UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, MAURITIUS

Market Research
Marketing
Devesh Heeraman
Kushrajsingh Mungla
Nived
Tevishna Sunasee
Vesika Dhalliah

Our Market Research was carried out in Teleservices Ltd, which is a subsidiary
company of Mauritius Telecom. Our objective was to find out about the working
condition, job satisfaction mostly everything that connects the worker with its
work

Table of Contents
Market Research.2
Need for Market Research 3
Instrument of market Research

Quantitative Research Techniques

Sampling Methods

Secondary Research 9
The marketing research process 12
Problem Definition

13

Statistical Data Representation 14

Assignment on Market Research

Market Research
Market research is the process of collecting and analyzing data relating to demand
for a good or service in a specific market. It is a broad and far-reaching process. It
is concerned not just with finding out, as accurately as possible, whether consumers
will buy a particular product or not but also with attempting to analyze their
reaction to:

Different price levels

Alternative forms of promotion
Types of packaging
Preferred means of distribution

The results of market research can therefore have a great impact on decisions made
in all areas of the marketing process. Market research is itself a growth industry as
most research is undertaken by specialist agencies working for other businesses.
The questions that one may ask are:
Why are firms prepared to spend so much on market research?
To what specific purposes can the results of such research be put?

The need for research

To reduce the risks associated with new product launches
By investigating potential demand for a new product or service the business should
be able to access with some degree of accuracy the likely chances of a new product
achieving satisfactory sales. No research can guarantee success. However, in the
evaluation of market research section consider all of the reasons why market
research may give a misleading message about new product success chances.

To predict future changes

A travel firm may wish to wish to investigate social and other changes to see how
these might affect the demand for holidays in the future. For instance, the growth in
the number of single person households may suggest that there could be a rising
demand for singles- type holidays

To explain patterns in sales of existing products and market trends

Market research is not just undertaken for new or planned products. It needs to be
conducted for existing products for existing products too. Assuming a product sale
decreases, the owners will not be able to take any remedial action to stop the rot
unless the owners are prepared to find out.

Assignment on Market Research

 To access the most favoured designs, flavours, styles, promotions and package for a product
Consumer tests of different versions of a product or of the proposed adverts to
promote it will enable a business to focus on the aspects of design and performance
that consumers rate most highly. These can then be incorporated into the final
product.
Marketing research can therefore be used to discover information about:

Market size and consumer tastes and trends

The product and its perceived strengths and weakness
The promotion used and its effectiveness
Competitors and their claimed unique selling propositions
Distribution methods most preferred by consumers
Consumers preferences for packaging the product

Instrument of market research

1. Primary research
Primary research is defined as original data gathering from people within your target market.
They are called first-hand data as they are being collected by the organization for the first time for
its own needs. Primary or field research can itself be divided into quantitative and qualitative
research. The first category refers to finding out the number of consumers who might buy a product
and in what quantities. This is clearly important information but what often even more is revealing is
why consumers will or will not buy a particular product. Qualitative research is concerned with
discovering the motivational factors behind consumer buying habits. For example, quantitative
research might establish the size of the potential market for a new luxury ice-cream. But will
consumers buy it for its taste and the quality of its ingredients or because it will be promoted as a
life-style branded product that will reflect well on the consumers image of themselves? Only
qualitative research can establish the answer to the last question and it is important because it will
help the business in its pricing and promotional decisions for the new product.
1 (i) Qualitative research
The main technique of qualitative primary research is interviews with individual consumers or
groups of them. These in-depth discussions often undertaken by psychologists! will attempt to
identify the key factors influencing consumer choice. Different pricing levels and alternative
advertisements might be discussed with the consumers and their reactions will be noted and
analyzed. These focus groups of consumers are frequently used to assess a new car model. In one
such test, all distinguishing name signs on a new car were removed and consumers were asked for
their reaction to the design, shape and performance of the car. Initial results were very positive
until the consumers were told that it was a Skoda model, a manufacturer with a previously poor

Assignment on Market Research

reputation. The company knew that consumers would therefore be prepared to purchase the product
if they could successfully change the image of the company and its brand name.

1 (ii) Quantitative research techniques

1 Observation
Using this approach market researchers observe and record how consumers behave. They can
count the number of people or cars that pass a particular location in order to assess the best site for
a new business. Researchers can also observe people in shops to see how many look at a new
display or take a product from the shelves. A simple stock check can also be used to record sales
over a period of time. Results can be distorted, however, if people are aware of being watched and
behave differently because of this. Also, observation does not give researchers the opportunity to
ask for explanations of behaviour it only records what actually happens.
2 Test marketing
This can take place after a decision has been made to produce a limited quantity of a new
product but before a full-scale, national launch is made. It involves promoting and selling the
product in a limited geographical area and then recording consumer reactions and sales figures. To
be reasonably accurate the region selected must reflect as closely as possible the social and
consumer profiles of the rest of the country. In many countries with regional TV stations, one of
these regions is chosen as TV advertising can then be focused on just this one area. Test marketing
reduces the risks of a new product launch failing completely but the evidence is not always
completely accurate if the total population does not share the same characteristics and preferences
as the region selected.
3 Consumer surveys
These involve directly asking consumers or potential consumers for their opinions and
preferences. They can be used to obtain both qualitative and quantitative research. For example,
here are two questions asked in a recent survey of shoppers:
How many foreign holidays did you take last year? What do you look for in a ideal foreign
holiday?
The first question is designed to obtain quantitative data which can be presented graphically and
analyzed statistically. The second question is designed to find out the key qualitative features of a
holiday that would influence consumer choice.
There are four important issues for market researchers to be aware of when conducting
consumer surveys:

Assignment on Market Research

 Who to ask? Given that in most cases it is impossible or too expensive to survey all potential
members of a target market (called the survey population) it is necessary to select a sample from
this population. The more closely this sample reflects the characteristics of the survey population,
then the more accurate is the survey likely to be.
What to ask? The construction of an unbiased and unambiguous questionnaire is essential if
the survey is to obtain useful results.
How to ask? Should the questionnaire be self completed and returned by post or filled in by an
interviewer in a face-to-face session with the respondent? Could a telephone survey be conducted
instead?
How accurate is it? Assessing the likely accuracy and validity of the results is a crucial element
of market research surveys.
Who to ask? Sample size and sampling methods
Sample size Generally speaking, the larger the sample, the more confidence can be given to the
final results. In surveying consumer reaction to a new advertising campaign for a major brand of
chocolate, a sample of ten people is unlikely to be sufficient.
Try to work out why. The first ten people chosen might show a positive reaction to the new
advertisement. Yet another ten might show a majority with negative reactions. A sample of ten is
too small to be confident about the result, as chance variations could easily occur as a result of the
limited number of respondents chosen. A sample of 100 or even 1,000 wifi produce results that will
reflect much more accurately the total preferences of the whole survey population. There will be
much less risk of pure chance distorting the results. Obviously, a sample of 1,000 is more useful
than one of 100, especially if the questions were being focused on particular age or income groups.
Once a sample of 100 is broken down into, say, ten different age groups, and then there will only be
ten respondents from each age band. We have already stated that this is likely to be too few.
What prevents all primary research being based on a sample size of 1,000? Cost and time are the
two major constraints here the cost of research increases greatly with the sample size, especially
when a specialist firm of market research analysts is used. The results of a survey might be needed
quickly to assist managers in making rapid decisions a sample size of 1,000 will take much longer
to organize.
Sampling methods. There are several techniques of sampling:
I Random sampling
This method aims to ensure that each member of the survey population has an equal chance of
being selected for the sample. It requires an up-to-date sampling frame to be accurate a
sampling frame is a list of people included in the survey population. This is not the same as the total
population of the whole country. It would be very rare for a firm to wish to sample from the entire
population of a country from one day old to over a 100 years old! It refers instead to everyone in
the target survey population, so, for example, a manufacturer of camping equipment would only be

Assignment on Market Research

interested in those who go camping. From this survey population a list of names is drawn up and a
sample is selected randomly from the list. This can either be done by selecting every nth item in the
list (systematic random sampling) or electronically, by means of computer generated random
numbers. The interviewer will then call on the people selected possibly trying on more than one
occasion if they are not at home.
In Business Studies project assignments many students undertake market research and they
interview shoppers at the high street bus station at a certain time of day. This is often described as
being random sampling it is not. The sample selected in this way will not be representative
because car drivers will not be included and, if conducted during the working day, full-time workers
will be underrepresented. A random sample could instead be obtained by using the methods
described from a list of all voters, the electoral roll, or even a comprehensive street directory.
2 Stratified sampling
This method involves dividing the population into sub-groups and only sampling from those subgroups that are likely to be interested in the product in question. For example, a new magazine
aimed at 1216 year old girls. It would be pointless and time consuming to select samples from
groups other than this particular sub-group. Once the group has been identified, then the sample
can be selected by using either random of quota methods.
3 Quota sampling
By this method interviewees are selected according to the different proportions that certain
consumer groups make of the whole survey population. For instance, if it is already known that, out
of all
Consumers of denim jeans:
Male 65%
Female 35%
Age
1420 35%
2130 35%
3140 20%
Over 4110%
then the sample selected would conform to the same proportions. Therefore, if there was a sample
of 200 people, 130 would be male, 70 female, 70 between 14 and 20 years old, and so on. The
interviewer could then either obtain the quotas by questioning the right number of people in the
high street or, if a sampling frame was available, the respondents could be selected randomly up to
the quota for each group.

Assignment on Market Research

4 Cluster sampling
When a full sampling frame list is not available or when the product is mainly likely to appeal to
specified groups of consumers, for example town or regional newspapers, then cluster sampling will
take a sample from just this group not the whole population. Random methods can then be used
to select the sample from this group.
What to ask questionnaire design
It is not easy to write an effective questionnaire. The temptation is often to ask too many
questions in the hope of gaining every last scrap of information. Yet people may become suspicious
or bored with so many questions. Unless it is absolutely essential to know the names and precise
ages or income levels of respondents, these questions are best avoided as there will be reluctance
to answer them. One way around this is to group income levels together, such as:
Please indicate which of the following income levels you are in:
$10,000$20,000
$20,000$30,000 and so on.

Asking all open questions is not a good idea although questionnaires usually end with one of these.
These allow respondents to give their opinion, such as, What do you really think of Jupiter perfume?
The answers to these will be so varied in length and content that the results will be very difficult to
put together and to present statistically. A better option might be:
What most attracted you to buying Jupiter perfume?
Price
Packaging
Smell
Image
Widely available
As the design of the questionnaire will greatly influence the accuracy and usefulness of the
results it is advisable to undertake an initial pilot survey to test the quality of the questions. Other
principles to follow include:
make clear the objectives of the research so that questions can be focused on these;
write clear and unambiguous questions;
try to make sure that the questions follow each other in a logical sequence;

Assignment on Market Research

 avoid questions that seem to point to one particular answer;

use language that will be readily understood;
include some questions that will allow a classification of results by gender, area lived in,
occupation and so on.

How to ask? self-completed questionnaire or direct interview

Self-completed questionnaires are either sent through the post or filled in by the respondent
themselves on the spot, for example in a shop. Postal surveys are relatively cheap to send out, a
wide geographical area can be covered and there is no chance of bias from the interviewer creeping
in to distort results. However, the response rate to both these and other forms of self- completed
questionnaires is nearly always very poor, questions could easily be misunderstood and the sample
returned could be biased in favour of those respondents with the most spare time, for example the
retired.
Direct interviews are conducted by an interviewer, usually either in the street or in the
respondents home. Skilled interviewers will avoid bias in the way in which they ask questions, and
detailed questions can be explained to the interviewee. Follow-up questions can be asked if
required. This can be an expensive method but the interviewer will continue their work until the preset sample size has been reached whereas the response to postal questionnaires is always
uncertain.

How accurate is it?

Unfortunately, the reliability of primary data can often be called into question. There are
three main reasons why primary data may not be as reliable as hoped for.
1 Sampling bias.
The only really accurate method of primary research is to ask the entire target population.
We have already identified the time and cost constraints on this. Results from a sample may be
different from those that would have been obtained i the entire target population had been
questioned. This is called sampling bias. The less care that is take in selecting a sample, then the
greater the degree of statistical bias that will exist. Therefore, no one can be 100% confident that
sample results are really accurate. Statisticians often aim to achieve a 95% confidence level in
their results, which means that the results can be relied upon in 19 cases out of 20. Generally, the
larger the sample, the greater the chance that this 95% confidence level will be met.
2 Questionnaire bias.

Assignment on Market Research

This may occur when questions tend to lead respondents towards one particular answer
Because of this the results are not a completely accurate reflection of how people act or of what
they believe.
3 Other forms of bias.
These might include the respondent not answering in a very truthful way, perhaps because
he/she wishes not to admit to spending so much on CDs or clothes!

2. Secondary research
Secondary research is the use and analysis of data that already exist. These data were
originally collected by another organisation, often for a different purpose, and are often referred to
as second-hand data.
Which research methods should be used first by a business undertaking marketing research
for the first time, for example data gathering for a new product launch? Surprisingly, perhaps, it is
secondary research that should be undertaken first. Why is this? It is because of the benefits that
secondary research offers over primary methods.
Assume that a supermarket business in your country was considering expansion abroad. The
following data could be obtained from secondary sources, without the manager leaving his desk
which is why it is sometimes called desk research!
Essential information about the size of the overall market, whether it is growing or shrinking,
the market leader and recent changes in market shares could all be gained from secondary sources.
Some well-known sources of secondary data are:

1 Government publications.
In most countries sources such as the following from the UK could be referred to:
Social Trends,
Economic Trends,
Annual Abstract of Statistics,
Family Expenditure Survey.
Therefore, if a furniture manufacturer was undecided whether to produce new designs for
teenagers bedrooms or electric reclining armchairs for the elderly, reference to government
publications for the forecasted age distribution of the UK population over the next ten years would
be a useful starting point.

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2 Local libraries and local government offices.

If the research data needed were only for a small area investigating the viability of a new
caf, for example then local not national data would be necessary:
local population census returns with details of total numbers, age and occupation
distributions,
numbers of households in the area,
the proportions of the local population from different ethnic and cultural groups.
3 Trade Organizations; produce regular reports on the state of the markets their members operate in.
For example:
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders,
Furniture Retailers Association,
Engineering Employers Federation.
If a garage owner wanted to start stocking new cars for sale, then details of the type and
size of car that is most popular with consumers could be obtained from the first source listed above.
Clearly, further research might then be needed to see if, locally, these national data were reflected
in consumer demand in the garages own area.
4 Market Intelligence Reports. These are incredibly detailed reports on individual markets and industries
produced by specialist market research agencies. They are very expensive but they are usually
available at local business libraries. Examples are:
Mintel reports,
Keynotes reports,
Euromonitor.
If the owner of a small hotel planned to expand the business by opening a hotel in the
capital city, one of these reports on the hotel and catering market would provide huge amounts of
detail on market and consumer trends, eating and holiday habits of consumers, number of tourists
and so on.
5 Newspaper reports and specialist publications:
Marketing journal provides weekly advertising spend data and consumer recall of
adverts results,
The Grocer,
Motor Trader,

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 The Financial Times regular articles on key industries such as IT and detailed country
reports essential for potential exporters.
6 Internal Company Records.
If the business has been trading for some time a great quantity of secondary data will
already be available for further analysis:
customer sales records,
guarantee claims,
daily, weekly and monthly sales trends,
feedback from customers on product, service, delivery and quality.
It is clear that there is a great range of secondary data available both to existing businesses
planning a new market development or a newly formed business. Secondary research should always
be the starting point of any market analysis. It will nearly always indicate the focus that subsequent
primary research should have. However, on its own, it is rarely sufficient, which is why primary
research is also usually undertaken. Secondary research gathers background data, but only primary
research can provide detailed informatioa from consumers within the firms target market. Here are
some advantages and some disadvantages the advantages and disadvantage of secondary
research.
Advantages
Often obtainable very cheaply apart from the purchase of Market Intelligence Reports.
Identifies the nature of the market and assists with the planning of primary research.
Obtainable quickly without the need to devise complicated data gathering methods.
Allows comparison of data from different sources.
Disadvantages

May not be updated frequently and may therefore be out date,

As it was originally collected for other purposes it may be entirely suitable or presented in
the most effective way for the business using it.
Data collection methods and accuracy of these may be unknown.
Might not be available for completely new product developments.

The Marketing Research Process

Once the need for marketing research has been established, most marketing
research projects involve these steps:

Define the problem

Develop the research plan
Collect information
Analyse information

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 Present findings
Make decision
Normally for the chosen organization, that is the Mauritius Telecom, we are
conducting a marketing research on workers satisfaction concerning the workers
pay, their level of satisfaction, the working condition, teamwork, the communication
process and the training facilities available in the organization.

The research plan

The marketing research can be classified into three categories:
Exploratory research- It has the goal of formulating problems more precisely,
clarifying concepts, gathering explanations, gaining insight, eliminating
impractical ideas, and forming hypotheses. Exploratory research can be
performed using a literature search, surveying certain people about their
experiences, focus groups, and case studies.
Descriptive research- It is more rigid than exploratory research and seeks to
describe users of a product, determine the proportion of a population that
uses a product.
Casual research- it seeks to find cause and affect relationships between
variables.
In the chosen organization, that is the Mauritius Telecom a survey has being carried
out on workers satisfaction. Normally the most interesting and popular aspect of
market research is the survey and its associated questionnaires, interviews and
sampling procedures. In the Mauritius telecom, the main survey method that we
have used is the questionnaire. The questionnaire method gives the respondent
privacy and time to supply the information. For the Mauritius telecom, we have
prepared questionnaires for the workers as well as for the management.
The questionnaires consist of a number of questions which are used to ask the
opinions of potential workers. Like for example a question like do you like the
working condition can be asked to workers. The questionnaires that have been
conducted in Mauritius telecom is based on communication process, training
facilities, working condition, teamwork and motivation. A hand delivered
questionnaires has been carried out in Mauritius Telecom.
Moreover, some other research approaches are observation and focus groups. Focus
groups are sometimes used whereby a number of existing or potential consumers
are brought together and asked to give their opinions of a particular product.

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Someone from the research organization involved usually chairs the group in order
to structure the discussion.
Furthermore, observation involves monitoring consumer behaviour, particularly in
supermarkets to study how people actually work. This information is then used in
the design of store layouts and use of shelf impact. In Mauritius Telecom, an
observation will be carried out on workers behaviour in order to study how they
really work.

Problem Definition
The decision problem faced by management must be translated into a market
research problem in the form of questions that define the information that is
required to make the decision and how this information can be obtained. Thus, the
decision problem is translated into a research problem. For example, a decision
problem may be whether to launch a new product. The corresponding research
problem might be to assess whether the market would accept the new product.
The objective of the research should be defined clearly. To ensure that the true
decision problem is addressed, it is useful for the researcher to outline possible
scenarios of the research results and then for the decision maker to formulate plans
of action under each scenario. The use of such scenarios can ensure that the
purpose of the research is agreed upon before it commences.
It is assumed that the problems that are occurring in Mauritius Telecom are based
on workers satisfaction (including the working environment and their pay), their
level of motivation, the communication process, and the training facilities that they
are not getting in the organization. Normally, in defining the problem, we as the
researcher, we should take into account the purpose of the study, the relevant
background information, what information is needed, and how it will be used in
decision making. Problem definition involves discussion with the decision makers,
interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and, perhaps, some
qualitative research, such as focus groups. Once the problem has been precisely
defined, the research can be designed and conducted properly.
Finally the problems for the chosen organisation are set, the objective of the
research is to see whether the workers are highly motivated, whether there is good
communication between employers and employees, whether the workers are
satisfied or not with the working condition, salary and whether they are getting
access to training facilities or not in the organisation. So, now after conducting the
survey, if we find that one or more of these are not satisfied then our goal is to find
solutions to those problems which are present in the organisation so as to be able to
achieve a better working environment, a good teamwork, a high level of motivation
among workers, training facilities and good communication.

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For our market research in Mauritius Telecom, we have used interview to do our
survey on workers satisfaction. Interview forms part of the primary research
instruments, which comprises of questionnaires.
What is a Questionnaire?

It is a list of a research or survey questions asked to respondents, and designed to extract specific
information. It serves four basic purposes: to
(1) collect the appropriate data,
(2) make data comparable and amenable to analysis,
(3) minimize bias in formulating and asking question, and
(4) to make questions engaging and varied.

Questionnaires have advantages over some other types of surveys in that they are
cheap, do not require as much effort from the questioner as verbal or telephone
surveys, and often have standardized answers that make it simple to compile data.

However, questionnaires have its disadvantages over other types of survey. Some of
its disadvantages are stated below.
1. One major disadvantage of written questionnaires is the possibility of low
response rates. Low response is the curse of statistical analysis. It can dramatically
lower our confidence in the results. Response rates vary widely from one
questionnaire to another (10% - 90%); however, well-designed studies consistently
produce high response rates.
2. Another disadvantage of questionnaires is the inability to probe responses.
Questionnaires are structured instruments. They allow little flexibility to the
respondent with respect to response format. In essence, they often lose the "flavor
of the response" (i.e., respondents often want to qualify their answers). By allowing
frequent space for comments, the researcher can partially overcome this
disadvantage. Comments are among the most helpful of all the information on the
questionnaire, and they usually provide insightful information that would have
otherwise been lost.
3. Nearly ninety percent of all communication is visual. Gestures and other visual
cues are not available with written questionnaires. The lack of personal contact will

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have different effects depending on the type of information being requested. A

questionnaire requesting factual information will probably not be affected by the
lack of personal contact. A questionnaire probing sensitive issues or attitudes may
be severely affected.
4. Finally, questionnaires are simply not suited for some people. For example, a
written survey to a group of poorly educated people might not work because of
reading skill problems. More frequently, people are turned off by written
questionnaires because of misuse.
We could have used the telephone to do our survey, which would help us to avoid
the problem of low response as we would directly ask the question to the person.
So, the person would be forced to give an answer in this case.
We could have used face to face interview also. This would help us to avoid the
problem of low response, as the person would be face to face, there would not be
the problem of inability of probe answer, as the person can say how much he want,
there would not be a problem of personal contact and this would have not been a
problem for the poor to answer.
Finally, we could also have used mail, which is a more modern means of doing
survey. This would have been a more rapid mean which would be more direct and
targeting a specific group of people.
Nevertheless, we could have used the different means mentioned above, which
covers the problems of questionnaires, and face to face would have proved to be a
better one than questionnaires. But, for our marketing research on workers
satisfaction we have used questionnaires because this was more appropriate for our
survey. This was more appropriate because the telephone would have cost us a lot
and it would have been very difficult for us to have all the contact numbers. Also,
getting the permission from the management to make a face to face interview
would have been very difficult and this would cost us lots of time. Finally, for mail it
is too costly to use and does not apply to our case.
From the survey we can conclude that most of the people have a lot of experience
and their age group is above 30 years old. Most workers rated their job as excellent
and good but they said that there were no motivation, no promotional prospects and
that the training offered was not sufficient for them. They need more training.
According to them if more training is offered they would be able to work better and
they may be motivated. There was a question asking whether their opinions are
asked before the management take decision that affects them, and the response
was negative. And 98% of the workers stated that their opinions were never taken
into account. There was also a question about leaving Mauritius telecom and joining
another company for the same salary. 95 % of the workers put the answer no and

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they justify their answers by saying if the salary was greater or their were more
rewards they might have put yes.

The statistical data we obtain from our survey were as follow:

Experience
Less than one year

Less than five

More than five

7%
40%

33%

20%

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More than ten

Rating of work
Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

5%
42%
53%

Working Conditions
Positive

Negative

40%
60%

Ratings:

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70
60
50
40

Excellent
Good

30

Poor

20
10
0
Working condition

Salary

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Motivation

19

Training