Marketing research
Marketing research can be defined as the orderly and objective process of gathering information to aid in making decision this process includes finding out what kind of information is required ,designing how the data would be collected ,managing and analyzing the result and their implication there are mainly two types if research methodology
RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY
It is the believe of the researcher on the development of its own knowledge there are several types of research philosophy such as positivism, phenomenology and realism there are as follows
POSITIVIST
It is a dominant approach in natural science concerning with normal explanation like patterns and regularities in events this is important methodology concerning wit the business research (McDaneil and Terblanche 2004)
PHENOMENOLOGY
The assumption is that people are not passive in simply in simply responding to structures but instead reality is socially structured
REALISM
It is somewhat similar to positivism it is the study of socially constructed analysis it is also independent from human beings thoughts and beliefs and it recognizes the social influences mostly qualitative approach
TYPES OF RESEARCH
Their are different types of marketing research
EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
It is done to clarify and define the nature of the problem it provides complete detail of an issue. Exploratory research is a type of research is done because a problem has not been clearly defined. Exploratory research helps determine the best research design and appropriate data collection method and selection of respondents
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
It is done to describe the characteristics of a population or phenomenon it is used to find out the frequencies, averages and other statistical data. Qualitative research often has the aim of description and researchers may go through examinations of why the observations present and what is the implication of the findings
CAUSAL RESEARCH
It is conducted to identify cause and affect relationship among variables how these variables affect each other and what are the causes behind them if something is changed how the other variable will react to it
Marketing research is usually done to find out the problem, the causes and how can they be avoided and resolved marketing research is done to provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid and current information in order to achieve its objective (Chisnall, 1997)
These are main types of research which are conducted to solve an issue in this research
In this research exploratory research is used as this research is conducted to clarify the nature of a problem management may have discovered a general issue and need to know the solution for it
WHY CONDUCT EXPLORATORY RESEARCH
Researcher conduct exploratory research for three interrelated reason
Diagnosing a problem
Exploratory research helps in diagnose the key areas of the problem and it also helps in setting up new researches sometimes when conducting exploratory research several new priorities develop which states the need for further new researches and to solve that problem many new weakness are found so exploratory research give birth to several new areas which needed attention
SCREENING ALTERNATIVES
When several new products or ideas arise but the firm has limited budget so exploratory research may be use to select the best alternative in this part of research there is a process which is known as concept testing whenever a new product is design or is being launched in the market the every use of that product is determined and moreover will the idea work that all is done by consumers who give all these ideas
DISCOVERING NEW IDEAS
Researcher often conduct exploratory research in order to generate new ideas to know the consumers needs is a great potential source of product idea in this process is it determine what kind of problems consumers face and what product will be best suited for that purpose (Churchill, and Lacobucci 2002)
REASON FOR USING EXPLORATORY RESEARCH IN THIS RESEARCH
In this research exploratory research is used because the researcher have to know what are the reasons why coach drivers visit a particular motorway service areas and which is the most effective marketing tool to attract coach drivers and how this helps in improving the sales why so much importance is given to coach driver as welcome break has a totally different marketing strategy for consumers and coach drivers
Quantitative research
It is number based data and can be expressed numerically in the form of tables and numeric values it is more objective and scientific then qualitative data and it is only applicable to those things which can be measured (Lancaster, 2005)
Qualitative data
It is based on meaning expressed through words the data cannot be numerically measured it is mostly used for measuring those types of things which can not be measured such as attitudes, feelings and expectations
In this research both types of data are used quantitative data is used to analyze the questionnaire how the coach drivers rate the service this can only be measured through using quantitative method as this involves calculations do they stop at any particular services and what are the main attractions to stop at a particular service all this is analyze through quantitative calculations as this is the only method through all these questions can be analyze through quantitative method as they involne numerical values their are questions like measurement of the effect of a new programme like coach driver host this questions is also analyze by using the quantitative method as this also involve the calculations of numbers and how many people think it really affected their decision as far as qualitative approach is concerned in this research interviews are analyze through this method as they cannot be measure through numeric values but only can be analyze through words all of the interviews are analyze through qualitative method as they are the views of the management of welcome break limited every interview has been analyzed and discussed this can be classified as qualitative method
RESEARCH DESIGN
It is process in which guidelines of the research are set so that a track is set to conduct the research it is the design which holds the whole research together mainly a research design is a broad plan developed after concentrated study of the problem the foundation of research design are based on scientific firmness and objectivity
PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
It is data which is collected first hand the main tool of a researcher it is very reliable as first hand data is collected by the researcher itself primary data can be collected by interviews, questionnaires ,case studies, observations and through emails the most common methods are interviews and questionnaires
Primary data are made by a researcher for the precise purpose of the problem . They are individually customized for the decision makers of the organisations that pay for the well focused and exclusive support. Compared to readily available data from variety of sources, this customizing meaning higher costs and a longer time frame in collecting and analysing data. (Malhotra, Briks 2003)
There are different methods of collecting data the main methods are interviews and questionnaire and this research they are used as the main tool
INTERVIEWS:
Interviews are also very important method in the collection of primary data. It can be done by one to one or group basis. This could be done is any where in the office or any other suitable place. As other data collecting techniques, interviews can be of different types such as telephonic interviews via internet
Interviews have good response rate and because the respondent researcher can get the right data. Researcher can ask in detail questions and can get the answers. Researcher can record the interview on the camera
There are some disadvantages of the interviews, in some cases it is very hard to get the respondent response, they are time consuming, and it is not cost effective. In some cases respondents feel shy about some confidential questions. In this case the interviews have been done with the management of welcome break as all of them have been recorded via video camera with the permission
Interview design
Interviews have been done in an orderly manner as same questions have been asked from the management of welcome break the pattern is same in all of the interviews it starts with their policies ad how they implement their marketing plan how do they measure the coach drivers and what are the techniques they use to attract the coach drivers how affective they are and what are the results of these marketing strategies
Questions are also related to any new programmes that the management have started regarding the coach drivers and how are the coach drivers reacting to these king of programmes and what are the outcomes
Objective of a Questionnaire
Any questionnaire has mainly three objectives such as to translate the data needed into questions and to get the respondents involved the process by making the questionnaire interesting enough and to minimize the response error (Malhotra, 2000)
QUESTIONNAIRE:
it is also a very reliable method of data collection and cost effective as well they can send either by post, fax or email to a respondents address or by direct contact questionnaires sometimes can be time consuming as the language in which they were written can sometimes be difficult for the respondents to understand ,useful data can be collected through questionnaires some people don't want to disclose their names so questionnaires can be very effective in that way questionnaire should not be too long as the respondent loses the interest so they have to precise and short and should be able to find out the desired data a questionnaire should have relevancy and accuracy a questionnaire may contain open ended questions ,fixed alternative questions and it should according the respondent level like in this case this method have been use to get the relevant information from the coach drivers
Questionnaire Design
These are several types of questions in the questionnaire of this research such as open ended which are unstructured questions in which detail answers are given and questions like multiple choice questions which are included in structured questions dichotomous questions are also present which has only two responses like yes or no all this type of questions are present as the researcher needs to find out the perceptions of the coach drivers and how they rate a particular service how often they use it and why so in order to find out all these questions a variety of questions are used
Types of Observation Methods
There are several types of observatory methods such as personal observation in which human records the phenomenon as it occurs then the mechanical observation in which a mechanical device is used instead of a human then the audit method in which the researcher collects the data by physically examining the records or data then the content analysis method in which communication is observed rather then the behaviour and the last one is the trace analysis in which past behaviour or evidence
Reason for Using Personal Observation in This Research
Researcher have used personal observation in this research because the amount of coach drivers come to visit welcome break situated as stansted airport can only be observed through personal observation the researcher have used a camera in order to record the observation because the amount of coach drivers visiting varies from time to time so personal observation is the most appropriate method in this case
OBSERVATIONS
This is also a very effective method of data collection observation can be made on the area of interest and useful data can be collected from that as the researcher has done in this case many observations of the coach parking area at welcome break on motorway services to measure the influx of passengers through coaches
USE OF PRIMARY DATA IN THIS RESEARCH
In this research most the information is collected through primary data as mostly through interviews and questionnaires interviews are done with the managers of welcome break regarding their marketing tools and how they develop their marketing plan keeping in mind their competitors 6 interviews are done with the people involved with this department of drivers
Questionnaires are done with the coach drivers as they can tell what exactly they want from a motorway services, 10 questions are their in the questionnaire with 10 respondents from different coach companies in order to find out which things attracts them the most
Observation would also be done in this research as many coach drivers arrive at welcome break site near Stansted airport and how the management of welcome break deals with them
SECONDARY DATA COLLECTION
Secondary data is the data which is already their to be used it has already been collected by someone else the researcher just have to use it in the research it can in the form of books, newspaper, journal articles etc
The most common form of secondary data used is books where the research has already been done secondary data can be obtained easily and is less expensive then collecting primary data nowadays internet has made secondary data collection very easy and less expensive secondary data also helps in saving time but secondary data is not always relevant to the exact needs of the researcher for example the time period of interest is the subject matter consistent with the problem definition and if the data is present in the correct units of measurement (Chisnall, 1997)
USE OF SECONDARY DATA IN THIS RESEARCH
Secondary data is collected in this research from books , journals ,internet and welcome break own magazine and their sales figures mostly secondary data is used in the literature review as all of the literature is from the secondary data
Sampling
Sampling is a technique to select the population for participation in the study it used to find out the characteristics of the population involved in the study
Different types of sampling method
Probability versus non probability method
In probability method every element in the organization has a nonzero chance of selection and in non probability sample the chance of any element in the population is unknown
Non probability sampling
Convenience sampling
This is the most in which the sample is selected which is available conveniently or which is easily available as this can fulfil the requirement of the sampling method
Judgment sampling
It is the sampling technique in which a experience researcher selects a sample based on its personal judgment
Quota sampling
In this sampling method various sub groups of population are selected on relevant sample characteristics to the exact extent the research requires
Reason for choosing convenience sampling in this research
The main reason for choosing convenience sampling in this research is that the coach drivers come randomly at welcome break services area located near stanted airport and they come in a very limited amount so convenience sampling is used to get the required information as they are already smaller in number
