Managing Research Design

Managing Research Design

A). The problem with asking the question "how many cups of coffee have you consumed in the past 30 days?" is that the question leaves to much room for error. The subjects that would actually be able to give an accurate descriptive answer to this question are adults and middle age adults because they have more focus and typically have routines that are set the same each day. This question could be rephrased to "how many cups of coffee do you consume on a daily basis?" or "how many cups of coffee do you consume daily, including weekends?

A). 0

B). 1-3

C). 4-6

D). 7-9

Breaking the question down will allow for more accurate responses and the researcher can use formulas to get more detailed answers.

B). Secondary or Primary Data

1). Forecasting and business trend research are considered secondary data because they are using original work that has been created by others, to develop forecasts and trends, either for themselves or others. Using this type of data the CoffeeTime managers would be able to determine what cities they should focus on, who their target customers are, and what the expected revenue would be per CoffeeTime outlet.

2). Market share and market potential are considered primary data because the information has to be researched and gathered by the person determining these two factors. "The principles of determining market share and market potential are the same for all geographic areas. First determine a customer profile (who) and the geographic size of the market (how many). This is the general market potential. Knowing the number and strength of your competitors (and then estimating the share of business you will take from them) will give you the market potential specific to your enterprise," (http://www.sba.gov/starting/faqs/quek23.html). The managers would be able to use this data to maximize their potential when opening a new outlet in a competitive area, knowing the best strategies for attracting new customers and changing the habits of their competition's customers.

3). Segmentation and marketing mix research are also primary data due to the fact that the person trying to determine these data will be researching the different areas of the market and gathering these data fields to answer their questions. Marketing mix are the variables that can be controlled to best satisfy customers in a target market area. The variables are product, price, place, and promotion. Using these four variables, the managers are able to create a strategic plan that they can work from to devise their strategies.

4). Image and market characteristic research are considered primary data because the market research had to be done in order to generate the characteristics of the market itself. The managers will use this data to determine the characteristics of the areas where their new outlets will be, so they can begin an image or brand campaign to attract the largest customer base they can, from different ages groups and financial classes, to name a few.

Research Strategies

Memorandum

TO: CoffeeTime's India Project Manager

From:

Date: August 2005

Subject: Strategy of coffee drinking habits

I would like to recommend to the management