Scenario:

Your firm has been engaged to consult on a research project for Royal Melbourne Arcade*. Royal Melbourne Arcade (RMA) is retail shopping centre in the Melbourne CBD. RMA have identified the need to undertake marketing research to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on the current and future of shopping habits of Melbourne residents, and what services and initiatives may be required for shoppers to feel safe when visiting RMA. Your research assistant, in conjunction with the client, has started to develop the market research project but as the research manager you now need to take control of the day-today implementation and leadership of the project.

Background

Royal Melbourne Arcade (RMA) offers a unique shopping destination in the heart of Melbourne's CBD. It is a medium-sized retail shopping centre with a mix of affordable and high-end fashion and lifestyle stores, as well as a range of dining experiences. Like other retail, service and hospitality businesses in Melbourne, RMA have been hit hard by COVID-19 and the resulting restrictions since the start of 2020. While RMA are confident that they will be able to recover over the next few years, they know that understanding the changing habits and attitudes of shoppers, as well as their resulting concerns and fears about visiting high-traffic shopping centres, will be essential to developing initiatives that will build consumer confidence in retail shopping. As COVID-19 restrictions ease, this research will help RMA plan a sustainable future for the shopping centre.

Current Situation

In response to the substantial impact COVID-19 has had on the retail industry, RMA have identified the need to undertake marketing research to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on shopper habits and attitudes towards shopping centres, and help develop services and initiatives that will build consumer confidence in visiting shopping centres. This research will inform the marketing communication campaigns that RMA will schedule over the next 12 months, the development of initiatives related to COVID-19 safety and hygiene for RMA, and a consumer education campaign on these safety and hygiene initiatives from RMA. To achieve this goal RMA is planning to conduct a marketing research project with people who live or work within the Melbourne CBD, or who visit the Melbourne CBD at least once per month. Specifically, this marketing research has four (4) research questions (RQ):

1. What are the current perceptions and customer experiences of visitors to RMA? How does RMA compare to other major shopping centres in Melbourne?

2. What are the current shopping habits of customers and how do they anticipate they will change in the future?

3. What type of initiatives would make consumers feel more safe/hygienic when visiting RMA to shop at fashion or lifestyle stores?

4. What type of initiatives would make consumers feel more safe/hygienic when visiting RMA to dine in the food court or at one of the restaurants in RMA?

Market Research Requirements The client has requested that your company perform the research in two studies:

Study 1: A quantitative study to address research questions 1 & 2.

Study 2: An exploratory, qualitative study to address research questions 3 & 4.

RMA has also specified the following additional requirements that should be met in the proposed research design:

Study 1: - A minimum sample size of 500 respondents; - There should be a mix of respondents who: live in the Melbourne CBD; work in the Melbourne CBD; and who visit the Melbourne CBD at least once per month (but don't live or work there).

Study 2: - A mix of participants who are likely to visit RMA for shopping, dining, or both at least once per month or more frequently.

QUESTIONS:

QUESTION 1 What data collection (survey) method would you recommend for Study 1 of this research? Explain the advantages and disadvantages of your recommended method. QUESTION 2 Considering the specification for the Study 1 research sample given in the research brief (pages 4-5), make a recommendation on the type of sampling method that should be used in Study 1 of this research. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of your recommended method. QUESTION 3 Explain how you will analyse and report the quantitative data collected from the questionnaire. In your discussion explain at least three different inferential statistical tests would be appropriate to address research questions 1 and 2. QUESTION 4 The client is interested in your recommendations for Study 2 of the research project. Specifically, you should: A. Recommend an appropriate data collection method. In your answer describe the advantages and disadvantages of your recommended data collection method and how the data collection method could be implemented. B. Recommend an appropriate sampling plan. In your answer discuss the advantages and disadvantages of your recommended sampling method.Discuss and justify your recommendation using theory, show how your recommended approach would address the research question 4, and complement the questionnaire in Study 1. QUESTION 5 Develop a qualitative data collection instrument to be used in Study 2 based on your recommendation of a research method provided in QUESTION 4. In your response discuss: a) the design of the data collection instrument, focusing on the structure and layout; and b) the questioning techniques used. A copy of the instrument you have constructed should be included in an appendix to the report. You will lose 10 marks if this is not included. QUESTION 6 Recommend an approach to analysing the qualitative data collected from the data collection instrument you have developed in QUESTION 5. Explain why your recommended approach is suitable for the data collection method and objective of Study 2 of the research program.