After graduating from college, Muthu took a job with a consumer$-$goods firm. For the next $10$ years, he

was one of its leading salespeople every year. At the end of this time, however, Muthu admitted to himself

that his passion and joy is in selling books. $$I want to own my own bookstore$,$ he told his wife. $$I know it

sounds silly because I have had no experience in bookstore selling, but I$$ve always loved books and I$$m a

terrific salesperson.$$ After researching the market, Muthu and his wife had to face a very important fact:

the competition in this business is extremely aggressive. Most small bookstores do not last more than three

years and the majors such as Barnes & Noble and Borders dominate the industry.

Muthu refused to admit defeat. $$There has to be a market niche somewhere in this field that the majors are

not addressing. I$$m going to find that niche and go after it$,$ he told his banker. Six months ago, Muthu

concluded that he had found this niche. $$Cookbooks are the wave of the future$,$ he explained to his wife.

$$The average person today buys twice as many cookbooks as $10$ years ago. It is the fastest$-$growing

segment of the book market. Moreover, with your cooking skills and my appetite, we$$re a natural for this

market. We love food and we have sales skills.$$

Taking all of their savings, Muthu and his wife opened their bookstore in a popular suburban mall. It is

called For Cooks Only and sells only cookbooks. By the end of the first month, the Muthu and wife

realised they had made the right choice. Their wide selection of cookbooks and their familiarity with many

of the books helped them build a loyal clientele. They even provide a $$Recommended Recipe$$ service,

showcasing easy recipes that use foods in season. This service has resulted in many people coming by to

look at a recipe $$ and then returning within a couple of weeks to buy the book.

Although Muthu is quite happy over the business$$s success, he realises that his limited market niche could

dry up in a short period of time. He feels that the best way to prevent this from happening is by conducting

marketing research, seeing if he can add any additional books or services to the line and developing the

strongest possible clientele loyalty. The first place to begin, in his opinion, is by examining the current

purchasing habits of customers and then using this as a foundation for deciding where to go from here

$1.$ From the customer$$s viewpoint, what type of good is a cookbook? Defend your answer.

$2.$ Why is Muthu$$s store doing so well? Include in your answer Muthu$$s philosophy of marketing.

$3.$ In his marketing research efforts, what type of information would you suggest Muthu collect?

$4.$ How can he go about doing this? Be complete in your answer.