Introduction
JavaJoy, Inc would like to increase their sales by exploiting the explosion of gourmet coffee consumption as an opportunity for growth. The following proposal has been prepared.
Objectives
- To examine the current market size, target audience and potential demand.
- To recognize promotional platform that can be used for launching the JavaJoy machines
- Classify attitudes to JavaJoy, Inc brewing systems, our pricing and competitor products.
- Identify the existing marketing channels and their effectiveness.
Desk research
Purpose
To examine the current market size and potential demand, our search in secondary sources will collect information on national usage of beverage brewing machines in the last ten years. This trend data should provide a useful indication about the standing in the market place. We must, at this phase generate a list of other brands and reveal any important information on competing makes that may be useful in the research.
The desk research will seek to answer a list of questions which should be listed in effective sequence and having exact wording and none biased. A multichotomous test will give the researchers precise answers on; how many customers use coffee brewing machines? What brands and type of brewing machines are used? What are the machines currently used for? What prices are charged? What sizes are available? What promotions are currently used? What distribution channels are used? Who should be the target audience?
Procedure
The search will commence within JavaJoy; Inc. We will consult staff with records, brief them on the requirement of the research and would hold four meetings for the purpose. We would expect to access inside information on the regional market place, information on distribution channels, correspondence with customers, regional buying patterns and any complaints. These will be all indicative of the likely domestic market and place and will indicate strengths and weaknesses to help in segmentation. An external search will be done; we will obtain and analyze existing market assessments by relevant trade associations. We will inspect published research relevant to our products. We intend to create a portfolio of promotional materials used by our competitors. This will aid us in exploring likely marketing platforms.
Qualitative research
Focused research will be used to probe the attitudes of the potential customers towards the JavaJoy brand, to assist in the exploratory component of the objective.
Successive quantitative research will be used to gauge how strong these attitudes are?
How and where JavaJoy machines are used? Brands which customers are aware?
Which groups of people are likely to use this high quality machines? The quantities they could probably buy?
Population and sampling
I propose two groups as follows
These will include
Large users and small users
A questionnaire will be prepared with an aim of probing: what kinds of coffee brewing machines are currently in use? What other kinds of machines are potential buyers aware of? Which group is likely to use our machines? What quantities are they likely to buy? Would they be ready to pay a higher price for our product?
Procedure
We will describe then show JavaJoy products along with the likely competitors highlighting our superiority. One issue here is pricing which could be an important variable. This should be ensured that it won’t be a distraction by emphasizing on the quality.
Quantitative research
We propose to carry out personal interviews and telephone studies concurrently
Use of questionnaire has been chosen to get the first hand information and establish a potential link for further inquiries. We have not proposed a postal study or online approach since we feel that personal interview offers us the prospect of selecting people accurately and quickly. Use of telephone gives us ways of reaching more respondents. This gives us an assurance of achieving the desired number and types of respondents (Leedy, 1980).
Purpose
This stage aims to quantify how many users of coffee machines are their and the types that they use. It will also give the percentages of brands which consumers are aware of. We will provide percentages for both unprompted and prompted responses. By sorting the data, we will know what type of customers buy and use these machines and the prices they are prepared to pay. We will also seek to investigate negative or positive name association for the product.
Population and sampling
We will carry out 180 interviews in medium, large and small enterprises and institutions. This will give spread of responses and the opportunity to identify interesting differences. The data should be analyzed and a report prepared using the appropriate data analysis tools like the ANOVA ( Winner, 1991).
Reporting
An easy to understand report, including graphs, figures and tables will be presented after the qualitative research. This are tools for organizing and displaying data (William, 1995). A meeting with the management to discuss the next stages of the research will be held. A formal presentation of all results, along with conclusions drawn will be made. A report summarizing the findings will also be drawn.
References
Leedy, Paul. ( 1980). Practical research planning and design. New York: Macmillan.
Winner, J. ( 1991). Statistical principles in experimental design. New York: McGraw-Hill.
William,V. ( 1995). Statistics. Cambridge: Harper and Row.