Marketing Research
Essays

In this paper, we are going to be looking at how customer service strategies can be improved at ABC Office Supplies. This will be accomplished by focusing on: studying the background of the organization, how new customer service strategies, the way customer needs are identified, examining three customer service strategies that can be enacted, developing a procedure for dealing with complaints, looking at how client feedback will be collected, evaluating customer service in the future and understanding the way the different teams will be involved in the process. Once this takes place, is when we can show how this will help to reverse the negative sales trends for the firm.

¶ … Marketing Principles and Practices to Organizational Goals

International joint ventures rise important problems for human resource management and evidence for this fact has been put forth by the recent international management literature (Geringer & Frayne, 1990; Gantinsky &…

In order to stay competitive, attract potential customers, and offer the products in a more tactful way, businesses have to incorporate effective e-marketing strategies as a part of their marketing and promotional efforts. Gold Coast Bakeries is a medium scale business corporation based in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It offers a variety of baked items for every type of customers and all food requirements. Gold Coast Bakeries can be regarded as a growing business in the Gold Coast region. But it has to face certain challenges and threats from different environmental forces and strong competitors in the industry. To survive in an uncertain business environment and compete with the industry leaders, Gold Coast Bakeries must incorporate electronic marketing for the promotion of its products.

This study attempts to answer a couple of key questions about the issue of the glass ceiling, where the marketing function is concerned. The first question is about the typical profile of a female Chief Marketing Officer. The educational and work experiences of past and present female CMOs is weighed against the education and work experiences of male CMOs either in the same company or from a competitor.

International Marketing Research Methodologies

Social media has become the most advanced form of communication and interaction in the current business landscape. It has significantly reduced the dependence of businesses on the traditional forms of communication including electronic and print media. Business analysts and researchers are of the view that social media has impacted the business community in both positive and negative ways. The purpose of this project is to analyze the impacts of social media on the business community in the United States. The project aims to acquaint the organizations' Management bodies with the ways and strategies by which they can manage their business operations effectively and align them with the changing globalization needs.

Shareholders, managers and employees are working hard for sustainable, profitable growth of their companies and often without success. Sustaining growth requires a strategy for increasing revenue without sacrificing…

There are several significant advantages of using qualitative measurements in marketing research. The most significant is the ability to capture the voice of customers that may have evaded the more structured, numerically-based approaches that force respondents to provide a specific set of answers. Qualitative research can also lead to entirely new insights into a new market or service that has not been seen in the past, given the open-ended questions inherent in this approach to research. Qualitative research techniques also can be used to capture the shared knowledge of experts as well, as the Delphi Technique is so well-known and used for. Capturing the tacit expertise and knowledge of a specific group of thought leaders can also be accomplished using qualitative techniques as well. Additional advantages of qualitative measurements include the ability to complete greater exploratory or primary research into a specific subject, often following a specific line of questions as they develop within an interview. An additional advantage of qualitative research techniques are the ability to understand how prospects and customers make trade-offs on substitute products and services. While price elasticity studies are often highly quantitative in scope, the use of interactive discussions of pricing trade-offs can be highly effective in determining just how much a prospect is willing to sacrifice price for a given feature or benefit. The total value of a brand can also be ascertained through the use of these types of qualitative techniques, providing respondents with the ability to define in their own terms the value of the experience a brand delivers. The many advantages of qualitative research are predicated on having more interactive sessions with respondents, including the ability to ascertain how they make trade-offs over time on value versus price. For the many advantages of qualitative measurements, there are several disadvantages as well. First, the results of any study predicated on this approach cannot be analyzed at the higher levels of statistical analysis. As the results of studies and research completed with qualitative measurements are by nature not nominal, ordinal or interval in terms of data orthogonality, they cannot be used to represent an entire customer or segment population. At best they can be used as a means to capture nominally-based data that can lead to only a rough approximation of an overall market size or series of market dynamics. Qualitative data can only be as useful as the means used to capture it as well; if a methodology is very informal and focused on a series of loosely-guided objectives, the overall data will of mediocre quality at best. When the goals and objectives of a research study, in addition to the sampling frame and methodology lack rigor or precise focus, the resulting research can also lack precision and meaning. It is more difficult to create greater levels of meaning and transferability of data when the methodologies are highly qualitative in scope; the data is only relevant for a specific series of objectives and often is defined by applicability to a given point in time as well. Qualitative data is often also open to interpretation, as the methodology can be debated in terms of its relative appropriateness, robustness and value over the long-term. Finally, qualitative data cannot be taken entirely on its own; it must be combined with a series of other research sources to ensure relevancy and accuracy of interpretation, especially over time. In conclusion, qualitative data needs to be taken in context and often balanced with quantitative data to ensure a 360-degree view of a given situation or strategy of interest has the greater level of insights gained from research efforts.

The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the simulations involving perpetual mapping for the CruiseThorr and RRoth motorcycles, the latter model launched as part of this simulation. Each of the situations are described, followed by a recommended solution and results achieved. Additional questions are also answered at the end of this analysis pertaining to product differentiation, product repositioning and product lifecycles, Analysis of Scenario-based Simulations The initial situations, recommended solution and results of each iteration of the simulation are presented and analyzed in this section. Situation Analysis The first simulation begins with the CruiseThorr losing market share as younger buyers don't have the high disposable income to afford it The 21 – 35 year old age group is interested in motorcycles yet cannot afford the CruiseThorr, and also find the model to be behind the times in terms of their taste. Compounding this challenge is the primary target market aging and not replacing their motorcycles as often. The designs have also gravitated to the needs of the older riders, which are not as attractive to the younger, more affluent riders the brand is attempting to attract. In addition, quality is a highly valued attribute of motorcycles in general and especially valued in the higher-end units. Harley-Davison is a very powerful brand based on their ability to combine extreme freedom with exceptional safety of their motorcycles and the experiences they deliver (Bachand, 1988). CruiseThorr enters the first iteration of the simulation with a motorcycle perceived as being very expensive, safer than many others in its class with a product design at parity with the market. For all these strengths the lifestyle image the CruiseThorr portrays is older than the target market the company is attempting to sell into. Recommended Solution The recommended strategy put heavy emphasis on Lifestyle Image (9), Quality Engineering (8) Service Offerings (7) and Price (5). Results The CruiseThorr exceeded the median average for Lifestyle Image by a very wide margin in addition to Product Design and Styling. The perceptual map showed that the CruiseThorr fell far behind on Safety and Price however. The unbalanced nature of the perceptual map showed how emphasis one attribute over another can completely change the equilibrium of a product's perceptual map. The use of perceptual maps is invaluable in defining the optimal balance of positioning attributes over time (Hooley, 1979). There needs to be a revamping of the product strategy to better manage these dimensions of the product's perceptual map. Situation Analysis The CruiseThorr has continually experienced dropping market share and a battle for mindshare with the younger potential customers. The repositioning efforts from the past iteration are not working. The company faces the decision to either reposition the CruiseThorr or launch a model specifically designed for the needs of the younger motorcycle buyers. Recommended Solution The decision is made to launch a new motorcycle, the RRoth. This specific model will be priced in the $21,000 TO $23,000 price range, be sold through distributors, and promoted through a wide variety of events. These promotional events include sponsor events including Daytona, offer insurance and protection plans on the new model, offer free test ride, hire celebrities as endorsers and publicize through Hollywood films. Additional Services to be include Training to Dealers, Club Membership, Financial Services and Services to Owner Groups. This is very comprehensive series of enhancements to the traditional product mix of any new product introduction activities. The combined effects of marketing mix factors can balance a perceptual map over time if they are consistently and thoroughly applied to the specific products and calibrated to the significant changes that happen in customer bases and throughout distribution channels at the same time (Bijmolt, Wedel, 1999).