Class Activity 1

CLASS ACTIVITY 1
Below you will find an excerpt from a manager’s meeting, where the possibility of conducting market
research is being discussed. Your task here is to outline the reasons for and against of undertaking the
study and then to determine whether or not the research should be conducted.

Jane:
OK team, we’re getting near the end of the project, time to discuss the merits of a market test (test
market). Personally, I’m keen on a market test as the successful launch and fast adoption of our
product is a key success factor.
Jack:
I’m going to disagree. I’m a ‘speed-to-market’ sort of guy. Look it’s a good product. It’s got success
written all over it. Let’s just get it out there and the product will do the rest.
Mike:
Sure Bruce, it’s a good product. But unless it’s well promoted, widely available, and consumers clearly
understand its benefits – it just won’t sell well. A market test will give us valuable information so we can
market it effectively.
Harry:
But do we really need that information? We’re professional managers, we’ve all been through major
product launches before. I’m sure that between us we can work out the best launch strategy without the
need for extra information.
Simon:
Well I’m not so sure Harry. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it. This product is so critical – it’s just
too important – we must test it and get it right.
Mary:
To add to this discussion, I’m going to put my finance hat on. We’re talking a big expense. This product
already has a big investment to recover and adding another few hundred thousand plus is a big ask!
Lyn:
Personally, I think that undertaking more research sends a bad signal to the executive team that we’re
really not confident in the product’s likely success.
Darcy:
That could be true. But I’ve heard rumours that a few of our competitors are in development of a similar
product. We need to go now or we’ll possibly lose our “first-to-market” advantage. I think that the
executive team would be very disappointed if a competitor beat us to the marketplace.
Anna:
I’m sure that some of you feel like I do. We’ve been working on this project for over two years and it
would be good to skip the research and just push the product out now. But we’re professional. We’re
paid to make the right decisions. So let’s objectively weigh up the pros and cons and make the right
decision for the firm.
QUESTIONS
1. What are the arguments for conducting the market research?

2. Outline the concerns with undertaking this research study.
3. Given your responses to Q1 and Q2, what would you advise the firm to do in regards to
conducting the study? Why?
CLASS ACTIVITY 2
The first step in the market research process is defining the problem. There are suggestions that this is
the most difficult stage. When you first hear this statement it sounds strange – how can the firm not
know its own problem? Well hopefully this activity will help clarify that situation. The following firm is
looking to undertake some market research, but they first need to define the research problem – can
you help them?

ACTIVITY/TASK
Mitchell:
I think we all know why we’re here. Our last advertising campaign, which cost over $5m, has not had
any real impact on our sales levels. We need to find out what went wrong and fast!
Lyn:
Well to do that we will need to conduct some market research; I’ll brief the research agency straight
after this meeting.
Caitlin:
But what are they going to research? This situation could have been caused by a number of factors.
For instance, it could have been the media buy, or the ads themselves, or the fact that we just used
television ads without any other support, particularly online.
Garrett:
Maybe it wasn’t the ads at all. It could have been more aggressive competitor activities over the past
few months.
James:
Or maybe it was something that we did. Did we change our pricing during the period? Did we reduce
sales promotions because the money was going into heavy advertising instead?
Wilson:
I’ll have to check those details, but it’s a possibility. If we did reduce our sales promotions, then maybe
we don’t have a problem at all. Perhaps our advertising has increased the value of the brand and we
are now selling the same as before without the need to offer discounts and incentives.
Mitchell:
OK, there are a number of possibilities. Let’s start by making a list of all of the possibilities. Then we’ll
review the list and identify the most likely problem areas for further research.
QUESTIONS
1. What are the possible problem areas that the firm should be investigating?
2. Given your list in Q1, what are the most likely problem areas?
3. How would you define the market research problem for this firm?
4. After completing this exercise, do you think is generally easy or difficult to define the market
research problem?
5. What would be the implications of defining a market research problem incorrectly?

Class Activity 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Class Activity 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CLASS ACTIVITY 1

1. What are the arguments for conducting the market research?

You might also like