Business Research Method Analysis of a Stain Remover

Table of Contents

Introduction: 2

Decision Problem 3

Research problems 3

Research plan 4

LP Diagram 8

Findings of Exploratory Research 9

Descriptive Research 10

Pretesting 13

Data Collection 13

Responses collected 14

Data Preparation 15

Data Analysis 15

Conclusion 28

Exhibits 29

Introduction:

Our product for the project was 'on the go' stain remover. Tide has a product called 'tide to go' in the developed markets. It's a small marker shaped stain remover which can help people remove stains (especially food stains) on the go. Similarly Shout wipes is another product which is used for on the move stain removal. Shout wipes are like normal wet tissues.

P&G would like to launch such a product in India. The focus of this project was to use Business research methods to check the feasibility of introduction of such a product in the Indian market. Based on the research, a decision regarding the launching of the product in the most suitable form (marker or tissue) can be taken.

Market:

With the increasing penetration of fast food outlets and more on the go dining, the chances of such stains occurring are high and hence the need for on the go stain removers. Our initial analysis and brainstorming revealed that such a product would be useful to the following set of people:

1. Working mothers: Mothers who have to do all morning chores and go to office would typically have more need of such a product.

2. Students: usually hangout a lot at food outlets and have higher chances of soiling clothes. Also, students living in hostels would be expected to have a higher need of the product.

3. Working professionals: constitutes the broad segment of white collar workers who would require stain free clothes (especially having travel intensive work) Segment includes salesmen and airhostesses etc.

4. Businesses: Luxury hotels for their staff as well as their customers. Airlines, cruise ships, tour conductors etc can also be potential customers.

5. Families with kids: though a big segment, we felt that this segment is already aggressively served by detergents.

Decision Problem

The product has already been launched in the US. Our main objective was to determine whether there is a profitable market for this product in India. As there are two product concepts in US market, we also have to decide which concept is better suited for Indian market.

The decision problem was:

Should we launch the 'on-the- go' stain remover in India? If yes, which concept should we launch (marker or tissues)?

Research problems

The criterion developed by us for deciding on the launch decision was that the product should have some minimum demand at a price where it would be as profitable as it is in the US market. If there is considerable demand at this threshold price, we would recommend the launch. We have put sales (quite arbitrarily) of Rs. 5 Crores as minimum sales at price of Rs. 60 per unit or 8 lakh unit sales. The price calculation is given in Exhibit 1.

So our research problems were:

1. Find out who are the target customers

2. Assess their need for the products and possible usage of the product.

3. Find out the number of people who are willing to pay above or equal to the base price.

4. Find out the most suitable product concept to launch. The research matrix is given in Exhibit 2.

Research plan

Having defined the objectives of the research, a plan consisting of the following steps was developed:

1. Exploratory research :

A. Secondary research: The identified customer segments have different needs and purchasing lifestyles, so we did secondary research for analysing trends and eliminating segments which are downright not good to serve. (please refer Research Design matrix)

B. In depth interviews: In depth unstructured interviews were conducted to help us further narrow down to the right customer segments. Its objectives were to help us gain clarity of the needs of various customers and also get an idea about the possible pricing of the product.

2. Descriptive Research: Based on the findings of the exploratory research, a structured survey of the target audience was prepared and administered to the target audience to get the information required for taking the decision.

3. Data Analysis: The data from the descriptive research was analysed through various statistical techniques to draw inferences about the research problems.

Exploratory Research

The objective of exploratory research was to narrow down on the target audience. The product can be used by businesses for professional use (Hotels, airlines dining etc) and also by individuals for personal use. The product has personal utility for many consumer segments like salespeople, students, working professionals, and families with kids. Secondary exploratory research did not help us in narrowing down on a single target segment. Hence, we decided to conduct primary research to find out the consumer requirements, benefits sought, type of usage and a possible price range. In depth personal interviews were used for this purpose.

Professional use

Hospitality and Dining segments

We conducted 8 interviews in this segment. Three Luxury hotels (Marriott, Pride and the Taj), The Grand Bhagwati (TGB), Pizza Hut and Honest were covered. We also covered other dining outlets like Curry's to get a view