A professional marketing research report has four objectives:
(1) To effectively communicate the findings of the marketing research project
(2) To provide interpretations of those findings in the form of sound and logical recommendations,
(3) To establish the credibility of the research project, and
(4) To serve as a future reference document for strategic or tactical decisions.
You have been asked to prepare a marketing research report for the Marketing Manager of Rule 1.
Rule 1 describe themselves as being “Athletes, Bodybuilders, Crossfitters & Powerlifters. Guys who’ve lifted a few million lbs & downed a few thousand scoops of protein. We’re also
supplement pros who’ve done this before. Guys who know the difference between the good stuff & the over-hyped wannabes. Creating and delivering the best protein powders and nutritional supplements in the world; that’s our mission. It’s an ongoing quest. Being good is never good enough. We wake up every morning thinking about ways to improve our products and processes. To be the best, you never stop striving”.
Rule 1 is looking to adopt a celebrity to endorse Rule 1 proteins and are in discussions with Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson. Before making their decision, Rule 1’s in house marketing team conducted a mixed method study utilising projective techniques and a quantitative survey to investigate consumer associations with the two celebrities, and other consumer judgements such as familiarity and attitudes towards the celebrities.
Initial Research Question – Decision Maker’s Purpose
Should Rule 1 sign Ryan Reynolds or Dwayne Johnson to endorse Rule 1 proteins?
Redefined Research Questions
1. What associations do consumers hold with Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson?
2. What are consumer attitudes towards Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson?
3. Which celebrity is more familiar?
4. Which celebrity do consumers perceive to be a better fit with Rule 1 products?
5. How does perceptions of celebrity to product fit influence consumer intention to purchase Rule 1 proteins?
6. Is having an attractive endorser more important than having an endorser that fits the endorsed product?
7. Which celebrity do consumers think should endorse Rule 1 proteins?
8. How do consumer attitudes and behavioural intentions differ depending on a consumer’s demographic and psychographic profile?
Research Objectives
1. To identify the associations that consumers have with Ryan Reynolds.
2. To identify the associations that consumers have with Dwayne Johnson.
3. To compare and contrast consumer associations between Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson.
4. To determine if consumer attitudes towards Ryan Reynolds are negative or positive (significantly different to a mean rating of 4 on a seven point scale).
5. To determine if consumer attitudes towards Dwayne Johnson are negative or positive (significantly different to a mean rating of 4 on a seven point scale).
6. To compare consumer familiarity of Ryan Reynolds against familiarity of Dwayne Johnson.
7. To compare consumer perceptions of celebrity to product fit between Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson.
8. To determine the relationship between consumers perceptions of celebrity to product fit and purchase intention.
9. To compare the importance of having an attractive endorser against having an endorser that fits with the product.
10. To determine the relationship between age (age groups 18-35 and 36+ years) and celebrity preference.
11. To compare attitudes towards Ryan Reynolds between light, medium, and heavy protein users.
12. To compare attitudes towards Dwayne Johnson between light, medium, and heavy protein users.
Rule 1 have provided you with the data from a word association task and an online questionnaire.
Word Association Task
A total of 119 Australian consumers were recruited through a professional online panel company, Qualtrics. Participants were shown both an image of Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson and were asked to type in the first word that came to their mind when viewing the picture of each celebrity.
Online Questionnaire
A total of 200 Australian consumers were recruited through a professional online panel company, Qualtrics to participate in an online questionnaire. Participants were allocated to one of two experimental conditions: Ryan Reynolds (n=100) or Dwayne Johnson (n=100). Participants were asked to indicate their attitude towards the celebrity, familiarity with the celebrity, and the perceived fit of the celebrity to Rule 1 proteins using three items drawn from Till and Busler (2000) including: do not belong together/ do belong together, do not go together/ do go together and do not fit /do fit. Participants were then asked to indicate their intent to purchase Rule 1 proteins, indicate whether attractiveness or endorser and product fit were more important, and indicate their preference between Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson. Finally, participants were asked to indicate their level of protein use and their age.
You will need to analyse both sources of data to test the twelve research objectives above. You will then be required to effectively communicate the findings to Rule 1 management, interpret the findings and make sound and logical recommendations to inform Rule 1’s decision to adopt either Ryan Reynolds or Dwayne Johnson as their celebrity endorser.
What should the report include?
Purpose of the Proposed Research Project
? Provide a brief overview of the purpose of the research project, how the information was obtained and what relevance it has to the research questions.
Word Association Data
? Addresses Objectives 1-3.
? Perform a content analysis of the word association data for Ryan Reynolds and Dwayne Johnson, consistent with the Week 7 Workshop Activity.
? You will need to first code and categorise themes relevant to both celebrities.
? You will then need to compare and contrast the coding and themes to identify similarities and differences between the two celebrities.
? Summarise your results, integrating quotes to emphasise your findings.
? Provide a graphical display (data display) to summarise your findings on the primary perceived similarities and differences between the two celebrities. Ensure you use quotes to support.
? Verify your findings by using two secondary sources to support the interpretations that you have made. Link the secondary sources with your interpretations.
Online Questionnaire Data (SPSS File)
? Addresses Objectives 4-12.
? Perform statistical analysis of the quantitative questionnaire data, consistent with the Week 8 to Week 12 Workshop Activities.
? You will first need to open the SPSS spreadsheet and use it to code a blank copy of the questionnaire (provided below).
? Ensure you use codes consistent with the data provided in Data View in SPSS.
? In Variable View in SPSS:
? Name your variables meaningfully so that you can identify them.
? For your categorical variables, create value labels that identify the values and the labels assigned to each possible response.
? Ensure that you correctly identify the variable type (Measure) as Nominal, Ordinal, or Scale.
? Perform Data Preparation:
? Recode ‘Age’ into the two age categories required to test Objective 10.
? Reverse Code the relevant item in the celebrity and Rule 1 protein fit multi-item scale.
? Ensure that the ‘fit’ construct is reliable (be sure to include your recoded item).
? Create the ‘fit’ construct by using summation.
? Discuss your data preparation procedures and results in a section of the report.
? Test Objectives 4-12 using the appropriate statistical test:
? Write the null and alternative hypothesis
? If your test involves scale variables, determine normality.
? Select and justify the appropriate test.
? Perform the test in SPSS.
? Provide graphical output if appropriate.
? Write a statistical conclusion.
? Write a managerial conclusion.
? Interpret the findings and make sound and logical recommendations to Rule 1 management regarding the research questions, and provide recommendations in reference to the initial research question (Decision Maker’s Purpose).
? You should ensure that your report is professionally written, presented, and ready for presentation to Rule 1.
Copy of the Online Questionnaire