Sampling Techniques for Market Research

This assignment examines the application of non-probabilistic sampling techniques in marketing research. The focus is on selecting suitable sampling methods based on research criteria involving income, age, and location within metropolitan cities. It emphasizes understanding how these techniques can be used to obtain desired results for specific market research objectives.

Running head: MARKETING RESEARCH
Marketing research
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Abstract:
The report is based upon the article ‘Tata Motors unveils new Zest sedan’. The report discusses
the target market alternatives for Zest sedan and the alternative ways of defining the population
for Tata Zest sedan. The report also discusses the alternative ways of defining sampling frame
for Tata zest sedan and the alternative ways of defining the sampling approach for the research.
At the end, the report explains the effectiveness of the research approach chosen for obtaining
the desired results.

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Table of contents
Target market alternatives for the Zest sedan:.................................................................................3
Alternative ways of defining the ‘Population’ for Zest sedan.........................................................4
Alternative ways of defining the ‘Sampling Frame’ for Zest sedan................................................5
Alternative ways of defining the sampling approach for Zest sedan...............................................7
Explanation of the effectiveness of the above approach.................................................................8
References......................................................................................................................................10
Appendix........................................................................................................................................12

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Target market alternatives for the Zest sedan:
Tata Motors launched Tata Zest sedan on 12th August 2014 in India and targeted the
capital of India that is Delhi as its target market. Tata Motors flagged off 100 new Zest sedan
cars in Delhi, which were purchased by the customers in Delhi. The company targeted Delhi as
its target market because Delhi NCR comprises of a large number of car lovers and they love
being technologically advanced and ahead of the others (tata.com, 2017).
However, the target market alternatives for Zest sedan can be the other metropolitan
cities of India namely, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune,
Surat and Nashik. These cities have a population of more than four million each. These cities
have a large number of middle class, upper- middle class and rich families, who can be the
potential customers of Tata Zest sedan. The car was priced between Rupees 4.64 lakhs to Rupees
6.99 lakhs (tata.com, 2017).
Recommendation
Mumbai is considered to be the economic capital of India and a majority of the
population comprises of businessmen and the youth working in several companies. Mumbai is a
hub for private companies and provides employment opportunities to millions of Indians.
Therefore, Mumbai would be a good option as a target market alternative in order to increase the
sales. Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore are the hub for IT companies that employ millions of
Indians. A majority of the people in these areas are literate and have a good knowledge of
technology. Therefore, they can be target market alternatives for Tata Zest sedan. Kolkata,
AHmedabad, Pune, Surat and Nashik are also highly developed areas with a majority population

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comprising of middle- class and upper sections of the society (Nielsen and Wilhite 2015). This
increases the demand for cars in these areas and can be a target market alternative for Tata Zest
sedan. Therefore, the metropolitan cities of India can be recommended as the ideal and best
suitable target market for Tata Zest sedan.
Alternative ways of defining the ‘Population’ for Zest sedan
Research population refers to the large group of people or things that are the focus of a
research study. The researches are conducted for the betterment of the population. However, it is
not always possible for the researchers to to consider the entire population while conducting a
research due to its large size (Fowler Jr 2013). This is the reason due to which the researchers
use the different sampling methods. Tata Motors defined its population for Zest as the
individuals born after 1990 as the majority of the population of India comprises of individuals
born after 1990’s. The company had targeted the youth of the country and the rural markets. The
company emphasized upon developing and penetrating in the rural markets to become the
leading car manufacturers in India (Shree, Gupta and Sagar 2017).
However, there are several alternative ways of defining population for Tata Zest Sedan.
The company can consider the middle- class section of the society (without considering the age
groups of the individuals) as its population with an average annual income of Rs 7,37,748. This
is because the desire for owning a car is not dependent upon the age of an individual. However,
later on in the sample, the age can be considered as the youth has more knowledge about
technology and are more fond of cars. The urban as well as the rural population can be
considered as the population for Tata Zest Sedan (Babin and Zikmund 2015). The middle- class

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population in India is deemed to have the similar characteristics, wants and desires. These similar
characteristics, wants and desires make it the best population to be considered for Tata Zest
Sedan. The purchasing patterns and choices related to cars are almost similar in this population.
Choosing this as the population shall make it easier for the company to decide its sample frame
and target the appropriate audience. The population comprises of two groups namely target
population and accessible population. The accessible population refers to the population to which
the researcher can easily reach which might be limited to a certain area (Sinha 2016).
Recommendation
The population in case of Tata Zest Sedan can be extremely large as the majority of the
population in India comprises of middle- class people. In this case, the poor section of the society
can not be considered as they can not afford Tata Zest Sedan and the richer section might prefer
more luxurious car to own as a status symbol. Tata Zest Sedan was manufactured with the aim of
providing a luxurious car within an affordable budget and would go well with the middle- class
society of India. Therefore, the middle- class population of India can be recommended as the
appropriate population for Tata zest sedan.
Alternative ways of defining the ‘Sampling Frame’ for Zest sedan
A sample frame is referred to as the list from wherein the individuals are chosen or
selected for a particular research study. Sample frame involves the entire target population and
excludes the non- target population (Burns and Bush 2013). A good sample frame includes the
appropriate contact details of the population so that the researcher can easily reach them. The
sample frame for Tata Zest Sedan can be obtained by dividing the middle- class population into
several units. For instance, the age group can be one unit and the area can be another unit. The

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individuals born between 1970 to 1980 can be considered as one unit, the individuals born
between 1980 to 1990 can be considered as one unit and the individuals born after 1990 can be
considered as another unit. These three sub-units of age group can be chosen as a sample frame
as the individuals falling under these age groups as more likely to purchase Tata Zest sedan.
Another sampling frame can be the middle class families belonging to urban area and rural areas.
The urban areas can be further divided into metropolitan cities of India namely, Mumbai,
Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat and Nashik. The
metropolitan cities have a larger number of working class people who can be the potential
customers of Tata zest sedan.
Recommendation
A large number of youth belonging to middle- class families work in the several
companies in the metropolitan cities of India and earn handsome salaries. These are the people
who are technologically advanced and are fond of purchasing new cars with latest technologies
and luxury. However, neither are they capable of purchasing high- end cars nor do they prefer
basic cars. These are the people who search for cars that are affordable, have advanced
technologies and luxurious as well. Tata zest sedan can be a good option for this part of
population as the car is both luxurious as well as affordable. In case of the rural areas, the
developed rural areas can be selected, this might have potential customers. This frame shall help
the researcher in selecting the most appropriate sample (Levy and Lemeshow 2013). Therefore,
the middle class people belonging to the above mentioned age groups and residing in developed
rural and urban areas can be recommended to be the ideal sampling frame for Tata zest sedan.

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Alternative ways of defining the sampling approach for Zest sedan
Sampling is very crucial in selecting the respondents while gathering the primary data
during a research process. Sampling approach refers to the selection of appropriate individuals
for the research study while collecting the data through primary data collection technique
(Zikmund et al. 2014). There are two alternative approaches of defining a sampling approach
namely probability sampling and non- probability sampling. Probabilistic sampling approach
refers to the approach wherein the respondents of a particular research study are selected on a
random basis (Dillman, Smyth and Christian 2014). The individuals comprising the population
have an equal opportunity of becoming a part of the sample. The approach guarantees that all the
individuals comprising the population have the equal selection chances. However, it becomes
necessary to set a particular procedure of collecting the data so that the units considered in the
sample frame have almost the equal probabilities of selection (Bernard, Wutich and Ryan 2016).
Probabilistic sampling gives unbiased results and the inferences obtained are statistical. The
hypothesis is tested in case of probabilistic sampling approach. Probabilistic sampling methods
involve simple random sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling and systematic sampling
(Ocal and Babin 2016). Non- probabilistic sampling approach refers to the approach wherein the
samples gathered do not get the equal chance of being selected. Instead, there are certain
selection criterions on the basis of which the samples are selected. Non- probabilistic sampling
approach is used when the researchers face the issues of limited time and budget. The selection
of the sample is entirely dependent upon the researcher’s subjective judgment. Therefore, the
conclusions inferred do not relate with the entire population. The methods of non- probabilistic
sampling involves convenience sampling, quota sampling, purposive sampling and snowball
sampling (Ritchie, Lewis and Elam 2013).

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Recommendation
In this particular case of Tata zest sedan, the recommended sampling approach shall be non-
probabilistic sampling approach as this sampling approach shall help the researcher to obtain the
desired outcomes. Selecting individuals on a random basis would involve more time and higher
budgets however, non- probabilistic sampling shall help the researcher in obtaining the desired
results within a particular time duration (Gelman et al. 2014). Thus, the conclusions obtained
shall not be inferred to the entire population as the research deals with only middle- class
families of India. The population shall further be divided into sampling frames on the basis of
age and location, which will help the researcher to emphasize upon the target audience of Tata
zest sedan.
Explanation of the effectiveness of the above approach
The non- probabilistic sampling approach shall be more effective in the case of finding
the target audience for Tata Zest sedan as it shall be more convenient and shall involve lesser
costs. The non- probabilistic sampling shall consider only those individuals who are related with
the research study whereas, the individuals who are not related with the research study shall be
ignored. For instance, the target audience for Tata Zest sedan are the middle- class families in
India as the car would fulfill their wants and desires and they can afford to purchase the car. On
the contrary, if probabilistic approach would have been applied, it would have got involved the
poor and the rich section of the society who would not be interested in purchasing Tata Zest
sedan. The poor section of the society would be incapable of affording the car while the rich
section of the society would prefer expensive cars that would add to their status symbol. Tata
Zest Sedan is a car that ranges between Rupees 4.64 lakhs to Rupees 6.99 lakhs in India. The

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features and price of the car is capable of attracting the attention of the middle- class families in
India. The middle- class population in India is deemed to have the similar characteristics, wants
and desires. These similar characteristics, wants and desires make it the best population to be
considered for Tata Zest Sedan. The purchasing patterns and choices related to cars are almost
similar in this population. Choosing this as the population shall make it easier for the company to
decide its sample frame and target the appropriate audience. Therefore, the population
recommended for the research study was the middle- class families in India, which can be further
divided into several units on the basis of age and location. The potential customers of Tata Zest
sedan are supposedly to be the white collar employees working in the major cities of India
especially the metropolitan cities as these cities provide employment opportunities to a large
number of population due to the presence of several companies in those cities. Therefore, non-
probabilistic sampling would be the best approach to obtain desired results according to the
selection criterions of income, age and location.

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References:
Babin, B.J. and Zikmund, W.G., 2015. Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning.
Bernard, H.R., Wutich, A. and Ryan, G.W., 2016. Analyzing qualitative data: Systematic
approaches. SAGE publications.
Burns, A.C. and Bush, R.F., 2013. Marketing research. Pearson Higher Ed.
Dillman, D.A., Smyth, J.D. and Christian, L.M., 2014. Internet, phone, mail, and mixed-mode
surveys: the tailored design method. John Wiley & Sons.
Fowler Jr, F.J., 2013. Survey research methods. Sage publications.
Gelman, A., Carlin, J.B., Stern, H.S., Dunson, D.B., Vehtari, A. and Rubin, D.B., 2014. Bayesian
data analysis (Vol. 2). Boca Raton, FL: CRC press.
Levy, P.S. and Lemeshow, S., 2013. Sampling of populations: methods and applications. John
Wiley & Sons.
Nielsen, K.B. and Wilhite, H., 2015. The rise and fall of the ‘people's car’: middle-class
aspirations, status and mobile symbolism in ‘New India’. Contemporary South Asia, 23(4),
pp.371-387.
Ocal, Y. and Babin, B.J., 2016. Response Rate and Response Bias in Marketing Research.
In Looking Forward, Looking Back: Drawing on the Past to Shape the Future of Marketing (pp.
714-714). Springer, Cham.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J. and Elam, R.G., 2013. Selecting samples. Qualitative research practice: A
guide for social science students and researchers, p.111.

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Shree, D., Gupta, A. and Sagar, M., 2017. Effectiveness of cause‐related marketing for
differential positioning of market entrant in developing market: An exploratory study in Indian
context. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 22(2).
Sinha, D., 2016. India Reloaded: Inside India’s Resurgent Consumer Market. Springer.
tata.com. (2017). Tata Motors unveils the all-new Zest and Bolt via @tatacompanies. [online]
Available at: http://www.tata.com/company/releasesinside/Tata-Motors-unveils-the-all-new-
Zest-and-Bolt [Accessed 14 Sep. 2017].
Zikmund, W.G., D'Alessandro, S., Winzar, H., Lowe, B. and Babin, B., 2014. Marketing
research. Cengage Learning Australia.

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Appendix