Research Proposal
The proposed research is focused on the investigation of the company Soft Drinks S.A and its failure to capture the expected market share by its new product. The need for the given research is justified by several factors. First of all, the inability of soft drinks to attract clients results in substantial financial losses, which might result in the company’s collapse. Second, low sales of a new beverage might indicate the existence of crucial problems in the company’s functioning, its main operations such as market analysis, promotion, and distribution. For this reason, the study of the given question can help to acquire data useful for the initiation of the change process and improvement of the firm’s results.
The major problem that should be researched is the inability of a new soft drink to demonstrate the desired level of sales and customer interest. It is defined that brand awareness, brand image, and product positioning can be taken as the three major factors that preconditioned the emergence of undesired outcomes and the lack of planned income. For this reason, the research should be focused on the analysis of these three aspects with the primary goal to determine the leading causes and conclude about measures that can be employed in the future to avoid similar results when launching a new product line.
To ensure the in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the problem, the following objectives are also formulated:
- Identify customers’ attitudes to the new product
- Determine clients’ attitude to the brand
- Research demands of the target audience
- Collect customers’ feedback about the product’s taste
Adherence to these objectives is vital for the research project as it will help to collect relevant information and conclude about the impact of these factors on sales, outcomes, and the future of the company. At the same time, these objectives introduce the framework for the investigation and guarantee that all essential aspects will be considered.
The existing issue and objectives impact the formulation of the research hypotheses that will help to select the appropriate methodology, analyze the problem from different perspectives, and conclude about real causes of failures. Regarding the information mentioned above, two hypotheses are formulated:
- Insufficient promotional activities preconditioned the firm’s inability to increase brand awareness among the targeted audience and create a positive brand image
- Poor analysis of the target audience, its demands, and the market resulted in critical problems with product positioning and its taste.
The introduction of these hypotheses also means the choice of the descriptive study design as it is vital to describe the selected variables and determine their impact on the functioning of the company.
The accuracy of the information and its relevance is fundamental for the proposed research project. For this reason, primary data should be employed as the central source of knowledge (Cooper and Schindler, 2013). The correct analysis of the product’s failure is possible only if the feedback of the target audience is evaluated. It is vital to develop an effective research design that will help to collect information about the product and factors that are associated with it. There are dependent and independent variables demanded to determine the correlation between the investigated factors (Cooper and Schindler, 2013). Thus, the brand’s image, awareness, and taste of products are independent variables as they are used to explain the outcome that can be observed. At the same time, the customer’s attitude to the beverage is a dependent variable as it is impacted by the factors mentioned above.
Regarding the nature of the research and the need for primary data, the survey can be considered the central data collection tool that helps to conduct qualitative research. First, it can help to acquire up-to-date information about clients’ preferences, expectations, and attitudes to the presented product (DeVellis, 2016). Second, it can be easily distributed among the target audience by using e-mails or other ways that are convenient for participants (Cooper and Schindler, 2013). Finally, surveys are known as sufficient data collection tools that can help to create the basis for the research and conclude about the investigated variables. For this reason, the choice of this approach is justified by the purpose of the study and its objectives.
The approach to the selection of the participants of the research should consider some leading factors. First, all individuals should belong to the target audience, as it is critical to understand the primary causes of the product’s failure (DeVellis, 2016). Additionally, the demographics should possess the desired buying capacity. It is also vital to ensure that the appropriate age group is selected for the research. For this reason, a specific approach to sampling should be chosen as it is a key to the improved data collection and formulation of relevant outcomes, which is vital for the proposed study.
The planned outcomes presuppose that tanimproved understanding of the basic causes for the deterioration of the situation and failure of the product will be acquired. Due to the collection of primary data, the company will be able to create a plan to introduce a positive change and ensure that no similar problems will emerge in the future. Additionally, the project can help the company to focus its efforts on activities that are vital for this survival and improved work such as promotion and analysis of clients’ feedback (Kotler and Keller, 2015). For this reason, the project can be considered an essential step towards the creation of a new business environment beneficial for higher sales.
Because the project presupposes the involvement of individuals, it is vital to observe the ethical code. Their participation should be voluntary, which means that all testees should provide their informed consent and be ready to give their personal information (Cooper and Schindler, 2013). Additionally, they should be guaranteed the anonymity and confidentiality of all data pieces they give. It will help to avoid ethical claims and problems.
Altogether, the given project aims at the generation of an improved understanding of the basic causes for the product’s failure. It can be achieved by collecting data from participants and its analysis to determine if brand awareness, image, and poor taste are vital for the discussed outcomes.
Sampling
The primary goal of the proposed study is the analysis of the product and its failure, which means that there is a need for an in-depth investigation of the target audience. It will help to collect information about attitudes, preferences, and features that should be present in the product to guarantee its success and high sales. For this reason, there is a need for an effective sampling design to include customers who can provide relevant and accurate data and create the basis for the research. The nature of the project also presupposes that populations with specific features should be inincluded
Every brand has its target audience that possesses its unique characteristics that are employed to popularize products and guarantee a high level of interest towards the existing or new offerings. For Soft Drinks S.A., it is critical to determine the leading reasons why its potential clients are not interested in a fresh beverage. It means that non-probability, purposive sampling can be employed as a sufficient approach to selecting participants of the research (Cooper and Schindler, 2013). First, it will help to take a group that is most useful for the study and acquire detailed knowledge about the phenomena under investigation (Cooper and Schindler, 2013). Second, the employment of this model will generate a better understanding of the basic demands of the target audience and introduce appropriate changes to ensure that future promotional activities will be able to affect individuals and trigger a high level of interest in the proposed product (Patten and Newhart, 2017). In such a way, non-probability, purposive sampling is selected as the approach for selecting participants.
The sample size is also determined by several factors. It is fundamental to ensure that the number of individuals is sufficient to analyze the problem and create the theoretical framework for its discussion. At the same time, the inclusion of too many participants might contribute to the appearance of unnecessary sophistication and complexity of the research and corruption of final data. For this reason, it is recommended to distribute surveys among 50 testees as it will be enough to acquire an improved understanding of the current problem and either prove or refute the hypotheses formulated above. The population under study should possess all characteristics peculiar to the target audience of Soft Drinks S.A. It means that their age, buying capacity, and behavior, along with the preftheirnces, should be considered by the company when designing promotional activities and products. It means that there are strict demands to age range, income level, and preferences.
Altogether, the proposed approach to sampling is justified by the fact that it will help to align the effective data collection procedure and avoid corrupted or biased data. At the same time, the employment of this paradigm can help to analyze the problem from various perspectives and conclude about the importance of such factors as brand awareness, image, and product taste, and their impact on the failure of the discussed product.
Data Analysis Plan
The correct analysis of acquired data is vital for formulating conclusions and outlining the basic causes of the products’ failure. For this reason, it is required to select an effective approach to processing data and its systematization to avoid critical failures or the use of corrupted information that might precondition new fatal errors in the future. Regarding the proposed research project, it is fundamental to determine the correlation between independent and dependent variables and provide recommendations towards the improvement of outcomes resting on knowledge generated in the course of research.
As it has been stated previously, the selected research paradigm presupposes the existence of two basic variables. The independent variable includes the brand’s image, awareness, and taste of products as they cannot be altered at the moment and affect outcomes. The customers’ attitudes and choices are dependent variabvariablesey are impacted by the discussed features. The designed survey tends to collect data about the influence of these activities on the mentality of clients, their behaviors, and readiness to buy the new product offered by the company. The data collection tool follows the research objectives and contains groups of questions related to the proposed hypotheses, as it is vital to acquire information that can either prove or refute them.
Prior to processing data and its discussion, it is vital to structure all answers and categorize them. The major domains might include the attitude to the brand, the effectiveness of the promotional campaign, and the quality and features of the product that failed to become popular among the target audience. The given division is important for the analysis of the selected issue as the first assumption presupposes that three areas were central in the product’s failure and its inability to achieve the desired level of sales (Patten and Newhart, 2017). For this reason, by using this approach to structuring, it is possible to determine the impact of all these features and discuss them separately.
The existence of several independent and one dependent variables justifies the use of the regression analysis as one of the possible approaches. It helps to reveal the impact of a certain factor on another one and determine its behavior. One of the benefits of this method is the ability to visualize the change and prove the existence of specific relations between the investigated aspects (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, and Jackson, 2018). For this reason, answers provided by clients can be processed by using this approach to determine how the problems in one of the mentioned domains contributed to the establishment of the environment negative for the product and its further sales.
The data acquired due to the implementation of regression analysis can be presented by using graphs to demonstrate the existence of the correlation between the mentioned factors and how they impact the attitude to the product. At the same time, it is possible to use tables to represent data in more understandable ways and structure it to improve readers’ comprehension (DeVellis, 2016). It will also help to discuss the selected features and conclude about their importance for the promotion and sales of the product.
Altogether, the selected approach to data analysis can be considered an effective method to process all information acquired via surveys. The outcomes of the study and project depend on the selection of the appropriate data collection and analysis tool. For this reason, the employment of regression analysis to structure and present data seems a sufficient option as it will provide the basis for further discussion and creation of recommendations for the company to avoid similar problems in the future and guarantee that new products will be met by the audience positively.
References
Cooper, D. and Schindler, P. (2013). Business research methods. 12thandn. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
DeVellis, R. (2016). Scale development: theory and applications. 4th edn.Thousandn Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd.
Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R. and Jackson, P. (2018). Management and business research. 6th and. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd.
Kotler, P. and Keller, K. (2015) Marketing management. New York, NY: Pearson.
Patten, M. and Newhart, M. (2017) Understanding research methods: an overview of the essentials. 10th and. London: Routledge.