Marketing Research Paper
The marketing research problem focuses on a marketing plan for Advanced Automobile
Concept (AAC). This is from case 3.2 found in chapter three of our text. AAC is a new division
formed from th
...
Marketing Research Paper
The marketing research problem focuses on a marketing plan for Advanced Automobile
Concept (AAC). This is from case 3.2 found in chapter three of our text. AAC is a new division
formed from the automobile manufacturer Zen Motors, which is based in the United States and
manufactures its vehicles internationally. Several automobile divisions already exist for this
company. With the decline of sales and the loss of market shares to their competitors, Zen
decided to create a new division to revive their aging brands, so the Advanced automobile
Concept (AAC) division was created. The new division was faced with the idea of re-engineering
the existing automobile that Zen is marketing or developing a new model to push them ahead of
their competitors.
Need for Marketing Research
The primary reason for conducting market research is to gather information about the
product's consumers and competitors. Gathering information about the customer's needs and
what strategies competitors are using will enable AAC to make an automobile that the customer
is looking for and become more competitive with other manufacturers. This will also help AAC
to make informed decisions on new technology and the growth of the company. With changing
market trends, the AAC is concerned with vehicles that will be smaller and fuel-efficient, global
warming and how the consumer will react to the cars' exhaust, and what effect it will have on
global warming. The research will provide important information using the 4ps: product, price,
place, and promotion, which will be used in designing an earth-friendly vehicle.
With this research, AAC will implement strategies that are going to put them ahead of the
competitors. The company will be able to build an automobile based on the findings of their
customers' needs and preferences. AAC will learn what their competitors are using strategies.
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This will help develop a more competitive vehicle with methods to lower the price and
manufacture an auto that is more fuel-efficient or even electric-based on the consumer's wants
and needs. The AAC will also be able to have effective promotion strategies to attract new
customers to their brand. AAC will guide their marketing actions by identifying market
opportunities and problems.
Marketing Research Problems
With the Zen corporation, the marketing problem that they face is either to revive the old
models that they have been producing or if it would be better for them to create new models that
would set the AAC ahead of their competitors. The company recognized their problem when they
started to lose their share of the market to competitors. AAC tends to address issues of global
warming by manufacturing fuel-efficient vehicles. The company conducting market research will
help identify the reason for losing their part of the market share and why the consumer is
purchasing automobiles from the competitor instead of Zen corporation. With this market
research being done, it would offer solutions to these problems and have the benefit to increase
sales. The study would also include the ACC to determine if they should redesign the old models
or build a new model to improve their market share.
Research Objectives
When it comes to research objectives, they should be straightforward, easy to measure
progress within the company's ability in a specified period.
The AAC marketing research objectives include:
Gathering information about the market that will help the AAC with their marketing
plan.
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To determine if there is a need for a new vehicle or vehicles or redesigning the old model
would be better.
To keep curtain customers and explore new markets for the cars offered by AAC and Zen
motors.
To identify the external forces that may influence AAC operations like government
regulations and policies, foreign markets, and competitors.
Make better marketing strategies for the promotion and pricing of AAC products.
To understand what the customer's needs are and their preferences about the automobile
offered by AAC and their services.
Developing better strategies for the market than those of AAC's competitors.
Research Design
There are three types of research design they include exploratory, descriptive, and causal.
The choice of the most appropriate design depends mainly on the objectives of the research.
(Burns & Bush 2012) Experimental research is research that is used to find out background
information on the research problem. Descriptive research is undertaken to describe answers to
who, what, where, when, and how. (Burns & Bush, 2012) Two descriptive research studies used
for descriptive research they are Cross-sectional studies and longitudinal studies. Cross-sectional
studies use sample surveys to draw samples of a specific population. Longitudinal studies use
panels to represent sample units that agree to answer questions at periodic intervals. (Burns &
Bush, 2012) The last of the three research designs is causal research," this determines causality.
Causality may be thought of as understanding a phenomenon in terms of conditional statements.
(Burns & Bush, 2012) This is done to test the hypotheses and explain the relationships between
variables.
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After learning about the exploratory study design, it would be best for ACC to use this
research design method to determine why consumers are not purchasing vehicles from ZEN
automobiles. This would also help to see what strategies the competitors are using to have a
competitive advantage over the company. Using this method will allow for the person
researching to understand the problems better and look for a solution to correct them. The other
form of research design that could be used to help with the issues is descriptive research. This
could help to find out how the consumer feels about purchasing fuel-efficient vehicles. The
researcher should figure out the number of consumers they would interview and which questions
they should ask. These questions should be open-ended so that the consumer is not leading to
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