Shrijani Education Foundations

Govt. Regd No. GBBSD/234

National Academy of Management Studies

ISO 9001: 2008 certified first international B School

Course: Masters in Business Administration (MBA 4Sem)

Sub: Research Methodology
Course Code: 06 Subject Code: MB09 Marks: 80 20 Marks for Presentation

1) All Cases carries equal marks.

1. Discuss at length problem definition and why it is the most important task in the marketing research project. (15)

2. Compare and contrast the exploratory, descriptive, and causal research designs. Substantiate your views with as many examples as possible (15) 3. Orientation Question- 1 The management decision problem: What can Lexus do to fight competition from other luxury car manufacturers such as Mercedes, BMW, and Jaguar as well as competition from the near luxury brands like the Nissan Maxima and the Mazda Millennia? Problem Identified: The marketing research problem is to determine the factors that influence consumer preferences for luxury and near-luxury automobiles. Specifically, the research will address the following questions: a) What are the choice criteria adopted by consumers when buying luxury automobiles? Do these criteria vary for near luxury automobiles? b) How are Lexus and its competitors evaluated on the underlying choice criteria? c) How does the perception of value vary with the price for luxury and near-luxury automobiles? (25)

d) What are the demographic and psychographic profiles of Lexus buyers? How do Lexus buyers differ from buyers of competing brands? Having identified the problem which is the first step in a research process, develop the outline of the research process by following the further five steps such as. Developing an approach to the problem Research design formulation Fieldwork or data collection Data preparation and analysis Report preparation and presentation 4. Orientation Question -2 (25)

You are a manager in charge of a marketing research project. Your goal is to determine what effects different levels of advertising have on consumption behavior. Based on the results of the project you will recommend the amount of money to be budgeted for advertising different products next year. Your supervisor will require strong justification for your recommendations, so your research design has to be as sound as possible. However, your resources (time, money, and labor) are limited. Develop a research project to address this problem. Focus on the kind of research designs you would use, why you would use them, and how you would conduct the research.