Marketing Individual Research Proposal

Question :

Write Individual Research Proposal and Customer Service Survey

Answer :

It is present in several countries around the world, and one of them is New Zealand. It manufactures and sells various toothpaste brands. The brand selected for this research is Colgate Total. This product is recommended by the company to use for Gum Health. It contains 0.3%w/w Triclosan and 0.22%w/w Sodium Fluoride. The company claims that it reduces 72% plaque bacteria regrowth. The presence of co-polymer in the product is expected to ensure the retention of Triclosan on the surface of the tooth which leads to increased anti-bacterial benefits.

1.2 Marketing Managerial Problem

The company has recently realized that there are other brands in the market who have also launched toothpaste brands in the same category and that contains same bacteria fighting properties. The company is unable to decide what is causing the fall in the sales. There are several issues that may be impact the sale such as price difference, packaging colour, toothpaste colour, labels, and where it is positioned on the shelf. There is a need to identify the actual cause of the problem and make fruitful decision to bring back sales to its original state.

2. Research Question(s)

There can be various contributing factors to the sales decline - price difference, packaging colour, colour of toothpaste, labels, and where it is positioned on the shelf. However, to keep the study focused only one factor will be taken into consideration. The current study will focus on answering the following research question:

- Does labelling on the product package impacts the purchase intention of the consumers?

Respondents will be brought in an empty room where they will wear VR headset. They will do virtual shopping through the VR headset in a simulated shopping environment. In order to understand the relationship between labelling and purchase intentions, the company will design Colgate Total with different labels, and then it will place this product along with that of the competitors. Multiple experiments will be conducted with different labelling format and designs to see if the customers’ preference changes. 

3. Method

The convenience sampling method will be used for the study as it will give some freedom to the researcher in identifying the respondents for the study (Etikan et al, 2016). The respondents will be selected based on the understanding and past experiences of the researcher. Here, it is important that the researcher has extensive understanding in selecting the right respondents and not fall in for any biasness. The total number of individuals who will be selected for the study is 

The respondents will be given shopping gift vouchers after the experiment as compensation and they will be recruited through emails, social media contacts, and personal contacts. Moreover, the researcher will also use the company’s past database to telephone possible interested customers who would want to take part in the study. $100 gift voucher will be given to each subject who participates and successfully completes the study.

The data collection will be done through the software used to track the eye, head, and hand movement of the customers. These three will indicate whether the customers showed any interest in the changed product. This will also show their aversion form the product as well as attraction towards it. The collected data points will then be compared to understand the impact on their purchase intentions when various changes were done in the labelling.

The study will be conducted ethically. Before the study begins, the respondents will be informed about the data that will be collected when they will be in the simulated environment. They will be informed that the study is completely voluntary and they can decide to exist the study at any point in time. However, if they do not complete the study, they will not be given the promised gift voucher of $100.

4. Research Outputs/Report

The research report will be given in two forms. The first will be a report containing all the minute details for thorough study. The second will be a PowerPoint presentation for quick overview of entire project results.

5. Reference

Bordens, K. S., & Abbott, B. B. (2002). Research design and methods: A process approach. McGraw-Hill.