Marketing Intelligence

TASK 2 (LOC2/AC1)

We have conducted a short interview with the manager of a KFC outlet in Kajang and recorded the interview in a form of CD. The CD would be submitted along with the assignment copies. Moving on, there are many types of market research techniques that can be used to collect information on level of satisfaction towards KFC's "Jom Jimat Menu". However, here we only state the two major types of market research techniques that are asked for, as well as two advantages, and disadvantages for each technique.

The first type is personal interview. Personal interview is when individuals collect information by face-to-face contact in an interview. It is a two-way conversation between the interviewer and the respondent (interviewee).

One of the advantages is that there is an opportunity for feedback. Why? Because the interviewer is able to reassure that the conversation including the respondent's answers would be strictly private and confidential. Also, because the interviewer could clarify any doubts or difficulties that the respondents could have with the questions asked or instructions given. The second advantage is that the interviewer is able to probe for complex answers. What is Ð''probing' you ask? The term Ð''probing' or Ð''probe' is the verbal prompts that are made by interviewers when the respondent is encouraged or motivated to communicate his/her answer more completely, or fully. This is used to get respondents to enlarge on, clarify, or explain their answers in more detail or in a better way that the interviewers can understand. For example; when we interviewed Mr. Khairuddin, the manager of KFC at Kajang, we asked him their target market for the Jom Jimat Menu was. He answered that their target market was teenagers. So we Ð''probed' him by asking "Why were their target market for teenagers?" However, if there are advantages, there are surely disadvantages.

One of the disadvantages is interviewer influence. The difference of interviewers may be a source of bias. The difference such as of age, gender, ethnic education, or even occupation can lead to being bias. For example; if the interviewer is young or is more supportive of KFC's competitors then the interview between the interviewer and the interviewee could be biased on behalf of the interviewer. Perhaps due to unsatisfactory of KFC's products compared to its competitors or those alike. The second disadvantage is the anonymity of the respondent. Due to the fact that it is a personal interview, the respondent of interviewee is not anonymous or is completely exposed therefore may be reluctant to provide any confidential information to the interviewer.

According to the interview that we had with Mr. Khairuddin, we were able to gather some information as to who KFC's target market was for the Jom Jimat Menu, why they introduced the Jom Jimat Menu, and facts of the Jom Jimat Menu. By using personal interview, we were able to find out that KFC's target market for the Jom Jimat Menu were the teenagers. This is because KFC's initial target market were adults and family, so they introduced the Jom Jimat Menu to attract teenagers. The Jom Jimat Menu that is only available between 3-6pm is suitable for KFC outlets that have inconsistent traffic flow of customers. The Jom Jimat Menu is not KFC's major menu because it is cheap and the profit margin is small therefore the focus on Jom Jimat Menu is not so concentrated.

The second type of market research technique is survey or self-administered questionnaires. This is when surveys are handed out to a sample of people or respondents. They do not actually require interviewers' presence however, the respondents takes full responsibility for reading and answering the questions. Marketing researchers have various ways to distribute the questionnaires to the consumers. For example is through the mail, or in many other ways. Our group however, personally handed out our questionnaires to a sample of the consumers of the KFC outlet at Kajang. If they don't send the questionnaires through mail, they could also insert questionnaires in packages of magazines, place them at the points of purchase, in high-traffic locations, or could even be faxed. Questionnaires are usually printed on paper, but nowadays they could also be programmed into computers and places on the internet.