Here is the brief overview of this cumulative Session Long Project (SLP). In this research project, you would work as a marketing
consultant to develop a feasible marketing plan for your client. You would conduct both secondary research in SLP1 and SLP2, and primary
research in SLP3 to glean the necessary information for your marketing plan in SLP4 and SLP5. When conducting primary research in SLP3,
collect only qualitative data (i.e., personal in-depth interviews with at least three target customers) for this study.
It is important to conduct quality market research on your focal product/company in order to develop realistic and workable marketing
plans. Generally speaking, there are two types of research. One is secondary research, which refers to data collection using existing
sources, and the other is primary research, which is your own data collection for the specific study at hand. The purpose of market
research is to collect usable information to make more informed decisions on the business problem, thus increasing the chance of business
success in the marketplace.
Please check the outline of the marketing plan, which provides information on:
1.The final format for this cumulative Session Long Project;
2.A list of topics for the whole project;
3.The continuity and connections among SLPs 1-5.
In this module SLP3, conduct primary research for your charge to glean first hand insights. This is the third step of this cumulative
research project. Be sure to revise the sections in SLP1 and SLP2, and include them in this paper following the marketing plan outline
provided above.
Primary Research
You will have to conduct personal in-depth interviews with individuals who are representative of the proposed target market. The purpose
of conducting these interviews is to make sure that you are on the right track with your marketing plan. One of the biggest fallacies in
marketing is often that a manager thinks he or she knows what members of the target market know, believe, and do. The development of a
useable marketing plan, however, has to be based on consumer input.
Once you have completed your primary research efforts, you will need to revisit your situation analysis and your SWOT analysis. It is very
likely that you overlooked specific factors that need to be added to these analyses.
Qualitative Research: Personal In-Depth Interviews
For the purposes of this marketing plan, you will focus on one target market only.
Qualitative research is a first step to make sure that the issues you have identified are issues as perceived by your target audience.
Qualitative research will give you insights into what consumers actually think, know, and believe. This type of research will allow you to
investigate how consumers describe their behavior and why they do what they do. It also allows you to gain information on how difficult it
would be to get consumers to accept new product, to learn which communication methods would be most productive, and to learn which
incentives would be most successful with a specific consumer group. Finally, the results of qualitative research provide input for your
marketing plan.
For this part you will have to develop an interview questionnaire and then conduct the interviews. Keep in mind that you will need at
least three consumers representative of your proposed target market to participate in these interviews. Finally, you will need to report
the results.
The following is a list of issues you should address (this is not a complete list, because the issues are likely to differ from project to
project). The following example is a marketing plan you are going to develop in order to successfully introduce Apple iPad 4. The goals
you have developed for your target audience are to promote awareness of the new iPad 4 and encourage purchase intention:
•What would your target market rather buy than the product you are promoting and why?
◦What benefits do your target customers see to the other product? It might be that they like the reputation of the company, or something
else you need to identify in the interviews.
◦What costs do your target customers see to the product? They might think the higher price or something else you need to identify in the
interviews.
•What does your target market know about the new brand?
◦Are target customers familiar with the brand?
◦Are target customers familiar with the new features of the new brand?
◦Do target customers know about competing brands that provide similar features and benefits?
•What does your target market believe? What are your target market’s values and attitudes relative to the desired behavior?
◦What benefits do target customers see in the new brand? “What’s in it for them” to do this? If having a reputable brand to show their
social status is more important than the price, then you will have to design messages accordingly in your marketing plan.
◦What do target customers perceive as the cost of buying the new brand?
◦What other issues do the customers consider when purchasing the new brand?
Make sure to develop the interview questionnaire based on the situation analysis, SWOT analysis and the specific charge for your research
project. Note that only a properly designed interview guide will provide useful insights for your marketing plan.
Here is an Interview Questionnaire Example.
For this section’s written report, address the following issues:
1.Explain where and how you collected your data. In other words, how did you recruit your subjects? Keep in mind that your subjects should
be representative members of your target market. So your parents, friends and neighbors are generally not to be recruited as subjects. If
you have difficulty reaching those target populations due to a special situation, contact your professor to get permission to collect data
from your family members, friends, and colleagues who are easily accessible.
2.State how many subjects (at least three for this project) you interviewed and describe your sample in demographic terms.
3.Give a summary of the answers to each question.
4.Include an interpretation of the results: What impact are your findings likely to have on your charge?
5.Also, include a copy of your interview questionnaire in your appendix.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Use the following outline to organize your paper. Note that the letters “a, b, c…” and the numbers “i, ii, iii, iv…” below are used to
show the major issues you need to include but should not be used to format your paper.
IV. Primary Qualitative Research (3-6 pages)
a.Identify the subjects and the research process.
b.Identify the purpose of your research. i.What issues did you want to study?
c.Present the key findings. i.Questions used in this analysis should be included in the appendix.
ii.Complete report of each interview should be included in the appendix.
d.Present a concise conclusion of what you learned.
Note: Use double-spaced, black Verdana or Times Roman font in 12 pt. type size. Include a title page and references. Revise your Module 2
SLP based on the feedback from your professor and your additional research, and include the SLP from Modules 1 and 2 in the Module 3 SLP.
Explain clearly and logically the facts about your company and charge, and use the required reading to support your positions on the
issues. Do not repeat or quote definitions. Your use of the required reading to support your opinions (that is, contentions or positions)
should demonstrate that you understand the concepts presented.
Paraphrase the facts using your own words and ideas, employing quotes sparingly. Quotes, if absolutely necessary, should rarely exceed
five words.
Academic papers at the master’s level should include citations and references. Look at different sources, especially credible and
reputable resources such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Businessweek, and The Economist, to find the information for your
paper. Also use Trident University’s online library databases such as ProQuest and EBSCO to find the information for your project. Your
discussion on each topic should be a synthesis of the different sources. Taking shortcuts on the number and quality of your sources will
result in a poor-quality marketing plan that will be of no use to your client.
Also, it is important that you reference your sources throughout the text of your marketing plan. Take the following paragraph as an
example:
“As a result, telephone interviewers often do not even get a chance to explain that they are conducting a survey (Council for Marketing
and Opinion Research, 2003), and response rates have steadily declined (Keeter et al., 2000) to reported lows of 7% (Council for Marketing
and Opinion Research, 2003). This decrease presents a problem because not only does it increase the cost of conducting telephone surveys,
but it also leads to questions concerning the generalizability of the results (Struebbe, Kernan & Grogan, 1986; Tuckel & O’Neill, 2002).”
There are different citation and reference formats such as APA, MLA, or Chicago. No matter which format you adopt for your marketing plan,
make it consistent throughout the plan.
Also note: The marketing plan should use third person business writing. Avoid “we,” “our,” and “you.” Do not use contractions in business
writing.
Check the following references on how to conduct interviews for a research project.
Lisa A. Guion, David C. Diehl, and Debra McDonald (n.d.). Conducting an in-depth interview. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fy393
Reporting interview results. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.utexas.edu/academic/ctl/assessment/iar/research/report/interview.php
Here are some guidelines on how to conduct information search and build critical thinking skills.
Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Searching for Information. Retrieved from
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/searching.htm
Emerald Group Publishing. (n.d.). Developing Critical Thinking. Retrieved from
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/learning/study_skills/skills/critical_thinking.htm
Guidelines for handling quoted and paraphrased material are found at:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Academic Writing. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/2/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing. Retrieved from
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Avoiding Plagiarism. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/1/
Your paper consists of arguments in favor of your opinions or positions on the issues addressed by the guidelines; therefore, avoid the
following logical fallacies:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Logic in Argumentative Writing. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/659/03/
Your SLP should not simply be a list of facts. Take the facts you find about the company, the charge, and the environments that the
company faces, and explain how you think those facts will affect the financial future of the product or brand in your charge. The emphasis
in grading your paper will be on the breadth and depth of your discussion of each topic, critical thinking, the clarity of your
discussion, and the proper organization of the paper
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