3144721 Mmk265 Marketing Research Major Project (3) 1.Doc 22891

7/27/2019 3144721 Mmk265 Marketing Research Major Project (3) 1.Doc 22891

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2. Executive summary


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3. Table of Contents

4. Introduction


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In this report there are various key issues

which need to be addressed. Y&Y need to be

doing further research on the statements

being made by Enrico Catalani before taking

on any offers or business relationships.

There needs to be some proven links

between the positive influences his brand

will bring towards other products otherwise

his statements would be invalid and couldbring a negative persona towards the

company. There needs to be some

evaluation that the statements are accurate.


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5. Background to the research

I am the Senior Consultant working for

Hyperthinking which is charge of the project

at hand. We are an Australian based

marketing research company which has

undertaken tasks like this before.

Y&Y is a department store which offers a

variety of choice in the latest national,

international and exclusive to Y&Y brands.Ranging from products such as womens,

mens, and childrens fashion, also

accessories, cosmetics, home wares,

furniture, electrical goods and much more.

Y&Y is known for their approach to the store

within store and pride themselves on the

visual merchandising displays. Over

Australia there turnover is excess of $2

billion annually from a stretch of their 52

Australian based operations which are

located in metropolitan and regional areasand are each tailor made specifically to suit

the area it serves.

The situation at hand now is because of an

offer which has been made to Y&Y regarding

an important Italian fashion designer, Enrico

Catalani. Catalani wants to branch out into


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Australia market grounds and is offering the

Y&Y stores exclusive distribution of the

range. Catalani is stating claims that any

sort of introduction to the company will

positively affect the retailers performance.

Specifically, Catalani makes three claims:

1. The more visible products from the range

which is on display in Y&Y will positively

influence the sales of the product like theychoose to display with. It will positively

influence the product category. (For

example shorts, socks, underwear etc.)


which is on display in Y&Y will positively

influence the sales of the actual core goods

which is on display in Y&Y. So if an Enrico

Catalani shirt is displayed with different

brand name trousers the trousers will also

increase sales because they are being

displayed in conjunction with such anexclusive brand name.


will positively influence sales of the goods

within the whole retail environment over all.

After considering the above scenario and

before agreeing to the contract at hand, the


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marketing manager at Y&Y Retail Stores,

intends to conduct thorough research

investigation as at the moment he is unsure

whether the claims are either true or will be

positive in this circumstance.

6. The management decision problem

The management decision problem revolves

around the statements and promises made

by the Italian designer Enrico Catalani that

would influence not only all the 52

Australian Y&Y stores directly but overall

the whole Australian experiences and

perception of Y&Y. Even though the

statements sound simple they do also raisea few eyebrows as to how true these claims

can be. Makes management question

problems such as:

- What makes Enrico Catalani so positive

that this would have the same impact in the

past and what made him come to this

decision?

- Just because he claims to say his

distribution has been distributed does it

mean that it has worked positive?

- What can we do at management to prove


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and feel comfortable with the claims made

by Enrico Catalani?

- What guarantee do we have that it will

work in Australia?

- What will happen if we go ahead and this

has a negative impact on the business?

- After considering the pros and cons

should we accept the offer?

After considering all the problems at hand itis clears that the marketing team needs to

conduct thorough research before making

any final decisions.


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7. The research problem (problem

definition) and key objectives

Enrico Catalani strongly urges that if his

brand was to be released in the spread of 52

Y&Y stores across Australia that not only

would it directly impact the sales of hisbrand but also have a big impact on the

other products that are modelled with the

brand.

Keeping this in mind, the Marketing Team

put together with Dr Mark Smith, the

Marketing Manager, have been gathered tomeasure the accuracy of the claims. Dr Mark

Smith has hired a senior consultant from

Hyperthinking to assist them in the process.

They will all work together to conduct

various studies into the matter whether it is


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8.

DOT POINT 1)After further research into the Y&Y case

study at hand we have gathered that the

type of research that needs to be

undertaken is the Quantitative descriptive

research.Although Qualitive and Quantitative are very

tightly linked - the strength pulling towards

assessing the research with Quantitative

had a stronger pull. (NARESH/MALHOTRA)

While Qualitative Research contributes

helpful observations and understandings of


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whatever the actual problem backdrop is,

Quantitative research investigates to

quantify the data which has a vast effect in

this case.

Quantitative research gives us the

opportunity to research a broader study

which overall would enhance the

generalisation of the results gathered. It can

give us a greater equality and certainty ofthe results. It is a good way to summarise

the under study by establishing the few

variables and resulting in procedures to

ensure validity and reliability. U using

standards means that the research can be

replicated, and then analysed and compared

with similar studies. Kruger (2003) confirms

that 'quantitative methods allow us to

summarize vast sources of information and

facilitate comparisons across categories and

over time'. Another underlined reason whythis type of research is preferred is because

if there is any personal bias it can and will

be avoided by researchers as they will be

keeping a distance from participating

subjects and employing subjects unknown to

them.


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In Y&Ys case its going to be easier to

complete Quantitative Research as when

the data is collated because of the fact its

based all with numbers it will be a lot easier

to place together in any forms of charts and

compare. It will overall be easier and

simpler to read and assess the answers.

The use of quantitative research is on any

sport news shows for example the AFL FootyShow. Its used most because their

researches have to analyse the match and

come up with the percentages of things

such as possession and shots on target etc.

Quantitative research allows the researcher

to measure and analyse data. The

relationship between an independent and

dependent variable is studied in detail. This

is advantageous because the researcher is

more objective about the findings of the

research. Quantitative research can be usedto test hypotheses in experiments because

of its ability to measure data using statistics.

Shao (2002) discusses how the research

aims to determine relationships and

differences among large samples to target

population by using mathematical and


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statistical measures and techniques.

Structured research is all about designing

the right questions with a choice of specific

response so when the results are handed

back we can assess and measure/analyse

mathematically. In this stage we must stress

the need for the understanding of Qualitive

and Quantitative hand in hand. (MALHOTRA)

When there is a new problem that needs tobe addressed in a marketing research

manner, quantitative is undertaken to

explain the findings obtained from

qualitative research. Hence the misuse of

the findings when they are used and

regarded as conclusive and therefore not

doing their correct job. When people use

these findings for generalisation to the

population of interest there has been misuse

of the findings. After considering these

factors it is important to view bothQuantitative and Qualitative research as

working hand in hand rather than as any

sort of competition with one another.

Descriptive research would work well with

quantitative research because after

research has shown casual research in this


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situation does not make clarification into the

topic. As we are aiming to describe the

results for a specific trend of fashion rather

than assert true causality in an

experimental sense, we can see how to falls

underneath the broad circle of descriptive

research. We must keep in mind that even

though we will be doing research into the

target market it is still considered a snapshot of the whole entire market place at a

specific point in time.

One could conclude that retail is suffering

due to online sales eg : ASOS , Zara , H&M

and other sellers offering reasonably prices

shipping. Therefor it is important for Y&Y to

keep up to date with the different labels

coming out into the market place.


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Dot point 2: Type of information

The decided approach to this research is

quantitative survey which has an emphasis

on numbers. Keeping in mind data numbers

doesnt tell enough about anything until you

transform them into valuable information.Data can have different forms therefor you

must read what has been collated in the

surveys and make out the results. The

information we can gather from a survey will

give us an understanding of the clientelesreactions to the offer put on the table.

We must gather the type of information

required relevant to the case, e.g. gender,

age, employment, wage/income etc. Claims

need to be means tested against the data to

prove and justify the claims made by theItalian designer. There needs to be some

sort of data statistics to prove the decision

e.g. mean, median, mode etc.

Lots of surveys have a similar flaw which is

sample size e.g. a survey of 1000 people

could be wrong if you imply the population


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of Australia for example we can't survey 26

million people but could try and possibly

survey 1 million to get better results. Costs

would be high and data still could have

errors and be misleading statistical data is

only as good as its analysis.

Dot point 3: Method of Data

We have decided to choose Quantitative

research over the other option, Qualitative


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option. It wasnt had for us to come to this

decision as the facts were all in front of us.

As stated in SHAW qualitative basically

gives us an insight of the reasons into and

explains the understanding of the problem

setting while quantitative seeks to actually

quantify the data.

With our research for Enrico Catalani, the

information we are looking to find is going tobe in numbers and give us a mathematical

look into the data. Therefor we need to use

quantitative research to support us. Let's

say you need to make observations about a

carrot. Some qualitative observations would

be: it's orange, it's rough, it's pointy, it's

firm. Some quantitative observations would

be: its 14 centimetres long, it has a

circumference of 5 centimetres at the top.

This way with our data it will be more

structured and easier to assess whether thecustomers will respond positively or

negatively.

WHY I CHOSE SURVEY:

(NARASH/MALHOTA)


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A survey had more easy assessable traits

then other data collection opportunities. We

have decided to run with Survey as our

method of data for this task.

Considering we have an offer put on the

table and not guaranteed a time frame we

need to consider what the fasts yet most

reliability method of collecting the needed

data would be. According to Narash Asurvey is simple to administer so we would

be able to manage the results as they came

in. As we would make our questions on the

survey limited to subjective alternatives the

results would be reliable.

Disadvantages dont fall far behind though.

If we dont make the survey easy to answer

then some respondents may be unable or

unwilling to answer the desired questions

stated. There are no personal or sensitive

issues coming out of our surveys so this is aplus. We must take into account that we do

not want to over structure the response

questions as this could results in the

questions being answered with little validity

and the loss of true benefits and feelings.

There is also the option we didnt choose


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which personal interviews. We decided not

to go with this one for the obvious reasons

being that people really have to go out of

their way to attend these. It is looked down

upon compared to other methods because

of the basic fact people are to busy and

believe they have limited time to do

something that isnt beneficial directly at

them.Internet surveys are a bonus because of the

ease in modifying. if people sit the surveys

and we realise that the questions are vague

or we can ask more then it gives an

opportunity to add to it as we go. The

negative in this is people may not take it

serious enough and not answer truthfully.

(SHAO)

As stated in Shao there are other types of

ways we can achieve results via quantitative

data such as personal interview, telephone

surveys and mail surveys.

(SHAO)

When it comes to qualitative research we

have different ways to assess the data we

need to reach.


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We could conduct big focus groups with

either an online option or a come in to

person assessment.

We could use a room with one-way mirrors

and video recording mechanisms to allow

researchers to view over and over the

process to look into every detail of every

discussion mentioned. It does give us the

opportunity to assess everything fromtone/facial expression/behaviour. Because of

the openness in these gatherings it

motivates participants to be honest and

direct but its important to make the

environment comfortable and relaxing for

people to open up. This could also be a

disadvantage as people may not speak out

as often as others and there could be a few

people over powering the conversation. Also

if people feel peer pressured into agreeing

with others the researchers may not get thecorrect evidence they need. Another point is

the fact that this sort of data findings is

prone to bias. Since each session has a

conductor that pushes the conversation into

specific areas the performance of the group

is made up the bias of the moderator. A


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false sense of security is sent across to

the marketing managers in return.

Depth interviews are basically similar toindividual interviews with each person.

Honesty and personal opinions are voiced

freely. This is a better way at assessing

beliefs and attitudes towards certain areas

without the influence of group dynamics. As

stated earlier people get shy and hold back

in front of a group.

As the subject at hand with the fashion

designer is not a sensitive issue there is no

need for the privacy issue to be addressed.

A major disadvantage of this type ofinterview is that because the interview is

one on one there is no way for the

participants to bounce ideas of everyone

else and in result from this they may feel

trapped and alone therefor their comfort

level will drop down. Cost and time wise it

isnt efficient.


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Dot point 4: Sampling techniqueThe Target Market can be defined as themain customers of the business who wouldbe likely to purchase the items. Our TargetMarket are people who are interested inmaking purchases and are not just window

shopping. People who have money to spendare the ones we keep an eye on. We areaiming targeting the affluent and luxurymarket of consumers Australia-wide whofollow couture fashion and celebrity stylesand trends and who have the disposableincome to do so or something to that effect.

Since Y&Y are currently considering taking


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Catalani on board as his first point ofdistribution in Australia, the fashiondesigner does not have a Target Market as

yet in Australia. Given that Australia isknown for its growth as a fashion destinationthere will be room for his collection andadaption which should be based on ourclimate and seasons. Catalani will becompeting in a tough market so style quality

price design and distribution and marketingwill be very important to its successSampling is an important part of theresearch. (SHAO) As it is not cost and timeefficient to go around to each individualperson and get their opinion on EnricoCaltivatis offer instead we must play aroundwith a sample of different elements torepresent the target population. We mustcome up with a sampling process sosampling experience is less complex.The sampling frame is the actual list of eachindividual group or member of the target

population we want to assess. In the case athand the target population should be thosewho already shop at Y&Y. We could excesstheir details via memberships and previouspurchases.


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Dot point 5: Plan of data analysis


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Limitations and caveats


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Conclusion and recommendations

3144721 Mmk265 Marketing Research Major Project (3) 1.Doc 22891

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