Marketing Research Group Project
Smart Phone
MKTG 6051: Marketing Research
Group Member:
Palka Sharma
Ning Yu
Joseph Nayquonabe
Jenny Hong Jiang
Nicole Newville
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................ 3
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 3
Research design .................................................................................................................. 4
Results ................................................................................................................................. 4
Recommendation ................................................................................................................ 5
Appendices .......................................................................................................................... 5
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Executive Summary
1 page. This is a one page non-technical summary of the whole project, including the
methodology used and major findings/implications.
Introduction
1 page. This should explain the context of the study and include a clear statement of the
research objectives. That is, why was the study needed? In addition, you need to
mention the limitations – e.g., any issues that, though important to the marketing
decision, are not addressed in the study.
Smartphone, once a device relegated to corporate executives, is experiencing rapid
growth in the consumer market and is changing the landscape of information and media
consumption. According to an AOL and Universal McCANN report, in the US, there are
currently over 63 million smartphone users with access to mobile web. Smartphone
makes information delivery anywhere, anytime become a reality. The entrance of Apple
and Google into the smartphone market accelerated the development of mobile
applications. Mobile applications provide companies such as Barnes & Noble, Target,
Whole Foods with a new way to reach their customers. “There is an app for it” becomes a
popular slogan among tech enthusiasts.
Caribou Coffee, the second largest coffee retailer in the US, is considering strategies to
better reach and serve its customers on smartphones. The company has a website that can
be accessed on smartphones but it is not optimized to fit the screen size of smartphones.
Starbucks, Caribou’s largest competitor, recently launched an iPhone application which
allows customers to locate stores and order on the phone. In response to competition,
Caribou needs to decide whether it should launch a mobile website that is easy to
navigate on smartphones or develop its own smartphone application. What are the most
important features to smartphone users? As the smartphone platform competition
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intensifies, Caribou also needs to decide if it should focus the resource to develop the
application for one platform or multiple platforms such as iPhone, Android and
Blackberry. A marketing research is needed to provide necessary information for
managerial decisions.
Some other issues such as the infrastructure, logistic changes needed and associated costs
to implement the new service on smartphones, though important to the marketing
decisions, are not addressed in this research.
Research design
2 pages.
a. Exploratory research
Describe the techniques you have used and explain why you used it and the
results you have from doing the exploratory research. Please include any
secondary data you may have collected in this section.
b. Sampling Technique
Briefly describe the sampling technique you have used. Justify using it in the
context of your application.
c. Survey Data Collection Method
Describe how you collected the data for this study (e.g., face-to-face,
telephone, mail, Internet-based), why you selected this method.
d. Measurement
In this section, specify the kinds of information you needed to address the
research objectives of this study. Attach a copy of the questionnaire and cover
letter (if applicable) in an appendix
e. Analysis Procedures
Briefly describe the analytic procedures you used, the statistical package, and any
coding procedures which may be important (e.g.: coding open-ended questions). Do
not present any research findings here.
Results
6 pages. This should indicate, for each research objective, the main findings. Combine
the
presentation of results from those questions that “hang together” for a specific research
objective. That is, try and organize the findings into “subsections” by grouping
questions (or variables) that are related. If appropriate, briefly mention some of the
implications of your findings so that the reader is “primed” for the recommendations
made later.
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The complete results need not be discussed here but rather should be presented in the
form of tables in the Appendix. For example, if you are discussing the responses to a
question such as “how often do you drink coffee?”, it is sufficient to summarize the
responses with a statement like “Over 40% of the respondents drank less than 2 cups a
day, while 10% drank more than 5 cups a day.” The complete information, of course,
should be presented in a table in the Appendix.
Make sure to interpret and discuss the findings that you describe in this section, rather
than merely reciting the numbers. Indicate, where appropriate, whether your findings
are statistically significant.
Recommendation
2 pages. In this section you should summarize your major findings and present your
recommendations for management based on your results.
Appendices
This should contain (i) a summary of exploratory research findings (ii) a copy of the
questionnaire with the basic results, and (iii) tables to illustrate the discussion in the
“Results” section. There is no page limit for this section.
Two phases project implementation.
Phase 1:
Time to market – Develop a standalone application primarily targeting to IPhone
users to compete Starbucks. The users find it is much easier to find the
information on the application than mobile web page. The features are easier to
integrate into standalone application vs. mobile web page.
Key Features
- Order in Advance. Logistics
- Coupons.
- Inactive Store locator (Map * Integrated with GPS). Website only
static map information.
Ease of use.
Platform: IPhone
Phase 2: Conduct a second market research study to focus on Android based
smartphone.
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