Marketing Research Proposal

Part 1: Marketing Research Proposal

Executive summary

The main objective of this research will be to find out whether the marketing mix decisions are needed in the Patagonia Company. The company has been enjoying significant growth across all the stores in the world. In Australia, there are three stores of the Patagonia Company while there are thirty-two stores in the United States. However, despite the double-digit growth, some people especially with low social economic status have been questioning the promotion, pricing, and distribution of products in Patagonia Company. Therefore, this research will aim to address two questions in order to find the essence of marketing mix decisions; first, the researcher will find out how the pricing and promotion planning have been influencing sales in the Patagonia Company. The next question will answer will be what percentage of sales are influenced by the distribution planning and product planning in the Patagonia company. The research will use both quantitative and qualitative methods in collecting data since the first question will be answered qualitatively while the second question will be answered quantitatively. The research also reviews various literature materials to discuss the essence of marketing mix decisions in any company. Finally, the research will come with recommendations for different recommendations after the study. For instance, the researcher may recommend to setting prices and conducting the promotion in the company in favor of diverse potential customers.

Research questions and Intended outcome

1. How does promotion and pricing influence sales in the Patagonia Company?
2. To what extent in percentage does distribution and product planning affect sales in Patagonia Company?

The first intended or projected outcome is that the promotion and pricing of products are contributing to fewer sales in Patagonia Company. This is because some of the customers have been complaining about the pricing and promotion targets people from the fortunate or humble background who live luxury lives. However, the truth of this intended outcome will be proven after addressing the first question from respondents’ opinions. If it will come to be true, the marketing mix decisions will be the next to be made in the company as it focuses on “product, place, price, and promotion.” The second intended outcome is that distribution and product planning results in a low percentage of the sales. This is because Patagonia Company has been setting stores only in areas dominated by people of high social-economic status. In this context, such a situation limits some people’s middle social class and low class to purchase products hence resulting in a low percentage in sales. Therefore, still marketing mix decisions will be essential to address the matter.

Literature Review

Different scholars have explained the marketing mix decisions in the company. Kraus et al. (2016) point out that marketing mix decisions include four elements such as promotion, places, prices, and products. The author argues that each of the elements must be observed due to cultural differences among countries.

Steenkamp (2017) explains product planning as a crucial element in marketing those results in increased sales after meeting the needs of a large percentage of customers. In this context, he argues that each country requires a specific type of product considering the culture of the country. Product planning enables the manager to decide whether the same home product will be also sold abroad. Larimo & Kontkanen (2017) argue that selling of the product abroad depends on the culture. The scholar argues that the home product can be sold abroad if there is no influence from the culture.

Promotion planning is also an essential element in marketing mix decisions that results in increased sales after reaching a large percentage of people. Mintz et al. (2019) argue that promotion planning includes communication of services and goods offered in the company. The promotion must vary from one region hence it is necessary to use different languages and cultures. Better planning when promoting products ensures that different consumers are targeted thus increasing sales.

Price planning is also another essential aspect to focus on when developing better marketing in the company. Steenkamp (2017) argues that price planning allows the standardization of the prices so that the company can address the needs of people from different backgrounds. Also, the setting prices ensure the supply in the home market handled properly. Panning of prices in every country also ensures the diversity of customers who need to purchase the products.

For this research, the qualitative and quantitative study will find out how the planning of prices, products, distribution, and prices have been affecting some of the consumers to access the products. This is because recent researches have failed to address social class diversity during the marketing of products. The last scholars have focused on cultural diversity hence forgetting the impact of pricing and promotion among potential customers from different social classes and regions.

Research Design

The research design refers to the framework and procedures necessary when collecting relevant information to analyze the research problems. Research design ensures economical collection and analysis of data (Ghauri et al., 2020). In this context, the arrangement of procedures and operations must be in such a way that the researcher can save time and money.

The research design in this study will include the collection of data from 90 respondents. The research will be conducted in Burleigh Head Estates in Queensland State. Queensland has only one Patagonia store which is located in a high social-economic area; hence it will be critical to know how the sales are influenced by pricing and promotion. The study will be based on the opinions and perceptions of the sample residents of the Burleigh Head Estates regarding how the promotion and pricing planning to influence consumers to purchase products in the Patagonia Company. The research will apply both quantitative and qualitative approaches during data collection.

Target demographics

The size of the sample population in the research will constitute 90 respondents who will represent Patagonia consumers of Queensland, Australia. The targeted population will enable the researcher to assess how the current pricing and promotion of Patagonia products affect consumers to purchase products from the company. The study will include different participants that include journalists, residents among others.

Fig. 1 Target population

The research will include participants of all gender since the company enjoys consumers from both women and men. On the other hand, all races will be included without any discrimination. The study will be based on Burleigh Heads Estates in Queensland State due to the presence of a diverse population in terms of social-economic status, culture, and races. Each participant mentioned in the above table will play an important role in facilitating the study.

Sampling Frame and Techniques

Sampling is defined as a process to predetermine a sample number from a large population so that you can make statistical analysis on a particular study. Therefore, the sampling frame in this study will be residents of Burleigh Heads estates. The place is most preferred in the study due to the presence of Patagonia stores in the region and diversity among people in the region. The place consists of middle-class residents and upper-class residents.

The sample size will include 90 respondents from the Burleigh Estates to track how the marketing mix decisions can influence the growth of Patagonia Company. A stratified sampling technique will be used in the study. Stratified sampling refers to dividing the total population into homogeneous subgroups. In this context, each single population element will be assigned to only one stratum. Therefore, my study will include three stratums that will be 9^th, 11th, 14^th streets since these streets are dominated by people of middle and low social class status.

From every stratum, 30 responded will be selected randomly. Every fifth household among the mentioned streets will be required to proceed to the interview process. The researcher will do the same among the entire stratum until he gets the maximum of the 90 respondents. However, the researcher will interview only the head in every identified household and will be either woman or man.

Data Collection

Data collection is defined as the process of measuring and gathering information in a specific study (Yates & Leggett, 2016). This research will use primary methods while collecting data since the study will be for a particular purpose such as gathering information regarding the use of marketing mix decisions. The primary data is the most essential since it ensures the obtainment of required information for the analysis of the study.

Qualitative data must be collected in this study. Standard questionnaires will be used to conduct interviews regarding the qualitative data in the research. Every respondent will fill the questionnaire forms using pens that will be provided by the researcher. The interview questionnaires are recommended while collecting qualitative data since it saves time and money (Yates & Leggett, 2016). However, some incentives will be required to encourage those who responding to the standard questionnaires. Despite such incentives, interview questionnaires ensure that a large number is reached within a short period of time.

The study will also include the collection of quantitative data. Such quantitative data will be collected through surveys. The survey will include questionnaires’ forms that will be distributed to the respondents. The survey questionnaires allow the researcher to gather extensive data regarding the research problems (Yates & Leggett, 2016). In this study, the survey will conduct in Burleigh Head estates among the residents in Queensland State, Australia. There will be informed consent among all the respondents to ensure that every participant knows the objective of the study. Every questionnaire will only take a maximum of 15 minutes.

Part 2: Statistical Tests

First Scenario: Meal Choices

The research questions in this scenario include:

1. How do the different proteins influence the customer’s choice of meals in the restaurant?
2. How does gender determine the offering of side dishes in the restaurant?

The null hypotheses from this scenario include the following:

• The researcher expects that more than 25% of the customers will choose the offering of different proteins at different times.
• The researcher expects that more men would want services of side dishes as compared to women.

The researcher will use the chi-square test to find whether different proteins influence the customer’s choice of meals in the restaurant. On the other hand, the researcher will use the Spearman correlation test to find out whether the second hypothesis is null.

The different proteins are the independent variables while the customer’s choice of meals is the dependent variable. The level of measurement to use under this context will be ordinal. On the other side, gender is the independent variable while side dishes services are dependent variables. The nominal level of measurement will be used in this context to find out whether gender determines whether to offer different side dishes.

Second Scenario: Customer Insight

The research questions addressed in this scenario include:

1. What are the relationships between product quality and customer satisfaction?
2. How do time influence changes in customer satisfaction and product quality?

The null hypotheses in the scenario will include:

1. The researcher expects that customer’s satisfaction is affected by product quality by more than 20%.
2. The researcher expects that customer’s satisfaction and product quality change over time by more than 9.2 on average.

The statistical test to determine the extent of how product quality affects customer satisfaction will be the use of the chi-square test. On the other hand, spearman’s correlation test will be used to find out how the product quality and customer satisfaction change over time.

On the first question, product quality is an independent variable while the customer’s satisfaction is the dependent variable. The level of measurement to be used in addressing this question will be ordinal. On the second question, time is the independent variable while satisfaction and product quality assessment are the dependent variables. The question will use a nominal scale of measurement to conduct the test.

The study will include two samples overall. The first sample will be drawn from 300 populations and will include 60 respondents. The second sample will be drawn from 250 populations and will include a sample of 40 respondents. Overall the sample sizes will include 100 respondents who will participate in the surveys.

Third Scenario: Fast Food

The research questions in this scenario include:

1. What is the importance of a convenient location for the sales of fast foods?
2. To what likeliness the amount of fat in fast food and the speed of the service influence people to purchase fast food in the restaurant?

The null hypotheses in this scenario will be the following:

1. The researcher projects that more than 15% of the respondents have the opinions that convenient location is extremely important to increase sales in the restaurant.
2. The researcher expects that more than 9.3 on average have the opinion that the speed of the service influence customers to purchase fast foods.

The statistical test used in the first research question is the chi-square test. On the other hand, the researcher will use spearman’s correlation test to measure the speed of the service influences many customers to purchase fast foods.

The convenient location is the independent variable while the sales in the restaurant are the dependent variable. The level of measurement to be used in this context is the ordinal scale of measurement.  Speed of service is also the independent variable while the purchase of fast food is the dependent variable. The level of measurement to be used under this context is also the ordinal scale. The sample size will constitute 100 respondents in the study.

References

Kraus, S., Meier, F., Eggers, F., Bouncken, R.B., and Schuessler, F., 2016. Standardization vs. adaption: a conjoint experiment on the influence of psychic, cultural, and geographical distance on international marketing mix decisions. European Journal of International Management, 10(2), pp.127-156.

Steenkamp, J.B., 2017. Global Marketing Mix Decisions: Global Integration, Not Standardization. In Global Brand Strategy (pp. 75-109). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Larimore, J., and Kontkanen, M., 2017. Marketing Mix Decisions of Traditionally Internationalized Firms vs. Born Internationals. In Motivating SMEs to Cooperate and Internationalize (pp. 225-244). Routledge.

Mintz, O., Currim, I.S., Steenkamp, J.B.E., and de Jong, M., 2019. Managerial metric use in marketing decisions across 16 countries: A cultural perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, pp.1-27.

Ghauri, P., Grønhaug, K., and Strange, R., 2020. Research methods in business studies. Cambridge University Press.

Yates, J., and Leggett, T., 2016. Qualitative research: An introduction. Radiologic Technology, 88(2), pp.225-231.