United International University

School of Business and Economics

BBA Program: Fall 2022
Marketing Research (MKT-4306)
Assignment Guidelines

Assignment Guidelines:

It is a group assignment. Each group will consist of a maximum number of 4

students. One student from each group will upload the assignment in the
assigned eLMS portal. Each student will choose the answer to any of the given
questions at the end of the case study for presentation. Each student will video
record the presentation using Zoom or any other ways and upload the recorded
presentation in the same portal.

Last Date of Submission: December 31, 2022

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Problem-1: In each of the following situations, indicate the statistical analysis you
would conduct with explanation:
[a] A researcher is interested to know if there is any relationship between
personality type (mild, moderate, and aggressive) and social class (low, middle,
and upper) and data were collected from 480 respondents currently living in
Mumbai.
[b] The same researcher is worried about the problem of extreme values in the
average monthly family income of the families currently living in Mumbai.
[c] A researcher likes to examine if the income of CMOs currently working is
Singapore follows a normal distribution.
[d] A fashion designer working in Milan likes to know if gender (male and female)
affects preferences of light-blue color (measured by 5-point likert scale).

Problem-2: A restaurant currently operating in California, USA, decided to change

their vegan menu if less than 60 percent of their regular customers liked the
existing vegan menu.
[a] Formulate the null and alternative hypothesis.
[b] Will it be a one-tailed or two-tailed test? Explain.
[c] Discuss the type of errors that could occur in testing your developed
hypothesis.
[d] Which statistical test would you use? Why?
[e] A random sample of 400 customers was surveyed and 216 customers
indicated that they liked the current vegan menu. Should the restaurant change
their vegan menu?

Problem-3: In a study measuring households’ familiarity with downloading

pictures from the Internet, the following results were obtained (likert scale: 1 =
not at all familiar, 7 = very familiar) from 200 respondents:

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[a] How many variables we have here? Evaluate the nature of the variable (metric
or non-metric) used here.
[b] Convert the number of households into percentages.
[c] Is there any missing value in the frequency distribution? Do we need to
calculate a separate column for the valid percentage here? Explain.
[d] Calculate cumulative percentages. How one would calculate the cumulative
percentages if percentages and valid percentages are different?

Problem-4: For the purpose of finding if there is any the relationship between
personality types (mild, moderate, and aggressive) and the brands used (Levi’s,
Calvin Klein, Amiri, Uniqlo), a market researcher has conducted a research and
calculated the value of chi-square to be 58.26 and the value of sig. of the test (p-
value) was found to be .0003. Can null hypothesis be rejected here assuming 95%
level of confidence? Explain.

Problem-5: In analyzing the relationship between the gender (Male and Female)
and the types of shoppers (compulsive and non-compulsive), a marketing
researcher has calculated the value of chi-square to be 18.28 and critical value
was found to be 3.841 assuming 95% level of confidence. Can null hypothesis be
rejected here? Explain.

Problem-6: A fashion boutique currently operating in Spain has produced the

following cross-tabulation:

Gender
Fit Preference
Male Female
Regular 28 12
Slim 48 36
Baggy 24 52

[a] The Chief Operations Officer of this fashion boutique wants to know if there is
any relationship between gender and fit preference. What statistical analysis
would you suggest here? Why?
[b] Conduct your suggested analysis.

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Problem-7: In a pilot study examining the effectiveness of three commercials (A,
B, and C), 10 consumers were assigned to view each commercial and they express
their preference by a 9 point likert scale. The data obtained from 30 respondents
are shown in the table:

Commercial Commercial Commercial

A B C
4 7 8
5 4 7
3 6 7
4 5 6
3 4 8
4 6 7
4 5 8
3 5 8
5 4 5
5 4 6

[a] Explain which statistical analysis will be appropriate here.

[b] Conduct your suggested analysis.

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Case Study: Marketing Research in Marriott

With roots that go back to before the Great Depression, Marriott International
(www.marriott.com) has come a long way from its founding by husband and wife
John and Alice Marriott. As of 2014, Marriott International has grown to be a
leading lodging company with more than 3,700 properties in seventy-four
countries and territories worldwide.

This sustained vast expansion over the last several decades is due in large part to
marketing research. Marriott began pioneering segmentation in the hospitality
industry by expanding its product offering in the 1980s, both upward and
downward in quality from its flagship Marriott brand. Through focus groups and
survey research, Marriott found that it could have many types of hotels serving
different market segments, and that these market segments, although all
providing the same basic needs, would not compete with each other. Certain
brands under the Marriott umbrella serve the business traveler. Courtyard by
Marriott, with pricing and scaled-back service levels compared to the larger
Marriott hotels, is targeted toward the price-sensitive frequent business traveler.
Courtyard hotels—said to be designed for business travelers by business
travelers—offer highspeed Internet access, ample workspace within the rooms,
and other amenities that are appealing to the business traveler. Fairfield Inns are
priced still more modestly to appeal to travelers who are even more price
sensitive. Other brands under the Marriott flag, such as the Ramada line, serve a
more family-style vacation market, with a focus toward comfort and affordability.

However, differentiation is not based on service and pricing alone. Marketing

research has revealed other attributes that are important. For example, a family
or a basic business traveler on a budget might be looking for a convenient
location in addition to affordability. Hence, Marriott places Fairfield Inns along
interstates and highways because these targeted groups travel by car. Convenient
location becomes another attribute that adds value and enhances perception of
the Marriott brand name.

When Marriott began its Fairfield Inn and Suites brand, it started simply as
Fairfield Inn. Then, with marketing research (focus groups and surveys), Marriott
found that its Fairfield Inn customers desired a luxury-class room within the value
hotel of the Fairfield line. Responding to this, Marriott changed the name to

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Fairfield Inn and Suites and added high-class rooms that contain amenities such as
spas.

Analysis of internal secondary data identified a substantial number of travelers

who stayed in Marriott hotels for more than a few nights. Focus groups and
surveys revealed that these extendedstay travelers have different needs. They
might need meeting space to conduct business, a kitchenette to dine in
occasionally, or a suite space so that they do not get tired of seeing the same four
walls around their beds when they come “home” in the evening after yet another
day on the road. For these travelers, Marriott opened the Residence Inn line (a
hotel line designed for an extended stay). Through subsequent marketing
research, Marriott found that this segment had room to expand to a more value-
priced line as well. Again, responding to this research, Marriott introduced
TownePlace Suites (a value-priced extended-stay hotel line). Some of the guests
at the Residence Inn or TownePlace Suites spend up to six months to a year at the
same hotel.

At the high end, Marriott offers fuller service and higher prices with its Hotel
Resorts & Suites and its Renaissance upscale business properties. According to
Marriott’s research estimating potential demand, the size of this high-end
segment is substantial. With all of these hotel lines, Marriott continues its
commitment to quality that began with John and Alice Marriott. Knowing from
research that all hotel residents desire quality, Marriott strives to provide this in
all facets of the hotel service. One way in which Marriott demonstrates this is by
empowering its customer service representatives to address customer problems.

Although each of the various Marriott brands has worked hard to carve out a
niche for itself, they all share the Marriott brand identity—the key ingredient to
their success. According to Gordon Lambourne, vice president of marketing and
public relations, the Marriott brand identity is all about commitment to service
excellence: a strong focus on employees that work in the hotels, taking care of
these associates so that they can really focus on their jobs and provide a level of
service that customers demand and expect today that is consistent throughout
the global Marriott brand. Each of Marriott’s hotels has a different personality
with a distinct design and service level that make the guests feel like they are in
London or Munich or Paris, but all these hotels have a common thread running
through them that identifies them as Marriott hotels.

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The numerous Marriott brands, rather than creating competition for each other,
actually help cultivate and sustain business. According to Lambourne, each brand
does an excellent job of appealing to its particular segment, because each has its
loyal following, and each markets itself independently and as part of a group that
is a portfolio of brands. However, there is some crossover, but Marriott views it as
a great opportunity to serve customers whose needs may change. So a customer
looking for an extended stay might prefer the Residence Inn, but choose a full-
service hotel such as the Renaissance for a shorter trip. So whatever the customer
prefers at any time, whatever that need might be, Marriott is well positioned to
capture that customer and that piece of business.

Marriott has been highly successful in using marketing research to develop a

segmentation strategy of targeting a large range of customers with different
needs by providing a strong variety of products and options. The diverse offerings
have helped Marriott appeal to an increasingly wide spectrum of clients and win
greater business. Continued reliance on marketing research will be critical to
Marriott’s success in the future.

Case Questions:

1. Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping Marriott
formulate sound marketing strategies.
2. Marriott would like to further penetrate the non-business-travelers
segment in the United States. Define the management decision problem.
3. Define an appropriate marketing research problem based on the
management decision problem you have identified.

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