Question A1: Small tourism business do not have the immense budgets of larger corporations. This necessitates more cost-effective approaches to be implemented in order to generate data about their customers. Besides that, there is a strong need to be able to capture an in-depth understanding about the experiences that actually matter to tourists. Given this context, would you recommend that small tourism businesses use quantitative or qualitative methods in their marketing research? Discuss with justifications.

Question A2: Many businesses use quota sampling during their data collection to ensure that their data is representative of the target population they are interested in. Do you think that this is a justified sampling method? Why or why not?

Question A3: The team at Curtin University's Learning and Student Experience department is keen to better understand the needs of students to facilitate improvements in the way that units are taught. To do so, the team will conduct survey research on students on campus. The leader of the team has consulted you on whether they should use a systematic sampling method or a cluster sampling method in the data collection. What would your answer to them be? Provide justification for your answer.

Section B: Short Answer Questions

CASE

Upcycled fashion is gaining the attention of fashion labels around the world. These products often involve the use of leftover materials from the production process or re-engineered old stock made into new products. The notion of upcycling speaks to the growing push by consumers for more sustainable practices by fashion brands as well as the increase in emphasis on reducing production and retail waste. To better understand consumer perceptions, a fashion brand has conducted a study with 829 consumers to better understand their perceptions and attitude towards upcycled products.

Initial research by the fashion brand identified four key variables that may be relevant to understanding attitudes towards upcycled fashion products. These were (1) ethical corporate behaviour (labelled 'EthBehav' and defined as 'perceptions that the company is driven by ethical business practices'); (2) perceived quality (labelled 'PeQual' and defined as 'customer's perception of the overall quality or superiority of a product with respect to its intended purpose and construction'); (3) sustainable practices (labelled 'SustainPractice' and defined as 'perceptions of upcycling as having a significant positive benefit to the environment'); and (4) aesthetics (labelled 'Aesthetics' and defined as 'perceptions of the overall favourability of the design of the product'). The brand was keen to find out (1) if there were any gender differences in perceptions and attitudes of upcycled products, and (2) how do the four key variables impact on attitudes towards upcycled fashion products.

To understand this, a sample upcycled product was presented to the respondents. Gender-specific products were presented to the male and female respondents respectively. Then, their perceptions were recorded using a self-administered questionnaire. To address the key research objectives, first, a t-test was conducted to test for differences in the mean scores for the four key variables as well as attitudes for males and females. Then, a multiple regression analysis was conducted to test the impact of each of the variables on attitudes.

Question B1: With the case in mind, review the SPSS output for the T-Test. Your task is to (1) report the results, (2) interpret these results, and (3) provide a simple recommendation for the fashion brand. (10 marks)

Question B2: With the case in mind, review the SPSS output for the regression. Your task is to (1) report the results, (2) interpret these results, and (3) provide a simple recommendation for the fashion brand. (10 marks)

Question C1:

Stanley is an IT support staff at a company selling luxury cars. However, last week, the head of the marketing department sent Stanley an email from notifying him that he has been tasked with conducting a market research project to demonstrate that rebranding the company's corporate logo with pink or rainbow motifs would help appeal more to women and LGBTQAI customers. The marketing head also mentioned in the email, that if this was proven the company could apply for grants from the government to fund a massive rebranding of the company to gain greater support from diverse populations. Thus, Stanley has decided on an experimental study which shows respondents different versions of the company's logo to identify which if the colour changes are perceived as more appealing to the specified target market.

In your opinion, what are some of the key ethical issues that may present for this project. Draw on any relevant ethical guidelines/regulations and provide recommendations on how Stanley may address potential ethical issues.(20 marks).