MR Exam Answer Key Mid Term 2012 Feb

7/27/2019 MR Exam Answer Key Mid Term 2012 Feb

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Marketing Research: Mid Term Examination (Closed Book)

Batch: 2011-13 PGP-I Total Marks: 100 Weightage:25%

Duration: 2 hrs Date: 23 Feb 10

Answer all the questions.

Q.1 A prominent health foods beverage company,say A, routinely advertises that

consumers (children) of its product grow 10 cm more in 12 months than consumers (children)

of the other major competing health foods beverage brand, say, B. You are asked to design the

appropriate experimental research methodology to credibly test the truth of the claim of

Company, A. 10 Marks

Equally matching samples of male and female children of the same age bracket from similar

families, and similar physical growth orientations to be selected first.(Say, 90 children:males

45, females 45 all 9 years of age)

Three equally matching groups have to be RANDOMLY segregated into two EXPERIMENTAL

GROUPS(One gets Brand A, the other Brand B), and one CONTROL GROUP(follows the normal

diet;No Brand A or B or any other health drinks)

Groups tested Experimental

Variable

Measurement

Before(Height in Cm)

Measurement After

(Height in cm)

Exp. Group 1 Random

15 males, 15 females

Brand A MB1 at the start of

the treatment

MA1 at the end of

the treatment after

12 months

Exp. Group 2 Random


Brand B MB2 at the start of

the treatment

MA2 at the end of

the treatment after

12 months

Control Group 1

Random


No health drinks MB3 at the start of

the treatment

MA3 at the end of

the treatment after

12 months

If the mean of (MA1-MB1) is more than the mean of (MA2-MB2) by 10 cm or more, one can

establish that Brand B results in incremental increase of 10 cm among equally matching

samples. The difference in observations between Exp. Group 1 and Control Group 1 can also

be found out to ascertain the respective claims. So are the differences concluded upon

between Exp. Group2 and Control Group.


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Q.2 Below given are the details of three Tourist Families who visited (1) or not visited (2) the

resort. A Discriminant equation has been computed on the basis of data of 15 families who

visited the resort (1), and 15 other families who did not visit the resort(2).The value of the

Constant is -7.975.

Variable Unstandardised Canonical Discriminant Function

Coefficients

Income 0.08476

Travel Orientation 0.0496

Vacation-Attitude 0.120

Household Size 0.427

Age of the Head of Household 0.0245

Variable Tourist Family 1 Tourist Family2 Tourist Family3

Income 60 40 50

Travel Orientation 5.4 4 3

Vacation-Attitude 5.8 5 6

Household Size 4.3 3 5

Age of the Head of

Household

53 60 50

Q.2a. Calculate the Discriminant Score of each family. 5 Marks

Family1

-7.975+ (60x0.08476)+(5.4x0.0496)+(5.1x0.12)+(4.3x0.427)+(53x0.0245)= 1.20904

Family2

-7.975+ (40x0.08476)+(4x0.0496)+(5x0.12)+(3x0.427)+(60x0.0245)= -1.0352

Family3


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-7.975+ (50x0.08476)+(3x0.0496)+(6x0.12)+(5x0.427)+(50x0.0245)= 0.4918

D Score Family 1=1.209; Family 2= -1.0352; Family 3= 0.4918

Q.2b. State whether each of the Tourist Families visited the Resort(1) or not (2) 5 Marks

Family 1 & 3 Visited the Resort (Their D Scores are positive, more than 0); and Family 2 did not

visit the resort (Its score is less than 0, lower than the mean of the Group Centroid)

Q.3 Interpret the results of a Factor Analysis done on the following questions to find out the

underlying dimensions related to attitudes towards job anxiety.

Table I KMO and Bartletts Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olikin Measure of

Sampling Adequacy

.760

Bartletts Test of Sphericity Chi Square

Degrees of Freedom

Sig.

1552.631

15

.000

Rotated Component Matrix

Attributes Component 1 Component 2

I get heart palpitations when my boss calls me .971 .088

Work life also fills over to personal life .050 .974

I do not feel like meeting people after I go from my

office

.085 .920

A sitting job leads to digestive problems .975 .095

I always like to stay back after working hours in the -.083 -.971


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office

When I retire, I might not be physically fit to enjoy my

retired life

.977 .040

Q.3a. Interpret the Rotated solutions, and name the Factors 5 Marks

Factor 1 loads strongly with three variables of Physiological Anxiety

Factor 2 is comprised of family/ social time Anxiety variables

Q.3b. Calculate the communalities of each variable, and interpret the information content

retention, and find out the anomalous variables, if any. 5 Marks

(.971)^2 +(0.088)^2 =0.95

(.050)^2 +(.974)^2=0.95 and son .

All the variables have communalities of above .90, which means that the information

contents in the variables are almost fully captured in the two Factors.

Q.3c. If you could work out the Factor Scores with respect to all the 30 individual respondents,

what are the uses you can use the Factor Scores for? 5 Marks

Factor Scores can help in precisely determining the two Clusters/ Segments of the

respondents. They can also help in precisely working out the Discriminant Scores and

equations that that will discriminate the two Discriminant Groups (Physical Anxiety

Groups, and Social/ Family Anxiety Groups). The Factor Scores also will be useful for

further analyes in Multiple Regression where one can have non-multicollinear

independent variables.

Q.4. A branded restaurant chain wanted to segment its 200 customers in its restaurant in

Mangalore on 8 attributes. The Likert scale questionnaire had 9 response categories: 9= very

important, and 1 = very unimportant.

The K- Means Cluster Output is as shown below:

Attribute Cluster1(n=62) Cluster2 (n=55) Cluster3(n=83)

Ambience 8.6 4.5 7.8

Taste 8.6 8.1 8.5


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Hygiene 8.2 5.6 6.8

Preparation Time 3.8 7.7 8.8

Other Diners 8.5 4.5 7.8

Variety in Menu 4.4 6.7 8.8

Location 5.5 8.7 8.7

Bill Amount 3.2 8.1 5.5

Q.4a. Name the Segments/ Clusters 5 Marks

Cluster 1 is HYPE/ Image segment

Cluster 2 is the Value for Money segment

Cluster 3 is the Convenience segment

Q.4b. As an advisor to the Restaurant chain, what would be your suggestions to better cater to

the wants and aspirations of the three customer groups? 10 Marks

As Cluster1 stresses the image and ambience and the well-heeled clientele of restaurant,

page3-oriented communication, or hep- lifestyle-oriented communication would be

appropriate.

As for Cluster2, functional value orientation is the key. Tasty food, with reasonable price, in a

convenient location, with variety, and low wastage of time waiting for the food.

Cluster3 considers this as a tasty one with great variety in menu, convenient location, and

quick service. Ideal for office goers, who also get a suitable ambience.

Q.5 You are the Brand Manager of Pen Indias nationally marketed brand of ball pens. The

brand has been losing sales volume consistently for the last three months. You ask the

Marketing Research Department to do a study to determine the reasons for the decline.

Q.5a Is this an Exploratiory, Descriptive, or Experimental study? 5 marks

As you are not clear about the reasons for the decline in sales, you have to start with an

EXPLORATORY study to pinpoint on the facts/ causes. Secondary sources can be looked at to

find out if slip ups are due to specific retailers, dealers, sales officers, or competitive activity

(promotions/ new schemes/ margins), or poor quality of production. On seeing the pattern,


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the identified groups can be further probed through disguised, and nondisguised interviews,

and focus group discussions to arrive at the major causes.

These causes can be further validated through a probabilistically sampled larger segment of

the target population through a Descriptive study.

Q.5b What are the Management Problem/s? 5 Marks

Management Problems: 1. Declining sales for the last 3 months;2. They dont know the

reasons;

Management Objectives: 1. To arrest the sales decline;2. To find out the reasons for the loss

of sales by getting market survey done through the Market Research Department

Q.5c What are the Research Objectives? 5 Marks

Research Objective: To find out the reasons for the loss of sales of Pen Indias ball pens in the

representative areas of decline in India

Q.5d How will the study be designed to meet these objectives? 5 Marks

1. Exploratory study of the secondary sources to understand the locations of sales decline.

2. Exploratory study through qualitative survey to get insights on the reasons for the sales

loss. InDepth Interviews with a few respective local, regional, and national sales professionals

of Pen India will be undertaken. So will be the interviews and FGDs with the dealers, and

respective retailers. To complement the findings, responses from a few representativecustomers also will be collected.

On the basis of the findings of the qualitative survey of the sales officials, dealers, retailers,

and customers, a systematic random sampling(descriptive study) will be done in the

respective locations in all the four groups to validate the insights of the qualitative research

with the help of a structured non-disguised questionnaire. (The time frame of the survey will

be very short, say, two weeks so that reasons are found out quickly and validated equally

quickly) The study will be taken up simultaneously in all the sampled locations.

Q.6 NCAER wants to interview final year management students in the city of Mumbai todetermine their attitude towards self-employment. Assuming there are 10,000 students in the

final year, spread over 30 Business Schools across the city, how would you arrive at a suitable

sample size for the study? What method of sampling would you use, and why?

20 Marks


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One key assumption is that there are three tiers of B Schools in terms of quality of students:

Tier1(top quality),Tier2(medium quality), and Tier3 (low quality)

(Stratified Random Sampling has to be adopted; or multi stage sampling with Stratified

Random Sampling)

Another assumption is that variability/ standard deviation of the the students intent to go

for self-employment will be different in the three strata, say 1.2 in Tier1, 0.9 in Tier2, and 0.7

in Tier3

One more assumption is on the proportion of the strata:30% belong to Tier1, 30% belong to

Tier2, and 40% to Tier3.

Thus the ideal sampling will be Disproportionate Stratified Random Sampling, where more

sample size would be from the stratum with the highest standard deviation, say, Tier1, and so

on.

If proportionate Stratified Random Sampling is adopted more sample size would be from

Tier3.

The formula for Disproportinate Stratified Random Sample size is (Z/e)2(WiSi)

2

The computed sample size would be as below:

Z= 1.98; e = 0.03; w1=0.30;w2=0.30;w3=0.40

Sample Size =1272; Tier1=503; Tier2= 378; Tier3 =392

The formula for Proportionate Startified Random Sample is : (Z/e)2WiSi

2

And the estimated sample size is 1338; Tier1=402; Tier2= 402; Tier3 =535

Q.7 Below are four questions that might be found on questionnaires. Comment on each as

to whether or not it is a good question. If it is not, explain why. (Assume that no screening

questions are required. Judge each question on its own merits)

10 Marks

Q.7a. Are you in favour of keeping out commercial breaks from TV programmes?

It is not a good question, as it has not stated its implied assumption of the additional costs of

broadcasting the programmes which could add significant costs to the viewer.


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The question can be reworded:

Are you in favour of keeping out commercial breaks from TV programmes, if as viewers, you

will have to spend an additional amount of Rs 500 per month? Y / N

Q.7b. Do you read Business World regularly?

This is not a good question, either.Regularly is an undefined word which could mean

different things to your respondents.

It could be redone as a structured question:

Please indicate the number of times you read Business World in the last two months:

Number of times reading Yes or No (Indicate Y or N)

Once every week,ie 8 times in 2 months

Once every two weeks, ie, 4 times in 2

months

Thrice a month

Less than thrice a month

Q.7c. How much discretionary buying power do you have each year?

It is a question with a phrase (discretionary buying power) which could confuse the

respondent. It ought to be reworded.

What is the amount of pocket money you got from your parents for sundry or petty

expenses:

Amount (Rs)

In the last month

In the last 6 months

In the last 12 months

Q.7d. Where do you do most of your shopping?


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Where could be confusing (specific town, type of shops, etc.)

Shopping is not a uniform activity either. Different practices arefor different types of

shopping. Therefore, depending on the precise information requirement of your

questionnaire, the question could be rephrased:

In the last month in your city, which are the types of retail outlets you visited for purchasing

different items? Out of these retail outlets, which are the items you purchased or wanted to

purchase?

Types of Retail

Outlets in your city

Tick Mark the one/s

you visited last

month

Tick Mark the items

you purchased or

wanted to purchase

Shopping Mall Electronic items

Clothes

Toys

.

Supermarket Grocery (rice, sugar,)

Soaps, detergents..

Mini Supermarket .

Retail shop nearby .

Common Market ..

Others (specify) .

Documents

MR Exam Answer Key Mid Term 2012 Feb