Marketing Research
List of Contents
- Outline of the food retail outlet concept
- Research methods used to acquire opinion of students regarding the food outlet concept.
- Summary of research findings. Concerning how internal and external environmental factors influence the food outlet concept.
- Conclusions and recommendations
Outline
The food retail outlet is to be situated within the BCU Students’ Union building in City North Campus. The outlet will be called “Student center” with a logo of a variety of well prepared dishes to be offered at the outlet. The mission statement is “Healthy and complete satisfaction at pocket friendly cost”. The outlet is likely to operate on a “buy and takeaway” basis due to limited space in the Student Union building. The target market of the food retail outlet is students segmented by gender. The outlet aims at serving all sorts of heavy meals that are fast to make, affordable to students, and cost-effective for the management.
Research methodology
Research regarding the outlet concept was carried out to find out what the target market expected. Survey through structured questionnaires and non-probability sampling methods were used. They focused on a sample of 20 respondents, students, who comprised of the entire diversity of the university population (McQuarrie, 2005). There were equal proportions of male and female students. These two categories were further segmented according to the academic year and other aspects like religion, race, and cultural practices. Questionnaires comprised questions on the frequency, purpose, time and duration that students that visit existing food outlets. They also focused on the brand and image of existing outlets. Looked into the attitude of students to the Student Center food outlet concept and what market niche it can address. The future position of the outlet was also investigated and ways of steering it to address future markets and concepts like expansion.
Summary of key findings
Success of the outlet is determined by internal and external environmental factors. Internal factors are the product, location, employees, operation, and price. External factors are customers, competitors, and collaborators. Management of these factors determine how the outlet will be run and its success in a market that already has key competitors with advantages of customer loyalty and monopoly characteristics (Walle, 2001).
Customers
Marketing concept aims at aligning firms products to customers’ needs. It is therefore customer focused and profit maximization can be acquired through target marketing and market segmentation. The outlet’s target market is students who are segmented by gender. Male students want affordable heavy foods that satisfy them and can enable them go for hours without need for more food. Therefore quantity and price is important for them. Female students on the other hand expect quality such that food is healthy for their consumption and but they are split about the price of food (Reynolds & Olson, 2001). Equal numbers expect pocket friendly food while the other half does not mind paying more so long as food is healthy. Students also feel that current food outlets are more focused on higher productivity than their needs due to ultimate factor of demand therefore they overlook important student needs and quality of foods they offer. This stipulated a market niche that Student Center food outlet could base its services on. That is to provide quality foods according to students’ needs and requirements (Carson et al., 2001).
Product
The proposed brand name “Student Center” is clear and inclusive of the target market which simply attracts students’ attention to want to visit the outlet. The name therefore is a good marketing strategy in acquiring customers for the outlet since students are curious to find out what the place offers them and how good its products and services are. The proposed logo of the outlet is also catchy since its assortment of delicious looking healthy foods brands the outlet as a place that aims at addressing concerns of diverse students. The product concept therefore addresses concerns of females who feel that existing outlets completely ignore the importance of healthy foods. It also addresses concerns of male students who want quantity foods at fair prices since it aims at offering foods with more quantity base (Hackley, 2003).
Therefore, the product concept according to students is exactly what they need and they would easily visit an outlet that cares about their needs and wants. The take-away operation basis is however not convenient for most students. They feel that it is time wasting and burdens them with more duties of doing dishes that otherwise would have be done by the outlet employees (Hague & Jackson, 2002). The make to order food delivery approach is efficient, effective, and time-saving for target markets. Students are always busy with short periods for lunch they therefore feel that this approach will effectively cater for their busy schedules. However, some have qualms about the honesty of the outlet such in terms of service of fresh food. Other portion of females, feel that the order to make approach is better for them since they are assured of fresh food. There are yet some who feel self-service suits them best (Fletcher & Smith, 2004). Despite all these, the outlet is venturing into an almost crowded market in the university and the make to order approach is best for profitability and customers too.
Competitors
Existing food outlets within the university somehow have major control of the market due to customer loyalty, embracing diversity by offering diverse dishes and good customer relations. Most of these outlets are easily accessible and every outlet has its own unique characteristic that attracts customers (Paley, 2005). Most are associated with supply of quantity foods which is due to their production approach concept in marketing. These outlets therefore focus on higher productivity as a way of maximizing profit since they are aware of the continual demand for food by students. These outlets however have limited foods since they mostly focus on easy to make and cost-effective foods. Diversity of the outlets is based on operation approaches, and branding. Some have “eat-in” approaches while others have “take-away” approaches with different brand names, and logos. However, students feel that most of the products offered are similar with none of the outlets venturing on diverse food options. Food prices are market determined therefore all outlets offer foods at a common agreed on price (Smith & Albaum, 2005).
Conclusions and recommendations
The outlet concept is generally accepted by majority of the target market. It is based on market niche of a need for customer-oriented food outlet that addresses needs of customers. Its marketing concept will therefore change the entire food outlet market, steering the other outlets to customer-oriented marketing concepts in future. The management of the outlet should aim at addressing few concerns of the take-away operation basis it seeks to use. The basis according to research is unpopular amongst most students and since the outlet is customer-oriented then it should seek ways of incorporating the eat-in operation (American Management Association, 2013). Management should also address concerns of students who prefer the order to make approach of food delivery by marketing their approach through provision of fresh, quality foods at all times and ensuring health standards are observed during food preparation and service. The proposed customer-oriented marketing approach sought by the outlet is a basis for future dominance of the food market by the outlet. Therefore, it should seek to incorporate one-on-one marketing concept that will focus on each individuals needs and the viral marketing concept that will provide service access through the internet for future relevance of the outlet in the market.
References
American Management Association, 2013, The Concept of Modern Marketing. http://topliners.eloqua.com/servlet/JiveServlet/previewBody/3950-102-1-9463/Modern%20Market.pdf
Carson, DJ, Gilmore, A, Perry, C, & Gronhaug, K 2001, Qualitative Marketing Research, Quorum Books, Westport, CT.
Fletcher, JH & Smith, DVL 2004, The Art & Science of Interpreting Market Research Evidence, Wiley, New York.
Hackley, C 2003, Doing Research Projects in Marketing, Management and Consumer Research. Routledge, New York.
Hague, P & Jackson, P 2002, Market Reseach: A Guide to Planning, Methodology and Evaluation (3rd Ed.), Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
McQuarrie, EF 2005, The Market Research Toolbox: A Concise Guide for Beginners (2nd Ed.). Quorum Books, Westport, CT.
Paley, N 2005, The Manager’s Guide to Competitive Marketing Strategies (3rd Ed.). Thorogood, London.
Reynolds, JT & Olson, JC 2001, Understanding Consumer Decision Making: The Means-End Approach to Marketing and Advertising Strategy, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah.
Smith, SM & Albaum, GS 2005, Fundamentals of Marketing Research, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Walle, AH 2001, Qualitative Research in Intelligence and Marketing: The New Strategic Convergence, Quorum Books, Westport, CT.
