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You have been hired as the new marketing research consultant by the car manufacturer Ford, who is launching a revamped version of their iconic model Mustang as a new, electric car. The company is planning to switch more and more towards electric vehicles to cope with the increasing demand and they thought that revamping an old classic would be the best strategy to start with. The new Ford Mustang will be priced at around £53,000.
However, the company is interested in how to best promote its effort with its customers, especially since traditional Ford drivers maybe put off driving an electric car. Therefore, they decided to launch a quick research design to see whether certain features of the car should be promoted more than others in a campaign to stimulate purchase intentions.
The previous marketing research director, who resigned abruptly, conducted a focus group with 8 expert consumers. The summary of the findings is below:
1. Consumer 1 (Performance Enthusiast): Loves the Mustang for its performance. The power comes on quickly and the engine sound is raspy and gritty. They appreciate the sporty demeanour of the turbo Mustang.
2. Consumer 2 (EcoBoost Fan): Prefers the EcoBoost model with Magneride dampers and the satisfying, hefty manual gearbox. They believe it’s the best all-round choice if you care about driving.
3. Consumer 3 (V8 Lover): Can’t resist the V8. Despite high tech updates, they love the Mustang for its crude and cool nature. They see it as a muscle car, not a sports car, and they think it’s all the better for it.
4. Consumer 4 (Interior Critic): Finds some of the interior materials a little cheap. They believe the update in 2018 improved this aspect.
5. Consumer 5 (Economy Conscious): Thinks the V8 engine is predictably thirsty, but they believe few other vehicles are as eye-catching as the Mustang at this price point, nor can they offer as much engine grunt.
6. Consumer 6 (Comfort Seeker): Finds the available Recaro seats overly aggressive and uncomfortable. They also feel that the standard four-cylinder is too subdued.
7. Consumer 7 (Tech Savvy): Appreciates the high-tech interior and lots of standard equipment. However, they feel that the interior quality isn’t exactly impressive.
8. Consumer 8 (Space Conscious): Thinks the cramped back seats offer little in the way of passenger space.
Based on this focus group, quantitative research was conducted through a questionnaire with a sample of 309 respondents through different Ford dealers in the UK in their “Open day” last September. The data from the survey have been returned and they are available in the SPSS file that is attached. A series of variables have been captured:
- A record of if the consumer took or not the test drive (TEST_DRIVE) on a dichotomous choice (Taken vs. not Taken);
- A record of if the consumer gave or not the contact details (CONTACTS_GIVEN) on a dichotomous choice (Yes vs. No);
- A measure of Environmental Benefits, captured with five items on a 1-7 Likert scale (Environmental_ 1 to Environmental_5);
- A measure capturing Brand Authenticity, measured with a single item on a 1-7 Likert scale (Authenticity_1) adapted by the scale developed by Napoli et al., (2014);
- A measure capturing performance perception, measured with two items on a 1-7 Likert scale (Performance_ 1 and Performance_2);
- A measure capturing perceived experience in using the brand, measured with four items on a 1-7 Likert scale (Experience_ 1 to Experience_4) adapted by Brakus et al., (2009).
- A measure of perceived price on three items on a 1-7 Likert scale (Price_ 1 to Price_3);
- A measure of perceived Quality of the car features, captured with four items on a 1-7 Likert scale (Quality_Features_ 1 to Quality_Features_4);
- A measure of Purchase Intention towards the product, captured with three items on a 1-7
Likert scale (P_INT_1, P_INT_3) adapted by the scale developed by Chandon and Morwitz (2005);
- Demographic variables: Gender (categorical variable), Age (numerical variable); income (categorical variable):
In 1.5 hours you will have to present a report in front of the board of directors to decide the next directions to undertake.
Section A (50%)
Based on the above, you will need to:
1) Test whether the measures are reliable (if relevant);
2) Plot the descriptive statistics for all measures, taking into account the nature of the different variables;
3) Test if the different elements (Environmental benefits, Brand Authenticity, Experience, Price, and Quality of the Features) affect purchase intentions in a significant way and which one(s) get the strongest impact
In your report, please include ONLY the data that are relevant to your discussion and place potential additional outputs in the appendix section. Please comment under each output the reason why you performed such analyses.
Section B1 (25%)
Based on the results you got, provide managerial recommendations for the company. Which dimensions are mostly appreciated by consumers? What would you advise to do in practice to design a campaign? Avoid superficial recommendations.
Section B2 (25%)
How was the management problem formulated? Any suggestions on how to improve - or change - the research questions? Also, please comment with examples on potential improvements (if any) you would have operated in designing the research, including potential directions for future research.