Answers for Mid-term

By Rama Krishna Kompella

Question 1• Expresses clear opinion about the statement (2 marks)• No. You have to disagree with the statement. As each research

design serves different purpose, we can’t state that one is superior over other

• Explains briefly both research methods in line with his / her opinion (8 marks)

• While exploratory research helps in gaining background information, in depth knowledge regarding a specific issue, defining terms and clarifying problems and hypotheses, descriptive research helps in describing and measuring marketing phenomena at a certain point in time. Exploratory research also helps to establish research priorities, whereas descriptive research collects information based on the priorities set by exploratory research.

Question 2• States what is the management problem? (2 marks)• The company is planning to create customer segments, in order to

target its customers better• States which analysis method can be used in order to solve the

management problem (6 marks)• Cluster Analysis• Explains why it is the best method to choose from (2 marks) • As the objective of the company is to create customer segments,

Cluster analysis as a method of analysis helps to classify or segment objects into groups so that objects within each group are similar to one another on a given set of variables.

Question 3• Lists various research methods available (5 marks) (No need to

explain every method)– Telephone (Traditional and C-AT)– Personal (In Home, by appt & Random personal interviewing)– Mail (Mail interview & mail panel)– Electronic (E-mail and Internet)

• Provides the rationale behind choosing an appropriate research method for this case (5 marks)

• As the company has all the contact numbers of the consumers, a telephonic interview will be the best way to connect to consumers and get their interest levels. The geographical spread of consumers makes personal interviewing very cumbersome and expensive. Other forms might be cost effective, but will have very low response rate

Question 4• States the sampling method used by the instructor, along with the

uses of the particular method (6 marks)• She used simple random sampling in order to select the sample.

Simple random sampling is the easiest method of sampling which doesn’t involve difficult process or statistical techniques. However, it requires list of population elements and is quite time consuming.

• Provides his / her opinion on the sampling method used, given a choice (4 marks)

• In this scenario, since there are 500 students, instead of writing all the numbers and then taking their opinion, we can use systematic random sampling and arrive at the number of students who act as a sample for this particular survey.

Question 5• Clearly states the differences between the two methods (at least 3

differences) (6 marks)

• Provides one example of each method (4 marks)

Dependence Methods Interdependence Methods

Has a specified dependent variable and a set of independent variables

No dependent variable designated, or any independent variable

The goal of dependence methods is to predict / measure the impact of independent variables on the dependent variable/s

The goal of interdependencemethods is to group respondents or objects together

Deals with uncovering relationships among variables

Mainly deals with defining constructs, factors or segmentation

Multiple regression, ANOVA Cluster analysis, discriminant analysis

Question 6• Clearly states the differences between the two types of scales (at

least 3 differences) (6 marks)

• Provides one example of each scale (4 marks)

Nominal Scale Ratio Scale

Is used to determine membership in a category only

Is used to clearly distinguish between observations

Is non-numeric Is numeric

Data is discrete Data is continuous

Ex: Roll numbers of students in a class Ex: Scores obtained by students on a test

Question 7• Clearly states the research problem with the help of the hypothesis (4

marks)• H0: There is no difference in perceptions among consumers between the

two packages• Ha: There is a difference in perceptions among consumers between the

two packages• States the suitable method of analysis to solve the problem (3 marks)• A t-test or ANOVA can be used to determine the differences of

perceptions among the two groups of consumers• Explains the rationale behind choosing the method (3 marks)• As the objective is to ascertain the differences of perceptions among

consumers who saw the package, a group difference approach will be useful.

Section B

Question 1• Need to state whether it is a good question or a bad question (1

mark each). If it is a bad question, explanation is required, which will carry one mark each.

• Do you read marketing digest regularly? Good • Have you ever committed a marketing fraud before at your work?

Bad. Sensitive information should not be asked directly• Don’t you think the Government is doing a great job now?• Bad. The question is directing the opinion of the respondent, which

should not happen. The question should be neutral• If McDonalds starts selling Samosa, how often would you visit

McDonalds? Good• How much did you pay for the last cell-phone you purchased? Good

• Did the media coverage that you saw or heard increase your awareness of free or low-income fitness and recreation opportunities in your community? Bad. The question is too complicated and has a lot of questions in a single question

• Are you satisfied with the service provided by the hotel? Please rate on a scale of 1 – 7. Good

• Did you eat the strange yellowish Mushroom curry in Paradise hotel? Bad. It is quite ambiguous

• What is your age? Good • Do you own a car or frequently travelled in cars? Bad question. Is

ambiguous

Question 2• Calculates chi-square with the help of the numbers provided (7 marks).

• Writes a conclusion on what the manager needs to do based on the result (8 marks)

• Critical value with 4 degrees of freedom is 9.49, whereas the calculated value is 26.95. Hence, Raju needs to go by the survey response and has to order according to current consumer preference

Observed Expected O-E (O-E)2 (O-E) 2/E

35 30 5 25 0.83

50 45 5 25 0.56

30 15 15 225 15

10 15 -5 25 1.67

25 45 -20 400 8.89

26.95

Question 3• Correctly identifies the type of test to be conducted (5 marks)• The test to be conducted to find out the association between the

two variables is Correlation. Since the variables are continuous, Pearson’s correlation needs to be calculated

• Conducts the test and gets the required association between the two variables (5 marks)

• The obtained correlation is 0.90, which shows that there is a strong positive correlation between aptitude of the worker and performance rating. Hence, the manager can rely on aptitude test while hiring workers

Question 4• Correctly identifies the dependent and independent variables (3 marks)• Dependent variable: Product usage level. Independent variables: Delivery Speed,

Price Level, Price Flexibility, Manufacturer's Image, Service, Sales force Image, and Product Quality

• States the variable types for both independent and dependent variables (2 marks)• All continuous variables• Provides the linear model for the situation (6 marks)• Product Usage level = β0+ β1(Delivery speed) + β2(Price level) + β3(Price flexibility)

+ β4(Manufacturer’s image) + β5(Service) + β6(Sales force image) + β7(Product quality) + e

• Explains the linear model (4 marks)• The linear model suggests that the dependent variable product usage level can be

predicted using various independent variables listed above. Here β0 is the constant and e is the measurement error

Question 5• What is the concrete management problem? Please transfer this

problem to a concrete hypothesis that should be tested by applying (one way) analysis of variance (ANOVA) (5 marks)

• The management wants to increase the sales of the stores. Hence, it wants to try different fragrances, assuming that it helps in boosting sales. Hypothesis is: Flavour has a positive relationship with sales

• Shortly explain the key objective of an (one way) analysis of variance. Please indicate the independent and dependent variable for the example described above. (5 marks)

• The key objective of ANOVA is to ascertain the differences among groups. In this example, the dependent variable is sales (continuous), whereas independent variable is flavour (three types, which is nominal)

• Please indicate an advantage and a disadvantage of the (one way) analysis of variance (ANOVA). (2 marks) Which alternative analysis method(s) could be used to overcome this constraint of the (one way) analysis of variance (ANOVA) (it is assumed that the assumption of this alternative method can be fulfilled)? (3 marks)

• One advantage of ANOVA is that it takes into account the differences between the observations within a group, which is not taken care in a t-test. Whereas, it doesn’t take into consideration, the impact of other factors which might impact the dependent variable. In order to overcome this issues, I would use ANCOVA, adding the covariables which might change along with the dependent variable.

Case Study: Micron Ltd.

1. Title page of the research proposal– Understanding the user habits and expectations regarding

heating gadgets used for cooking

2. Introduction– Micron Ltd. is a consumer durable products company marketing

a range of products in India. It specialized in Microwave Ovens and are present in the country for more than two decades. They are presently planning to reposition their product in order to suit consumer requirements

Case Study: Micron Ltd.

3. Motivation– As the sales of Micron microwave ovens did not pick up, they are

planning to reposition their product as ‘Heating Gadget’, rather than primary cooking equipment. Hence, a thorough understanding of user habits relating to heating of food is required

4. Preliminary survey/scrutiny of relevant literature– Preliminary research suggests that the product didn’t meet the

requirements of the target segment, as the cooking habits in India were quite different to that in western countries. Heating of food as a habit is also not prevalent, and hence a thorough understanding of the heating habits is required. Further, consumers feel that the taste of food is lost when it is reheated.

Case Study: Micron Ltd.

5. Problem Description– As consumers often cook freshly, and feel that reheating the

food will not taste as good as freshly cooked food, the company has to understand the following:

– How do consumers reheat their food?– What are the perceptions of consumers related to reheating

and taste?

6. Hypothesis– Reheating of food is negatively associated with perceptions of

quality of food– Freshly cooked food is positively associated with perceptions of

quality of food

7. Research methodology– A preliminary qualitative research needs to be carried out in order to

understand the reheating habits of consumers and their perceptions of taste upon reheating

– A large scale survey needs to be conducted based on the findings of the qualitative research, by designing a questionnaire

Case Study: Micron Ltd.

Questions?