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I have clearly preference any sources used in the work. I understand that false declaration is a form of malpractice. Learner signature: Assign meet brief Unit 3 Introduction to Marketing Week commencing November 10 2014 November 28 2014 (midnight) Date: The purpose of this assignment is to: Know the role of marketing in organizations Be able to use marketing research and marketing planning Scenario In your work as a trainee junior consultant your manager is pleased with your first piece of work that you produced.
You have been assigned a number of tasks to complete as part of your first probationary interview. You are keen to show that you are working well so your aim is to present your findings in a professional format. Your manager will expect your work to be relatively free of spelling and grammar errors and layout will be important. Unit 3 Marketing Assignment 2 Task 1- Understanding market research at Thorpe Park Market research is the management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer.
Marketing plays a key role in letting the customers have their say in the decision making process by doing this it can make customers seem like they are at the centre of the business. There are many different methods used by business to gain market research, here is a list of some of them: Focus groups – This is when there is a scripted series of questions or topics lead to a discussion among a group of people. These sessions take place at various locations, usually at a facility with video tapping equipment.
A focus group will usually last around 1 or 2 hours and it takes at least 3 groups to get balanced results. Personal interviews- These are usually unstructured, open ended questions and they usually last for about an hour and our usually recorded. Personal interviews along with focus groups provide more subjective data although the data is not always statistically reliable, which can mean they don’t represent a large number of the population. Nevertheless they do give an insight into customer’s attitudes.
Surveys- These are usually concise questionnaires, where you can analyses a group that represents ‘your’ certain target market. Usually the larger the sample the more reliable your results will be. There are a lot of different types of surveys that can be used these can include telephone surveys, which are less expensive Han in person surveys but cost more than mail surveys. The disadvantage of phone surveys is convincing people to participate in them which can become difficult and generally will yield results in at only 50%.
In person surveys are one on one interviews typically conducted in high streets, they can allow you to present people with samples of products, packaging and advertising. These surveys are good because you can receive immediate feedback and they generate a high response rate with 90% but their disadvantage is they are costly and time consuming. Another type of surveys is online surveys they usually generate unpredictable response rates and unreliable data, because there is no control of the respondents but an advantage to this is they are simple, inexpensive and can collect customer’s opinions.
Observation – Individual responses to surveys and focus groups are sometimes odds with people’s behavior, when you observe customers in action such as video tapping them in shops, at work or even at home the business can really see how they act. This can help you know how they buy or use a certain product; this an give the business a more accurate look at the customer’s usage habits and shopping patterns. Limitations and constraints of market research Task 1 In a one page document describe how Thorpe Park uses marketing research to contribute to its marketing development plans.
Begin by explaining what marketing research is and the different methods used. Remember that marketing research covers a wide area and you can include everything the business does to collect information about its marketplace. Consider: customer behavior competitor behavior the market environment. Task 2 Add a further section to your document that explains the limitations of marketing research, in general, with reference to those used to contribute to the development of Thorpe Park’s marketing plans.
Task 3 Conclude your document by making three justified recommendations for improving the validity of marketing research used to contribute to the development of Thorpe Park’s marketing plans. This could mean making the sample of sufficient size or making sure that the questionnaire answers are not ambiguous, as that could lead to misleading results. Remember you need to know that it is important to try and make your marketing research as valid as possible and you need to explain your reasoning to be able to justify it.
Tasks Using the marketing research obtained from Thorpe Park, produce a short report that suggests ways that its marketing planning can be adapted. For this you will need to reflect on the market research evidence and make three detailed recommendations for Thorpe Park’s managers. For example, the research results may provide evidence for launching new products and services, withdrawing existing products and services, targeting new markets or segments or developing a new promotions strategy.