gives us a chance to establish our brand in the market and increase our market share significantly.

10. What are the audience segment’s perceptions of the company’s brands?

Nivea is a brand name that has made its mark in the skin care market with a very wide variety of products and reigned over the competitors for decades. But since this is a luxury product and wit many cheaper but low quality products flooding the market many of the consumer perceive this brand as extravagant but considerably of high quality.

10. What ethical concerns exist when conducting the research?

During a market research like this one there are usually concerns about moral and ethical issues to the respondent or the consumers. One of the significant ethical issues when conducting this and other research is the breach of confidentiality. Some of the respondents may not like if their information shared of publicized, this proves difficult since a research results such as these needs to be submitted before the board members and documented for future reference. By doing this infringes the ethical and moral rights of the respondents or the customer to avoid then you need to clearly state the full intentions of the research before questioning them and if they ascend you can go ahead.

Another ethical issue that may be evident during a research like this one is deceptive practices. This is where the company may collect information from the respondents for false reasons, this kind of ethical problem appears when a company uses deception to find and establish information about the customers.

A market researcher from any company has an ethical commitment to conduct research objectively. So the data available from the respondents should allow for the future development of the products. Also researchers who let their own prejudice to tilt their work tend to contribute to the continuation of stereotypes, the development of destructive social construct and enabling of unjust profiting from poverty.

A researcher also has an ethical responsibility to treat the respondents fairly in the research study and at the same time as a researcher we have an ethical accountability to the consumers to collect accurate and reliable information.

References

Mugo, F. W. (n.d.). Sampling in research. Retrieved from the Social Research Methods Web site: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Mugo/tutorial.htm

Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Sample. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sample