The Product Marketing Research Plan

Research is becoming much more critical to all aspects of business as competition gets more intense and consumers can choose between a wider array of products online. You will address just the first two steps of the market research planning process to better understand what is really involved in marketing research.

Scenario:After your first couple of months as a product line manager with the new successful startupAHP Company, you are called into the marketing department's conference room. The marketing director announces that she has a product idea you need to research. She wants you to research the possibility of marketing a motorized wheelchair that converts into a bed since the engineering department says such a product is feasible.

Instructions:.

Checklist: (Steps 1 and 2 of marketing research planning)

• Define the problem and research objectives you want answered in line with the company's mission and objectives.
• Determine how to go about getting answers to those research questions in the most time- and cost-efficient way while getting viable and significant data.
• Explain what type of data you will you need, primary or secondary.
• Explain the means of obtaining the data. Explain what type of research you will pursue. Will you use quantitative or qualitative data? Explain why.
• Describe the sampling plan:

1. Who will you survey?
2. Sample size: How many people will you survey, knowing that all the people you intend to survey may not respond, or their survey will be incomplete, etc.?
3. Sampling procedure: How will you go about finding your sample population? What will be a statistically significant measure?
4. How will you contact the subjects? Will you email them, phone them, etc.?

• Determine how you will ensure the data is significant enough to make a decision as to whether the product development engineers should proceed with product development or not.