Without a strong back catalogue, Netflix knows it must keep investing in original content to survive, an extremely costly endeavour: analysts have said the company is going to spend around $15bn on new content this year.

To maintain that kind of investment, it told investors today it was looking to borrow more money, against a backdrop of investors becoming increasingly worried that the return of investment may not be coming, and that with deep-pocketed newcomers muscling in, the price of acquiring new programmes could rise further.

Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings admitted his company was outbid for Fleabag, which ended up being a co-production between Amazon and the BBC, and arguably the most talked about new show of the past year. Phoebe Waller- Bridge, the show's co-writer and star, has now signed to Amazon exclusively.

Meanwhile, Apple flexed its riches in beating Netflix to securing "The Morning Show", Jennifer Aniston's return to TV, where she'll appear alongside Reese Witherspoon. Apple's clout brings another advantage: every new purchase of an Apple device will come with a year's subscription of Apple TV+. Netflix has its work cut out in convincing Apple users to add its service on top. So does everyone else, for that matter.

Netflix looks precarious. Old shows are disappearing, and the company faces an unprecedented fight for the new ones.

Reed Hasting's visionary approach to delivering movies over the internet gave Netflix a 12-year head start, but that counts for little when customers can stop paying whenever they please.

As Mr Hastings told an audience in the UK last month, his company is now part of "a whole new world" (though, if you want to see the movie featuring that song... it's a Disney+ exclusive).

Among others actions, Netflix is planning to conduct one marketing research to understand how to invest on now content to confront the increasing competition. The management decision problem in this project is:

Should Netflix improve its catalogue?

The marketing research problem isto evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of Netflix, vis--vis other major competitors with respect to factors that influence consumers' preferences.

Specifically, research should provide information on the following question:

How do households evaluate Netflix and competing catalogue and what is its effect on consumers' choice?

Research questions and hypotheses proposed:

Does the content of the catalogue of Netflix affect consumers' choice?

H1: Quantity, quality and diversity in terms of programs are important elements for consumers' choice

H2: Quantity, quality and diversity in terms of series are important for consumers' choice

Question 1: Please list the information needed to test the hypotheses proposed

Question 2: Define the target population, the sampling unit and the elements in the sample

Question 3: Propose a research method (qualitative versus quantitative) and support your answer

Question 4:Propose a data collection method consistent with your research method (support your answer)

Question 5: Propose a questionnaire for your data collection method with four questions. Two questions per hypothesis. Explain the type of scales you are using.