Answers to the Mid-term question paper

1. Answers for Mid-term
By Rama Krishna Kompella

2. Question 1
• Expresses clear opinion about the statement (2 marks)
• No. You have to disagree with the statement. As each research
design serves different purpose, we can’t state that one is superior
over other
• Explains briefly both research methods in line with his / her opinion
(8 marks)
• While exploratory research helps in gaining background
information, in depth knowledge regarding a specific issue, defining
terms and clarifying problems and hypotheses, descriptive research
helps in describing and measuring marketing phenomena at a
certain point in time. Exploratory research also helps to establish
research priorities, whereas descriptive research collects
information based on the priorities set by exploratory research.

3. Question 2
• States what is the management problem? (2 marks)
• The company is planning to create customer segments, in order to
target its customers better
• States which analysis method can be used in order to solve the
management problem (6 marks)
• Cluster Analysis
• Explains why it is the best method to choose from (2 marks)
• As the objective of the company is to create customer segments,
Cluster analysis as a method of analysis helps to classify or segment
objects into groups so that objects within each group are similar to
one another on a given set of variables.

4. Question 3
• Lists various research methods available (5 marks) (No need to
explain every method)
– Telephone (Traditional and C-AT)
– Personal (In Home, by appt & Random personal interviewing)
– Mail (Mail interview & mail panel)
– Electronic (E-mail and Internet)
• Provides the rationale behind choosing an appropriate research
method for this case (5 marks)
• As the company has all the contact numbers of the consumers, a
telephonic interview will be the best way to connect to consumers
and get their interest levels. The geographical spread of consumers
makes personal interviewing very cumbersome and expensive.
Other forms might be cost effective, but will have very low
response rate

5. Question 4
• States the sampling method used by the instructor, along with the
uses of the particular method (6 marks)
• She used simple random sampling in order to select the sample.
Simple random sampling is the easiest method of sampling which
doesn’t involve difficult process or statistical techniques. However,
it requires list of population elements and is quite time consuming.
• Provides his / her opinion on the sampling method used, given a
choice (4 marks)
• In this scenario, since there are 500 students, instead of writing all
the numbers and then taking their opinion, we can use systematic
random sampling and arrive at the number of students who act as a
sample for this particular survey.

6. Question 5
• Clearly states the differences between the two methods (at least 3
differences) (6 marks)
Dependence Methods Interdependence Methods
Has a specified dependent variable and No dependent variable designated, or
a set of independent variables any independent variable
The goal of dependence methods is to The goal of interdependence
predict / measure the impact of methods is to group respondents or
independent variables on the objects together
dependent variable/s
Deals with uncovering relationships Mainly deals with defining constructs,
among variables factors or segmentation
Multiple regression, ANOVA Cluster analysis, discriminant analysis
• Provides one example of each method (4 marks)

7. Question 6
• Clearly states the differences between the two types of scales (at
least 3 differences) (6 marks)
Nominal Scale Ratio Scale
Is used to determine membership in a Is used to clearly distinguish between
category only observations
Is non-numeric Is numeric
Data is discrete Data is continuous
Ex: Roll numbers of students in a class Ex: Scores obtained by students on a
test
• Provides one example of each scale (4 marks)

8. Question 7
• Clearly states the research problem with the help of the hypothesis
(4 marks)
• H0: There is no difference in perceptions among consumers
between the two packages
• Ha: There is a difference in perceptions among consumers between
the two packages
• States the suitable method of analysis to solve the problem (3
marks)
• A t-test or ANOVA can be used to determine the differences of
perceptions among the two groups of consumers
• Explains the rationale behind choosing the method (3 marks)
• As the objective is to ascertain the differences of perceptions
among consumers who saw the package, a group difference
approach will be useful.

9. Section B

10. Question 1
• Need to state whether it is a good question or a bad question (1
mark each). If it is a bad question, explanation is required, which
will carry one mark each.
• Do you read marketing digest regularly? Good
• Have you ever committed a marketing fraud before at your work?
Bad. Sensitive information should not be asked directly
• Don’t you think the Government is doing a great job now?
• Bad. The question is directing the opinion of the respondent, which
should not happen. The question should be neutral
• If McDonalds starts selling Samosa, how often would you visit
McDonalds? Good
• How much did you pay for the last cell-phone you purchased? Good

11. • Did the media coverage that you saw or heard increase your
awareness of free or low-income fitness and recreation
opportunities in your community? Bad. The question is too
complicated and has a lot of questions in a single question
• Are you satisfied with the service provided by the hotel? Please rate
on a scale of 1 – 7. Good
• Did you eat the strange yellowish Mushroom curry in Paradise
hotel? Bad. It is quite ambiguous
• What is your age? Good
• Do you own a car or frequently travelled in cars? Bad question. Is
ambiguous

12. Question 2
• Calculates chi-square with the help of the numbers provided (7 marks).
Observed Expected O-E (O-E)2 (O-E) 2/E
35 30 5 25 0.83
50 45 5 25 0.56
30 15 15 225 15
10 15 -5 25 1.67
25 45 -20 400 8.89
26.95
• Writes a conclusion on what the manager needs to do based on the result
(8 marks)
• Critical value with 4 degrees of freedom is 9.49, whereas the calculated
value is 26.95. Hence, Raju needs to go by the survey response and has to
order according to current consumer preference

13. Question 3
• Correctly identifies the type of test to be conducted (5 marks)
• The test to be conducted to find out the association between the
two variables is Correlation. Since the variables are continuous,
Pearson’s correlation needs to be calculated
• Conducts the test and gets the required association between the
two variables (5 marks)
• The obtained correlation is 0.90, which shows that there is a strong
positive correlation between aptitude of the worker and
performance rating. Hence, the manager can rely on aptitude test
while hiring workers

14. Question 4
• Correctly identifies the dependent and independent variables (3 marks)
• Dependent variable: Product usage level. Independent variables: Delivery
Speed, Price Level, Price Flexibility, Manufacturer's Image, Service, Sales
force Image, and Product Quality
• States the variable types for both independent and dependent variables
(2 marks)
• All continuous variables
• Provides the linear model for the situation (6 marks)
• Product Usage level = β0+ β1(Delivery speed) + β2(Price level) + β3(Price
flexibility) + β4(Manufacturer’s image) + β5(Service) + β6(Sales force image)
+ β7(Product quality) + e
• Explains the linear model (4 marks)
• The linear model suggests that the dependent variable product usage
level can be predicted using various independent variables listed above.
Here β0 is the constant and e is the measurement error

15. Question 5
• What is the concrete management problem? Please transfer this
problem to a concrete hypothesis that should be tested by applying
(one way) analysis of variance (ANOVA) (5 marks)
• The management wants to increase the sales of the stores. Hence,
it wants to try different fragrances, assuming that it helps in
boosting sales. Hypothesis is: Flavour has a positive relationship
with sales
• Shortly explain the key objective of an (one way) analysis of
variance. Please indicate the independent and dependent variable
for the example described above. (5 marks)
• The key objective of ANOVA is to ascertain the differences among
groups. In this example, the dependent variable is sales
(continuous), whereas independent variable is flavour (three types,
which is nominal)

16. • Please indicate an advantage and a disadvantage of the (one way)
analysis of variance (ANOVA). (2 marks) Which alternative analysis
method(s) could be used to overcome this constraint of the (one
way) analysis of variance (ANOVA) (it is assumed that the
assumption of this alternative method can be fulfilled)? (3 marks)
• One advantage of ANOVA is that it takes into account the
differences between the observations within a group, which is not
taken care in a t-test. Whereas, it doesn’t take into consideration,
the impact of other factors which might impact the dependent
variable. In order to overcome this issues, I would use ANCOVA,
adding the covariables which might change along with the
dependent variable.

17. Case Study: Micron Ltd.
1. Title page of the research proposal
– Understanding the user habits and expectations regarding
heating gadgets used for cooking
2. Introduction
– Micron Ltd. is a consumer durable products company marketing
a range of products in India. It specialized in Microwave Ovens
and are present in the country for more than two decades. They
are presently planning to reposition their product in order to
suit consumer requirements

18. Case Study: Micron Ltd.
3. Motivation
– As the sales of Micron microwave ovens did not pick up, they
are planning to reposition their product as ‘Heating Gadget’,
rather than primary cooking equipment. Hence, a thorough
understanding of user habits relating to heating of food is
required
4. Preliminary survey/scrutiny of relevant literature
– Preliminary research suggests that the product didn’t meet the
requirements of the target segment, as the cooking habits in
India were quite different to that in western countries. Heating
of food as a habit is also not prevalent, and hence a thorough
understanding of the heating habits is required. Further,
consumers feel that the taste of food is lost when it is reheated.

19. Case Study: Micron Ltd.
5. Problem Description
– As consumers often cook freshly, and feel that reheating the
food will not taste as good as freshly cooked food, the company
has to understand the following:
– How do consumers reheat their food?
– What are the perceptions of consumers related to reheating
and taste?
6. Hypothesis
– Reheating of food is negatively associated with perceptions of
quality of food
– Freshly cooked food is positively associated with perceptions of
quality of food

20. Case Study: Micron Ltd.
7. Research methodology
– A preliminary qualitative research needs to be carried out in order to
understand the reheating habits of consumers and their perceptions
of taste upon reheating
– A large scale survey needs to be conducted based on the findings of
the qualitative research, by designing a questionnaire

21. Questions?