Wal-Mart: Marketing Research Design

Management decision problem and marketing research problem for the expansion strategy:

The marketing research will be a problem solving research for Wal-mart. There are some specific problems regarding the business strategy development for which the market research will be conducted. The problems can be divided into two categories, one is the management-decision making problem and another is marketing research problem.

Management decision problems: These are the specific problems faced by the mangers of the decision makers of the company for taking the efficient decisions for expanding the business of the company in the target market of Australia. The specific activities that need to be performed by the decisions makers of the company or the mangers are need to be selected at the initial level of developing the plan for new business strategy or marketing strategy (Wang and Mao 2012). These are action oriented problems. As the solution of these problems, the actions or specific activities of the managers should be get as the output of the market research.

In this case, the management decisions problems are:

• Should the supercenter concept will be useful in the Australian market?
• Should the promotional activities of the company be changed for the expansion in the new target market?
• Should the products be delivered in lower prices in the Australian market?
• What are the necessary steps to attract the customers in the competitive market of Australia?

Marketing research problems: These problems are wider range of problems for understanding the consumer preferences and intension of purchasing the products of the company. These are the information oriented problems for focusing in the underlying causes related to the expansion of the business of the company in the new target market in Australia (Thomas 2013). In this case, the marketing research problems will be as following:

• To understand the customers’ perception and requirements in the new target market
• To determine the effectiveness of the different types of promotional activities in the target market
• To understand the demands of the products of the company, the price elasticity and impact of the sales and profits associated with the different levels of price changing in the Australian market
• To determine the current status of the retail business and the specific requirements of the customers in the target market in Australia

Research Design:

There are six steps in designing a marketing research. The steps are selecting an approach, identification of the required information, collection of the data, analyzing the collected data, understanding the outcome of the research and using the outcomes in the development of the marketing strategy (Al 2013). The six steps are discussed in the following section.

Figure 1: Steps of marketing research developing

(Source: Brown and Stowers 2013)

Selection of an effective approach for the marketing research

This is the first step in which a proper approach have to be selected for conducting the marketing research for expanding the business of Wal-mart in the new target market of Australia. In this context, the idea about the alternative approaches and their effectiveness should be understood and then the effective one have to be selected based on the present situation of the company as well as the environment of the target market (Uprichard 2013).

There are three types of research approaches available for conducting the marketing research. Three option methodologies are conceivable in making an exploration outline. They are not fundamentally unrelated, but rather as a rule, the outline of an exploration arrangement is constrained to the utilization of one of the three. The principal methodology is the exploratory methodology (Chandra and Sharma 2013). This methodology requires that specific procedural guidelines must be taken after. Basically, the variable of interest, for example, value, message must be controlled and everybody partaking in the trial must have a known and equivalent possibility of being chosen (Bhadra 2012). In a business sector test, data identifying with the fundamental issue is gotten using a little scale reenacted program intended to test a particular exploration theory.

The second approach of conducting the marketing research is the historical approach. In this methodology, dependence is set on past encounters in looking for answers for marketing issues. This research approach actualities are applicable just to the extent that they can be anticipated into what's to come. Luckily, in numerous territories of advertising, this should be possible with a decent arrangement of certainty. Certain sorts of changes, for example, populaces and salary circulation, come to fruition rather gradually (Novikov and Novikov 2013). The everyday impact of these progressions on promoting is verging on vague. Projections of future populace, gross national item, and customer obtaining force are for all intents and purposes idiot proof. Chronicled investigations of such variables as purchaser conduct, aggressive offering strategies, and merchants' purchasing rehearses tend additionally to be genuinely solid pointers of future conduct by these same advertising segments (Cameron 2012).

The third approach that can be utilized as a part of outlining a promoting research arrangement is the survey approach. In the review approach, marketing data is gathered either from perception or by poll or meeting. As opposed to the exploratory and authentic strategies, in which the information is pretty much straightforwardly identified with the issue, this approach essentially includes significantly more subjectivity and instinct on the examination issue than the other two approaches (Salaberry and Comajoan 2013). Reaching inferences from either perceptions of conduct or from the conclusions offered by a respondent make vital insig;1ts. The overview technique is adaptable. It can be adjusted to an examination outline. Thus, and on account of the troubles in making promoting tests and in gathering related authentic information, the overview methodology is the frequently utilized as a part of advertising exploration (Somekh and Lewin 2011).

In this case, the survey and historical research approaches will be used for conducting the marketing research. The survey approach will be used for understanding the perceptions of the customers and historical approach will be used for understanding the environment of the Australian market. In this approach, the required information from the secondary resources available in the internet will be collected and used to fulfill the objectives of the marketing research (Chandra and Sharma 2013).

Information Identification

The consumer behavior, perception regarding the products and services of Wal-mart and the super center concepts, the price sensitivity of the target market and the competitive environment are the important information required for the market research.

Data collection

The data will be collected for the market research using the qualitative secondary data collection method from the research papers and available internet sources. Primary data will also be used in the market research; the quantitative primary data will be collected by conducting survey among the Australian population (Harrison and Reilly 2011).

Data Analysis

The data analysis will be done by using mathematical calculation for the quantitative  data and critical thinking will be applied to analyze the qualitative data (Mitchell and Jolley 2013).

Understanding

The findings of the market research will be understood by comparing  those with the theory and models of marketing strategy (Leedy and Ormrod 2013).

Using the understandings

Finally the marketing strategy of the company in the new target market in Australia will be developed by using the understanding through conducting  the market research.

Variables required to be investigated in the research study:

Consumer behavior: The investigation of shoppers or the consumers helps firms and associations enhance their advertising methodologies by comprehension issues, for example, how the brain research of how purchasers think, feel, reason, and select between various choices (e.g., brands, items, and retailers); the brain science of how the shopper is impacted by his or her surroundings (e.g., society, family, signs, media) (Solomon, Russell-Bennett and Previte 2013). The conduct of buyers while shopping or settling on other showcasing choices and confinements in customer learning or data preparing capacities impact choices and showcasing result is essential for developing a marketing strategy. How shopper inspiration and choice procedures contrast between items that vary in their level of significance or interest that they involve for the customer; and how advertisers can adjust and enhance their promoting effort and showcasing techniques to all the more adequately achieve the shopper (East, Wright and Vanhuele 2013).

One "authority" meaning of customer conduct is "The investigation of people, gatherings, or associations and the procedures they use to choose, secure, utilize, and discard items, administrations, encounters, or thoughts to fulfill needs and the effects that these procedures have on the shopper and society." Although it is not important to retain this definition, it raises some valuable focuses:

Conduct happens either for the individual, or with regards to a gathering (e.g., companions impact what sorts of garments a man wears) or an association (individuals at work settle on choices as to which items the firm ought to utilize) (Foxall 2014).

Behavior of the consumers includes the utilization and transfer of items and in addition the investigation of how they are bought. Item utilize is frequently of extraordinary enthusiasm to the advertiser, since this may impact how an item is best situated or how we can energize expanded utilization. Since numerous natural issues result from item transfer (e.g., engine oil being sent into sewage frameworks to spare the reusing charge, or refuse heaping up at landfills) this is additionally a region of interest (East, Wright and Vanhuele 2013).

Consumer behavior includes administrations and thoughts and additionally substantial items. The effect of customer conduct on society is likewise of significance. For instance, forceful showcasing of high fat sustenance, or forceful promoting of simple credit, may have genuine repercussions for the national wellbeing and economy (Morgan, Katsikeas and Vorhies 2012).

Price Sensitivity: Price sensitivity (additionally called the value versatility of interest) is the extent to which value influences the sales of an item or administration. f interest for an item changes a great deal when its value changes a bit, it's protected to say that buyers of that item are extremely value delicate. This frequently is the situation for items or administrations for which there are numerous choices or when the item is basically a product. Obviously, the inverse is likewise valid: if there is a little change popular when costs change a considerable measure, the item is said to be less value touchy, or inelastic (East, Wright and Vanhuele 2013). This is frequently the case for items and administrations that individuals consider necessities and will buy at any cost. The nearness of couple of good substitutes, the riches and pay of the buyer, and client reliability are likewise calculates. Sooner or later, in any case, there is a cost at which interest for any great or administration will tumble to zero or close to zero (Berthon et al. 2012).

The formula of calculating the price sensitivity is:

“Price Sensitivity = % Change in Quantity Purchased / % Change in Price”.

Customer perception regarding the company: It applies the idea of tangible discernment to promoting and publicizing. Pretty much as tangible discernment identifies with how people see and process tactile boosts through their five detects, buyer observation relates to how people structure sentiments about organizations and the stock they offer through the buys they make. Vendors apply buyer discernment hypothesis to decide how their clients see them. They likewise utilize shopper observation hypothesis to create showcasing and publicizing procedures proposed to hold current clients - and draw in new ones (East, Wright and Vanhuele 2013). While mass merchandisers, for example, Wal-Mart underscore low costs as an inborn ethicalness, upscale shippers endeavor to underline quality and worth for cash to speak to potential clients. Analysts at the School of Business Administration at LaSalle University and LeBow College of Business at Drexel University considered a few elements, including value discernment - whether buyers trusted they were being charged reasonable costs - in figuring out if online customers would make rehash buys through the same site (Menon et al. 2015). The analysts reasoned that value observation emphatically affected whether clients were fulfilled by their buys and whether they would make future buys.

Two components that formed value observation were the apparent nature of the stock or administration being referred to and value examinations with shippers offering comparable stock or administrations. "It's great, and it's beneficial for you." Many buyers are acquainted with this expression often connected with sustenance promoting. Analysts from Marquette University, Louisiana State University and the University of Arkansas overviewed clients to decide how sustenance claims connected with nourishment influenced their view of that sustenance's healthful worth (Morgan, Katsikeas and Vorhies 2012). The specialists observed that purchasers tend to reject general, unsupported cases of improved sustenance, particularly concerning high wholesome quality for nourishments that are customarily seen as undesirable. The specialists likewise estimated that customers would exhibit a pattern toward applying more examination to sustenance guarantees and would request more particular data about the nourishments they buy.

Situation of the target market and competition: The target market and competitor analysis is associated with a perspective of best practices to guide system and outline choices, benchmarking of the brand and client experience execution against the contenders. A comprehension of the business sector from a client experience perspective is also done in this stage. Target market examination ordinarily takes after our serious business prerequisites gathering process, where the business associations remove the abundance of industry information you have inside (Berthon et al. 2012). At that point perform master benchmarking and examinations of current levels of computerized client experience over the appropriate stages are finished. At that point the organization ought to likewise look at the commercial center, contenders, potential clients and outside powers changing your aggressive surroundings. The organizations for the most part do target business sector and contender examination before we lead up close and personal exploration with your clients (Solomon, Russell-Bennett and Previte 2013). A decent comprehension of the segment the business association work in, and the contenders, will create beginning thoughts for business open doors which the organization can investigate further through top to bottom client research.

Qualitative Research:

The method of qualitative research work has its capacity to give complex literary portrayals of how individuals encounter a given exploration issue. It gives data about the "human" side of an issue – that is, the frequently conflicting practices, convictions, assessments, feelings, and connections of people. Subjective strategies are additionally powerful in distinguishing elusive components, for example, social standards, financial status, sexual orientation parts, ethnicity, and religion, whose part in the examination issue may not be promptly obvious (Klassen et al. 2012). At the point when utilized alongside quantitative strategies, subjective exploration can help us to decipher and better comprehend the intricate reality of a given circumstance and the ramifications of quantitative information.

In spite of the fact that discoveries from subjective information can frequently be reached out to individuals with attributes like those in the study populace, picking up a rich and complex comprehension of a particular social connection or marvel normally outweighs evoking information that can be summed up to other geological ranges or populaces. In this sense, subjective exploration contrasts somewhat from experimental examination by and in large context (Harrison and Reilly 2011).

The qualitative research work may be done using both the primary and secondary data of a research study. The different types of methods used in the qualitative primary research works are discussed in the section below. The three most basic subjective strategies, clarified in point of interest in their separate modules, are member perception, inside and out meetings, and center gatherings. Every technique is especially suited for getting a particular sort of information (Creswell et al. 2013).

• Participant perception is fitting for gathering information on actually happening practices in their standard connections.
• Inside and out meetings are ideal for gathering information on people's close to home histories, viewpoints, and encounters, especially when delicate points are being investigated.
• Focus groups are successful in evoking information on the social standards of a gathering and in creating wide diagrams of issues of worry to the social gatherings or subgroups spoke to (Eaton 2013).

However, in this market research, these methods are not suitable for gathering the qualitative data. The qualitative data can also be gathered through the secondary resources. The information regarding the Australian market will be gathered through the collecting the qualitative data available in the internet resources or previous research papers.

Quantitative Research (Survey):

Online survey will be used for gathering the quantitative data of the market research. A questionnaire will be developed for collecting the feedbacks from the people of Australia, who are the target market for the new expansion of Wal-mart. The questionnaire will be send to the common people of the country who will be selected randomly through the e-mail. They will fill the online survey forms and the responses will be gathered by the researcher as the quantitative data which will be actually the number of given responses by the respondents in each of the questions’ options (Gornall 2011). The questions of the survey will have some alternative options. The respondents will just click on the choice of them and the data will be stored at the server of the company.

Questionnaire for Survey:

Please select your gender

• Male
• Female
• Please select your age group

21-30 years

• 31-40 years
• 41-50 years
• Above 50 years

Please select your level of agreement (out of five)

You are satisfied with product and services of the available retailers

1

2

3

4

5

You like the concept of supercenters

1

2

3

4

5

You like to shop the basic home requirements from the super centers

1

2

3

4

5

You like to buy the luxury products from the super centers

1

2

3

4

5

You are attracted to the specialty shops of the supermarkets

1

2

3

4

5

You prefer lower prices of the daily required products

1

2

3

4

5

You are happy with the customer services of the existing retail industries

1

2

3

4

5

You are aware about the product and services of Wal-mart

1

2

3

4

5

You will be glad to have exciting offers and services from Wal-mart

1

2

3

4

5

Sampling plan:

Sampling is the procedure of selecting a number of populations among the whole population available in the area of research study. According to Marjanovic (2016), the greater sample size is the cause of better result of the research study. Depending on the types of research and available populations in the research area, the method of sampling should be selected for getting the superior result. There are two types of sampling methods for selecting the sample population for the survey among the target population (Alvesson and Sandberg 2013). The two methods are probability sampling method and non-probability sampling method.

In the probability sampling method, the population is selected without giving any precedence to any of the target population. Each of the object or  people of the whole target population is get the same level of priority for getting selected for the research study. Some population among the whole is selected randomly using the methods of probability theory (Brown and Stowers 2013). On the other hand, the non-probability sampling method is the process of selected an amount of target population by the choice of the people who are conducting the research. Here the sample population is selected on the basis of some specific criteria.

In this case, the research study is about the understanding of the perception of the people of Australia regarding the business expansion of Wal-Mart. In this particular research study, the sample population should be selected without giving any precedence to anybody (Silverman, 2016). Therefore, the sample selection of this market research will be done by using the probability sampling technique. The random selection process of the probability theory will be used for this market research (Ahram 2011). Some of the common people of Australia will be selected as the sample population of the survey that will be conducted among them for understanding their viewpoints regarding the company, their requirements and the expectations from the company.

Conclusion:

This paper was about the strategy development for conducting a market research before developing a marketing strategy for expanding the business of Wal-mart in the Australian market. The strategy developed for the market research will help the company to understand the present situation of the target market, the perception of the target customers about the product and services of the company. The research approach, data collection procedure all have been discussed in this paper. A questionnaire also has been designed in this paper which will be used for gathering the quantitative data of the market research. The method discussed in this paper is developed by considering the specific requirements of the company for the expansion of its business. The questionnaires will be distributed among the common people of the country by e-mail. The online survey will help the company to gather the data in both the time and cost effective way. After the conducting the market research, the company will be able to use the outcome of the research in developing the best suitable marketing and business strategy for the new business in the Australian market.

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