Marketing research is an instrumental tool when it comes to running any business. It leads to expanded offerings. From the many types of research carried out, this claim has been tested and proven to be out rightly true. This paper will prove how Marriott used different researches to achieve the levels of prosperity the company enjoys today.
The key issues to be addressed include the role of qualitative research that will help Marriott penetrate the non-business-travelers segment in the United States market. Different customer segments and how to prepare data for inclusion in the marketing report and finally the types of graphs and charts that will be helpful in preparing a report for Marriott. This in-depth analysis will shed more light on the importance of conducting a market research with the aim of improving results for any business. It will also form a strong area for discussion for other scholars to delve deeply into the subject matter.
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Discuss the role of qualitative research in helping Marriott penetrate the United States non-business-traveler market segment.
Marriott business success story dates way back even before the Great Depression. The founders of the company were John and his wife, Allice Marriott. In 2009, Marriot had established its presence in 66 countries and more than 3,100 properties. Behind this vast, sustained expansion, there is a story about effective marketing research. From the focus groups and survey research, Marriott established that it could expand its products and offer different types of hotels targeting different markets segments without them having to compete. This was realized through the market survey.
Going into the future, Marriott stands to gain a lot by investing in effective qualitative research. Unlike in quantitative marketing research, qualitative research does not have a measurable results system at the end of the study (Patton, 2005) . This is not disadvantageous as the research system can get a conclusive view of the customer on the matter it is testing. This, therefore, goes to say that before Marriott decides to penetrate the non-business-travelers segment in the US it should first determine, evaluate and analyze the targeted or potential customers to come up with the best system to test the qualitative opinions of the customers.
Focus groups and one on one interviews will be the best qualitative tools that will help the company access the potentiality of the new business venture. From this qualitative tools, the company will be able to get detailed responses from its potential customers and also access the needs and the tendency of the aspiring customers. Through this, the business will make healthy and informed decisions that will help it expand even more.
How many segments should be in the market research report and how would you prepare one?
The Marriot market segmentation factors in many things. These include quality, type of services, price, amenities, convenience and comfort. All these factors play major roles in determining the number of market segments the business will have. It is clear to say that each factor has a probability of influencing its market segment thereby indicating that there will be six segmentations in the market.
When planning to prepare a marketing report for the company, the type of data collected plays a very important role in determining the credibility of the report (Heaton, 2008) . In this research, both primary and secondary data will be used in the preparation of the report. Secondary data such as previous company sales reports will be used to access whether or not the business is expanding. On the other hand, primary data from potential customers will be helpful in giving the business the most suitable direction to take regarding expansion of the business.
What charts and graphs will be useful in preparing a report for Marriott?
Charts and graphs are a very important tool in communicating results after every research (Hudak & Duplacey, 2008) . To effectively prepare and communicate a comprehensive marketing report for Marriott we will need to use graphs and charts for this assignment. Some of the tools that will be used include;
Venn diagrams- this is an important qualitative tool more so used to show a relationship nature. Since Marriot research employees qualitative technique this representational tool will be very important.
Flow/process charts- this is an example of a qualitative tool for the representation of data. Also known as the decision tree. This can will come in handy in representing the different views of interviewed respondents until you reach the final decision point of the company.
Comparison/ relationship charts- despite the fact that Marriott research is majorly qualitative, a few variables such as prices and age limit assume numeric values thus making them quantitative data. With this, you can test data of two or more variables that you want to represent together (Hudak & Duplacey, 2008) .
Conclusion- Summary of main points
Effective market research definitely leads to expansions for any business. From the case study of Marriot business, it can be seen that it has relied on effective qualitative research findings to establish many of its subsidiaries. One of the lessons is that despite the achievements the business has been able to make so far, there is still room for improvement and more success. With a comprehensive analysis of the non-business-travelers segment in the United States, Marriot will be in a position add this segment to its many lists of well-performing businesses.
This is not all there is concerning the field of marketing research. With the extended coverage of this discipline, scholarly studies are welcomed to test more hypothesis that will help provide a vast of knowledge to new businesses and even continuing ones. With such findings in place proper implementation among the stakeholders is recommended as it will help more business prosper and expand more in their business of operation just like Marriott.
References
Heaton. (2008). Secondary analysis of qualitative data: An overview. Historical Social Research/Historische Sozialforschung, 33-45.
Hudak, & Duplacey. (2008). Charts and Graphs. Weigl Educational Publishers.
Patton. (2005). Qualitative research. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
