Research Objective: Identify for your specified retail industry topic (Automotive industry), why consumers prefer a brand over another.

Structure:

This research report will follow the format of 7 steps of Hypothetico Deductive Model studied in this course in Chapter 2.

• Part 1 Identify the broad problem or opportunity area (also called PURPOSE) Your Project purpose is to discover which brand in a retail industry (your project topic) is preferred by consumers.
• Part 2 - Define the purpose statement in words that allows the researchers to establish what is to be understood and resolved (i.e. scope of the research project). Often done through a preliminary research or by talking with people. You can do this by conducting preliminary interviews with consumers, PESTLE Analysis or Secondary Research on this topic. After conducting your research, modify the Research Purpose Statement.
• Part 3 Develop hypotheses in order to understand the problem or the opportunity; market segment not satisfied, territory not covered. This (or these) statement (s) (i.e. hypothesis will need to be proven through research

by identifying the various variables. Identify as a team what is your belief consumer behavior is like for your retail industry (hypothesis).

• Part 4 - Determine the measures (e.g. quantify preferably) by which we will be able to assess the impact of variables. You can do this by creating a JMCO model for your Project as well as conducting a competitive benchmarking of at least 2 brands in your retail industry by using 4Ps of Marketing. Identify key factors which influence consumer preference of a band over another.
• Part 5 Data collection where information is collected to understand the impact of variables. Design a questionnaire for your Project to collect information from consumers using Interviews. Questionnaire must include variables identified in Part 4 for your Project. You can also make use of Observations. Document your Questionnaire in this part of the report, along with your interview and observation strategy. At least 8 questions should be included in your questionnaire, consisting of structured and unstructured questions. Also Identify the sample size for your research. You can use one of the rules of Thumb taught in the course for this purpose.
• Part 6 - Data analysis will take the data collected and structure it in a way that allows us to properly understand its meaning and how variables fluctuate. Statistical methods are often used at this stage. Use qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques taught in the for analyzing answers recd from your questionnaire in Part 5. Make use of variety of tools taught in Ch 14 for this purpose.

Part 7 - Interpretation of the data is the step that establishes which variables have the greatest impact and how this impact varies. Summarize the results of your analysis from Part 6 and draw a conclusion for your research. Answer the objective of the research. Identify if your hypothesis was valid or not. If not why not