MKT 220 – BUSINESS RESEARCH FIRST SOLO MIDTERM TAKE HOME ASSESSMENT.
Please read the case carefully. Questions from 1-5 come from the case.
William Rosenberg opened the first Dunkin Donuts in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1950. Residents flocked to his store each morning for the coffee and fresh doughnuts.
Rosenberg started franchising the Dunkin’ Donuts name and the chain grew rapidly throughout the Midwest and Southeast. By the early 1990s, however, Dunkin’ was losing
breakfast sales to morning sandwiches at McDonald’s and Burger King. Starbucks and other high-end cafes began sprouting up, bringing more competition. Sales slid as
the company clung to its strategy of selling sugary doughnuts by the dozen.
In the mid-90s, however, Dunkin shifted its focus from doughnuts to coffee in the hope that promoting a more frequently consumed item would drive store traffic. The
coffee push worked- doughnuts make up a mere 17 % of sales. Dunkin’ sells 2.7 million cups of coffee a day, nearly one billion cups a year. And, Dunkin’ sales have
surged 40 % during the past four years. Based on this recent success, Dunkin’ now has ambitious plans to expand into a national coffee powerhouse, on a par with
Starbucks, the nation’s largest coffee chain. Over the next few years, Dunkin’ plans to remake its more than 5,400 US shops in 34 states and grow to double that number
by 2020.
But Dunkin’ is not Starbucks. In fact, it does not want to be. To succeed, Dunkin must have its own clear vision of just which customers it wants to serve (target
segment) and how (value proposition). Dunkin’ gut feeling is that Dunkin’ and Starbucks target very different customers, who want very different things from their
favorite coffee shops. Starbucks is strongly positioned as a sort of highbrow third place – outside of home and office – featuring couches, eclectic music, wireless
internet access, and art splashed walls. Dunkin’ has decidedly lowbrow, everyman kind of positioning.
With its makeover, Dunkin plans to move upscale – a bit but not too far – to reposition itself as a quick but appealing alternative to specialty coffee shops and
fast-food chains. Yes, Dunkin’ built itself on serving simple fare to working class customers. Inching upscale without alienating that base will prove tricky.
This is why they decided to conduct a marketing research study. This is why they approached you to provide them with insightful details on how to reposition
themselves.
Question #1: Dunkin’ Donut will be conducting a marketing research project. (15 pts)
(a) Please discuss why it is essential to start the research process with the right question.
(b) What is the research question in this Dunkin’ case? What does Dunkin’ want to know? Please elaborate.
Question #2: You told the marketing director of Dunkin’, Mr. Reynish, that before you start any primary data collection procedure you need to conduct secondary data
research to conduct a situation analysis for Dunkin’. He asks with wonder (15 pts),
(i) what secondary data research is
(ii) what are the pros and cons of doing a secondary data research,
(iii) why you are conducting a situation analysis, how would it help with the Dunkin’ research?
Question #3: After explaining what situation analysis and how it relates to secondary data research, you told Mr. Reynish that it is time to conduct qualitative
(exploratory) research. He asks you again (15 pts)
(i) what is qualitative (exploratory) research and why do you propose to engage with this research process?
(ii) how does the result of the exploratory research process help with the Dunkin’ case?
Question #4: It is time to conduct the qualitative (exploratory) research. Though there are many different qualitative (exploratory) research methods (e.g., focus
groups, ethnographic research, in-depth interviews), you told him that best approach in the current study is conducting in-depth interviews to get the preliminary
insights (15 pts)
(a) Mr. Reynish asked you: Why do we need to conduct in-depth interviews? Why is it important?
(b) After your explanation on in-depth interviews, provide 3 in-depth interview questions that you would ask the participants in the Dunkin’ study.
Question #5: As a next step, you discuss the quantitative (descriptive and causal) research process with Mr. Reynish. He asks you (15 pts)
(i) what is the main reason we conduct quantitative (descriptive and causal) research
(ii) how it relates to qualitative (exploratory) research
Question #6: Imagine that you want to know the average income business school graduates in the US make during their first year after school. You will never be able to
know the true average (unless you’re able to measure several thousands of graduates). What you can do is select a representative sample and measure hundreds of people
and calculate the average income. The average income among these people is probably not exactly equal to the true average but, if you did a good job (use a
representative sample of the population) it should be close enough. The difference between the true average (average income all US business school graduates had during
their first year) and its estimation through your sample (average income of people in your sample) is called what type pf error? Please elaborate. (10 pts)
Question #7: Local coffee store is interested in determining the demographic and psychographic characteristics of people who shop at their store versus those of people
who shop at Starbucks. They also want to know what their brand perception is relative to the competition. They would like to have the information in three weeks and
are working on a limited budget. (15 pts)
(a) Which survey method(s) would you recommend? Why?
(b) Based your answer in (a) what type(s) of sampling and measurement error may arise from the survey method you chose? Why?
Bonus question: What do you think about our marketing research workshops? Please provide your insights/comments and suggestions on the
– Quality of the delivery of the material and discussions in the workshops? (clarity, pace, examples, etc.)
– Openness and encouragement in workshop discussions?
– Amount of class work?
– Quality of communication with the class (e.g., emails, Blackboard posts, Facebook) ?
– Value of doing a real client project with Roche Bros?
– Quality level of learning in workshops and in overall course?
Based on the quality of feedback, bonus pts is over 10 pts.
