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Marketing Research Report

Notice: A common mistake of inexperienced researchers is to assume that they know the answer/solution before collecting and analyzing data. Do not make this mistake in this class as significant points will be deducted.

Objective

You have been assigned a firm and a country. Based on your research, identify a product of specific firm (assigned to you) that will meet the needs or wants of consumers within a country (assigned to you). First, identify the products that your firm has available. Second, locate market data on your assigned country, analyze the data, and identify a need or want that can be satisfied by one of your firm’s products. You will analyze the data, looking for trends and opportunity gaps that may provide marketing opportunities. The opportunity gaps are between the needs/wants of the people and the products (goods and services) currently available. You will identify a product (existing or new) from your assigned firm that you feel will fulfill a current and/or future need of the people in the assigned country. Third, write a report using the requirements stated below. Your report needs to provide as many facts and analysis of data to give the decision maker a clear understanding of the opportunity.

Basic requirements (Failure to meet these requirements will result in a loss of 10 points, minimum.)

Your finished report must be at least six pages of your written content, including tables, charts, graphs, or analysis of your creation; not taken from other sources.

o Create and use tables, charts, graphs, and analysis to explain your results. o Tables, charts, graphs, or analysis can be included within your report (preferred method)

or in appendices.

You need at least six independent references, other than the textbook; at least two related to your product idea and at least two on your target market.

o All sources must have an author; individual(s) or organization. o One source that you are required to use is www.cia.gov o One source that you are required to use is Datamonitor’s SWOT Analysis for your firm.

·  All references must be properly identified and cited (APA & Dr. Gailey’s slides).

·  Ease of understanding information is important in reports; clarity of your writing, understandability of

your analysis, and use of proper marketing research terminology are required.

·  Use consistent font style and font size 11or 12.

Dr. Gailey / 2 Sep 2015

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Your marketing research report (28 points) must include (see pp. 563-565 for additional explanations):

Executive summary (3 points): This is a full page, but do not exceed one page.

1. Problem definition (3 points): This is a statement about what your research is going to accomplish, but not the solution! You are given (1) the management-decision problem and you need to determine (2) the marketing research problem. Include the statement of the management-decision problem and the marketing research problem.

1. Review Ch. 2, pp. 34-41.

2. Go through the problem audit (pp. 37-38) as it applies to your situation. The textbook lists

seven issues to be considered, however five (see “Problem audit, p. 5 below) are the most

relevant to your report and must be addressed in your report.

3. See examples of problem statements in Table 2.1 (p. 39), column 3 (“Problem Definition”;

“Based on Symptoms”)

4. Provide the ‘management-decision problem’ statement and underline it (see Table 2.3, p. 47

for examples)

5. Provide the ‘marketing research problem’ statement and underline it (see Table 2.3, p. 47 for

examples). Support your rationale based on the problem audit.

2. Approach to solving the problem (3 points)

1. Review Ch. 2, pp. 49-53 & Fig. 2.3 on p. 36.

2. Explain the research approach that was used to address this assignment. You should describe

and explain the research approach that I have given you above.

3. Approach components

i. Analytical framework and models

ii. Research questions (<required) and hypothesis (<not required)

iii. Specification of information needed <<<Required in your report

3. Research design (4 points)

1. Identify the appropriate research design that you applied to this research using the classification identified in figure 3.4 on page 68 (Ch. 3) and explained in the following pages.

2. Describe the type of data that was used in this study.

4. Data collection & analysis (4 points)

1. Described the data collected and identify your sources.

2. Explain your process for analyzing your data.

3. Describe all of your firm’s products

4. Describe your firm’s products that you have determined best meets the target markets

wants/needs

5. Describe your target market and how they will purchase and use the product you have

selected

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f. Determine the market potential in units and dollars

5. Results (6 points)

1. Explain the results of your analysis relative to the problem definition.

i. Description of your market in factual terms (including GDP per capita (PPP); in

www.cia.gov) and contrast to the U.S.

ii. List and explain the benefits that your product provides the target market

2. Follow the directions on page 552 to complete this section Text: This section is normally the longest report. Often, results are presented not only at the aggregate level but also at the subgroup (market segment, geographical area, etc.) level. The results should be organized in a coherent and logical way. The presentation of the results should be geared directly to the components of the marketing research problem in the information needs that were identified. The details should be presented in tables and graphs in the main findings discussed in the text.

6. Limitations (2 points) Follow the directions on page 552 to complete this section.

7. Conclusions and recommendation (3 points) Summarize your findings and connect those findings to the research problem that you previously identified. Clearly state your recommendations to the decision-maker and underline your recommendations.

This report requirement document takes priority over the text if differences exist.

The following is the order of your report with the required headings.

[First page: Title Page] [Second page] Executive Summary [Third page] Table of Contents [Fourth page starts your report]

1. Problem Definition

1. Management-decision problem: The firm wants to find a high growth foreign market that would be a good fit for an existing product.

2. Marketing research problem

1.

2.

Problem audit

i. History of the problem

ii. Alternative courses of action available to the DM (decision maker)

iii. Criteria for evaluation of alternative courses of action

iv. Basic potential outcomes, such as deciding to enter a market or not

v. Information needed by the DM

Management-decision problem and underline it

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3. Marketing research problem and underline it

2. Approach to Solving the Problem

1. Explain the broad approach that was used to address this assignment. You should describe and explain the basic approach that I have given you above.

2. Approach components

i. Analytical framework and models

ii. Research questions (required in your report) and hypothesis

iii. Specification of information needed

3. Research Design

4. Data collection & Analysis

5. Results

6. Limitations

7. Conclusions and Recommendations

Appendices (optional) References

Advice on Developing Your Report: Start with Problem Definition, then develop each of following sections in sequence. The Executive Summary is written last. It is normal to go back to a section and modify as you go through the report development process. Typically in marketing research, much more time is spent collecting and analyzing data and facts than on writing the report. It needs to be clear in your report that your findings and statements are based on the data and facts, not your opinion.

Looking for Data: There are many good sources of data. If you are having difficulty finding data, I recommend running an Internet search. Using the Internet search engines effectively depends on picking the best search words and often involves multiple attempts.

Be sure to use credible sources, such as government agencies, major research firms, and reputable news agencies. Do not use blogs or other websites which are providing information based on opinion, not verifiable facts. Also, if you find a website that is analyzing other sources’ data, such as Wikipedia, go to the source for the actual data. Useful marketing research is based on complete and accurate data.