MN7405 Strategic Management
October 18, 2022MN7012 Research Methods for Marketing Sample
October 18, 2022Assessment Brief A: Individual Essay (100%)
Wordcount: 3000 words (+/-10%)
(wordcount includes the body of the essay. Assignment Question, Interview Excerpts, Reference List and Appendices are not included in the wordcount)
Assignment Brief
In this assessment, you will work on a live project in which you will carry out a market research project for an actual client, The Social Impact Team. The Social Impact Team is a strategic arm of the University of Leicester, who play a significant role in d developing, enhancing and delivering the institution’s sustainable and social responsibility agenda. The Social Impact Team has particularly highlighted the need to enhance their engagement with the student body and graduates of UOL, with the view of engendering long lasting socially responsible practices and impact among these stakeholders.
You are expected to design and conduct a qualitative research in response to the client’s brief, which can be found in the document below. In this project, you are expected to utilise 1 or 2 qualitative methods to gain an in-depth understanding of a research area identified by the client. You must then explain your research method and process; justify your methodology as well as present the analysis of your findings in a 3000-words essay. Your research must address ONE of the following research areas as stipulated by the client:
Gender Bias in sustainable marketing and practices. Choose one of the following strand:
- The Social Impact Team is interested in exploring the extent to which sustainable consumption are gender-biased. For example, to what extent are ‘eco-products’ and promotion of sustainable consumption are perceived to be targeted at women? How do UOL students make sense of the gendering of sustainable offerings and practices in marketing? Why?
- The Social Impact Team is interested to explore the extent to which career in sustainable marketing are feminised. Previous research conducted by the Social Impact team and the 2018/2019 MN7012 cohorts have found that there is a gender bias whereby female graduates are said to be more inclined to enter CSR professions. The Social Impact Team would like to understand the key motivations that drive our potential graduates’ propensity towards CSR professions. How can the Social Impact Team generate interest and passion for CSR professions among graduates, particularly male graduates?
Relationship to Nature
The Social Impact Team is keen to understand how the young generation of UOL students relate to nature. To what extent do the current generation of young students becoming connected/disconnected from ‘nature’? What relationship do young students establish with ‘nature’ (e.g. nature as divine, nature as an exploitable resource/commodity etc)? How do their everyday practices (e.g. shopping, consumption, travelling, recreational practices such as walking, running, cycling etc.) reflect their (dis)enchantment with nature? How can the Social Impact Team maintain and/or re-enchant the young generation of UOL to connect with nature?
Disposal of Coffee Cups
One of the key issues The Social Impact Team face is the management of disposed coffee cups. At present, apart from the plastic lid and cardboard sleeve, coffee cups used on campus cannot be recycled. Unfortunately, coffee cups are found to be inappropriately disposed of by users as it was mixed in with recyclable waste. At other times the recyclable lid and sleeve were disposed of with non-recyclable waste. This poses a challenge for the Social Impact Team to promote appropriate practices of coffee cup disposal and to reduce the use of coffee cup through the adoption of re-usable coffee cups/flasks. The Social Impact Team would like to explore current practices of coffee cup disposal on campus among UOL students? Do students know that you can’t recycle the actual coffee cup, but can recycle the plastic lid and cardboard sleeve? How can the Social Impact Team encourage more students to buy re-useable coffee cups/flasks?
Reducing Carbon Footprint
The Social Impact Team is keen to explore students’ current practices and management (e.g. transportation choices) of carbon footprints whilst studying at UOL. To what extent do UOL students perceive the need to reduce their carbon footprint in response to climate change? What key motivations and barriers (if any) influence their practices to reduce carbon footprint? How can the Social Impact Team encourage students to reduce their carbon footprint?
Proposed Structure
Indicative Word Count
Indicative Contents for Report
1. Not included in wordcount
Report Format; Title page, Table of contents, Table of Tables, Table of Figures, Table of appendices
2. App 300 words
Rationale for Research Topic: Briefly outline the rationale for the research topic area you have chosen (see the 5 suggested research areas above). Explain why your chosen research area is important for the Social Impact Team to address.
3. Bullet Points – Not included in word count. But keep it concise
Research Objectives/Questions: List a set of research objectives/questions to address the research gaps identified above. Credits will be given to objectives that are practical, realistic, specific and set out in a logical sequence. See lecture notes for guidance on setting SMART objectives.
3.App. 1000 words
Evaluation of Research Design: A critical appraisal of the research design you employed. YOU MUST ALWAYS JUSTIFY YOUR CHOICES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF YOUR STUDY. Discuss the following:
1)Which research paradigm you have adopted. Is your research positivistic or interpretive? Is your research inductive or deductive? Is your research exploratory or conclusive? Do you use a longitudinal or ad-hoc approach? Why? Justify how your topic warrants such a research design.
2)Outline your sampling plan. Who did you interview/observe (who is your target population) and why? How did you recruit your participants? Did you use probability or non probability sampling? Which particular sampling technique did you use (e.g. judgment, random, convenient etc.)? What are your sampling criteria? What is the size of your sample?
3)Outline your data collection methods (e.g. focus group, interview, ethnography, etc.) and justify why you have chosen these methods to address your research aim and objectives. Please make sure you support your rationales by making references to research theories and cite the academic sources that support your claims. This section should be concise.
4) Your research procedure. Explain the process you went through when conducting your fieldwork. How did you construct your questionnaire/interview guide? What type of questions did you ask (e.g. structured, unstructured, semi-structured)? What techniques (if any) did you employed (e.g. photography, diaries etc.)? How long (duration) is the interview? Where did the fieldwork take place? Why have you chosen a particular venue? If you use focus group, how did you divide the participants into specific groupings? Is it a homogenous (participants share same characteristics) or heterogenous group (mix characteristics)?
5) Brief Rationale and procedure of data analysis. What steps did you follow when analysing your data (e.g. how did you transcribe your data? Did you reflect on your pre-conceptions? Did you conduct close reading? How do you develop key themes? How did you conduct coding? Did you code your data manually? How do you interpret your data?
Marks will be awarded for a critical evaluation of the research design and process. You will lose marks if you simply describe the procedures without providing any rationale. You must provide supporting references of research methods theories when justifying your methodological choices.
4. App. 1000 words. Please note that excerpts, tables and diagrams are not included in the word count.
Research Findings and Discussion: Present your research findings. The presentation of your findings should include excerpts from the interviews to illustrate the key themes and your interpretation of this. Where observations are used, you should then include excerpts from fieldnotes and/or photographs/video screenshots to illustrate your themes and ensure that these too are interpreted.
You must support each key themes with excerpts from the transcripts, diaries, memos etc. When discussing your findings, you also need to consider them in relation to previous studies on recycling. Do not simply describe what the participants said. You need to demonstrate your ability to interpret the data. You are only expected to present the analysis of 2-3 key themes.
6. App. 700 words.
Conclusions and recommendations: Based on your findings, outline your recommendations for the client and how they can tackle the marketing problems they are facing. This can be listed in bullet points.
7. Not included in Word Count
References: Please use Harvard Referencing. Guidelines on Referencing can be found in your MSc Marketing Programme Handbook.
You can access the Handbook via Blackboard on
https://blackboard.le.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?
tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_3597_1%26url%3D
8. Not included in Word Count
Appendices (if any): Use the appendices to include your interview guide, transcripts, memos, sample of data analysis, diagrams, consent form and any other relevant information that may inform and add depth to your report but do not constitute the indicative content above. Avoid the temptation to put masses of irrelevant information in the appendices.
MARKET RESEARCH CLIENT BRIEF
To: Research agencies chosen to submit a proposal
From: Ai-Ling Lai on behalf of The Social Impact Team, University of Leicester
Social Impact Team: Dr. Sandra Lee (Social Impact Lead)
Project: UOL Student’s Perception and Engagement with Issues of Sustainability and Social Responsibility: A Qualitative Study.
We are pleased to invite you to propose for a preliminary study initiated by The Social Impact Team at the University of Leicester. The enclosed brief highlights research areas we wish to address. We have approached your agency due to your affinity with the university student body. We are particularly keen to find out which social and sustainable agenda UOL students consider to be particularly important for the Social Impact Team to address. We would like you to draw on your own experience as a student from UOL when proposing an area of research.
Your proposal will be evaluated on having a sound research design. We are open to innovative methods and suggestions. We have provided information we think is relevant to your response.
This study is important to us and we hope that it will give us valuable insights into how we can encourage and enhance student’s continual engagement with sustainable practices during and after their studies at the University of Leicester.
We look forward to receiving your response,
Yours Sincerely
Ai-Ling Lai
Dr. Ai-Ling Lai
On Behalf of The Social Impact Team
BACKGROUND
The Social Impact Team is a strategic arm of the University of Leicester, who play a significant role in developing, enhancing and delivering the institution’s sustainable and social responsibility agenda. As a global university, our vision is to enhance our position as an
“an engaged and socially aware institution, renowned for producing graduates with the skills and knowledge that not only allow them to succeed, but also to enrich and sustain the world”. (Source: Social Impact Strategy
(https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/estates/environment/Strategy/social-impact-strategy)
Our team engages, monitor and audit the operational practices of the university, ensuring that they are run in a way that efficiently minimises its impact on the environment. More recently, The Social Impact Team has widened its remit to include social responsibility alongside its sustainable programmes. Our plans and policies include waste management, travel, sustainable procurement, energy efficiency and biodiversity. The Social Impact Strategy adopted by the team is based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As such, we endeavour to
“maximise our positive impact by producing research and graduates who will help to deliver these goals in whatever corner of the globe they inhabit and whatever career and life choices they make”
INDICATIVE RESEARCH AREAS
We aim to commission a preliminary research project to explore UOL student’s perceptions and engagement with ONE area of sustainable and social responsibility agenda as identified by the Social Impact Team. You may choose to develop and conduct a market research project on ONE of the suggested area below:
- Gender Bias in sustainable marketing and practices. Choose one of the following strand:
- The Social Impact Team is interested in exploring the extent to which sustainable consumption are gender-biased. For example, to what extent are ‘eco-products’ and promotion of sustainable consumption are perceived to be targeted at women? How do UOL students make sense of the gendering of sustainable offerings and practices in marketing? Why?
- The Social Impact Team is interested to explore the extent to which career in sustainable marketing are feminised. Previous research conducted by the Social Impact team and the 2018/2019 MN7012 cohorts have found that there is a gender bias whereby female graduates are said to be more inclined to enter CSR professions. The Social Impact Team would like to understand the key motivations that drive our potential graduates’ propensity towards CSR professions. How can the Social Impact Team generate interest and passion for CSR professions among graduates, particularly male graduates?
Relationship to Nature
The Social Impact Team is keen to understand how the young generation of UOL students relate to nature. To what extent do the current generation of young students becoming connected/disconnected from ‘nature’? What relationship do young students establish with ‘nature’ (e.g. nature as divine, nature as an exploitable resource/commodity etc)? How do their everyday practices (e.g. shopping, consumption, travelling, recreational practices such as walking, running, cycling etc.) reflect their (dis)enchantment with nature? How can the Social Impact Team maintain and/or re-enchant the young generation of UOL to connect with nature?
Disposal of Coffee Cups
One of the key issues The Social Impact Team face is the management of disposed coffee cups. At present, apart from the plastic lid and cardboard sleeve, coffee cups used on campus cannot be recycled. Unfortunately, coffee cups are found to be inappropriately disposed of by users as it was mixed in with recyclable waste. At other times the recyclable lid and sleeve were disposed of with non-recyclable waste. This poses a challenge for the Social Impact Team to promote appropriate practices of coffee cup disposal and to reduce the use of coffee cup through the adoption of re-usable coffee cups/flasks. The Social Impact Team would like to explore current practices of coffee cup disposal on campus among UOL students? Do students know that you can’t recycle the actual coffee cup, but can recycle the plastic lid and cardboard sleeve? How can the Social Impact Team encourage more students to buy re-useable coffee cups/flasks?
Reducing Carbon Footprint
The Social Impact Team is keen to explore students’ current practices and management (e.g. transportation choices) of carbon footprints whilst studying at UOL. To what extent do UOL students perceive the need to reduce their carbon footprint in response to climate change? What key motivations and barriers (if any) influence their practices to reduce carbon footprint? How can the Social Impact Team encourage students to reduce their carbon footprint?
PREFERRED RESEARCH DESIGN AND SCOPE
We would like you to conduct a QUALITATIVE Research to address ONE of the above research areas. While we believe that there is a need to conduct a larger study with various stakeholders, we are keen to commence the project with a small, preliminary study. In particular, we would like to concentrate on the student body at UOL since they make up a large proportion of the university community.
We believe that a qualitative approach will enable us to gain in depth insights into our student’s perceptions and current practices. This commission is intended to be a preliminary phase. We are open to suggestion for a followed up quantitative research at a later stage once the preliminary study is completed.
The primary target sample should include both undergraduate and postgraduate students who are currently studying on campus at the University of Leicester.
De-briefing of Research Problem
Over the past half-century, the effects of global warming have been strongest worldwide. (Luttropp and Lagerstedt, 2006, Metz et al., 2012, Wamsler et al., 2013).It is widely accepted that global climate change is the result of human emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide. (Mouzon et al., 2007; Benjaafar et al., 2013; Thomas,2017).Jackson(2011) pointed out that the global energy-related carbon footprint increased by 1.7% in 2018 to a historical level of 33.1 billion tons. By 2050, emissions will be 80% higher than they are today.This is a long-standing topic, so it is necessary to explore the practice and management of students’ current carbon footprint.
Research Aims and Objectives
Aim:
Learn about the University of Leicester (UOL) students who practice and manage their carbon footprint and determine their level of awareness of reducing their carbon footprint.
Objectives:
To assess the current knowledge of UOL undergraduate and graduate students (who are enrolled on campus in the 2018/2019 academic year) on factors affecting their carbon footprint.
To explore the awareness of UOL undergraduate and graduate students (who are enrolled on campus in the 2018/2019 academic year)to reduce their carbon footprint in response to climate change.
In order to explore how UOL undergraduates and graduate students (who are enrolled on campus in the 2018/2019 academic year) can reduce their carbon footprint through effective measures or methods.
To identify the main motivations and barriers to reducing the carbon footprint of UOL undergraduates and graduate students (who are enrolled on campus in the 2018/2019 academic year).
To explore ways to encourage UOL undergraduate and graduate students (who are enrolled on campus in the 2018/2019 academic year)to reduce their carbon footprint.
Sampling and Justifications for Sampling Methods
Sampling Methods: Non-probability Sampling / Judgemental Sampling
Justifications:
■ Non-probability sampling contains judgement. (Showkat and Parveen 2017)
■ Non-probability sampling enables the samples to be selected subjectively to gain informative and experienced-rich data.
■ Non-probability sampling is suitable for qualitative research.
■ Judgemental sampling focus on participants with particular characteristics. (Etikan, 2016)
Data Collection Method and Rationale
Focus Group – Average 5-10 members per group for academic research, more for marketing research
■ Use smaller sized groups when – the general topic of the focus group entails that each person will have plenty to say
■ Necessary for qualitative research
Organizational Development | Case Study – The Newspaper Company Sample
■ Build participants’ perspectives and inspire new ideas of carbon footprint
Morgan (1998) suggests that focus groups are characterized by the explicit use of interactions to generate data and insights, which are difficult to obtain without interactions found in the group.
■ Capitalise on group dynamics and synergy to feed off each other
Davis (1997) believes that taking advantage of group dynamics could make other respondents think differently about questions.
Supportive forum for expressing suppressed views
Blackburn and Stokes (2000) argues that the ability of individuals from a similar community to interact helps focus groups.
■ Highlight a range of behaviours, attitudes and points of view about carbon footprint in a relatively short period
■ Challenged thinking is introduced – extreme cases
Main Theme
Explore the awareness of UOL students on the carbon footprint and how to view the carbon footprint in their daily lives.
How should UOL students manage themselves and control the reduction of carbon footprint emissions.
Selecting interviewees randomly.
Group members recording and analyzing the data.
Main Findings
1. What factors affect the carbon footprint in their daily life?
■ People’s daily life habits
■ Eating habits
■ Travel styles
■ Personal attitudes
2. To what extent do students at Leicester realize that choosing green or public transport can reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
■ In general, their consciousness is strong, but few people really control their behavior strictly.
Some external factors (weather, comfort)
3. What measures or methods can students at Leicester University take to reduce their carbon footprint?
■ To raise a high awareness of reducing carbon emissions.( Like from the daily life, living habits, From the perspective of daily consumption)
4. What are the reasons or obstacles for Leicester students to reduce their carbon footprint?
Main reason:
Although the students were conscious, they lacked action.
Ensufficient publicity and guidance of the government, companies, and schools.
Economic quality.
Obstacles:
Students live far from the school and public transportation is inconvenient, which makes students choose to take Uber or drive to school.
The school curriculum settings are not consistent.
The school cafeteria provides free disposable tableware and free paper towels for students.
Due to the improvement of the quality of life, students have a relatively fixed consumption consciousness and ignore their behavior.
5. How should socially impact teams encourage students to reduce their carbon footprint?
Carrying out activities related to carbon footprint. ( social media)
Self-experience
Public figures
Brief Recommendations
Most of the students knows about the word ”footprint” and know “we should reducing our foot print!”, but no more than that.
·Social international platform
·Cooperating with faculties for lectures
·Organize some communities events about footprints in campus
Building a kind of apps or software which has the reward and clock system in order to help students reducing their footprint.
Limitations and Proposed Ways to address them
limitations:
■ may be miss some special ideas
■ there will be still many questions in details during we put the solutions into practice
solution:
■ students who study relevant majors can give us more professional feedback the plan we have provided may be over idealization
■ communicate with teachers and faculties more to ensure the plan can be implemented well.
Conclusion: Why your group should win the bid?
■ Attractive Topic: The theme of carbon footprint is relatively new to university students which can attract more attention from target groups.
■ Sufficient and particular interview: Considering that this project is targeted to the UoL students, our group interviewed 6 focus groups which contains 36 participants all from UoL to have more targeted results.
■ Specific Plan for the Project: Through the interview, we ask the participants for the suggestion from the definition of carbon footprint to the barrier and solution to the lack of attention to carbon footprint in their daily life, which is sufficient enough for the Social Impact Team to discover and solve the problem of the carbon footprint.
■ Detailed and In-depth understanding of the topic: In order to avoid being too general, our group also focus on one specific aspect of carbon footprint, the transportation, which enables the Social Impact Team to achieve the plan indeed.