8/3/2019 Marketing Research-Assignment (MNIT)

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Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), JaipurDepartment of Management Studies

3rd Semester July - November 2011 (Batch 2010-12)Marketing Research Individual Assignment

The individual assignment should be typed in Times New Roman, 12 font size,

1.5 spacing (accompanied by cover page in uniform format) in no more than2000 words.

The submission deadline for the assignment is:0900hrs, Thursday, October 20, 2011.

A straight Fail grade - Fshall be awarded for submissions after the deadlinewithout prejudice.

Identify a code of ethics, or set of ethical principles, from one or more of thefollowing sources

A marketing research industry body A commercial marketing research organisation

An academic marketing research authorFor your assignment you need to briefly outline the ethical guidelines you haveidentified, and then discuss their implications with your choice of one scenariofrom each of the two boxes found as below (remember to clearly identify the twoscenarios you discuss in your assignment).

Choose one scenario from each box.Box 1: For either a or b, recommend a course of action for the researcher,and provide a justification for recommending that behaviour.

a) A marketing research firm is hired by a soft drink company to conduct tastetests to determine why its newly introduced soft drink brand has notcaptured the expected market share. During the preliminary backgroundresearch, the researcher determines that the problem is not one of taste butof image and product positioning. The client, however, has already definedthe problem as a taste problem and not as the broader, market-shareproblem. The researcher must also weigh the relatively high profit margin oftaste test research against the less lucrative survey research needed toanswer questions pertaining to soft drink image.

b) Prompted by an increasing incidence of homes for sale directly by the

owner, a national estate agent wants to undertake exploratory research todetermine what kind of image estate agents enjoy in several areas of thecountry. Unbeknownst to the current client, a similar research study wasundertaken for a competitor two years ago and, based on the findings,specific hypotheses have been formed about why some home owners arereluctant to sell their houses through estate agents.

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Box 2: For either a or b, discuss the ethical implications of conductingresearch in the way described and discuss who is responsible for ensuringthat research is conducted responsibly.

a) A national department store with a relatively sophisticated image is planningto open a store in an area inhabited by wealthy professionals. Themarketing research director of the company wants a detailed profile of theresidents characteristics and lifestyles to tailor the new store to the tastes ofthis lucrative new market. He suggests that you, a member of his staff,

contribute to the research effort by spending a month observing theresidents going about their daily affairs, such as eating in restaurants,shopping in other stores, socialising with one another and so on. You arethen to prepare a report on what types of expenditures support theirlifestyles.

b) As you supervise the sending out of a mail survey from a clients place ofbusiness, you notice some numbers printed on the inside of the returnenvelopes. You point out to the client that the cover letter promises surveyrespondents anonymity, which is not consistent with a policy of coding thereturn envelopes. She replies that she needs to identify those respondents

who have not replied so that she can send a follow-up mailing. She alsosuggests the information might be useful in the future in identifying thosewho might react favourably to a sales call for the product.