MR - research proposal - Assignment 2 in MKTG2010 PDF

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Assignment 2 in MKTG2010...

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Marketing Research - Apple Research Proposal! Student name: Amelia Gibson! Student ID: c3332957! Class: 8am-10am, Tuesday!

Should Apple introduce the iScale in order to satisfy consumers that purchase items in the fitness tracking market?! Overview of product/brand Apple is an American multinational technology company that sells a number of hugely successful products, such as the iPhone, the iPad tablet, the iPod, and the Apple smartwatch. Apple currently holds 22.17% of the smartphone market share worldwide (Statcounter, August 2018 - August 2019). Competitors such as Fitbit and Garmin in the fitness tracking market has caused Apple to lose potential customers because of the extra features packed into their product. Apple wants to know whether introducing the iScale would allow them to become more competitive in the fitness tracking market. Would consumers be more likely to purchase an Apple Watch and iScale over competitors?!

Swot Analysis of iWatch! Strengths:! •

An innovative product !

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The existing software is supporting the new product - The Apple OS is the same and is supporting iWatch which can which can be used to better integrate multiple devices.!

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The whole value chain is already in place - The complete chain of supply and value is already there to support the production and sale of iWatch. (Marketing91, December 19, 2018)!

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Apple has status - Apple products quickly become a status symbol when introduced to the market, for the iWatch its status and popularity became obvious in its early days!

Weaknesses:! •

iWatch can eat up Apple’s own products in the long run - because of the similar features of the iWatch to the iPhone, this in turn can ruin the already set market of a product like iPhone.!

Opportunities:! •

High brand awareness - this can lead to higher sales of the Apple iWatch!

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Global watch market is profitable - More and more people are seeking smart watches, with the innovative features of the iWatch this brings opportunity for great sales/ market share!

Threats:!

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Competition in innovation - This innovative technology industry is highly competitive. This means that Apple needs to be on top of the product at all times. !

If the Apple iScale is able to outweigh the amount of strengths and opportunities compared to Fitbit, Garmin and the Apple iWatch the product would be likely to overtime bring in more profit than these products and take market share away from these brands/ products. ! Swot Analysis of Fitbits! Strengths:! • Access to tons of data - Access to your resting heart rate to an in-app food diary, you’re given access to several kinds of health-related information about yourself. (Pestle Analysis, Feb 6, 2019)! • Apps for workouts and more! • A lot of variety to choose from - there are many different types of Fitbit watches which have slightly different features to suit all potential buyers.! • Competition amongst friends - People who live for the competition can push themselves further after seeing what their friends have accomplished. If you don’t want people to see your accomplishments, you can easily make it private. (Pestle Analysis, Feb 6, 2018)! Weaknesses:! •

An Over-reliance on steps - Other health indicators, like nutrition intake, BF%, and body measurements should be retained as well. !

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More estimates than determinants!

Opportunities:! •

Opportunities for more Fitbit apps to be created!

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Opportunities to branch into new measurements!

Threats:! •

Other competitors!

Research Problem Purpose:! The purpose of this research is to assist Apple in their decision as to whether they should bring the iScale to the market. ! Symptoms versus Problems/Opportunity:!

Symptoms: Plateau in sales of the Apple Watch! Underlying cause: limited features compared to competitors, more expensive than competitors’ products. ! Information needs:! In order to make recommendations to Apple regarding the introduction of the new iScale, information will need to be obtained regarding consumer attitudes towards the current Apple Watch features, as well as consumer purchase intention towards the new iScale. ! Unit of Analysis: ! Therefore the unit of analysis is consumers. ! Relevant Variables:! The key variables to be measured are attitudes towards the current Apple Watch, consumer purchase intention towards the iScale, demographic variables, important measures (price, features). ! Statement of Decision Maker’s Purpose Should Apple introduce the new Apple iScale in order to satisfy health conscious consumer preferences, and in turn increase sales?! Research Question What are consumer attitudes towards the Apple Watch features?! This is concerned with the respondent attitude towards the Apple Watch features. Respondents should be asked to rate the effectiveness of each of the current features. Primary data. ! What characteristics of fitness tracking devices are important to consumers?! Factors that consumers consider when purchasing a fitness tracking product - choice criteria could include colour of product, price, amount of features it has (BMI, BF%, MM, water%, etc). Consumers should be asked to rate the importance of these features and factors as it highly influences the features put into the iScale and the price. Primary data. ! What are consumer attitudes and behavioural intentions towards the proposed new iScale features?! This is concerned with respondent attitude and intention to purchase the new iScale. Respondents should be asked to rate each of the features, and also indicate the degree of intention to purchase the product based on features. Primary data. !

Do attitudes and behavioural intention differ between males and females?! Simple demographic information should be obtained from consumers. E.g, the different ages of males and females might effect the likelihood of purchasing the iScale due to their economic situation. Males may prefer different features of the iScale to females. Primary data. !

Research Objectives To measure consumer attitude towards the current Apple Watch features.! To rank the characteristics of fitness tracking devices that are important to consumers.! To determine consumer attitudes towards the proposed new Apple iScale potential features. ! To measure the likelihood of purchase as a result of the combined features of the Apple iScale. ! To compare attitudes towards the proposed new features between of the iScale between males and females. !

Information Value By conducting this research, information regarding consumer attitudes towards the current Apple Watch and attitudes towards the proposed new features of the iScale will be obtained. In addition, the importance of features to consumers will be measured allowing recommendations to be made in regards to the introduction of the new iScale. ! By collecting information regarding attitudes and purchase intention of the new iScale and overall its features, recommendations will also be able to be made in specific reference to what that the features should be, and whether different features should be introduced for males and females. ! Conceptual Model Features - Attitude towards features Price - Purchase Intention, and Attitude towards features as the features of the product would effect the price a customer would be willing to pay. Gender - Purchase Intention, and Attitude towards features, different genders may prefer certain features over others.

Research Design Descriptive research would be the most appropriate to be used. Descriptive research uses elements of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies (AECT, 2001). The descriptive function of research is heavily dependant on instrumentation for measurement and observation (Borg & Gall, 1989). Descriptive research requires surveys to be undertaken by consumers. ! Method of Administration Descriptive - I will be conducting surveys online asking consumers about what they like about the Apple Watch, what features they’d want in the iScale, what price they’d expect to pay for the iScale, how old they are, what gender they are, etc. I would have a sample of 600 consumers evenly split between females and males that participated in the survey that owned the Apple Watch or the other fitness trackers (Fitbit/Garmin). 25% females with apple watches, 25% females with Fitbit or Garmin trackers, 25% males with apple watches, and 25% male with Fitbit or Garmin fitness trackers. I would gather customer details from each company to get the desired amount of consumers, male and female needed to participate in this survey and then send an email of the survey out to those customers. That way it covers the opinions of consumers with similar products but from different companies. I am undergoing surveys as I believe it is the easiest way to gather information about customer needs in the product. This form of research can be used further down the line when improving upon the iScale and other Apple products. ! Measurement Tool/Implementation Plan

Apple iScale Questionnaire - ! How old are you?! Do you own an Apple Watch?! Do you own a Fitbit or Garmin fitness tracker?! If you own a Fitbit or Garmin fitness tracker state which one you own and what features of the product you like?! If you own an Apple Watch what features of the product you like?! What Gender are you?! What features must you have in a fitness tracker?!

How much would you be willing to pay for the iScale if it tracked your BMI, BF%, MM, body water%, the time, your steps, how many kms you ran, how many flights of stairs you walked up, let you play music either out loud or through bluetooth headphones/ AirPods, and was waterproof/water resistant?! Where do you live? E.g, Australia, America, China. (This would affect what a customer would be willing to pay.)!

Sampling! To determine Consumer attitudes towards the new iScale! Target population: ! •Consumers! Data Collection Method: ! •Surveys online through email! Sampling frame: ! •All 600 participants which are consumers of Apple Watch, Fitbit, or Garmin fitness tracker ! Sampling Method: ! •Systematic Sample (every 5th female, every 5th male stored in each companies system)! Sample size: ! •600 all around the world! Operating Plan for Selection of Sampling Units: ! •Researcher to email every 5th person as they pass identified target point for inclusion in survey. ! Execution: ! •Once selected, participants will be asked to answer multiple questions asked by the survey related to the fitness trackers.

Ethical Considerations Issues such as honesty, objectivity, respect for intellectual property, social responsibility, confidentiality, non-discrimination and many others.$ These codes and policies provide basic guidelines, but researchers will still be faced with additional issues that are not specifically addressed and this will require decision-making on the part of the researcher in order to avoid misconduct.$You must ensure the quality and integrity of your research, you must seek informed consent of consumers prior to survey, you must respect the confidentiality and anonymity of consumers participating in the survey. ! Limitations of Research The small sample size in relation to the variance in countries participating in the survey may effect the price customers are willing to pay. The small sample size will increase the

likelihood of error skewing the results of the survey. Of cause the sample size depends on the nature of the research problems. If sample size is too small, statistical data would not be able to identify significant relationships within the data set. So basing my study in a larger sample size could have generated more accurate results. Formulated research aims and objectives may have been created to broadly. The nature of implementation of data collection method could be flawed, the researcher should have ensured the data collection method made sense. Another limitation of research is the years of experience of conducting researchers and producing data. !

References

- Statcounter, “Mobile Vendor Market Share Worldwide”, August 2018 - August 2019! - AECT, “What Is Descriptive Research?”, 2001! - Pestleanalysis, “Swot Analysis of Fitbits: Strengths and Weaknesses in Wearable Tech”, Feb 6, 2019!

- Marketing91, “Swot analysis of iWatch”, December 19, 2018!

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