28 Jun MARKETING RESEARCH
Marketing Research
On completion of this module, the student should be able to:
Knowledge and Understanding:
1. Identify marketing information requirements of organisations and plan to identify, select, and apply appropriate marketing research tools to specific situations and contexts.
2. Explain the use of marketing research data, relevant legal, ethical, and its contribution to the marketing information system (MKIS).
3. Evaluate different qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and data analysis techniques to different research situations.
4. Interpret quantitative and qualitative data and to present meaningful recommendations that leads to effective marketing decisions.
5. Define a research project and set out a strategy for managing the marketing research process in order to realise marketing objectives.
Part A: Essay
Marketing research is an integral part of marketing. The task of marketing research is to assess the information needs and provide management with relevant, accurate, reliable, valid, and current information to aid marketing decisions making. Companies use marketing research to stay competitive and avoid the high costs associated with making poor decisions based on unsound information.
Required:
You are expected to critically address the following issues:
1. Critically comment on the statement “marketing research is an avoidable expense in every business”. Do you agree why or why not?
2. Is this statement “Primary data is as important as secondary data” valid?
3. From what sources can we gain access to secondary data internal versus external?
4. In what aspects does technology impact on the use of both primary and secondary data?
Part B: Case Study “The Mooncake Market”
The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Chinese festivals. Celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival is strongly associated with the legend of Houyi and Change, the Moon Goddess of Immortality. Tradition places these two figures from Chinese mythology at around 2,200 BC, during the reign of the legendary Emperor Yao, shortly after that of Huangdi. Unlike many lunar deities in other cultures who personify the moon, Change simply lives on the moon (not the moon per se) but the Moon Palace. According to tradition, the Jade Rabbit pounds medicine, together with Change, for the gods. But all these legends had become burst when the USA Astronaut Neil Armstrong, taking the Apollo 11 spaceship, landed on the Moon on 20 July 1969.
In Chinese tradition, family members and friends will gather in three continuous nights, to welcome the full moon on the day before Mid-Autumn Festival, to admire the bright mid-autumn harvest moon in Mid-Autumn Festival, and say goodbye to the full moon on the night following Mid-Autumn Festival.
Mooncake is a Chinese bakery product traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The festival is for lunar worship and moon watching; mooncakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy on this occasion. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival.
Typical mooncakes are round or rectangular pastries, measuring about 10 cm in diameter and 5 cm thick. Most mooncakes consist of a thin tender skin enveloping a sweet, dense filling. The mooncake may contain one or more whole salted egg yolks in its centre to symbolize the full moon. Mooncakes are usually eaten in small wedges accompanied by Chinese tea. Today, it is customary for businessmen and families to present them to their clients or relatives as presents, helping to fuel a demand for high-end mooncake styles. Although uncertain, moon cake calorie intake can vary by the filling and size with many other variations. The average mooncake is within the calorie range of 800 to 1,200.
Mooncakes are considered a delicacy; production is labor-intensive and few people make them at home. Hence, most prefer to buy them from commercial outlets, which may range from smaller individual bakery shops to high-end restaurants. The price of mooncakes usually ranges from HK$100 to HK$300 for a box of four (although more expensive mooncakes can also be found).
Many types of fillings can be found in traditional mooncakes according to the regions culture. Lotus seed paste is considered by some to be the original and most luxurious mooncake filling, lotus paste filling is found in all types of mooncakes. Sweet bean paste (particularly red bean paste) is the most common filling worldwide. Five kernels is a filling consisting of 5 types of nuts and seeds, coarsely chopped and held together with maltose syrup. Recipes differ from region to region, but commonly used nuts and seeds include: walnuts, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, peanuts, sesame, or almonds. In addition, the mixture will usually contain candied winter melon, jinhua ham, or pieces of rock sugar as additional flavoring.
Over time, both the crusts and the composition of the fillings of mooncakes have diversified, in particular due to a commercial need to drive up sales in the face of intense competition between producers and from other food types. Part of these trends are also to cater to changing taste preferences, and because people are more health-conscious. Most of these contemporary styles were therefore especially prominent amongst the cosmopolitan and younger Chinese and amongst the Overseas Chinese community, although traditional mooncakes are often times sold alongside contemporary ones to cater to individual preferences.
Some of the earliest forms of diversification were by changing the fillings with ingredients considered unusual then. Taro paste, pineapple and durian were amongst the first to be introduced, especially amongst the overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. The crust itself also evolved, particularly with the introduction of “snowskin mooncakes”. Miniature mooncakes also appeared, in part to allow for easier individual consumption without the need to cut the large cakes.
To adapt to todays health-conscious lifestyle, fat-free mooncakes also appeared. Some are made of yogurt, jelly, and fat-free ice-cream. Even high-fibre low-sugar mooncakes have made their appearance. Customers pick and choose the size and filling of mooncakes that suits their taste and diet. For added hygiene, each cake is often wrapped in airtight plastic, accompanied by a tiny food preserver packet.
Contemporary-style mooncakes, while increasingly popular, have their detractors. Pricey ingredients have pushed up prices, causing worry of a “mooncake bubble” forming in China. Food critics sometimes point out that “chocolate mooncakes” are in reality just chocolate shaped into mooncakes, and not mooncakes made of chocolate, while others complain that food chains appear intent on coming up with exotic flavors to take advantage of the market, without much thought for how well the tastes fuse together.
Fillings in contemporary style mooncakes has diversified to include just about anything which can be made into a paste. Mooncakes containing taro paste and pineapple, which were considered novelty items at their time of invention have in recent years become commonplace items. In addition, filling with ingredients such as coffee, chocolate, nuts (walnuts, mixed nuts, etc.), fruits (prunes, pineapples, melons, lychees etc.), vegetables (sweet potatoes, etc.), and even ham have been added to give a modern twist to the traditional recipes. It is also increasingly popular to change the base of the paste to a custard-style.
Some other examples include cream cheese, chicken floss, tiramisu, green tea, pandan, durian, ice cream (variety of flavors) , coffee, and peanut.
Some bakeries and restaurants have attempted to go up-market, often times with excellent results. Gold-plated mooncakes were popular when they first appeared. Traditional Chinese delicacies such as ginseng and birds nest were soon followed by abalone and shark fin. Foreign food companies have also tried to cash in. Haagen-Dazs were one of the first to create an ice-cream mooncake, with a choice of either the traditional, snow-skin, or Belgian white, milk, and dark chocolate crusts. Other ice-cream and restaurant chains like Movenpick soon followed up with their own versions. Other Western ingredients, including champagne ganache, malt whisky, volcanic-salt caramel and even black truffles, caviar and foie gras has made it into mooncakes.
Snowy mooncakes, introduced by Taipan Cake Shop, first appeared on the Hong Kong market in the early 2000s. These non-baked, chilled mooncakes usually come with two types of crusts: glutinous rice (a crust with texture similar to that of a mochi). These moon cakes are known colloquially as “snowskin mooncakes” or “ice-skin mooncakes”. Another variation is jelly (a crust made of gelling mixtures such as agar, gelatin, or konjac and flavored with a wide variety of fruit flavorings).
Critically address the following issues:
1. In what ways can marketing research help a food catering chain (like Maxims, or your favorite food store) formulate sound mooncake marketing strategies?
2. Contemplating to expand on the mooncake business in Hong Kong, define the management decision problem followed by an appropriate marketing research problem so facing your favorite food store.
3. Justify an appropriate research design for investigating the marketing research problem you so defined in Question 2.
4. How can qualitative research help your favorite food store gain market share in the Hong Kong mooncakes industry?
Our website has a team of professional writers who can help you write any of your homework. They will write your papers from scratch. We also have a team of editors just to make sure all papers are of HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE. To make an Order you only need to click Ask A Question and we will direct you to our Order Page at WriteDemy. Then fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.
Fill in all the assignment paper details that are required in the order form with the standard information being the page count, deadline, academic level and type of paper. It is advisable to have this information at hand so that you can quickly fill in the necessary information needed in the form for the essay writer to be immediately assigned to your writing project. Make payment for the custom essay order to enable us to assign a suitable writer to your order. Payments are made through Paypal on a secured billing page. Finally, sit back and relax.
About Writedemy
We are a professional paper writing website. If you have searched a question and bumped into our website just know you are in the right place to get help in your coursework. We offer HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE Papers.
How It Works
To make an Order you only need to click on “Order Now” and we will direct you to our Order Page. Fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.
Are there Discounts?
All new clients are eligible for 20% off in their first Order. Our payment method is safe and secure.