The best research process to be used by the orchard is descriptive research because they are trying to target a particular market and analyze a customer category. The descriptive research will help to analyze the customer base, its behaviors, and demographics (Cavugil et al. 2009). It can be administered through surveys of the orchard visitors or employees to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise from a customer perspective.
Demand forecasting is the process of predicting economic growth and profit potential of each business opportunity. It is critical to predict a potential demand for the product, particularly after a marketing campaign, to generate sales forecasts which can be used for finance purposes. Therefore, descriptive research can directly quantify demand for a product (Kotler & Keller 2012).
Marketing communications is the process of managing the public domain of an organization to provide information and establish brand awareness that makes the product or service more appealing. The company website can be redesigned and rewritten to be more appealing to certain audiences. There may be a broader availability of information such as prices, directions to the orchard, and unique events. The website can include more visuals to attract visitors on a larger-scale.
Based on Anthony’s Orchard website, they are taking a very broad marketing approach by attracting customers with its aesthetics in combination with a high quality of apple-related products. They are leaning on the concept of being a local family-owned business and using the history of tending the orchard to produce the best customer experience (Anthony’s Orchard n.d.).
Maintaining profits in agriculture is difficult since a variety of uncontrollable external factors known as macro-forces can have an impact on the return on investment. Socio-economic factors make prices on fruit and agricultural equipment extremely volatile. Some environmental factors such as climate, weather, soil nutrition, pest infestations, and water supply directly affect the number and quality of fruit available and visitation trends from customers (Victoria State Government 2013).
Descriptive marketing research uses a combination of qualitative and informal methods mixed with quantitative analysis. Quantitative data includes averages, percentages, and statistics which are analyzed using empirical assumptions. Surveys or questionnaires are most efficient tools. Cross-sectional research can be used to test various population samples while longitudinal research tracks responses over time (DeVault 2017). Since competent demand forecasting is responsible for a variety of business decisions from supply management to budgeting, the descriptive research process, which provides a holistic evaluation of the marketing situation, can be significantly beneficial.
Market research provides data that gives businesses an opportunity to comprehensively analyze target markets, consumer demands, and competition challenges. Marketing trends provide an understanding of the effectiveness of various business strategies. In the end, it is critical for the improvement as a company can understand consumer needs and act accordingly to increase customer service quality which will attract more potential visitors (British Library n.d.). Since the orchard values its mission and tradition of providing excellent quality, it is critical the owners have overarching data about consumer behavior to implement further marketing campaigns.
Reference List
Anthony’s Orchard n.d., Wenatchee Valley. Web.
British Library n.d., Why is market research important for business ideas?. Web.
Cavugil, T, Knight, G, Riesenberger, J & Yaprak, A 2009 ‘Fundamentals of international marketing research’, in T Cavusgil, G Knight, J Riesenberger & A Yaprak (eds), Conducting marketing research for international business, Harvard Business Publishing, Boston, MA, pp. 35-53.
DeVault, G 2017, Descriptive market research. Web.
Kotler, P & Keller, K 2012, Marketing management (14th ed), Pearson, New York.
Victoria State Government 2013, Establishing a fruit or nut orchard. Web.