MBA 7603 Influence of Price on Consumer Behavior Research Paper
Students must select a business-based consumer topic that interests them personally. It can be
related to your occupation, a hobby, something you read about in the newspaper, a company you
do business with or frequent. Based on your topic you will then need to pretend that you are
either a marketing researcher working for a client/customer or you are an employee being asked
by upper management to conduct the research. You then pretend that they have an issue or some
unanswered questions/needs (your topic) about the company or its customers that will be
answered as a result of your research. The research proposal should be 2 – 3 double-spaced
pages. It must include the following sections:
Your research proposal should be 2 – 3 double-spaced pages. It must include the following
sections:
? Cover Page to include the Title of the Research Proposal, the person or group for which the
research is being conducted, your name, data, etc.
? Introduction section to include a background and introduction to the situation for which a
marketing research need is evident.
Explain the context of the issue that will become the essence of your research. Include a
description of the issue or opportunity to which your internal management or a client might
need answers, why the issue is significant to them, and how your proposed marketing
research might produce decision making information. This is a good place to include
secondary research data (a reference) to help justify the client’s or upper management’s need
for your project.
? Objectives: In this section you will try to convey the information you plan to obtain and tie it
back to the need for research. It allows the client or upper management to understand that
you know what they need:
?Business: What issue or opportunity needs information to aid in the decision making
process? (e.g. increase sales of new products, selecting the most effective ad
medium, etc.)?
?Research: What consumer information needs to be collected to help solve the business
problem?
?Research Question: What will be the research question to be answered?
?
? Methodology: Identify the specific type of research to be conducted (qualitative/exploratory,
quantitative, secondary, primary data requirements) with an explanation of the need for each.
Use of secondary research is required and must be included in this section. Discuss the
specific techniques and data collection methods. Then explain how the results will be
incorporated into a final research report and presentation.
? Scope: Scope: Who, when, where, and how many minimum consumers will you plan toengage to collect the necessary data. You will need at least 30 sets of data (sample size) foryour work but the more you collect the better your results will match a larger population. Say
that you will be using online survey software.
? Potential Managerial Benefits: What value will the information be overall to management
including any limitations, and how you anticipate it will help in their decision making
process.
? Cover Page to include the Title of the Research Proposal, the person or group for which the
research is being conducted, your name, etc.