marketing research study on the potential of a new smartphone/tablet app

Final PresentationTeam “App”

Molly BowmanRyan CoddLisa Gonia

Laila HosseiniKarlin Reiter

Syllabust

• Organizational smartphone/tablet application– Downloaded from device’s market

• Sync and integrate students’ course syllabi into their smartphone/tablet

• Allows students to have all project deadlines, exam and homework due dates from every class compiled into one, portable unit

Purpose of Study:Management Decision Problem

• Should we develop this app?– Demand?– Benefits outweigh costs?

Purpose of Study: Marketing Research Problem

• Is there a target market for this type of app?– If so, who?– Organized vs. unorganized

Survey Method: Online Survey

• Ease of Implementation– Lundquist class e-mail lists

• Cost Efficiency– Free

• High Response Rate• Speed of Results

Formulating the Questionnaire

• Organization– Determine a need for

Syllabust• Technology– Determine demand for

Syllabust• Direct Questioning– Determine level of

interest and a realistic price point

Target Market• Students at the University of Oregon who:– Have trouble with organization and remembering

due dates, assignments, exams, etc.– Currently own a smartphone and/or tablet or plan

on purchasing one in the next 6 months

Population

• University of Oregon student body• Population Size: N = 24,447 (Fall 2011)

Sampling Method

• Convenience sample• E-mail sent to all students in each of our

classes– No classes were repeated

Sampling Frame

• Personal e-mails• Class e-mail list

Sample Representativeness

• Will our sample represent the population?– Although our sample does not appear to be very

representative of our population since we sent the survey to mostly business classes, most students, regardless of their major, share similar study/organizational habits that could be assisted greatly with our app

– Targeted sample size: 200– Actual sample size: 132

• Data Collected between February 15 and March 6

Sample Information

Response Rate

• Sample Frame: 900 students• Number of Responses: 132• Response Rate: 14.67%

• High rate giving us enough data to make conclusions

Data Analysis

Howimportant do you think organization is to your

academic success?

During a typical week, how many assignments/academic responsibilities do you

have trouble remembering?

What is your primary method for organizing academic due dates and responsibilities?

Do you own a Smartphone or tablet?

Do you plan on getting a Smartphone and/or tablet in the next 6 months?

In a month, how often do you check for new apps on your smart phone and/or tablet?

In a month, how often do you download new apps on your smart phone and/or tablet?

Would you be interested in an app that automatically syncs your academic due-dates

and responsibilities from your course’s syllabus to your smart phone and/or tablet?

Would you be willing to pay for this app?

What is the most you would be willing to pay for this app?

Range Number of Responses

$0.01-$0.99 7

$1.00-1.99 5

$2.00-2.99 5

$3.00-3.99 7

$4.000-4.99 3

$5.00+ 10

Cross-Tabulation

We ran a test for the difference in proportions and discovered that people who forget 1-2 assignments are more likely to be willing to pay for our app than people who don’t forget assignments.

Overall

• Successfully able to divide & interpret our sample based on our demographics:– Organized vs. unorganized– Owners of tablets/smartphones vs. non-owners

• Provide support for the development of our app:– Interest > non-interest

Conclusions

• Enough students own smartphones to make the app feasible– 84% of students sampled

• Level of Disorganization– 44% of students are completely organized– 49% of students forget 1-2 assignments per week– 7% forget 3 or more– These students could possibly benefit from an

organizational medium not currently available

Conclusions (cont.)• Students interested in an app such as

Syllabust?– 61% very interested– 22% somewhat interested– Clearly, the interest is apparent

• Would Students Pay for App?– 59% no– 41% yes• Most students would pay $4.00+

Recommendation

• We recommend developing the app• Given roughly even divide on pricing, offer

two versions– Free Version• Only syncs two syllabi per user• Runs with advertisements

– Premium Version ($3.49)• Sync unlimited syllabi per user• No advertisements