Research Proposal: Consumer Preferences and Experiences in Takapuna

This research proposal investigates consumer preferences and experiences within the Takapuna Town Centre. It begins with an introduction outlining the company background (Takapuna Beach Business Association), objectives, gap identification, and problem statement, justifying the study's importance and expected outcomes. The literature review explores conceptualizations of town centers, consumer behavior, and customer experience, drawing on various academic sources. Research questions and a theoretical framework are presented, followed by a quantitative positivist research methodology, including research design, data collection, and data analysis methods. The proposal also addresses ethical considerations, research significance, limitations, and a detailed timeline. The study aims to understand consumer preferences to improve customer experiences and provide actionable recommendations for the Takapuna Town Centre. The report includes a project schedule and outlines the structure with key sections such as the literature review, methodology, and data analysis. The research emphasizes the importance of understanding consumer behavior to enhance business strategies and revenue generation.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Investigation of Consumer Preferences and Experiences in Takapuna Town Center
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Abstract
The study provides the understanding of the consumer preferences and its importance to
provide better experiences. Business marketers mainly design their products or services to
provide best experiences to their consumers that eventually help them in increasing their
profit revenue. The study is mainly concentrating on analysing the significant of consumer
perception that shifts towards the effective experiences. The positive experience help the
business marketers generating more revenues to participate in a competitive landscape. This
research analytical research design is essential to understand the study by analysing each
component of the same. The research framework is designed according to the theoretical
framework for every research. This research analytical research design is essential to
understand the study by analysing each component of the same. The research framework is
designed according to the theoretical framework for every research. While providing the
better services to the consumers, it is important to analyse their preferences in a more specific
way. Understanding their preferences help the business marketers to design their products
and services and gather more customers’ interests.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
1.1 Company Background..........................................................................................................3
1.2 Objectives of the Study........................................................................................................3
1.3 Gap Identification.................................................................................................................3
1.4 Opportunity or problem statement.......................................................................................4
1.5 Justification of Choosing the Study and the expected outcome...........................................4
Literature Review:......................................................................................................................4
Conceptualising Town Centre:...............................................................................................5
Understanding Consumer Behaviour:....................................................................................6
Reflecting on Customer Experience:.....................................................................................8
3. Research Questions:.............................................................................................................10
3.1 Theoretical Framework:.....................................................................................................10
3.2 Research Questions/Hypothesis.........................................................................................10
4. Research methodology: quantitative positivist....................................................................11
4.1 Research design..................................................................................................................11
4.2 Data collection...................................................................................................................12
4.3 Data analysis......................................................................................................................13
5. Ethics....................................................................................................................................14
6. Significance of the Research and Limitations......................................................................14
7. Timeline:..............................................................................................................................16
References:...............................................................................................................................17

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1. Introduction
1.1 Company Background
Takapuna Beach Business Association in Auckland has been strengthening the
position in the local business ground and community since its establishment in 1948
(Panuku.co.nz, 2019). Having a mission to promote the economic growth for the members
through development, strategic planning, and collaboration with key stakeholders. Takapuna
Town Centre is one part of this business organisation that has been serving its consumers
more efficiently by offering them the most remarkable shopping experiences and gaining
ideas of their preferences.
1.2 Objectives of the Study
 To understand the conceptual and theoretical background of customer preferences and
experiences
 To evaluate the necessity of understanding the consumer preferences and experience
at Takapuna Town Centre
 To critically analyse the gaps and loopholes faced by the organisation to provide
better experiences to their consumers
 To provide preferable recommendations to overcome the challenges
1.3 Gap Identification
The major gap in the study is to conduct only the quantitative research. The time and
resource limitation is the major obstacle in conducting the core areas of the subject matter.

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1.4 Opportunity or problem statement
The major issue identified in analysing the consumer preferences and experiences in
Takapuna Town Centre is the emerging competitiveness. It has been observed that the
technological advancements have been leading the organisations adopting the diverse
strategic decisions that help in understanding the consumer preferences. Accordingly, these
business marketers develop their strategic focus to provide them best experiences.
Understanding the market demands would thus help the organisation to develop more
appropriate strategic decisions to increase their revenues.
1.5 Justification of Choosing the Study and the expected outcome
The study will provide the in-depth analysis of the consumer preferences and its
importance to provide better experiences. It will help the business marketers to increase their
revenue. The study will formulate the structured literature review and the methodological
analysis to conduct these major area of research. It can be expected that the research will
provide more preferable understanding of the customer preferences that help the organisation
in strengthening their competitive ground.
Literature Review:
A literature review is generally referred to the review of the articles that are done by
the scholars on a particular topic, including the current knowledge of that particular topic and
substantiate evidence based research on the same. These are essentially research findings
including the theoretical and methodological understandings on the same, and are essentially
regarded as the secondary sources of research and generally found in the academic journals as
they have an academic orientation (Bassan et al., 2014). However, the literature reviews are
not to be confused with the book reviews, as they are different than form the ones that are
published and are essentially kept to the academic journal.

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Conceptualising Town Centre:
In order to grow a shopping mall within a town it is important to understand the town
centre or the town structure of the place. A town centre is the geographical and commercial
centre of an area and is essentially associated with the shopping mall or the retail centres of
the place. The town centres are also the major communication centre or the major public
transport hub of the place. Therefore, as understood the road transport is an essential part of
the town centres (Berry, Deddis & McGreal, 2013). According to the researchers, transport
system or condition of any town is the backbone of the economic, social and industrial
backbone of the town, and has a two dimensional role of utilising the time and space.
According to Marshall, the transportation of a place essentially refers to the transportation of
people and goods from one place to the other and is regarded as one of the most important
aspect of the human conducts in the and advancements that have been made by the human
beings (Machettini, et al., 2014). Therefore, in case of a town centre that is regarded as the
heart of the town, an advanced commutation service or transportation system is viewed as a
need in the town centre, which will enable the people belonging to the commuter’s zone to
easily commute to the place and also the town centre should have a commutation system that
will include all sorts of commutation systems (Tallon, 2013). Therefore, in light of this, the
regeneration and the growth of the town centres must also be evaluated. The concept of town
generation is a complex concept that is related to certain multidimensional approaches and
challenges that re not easy to be dealt with. Therefore, to evaluate the growth and
regeneration of the town centres that includes capital building, business development, public
realm, marketing and promotion. The regeneration approach is essentially related to the
quantifiable change within the performance and perceptions of the people of town. The
regeneration of town approach includes the physical, economic, environmental and social
interventions within and outside of the town centre. According to Donaghy, Findlay & Sparks
(2013), the regeneration of the town centres essentially includes three aspects. Thematic

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aspect that includes the physical, cultural, social and economic elements of the town centres.
Processes within the town centre, which includes the adapted processes and systems to better
and modify the existing design, and lastly the Spatial aspects including the accessibility to
and fro the town and the commutation system governing within the town. The process of
regeneration is expedited by the competition within the society and the changing behaviour of
the customers. This provided the entrepreneurs within the town with opportunities to grow
and expand new ideas, which contributed in the betterment of the economic condition of the
society. According to Montgomery (2007), there are five types of regeneration strategies,
which include, enhancing and creating employment, improving quality of life, property
investment performance, image building, physical transformation and infrastructure
development. Along with these, the culture and creative industries also play an important role
in the regeneration process of the town. Therefore, the town and cities are involves don a
continuous dynamic process that is evolving and the success strategies further include the
property led management, retail led management, event based management, local economic
development and entertainment based management within the town (Singhal et al., 2009).
Understanding Consumer Behaviour:
One of the important topic that is widely discussed and focused by the market
researches is the consumer behaviour or the buying behaviour of the consumers. According to
Kotler and Keller (2011), the knowledge and evaluation of the consumer behaviour is one of
the most important aspect of understanding as this has a direct impact upon the success and
growth and overall performance of the business. Another view is that, understanding the
customer’s behaviour is crucial in order to understand the trends of the competition in the
retrial industry. The main aspect of understanding the consumer behaviour us to understand
the reason for choosing a certain organization for a particular product and also to find out the
factor that influence and impact upon the consumer behaviour and their buying decision. A

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study by Lee et al. (2014), on the consumer behaviour shows that the past experiences and the
buying habits of the individuals have a grave influence upon the buying behaviour of the
customers. The structural equation model has shown that there is a structural relationship
between the past experiences of the customers and their present choices of products. The
study has further shown that the images and the packaging of the products also has an impact
upon the purchasing decisions of the customers and have further stated that the packaging and
the product image should always be modified and upgraded in order to make the customers
buy the same product (Holmes, Byrne & Rowley, 2013). Another study by Lee, has shown
that there are five factors that affect the purchasing decision of the consumers, and these are,
the health of the imported products, education of the consumers, income of the same, marital
status and the gender and other demographic factor of the customers. Along with this the
author was of the opinion that the consumer behaviour of the family and the decision of the
buying of the family of the consumers also, have a profound influence upon the buying
behaviour of the consumers (Wu, 2013). There is also a common Five Stages Model that
describe the buying behaviour of the consumers. Different authors and market researchers
have associated different five factors to this model, however the most common elements or
attributes in this model are the needs of the customers, conducting an information search,
gaining knowledge of the alternatives, the decision made for the purchase and lastly, the
evaluation of the product made after buying the product (Pappas, 2016). Other than this, there
are models as well that also govern and reflects upon the buying behaviour of the consumers,
these arte the Stimulus- Organism- Response Model of Decision Making, which states that
the consumer behaviour is directed by the external stimuli, consisting of the advertisements
and the like that govern the consumer behaviour of the people; Prescriptive Cognitive
Models, which refers to the information analysis and evaluation of the same that further
drives the consumer behaviour; Model of Goal Directed Behaviour, which essentially refers

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to the needs and the purpose of the customers for buying a product; and the Theory of Trying,
which refers to the consumer behaviour of exploring items (Rani, 2014).
Reflecting on Customer Experience:
Many market researchers have defined and conceptualised Customer Experience,
form different aspects, and it mostly depends upon the services and the products that the
customers are experiencing. Essentially it is defined as a pattern of discussion or interaction
between the organization and the customer, and a good customer experience refers to a sound
understanding between the customers and the organizational members or service providers
(Rawson, Duncan & Jones, 2013). The customer experience involves the behaviour of the
service providers and the thinking process and the psychology of the customers. The
customer experiences also refers to the customer involvement process at different levels, that
is, the involvement of the customers in the rational, emotional, physical and sensorial
processes. The involvement of the customers in buying the products or taking the services,
influences the customer experiences, with the conducts and manners of the provided services
or the outcomes of the products (Bagdare & Jain, 2013). Therefore, in relation to that, the
researchers are of the opinion that the direct relationship involved between the customer and
the service provider or the product seller, also plays an important role in the customer
experiences and customer relationships. The researchers have also pinioned that the quality of
the provided products and the services also have an influence on the customer experiences. A
good product or service, involves a good customer relationship, which further influences the
customer experience. The researchers are of the opinion that the customer experiences are
valuable for the success and expansion of the business. Market researchers have viewed that
the customer’s experiences provide means of competition within the market (Klaus &
Maklan, 2013). Moreover, the customer experience will contribute in the success of the
business house, as a satisfied customer will provide more business and recommendations.

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Customer satisfaction is also important to create a brand image and customer loyalty. It also
contributes in the business expansion, as the customer experiences provides new dimensions
and avenues to the business houses to expand and grow (Homburg, Jozic & Kuehnl, 2017).
The expectations made on the parts of the customers influence the business houses to grow
and expand and helps the customers in creating emotional bond with the brands.
2.4 Literature Gap
In spite of providing the proper analysis of the customer preferences, it has been seen
that the literature fails to determine the way customer experiences and customer behaviour
contribute in the town centre regeneration or influence the shopping mall culture of a place. It
does not provide the clear idea about how the shopping malls can shape the perspectives of
the consumers to create better opportunistic values. Moreover, it does not provide the idea
about overcoming the downfalls encountered by the business marketers.
Key findings:
The literature mainly provides the idea regarding the importance of the consumer
perception in terms of developing positive customer experiences. It is important to take their
preferences into consideration to determine their experiences. The positive consumer
experiences lead towards repeat purchases and positive ‘word of mouth’. While providing the
better services to the consumers, it is important to analyse their preferences in a more specific
way. Understanding their preferences help the business marketers to design their products
and services and gather more customers’ interests. The consumers’ perception will be
analysed through a survey, which will clarify their preferences to ensure a better experience.
Accordingly, the business marketer of Takapuna Town Centre will design their shopping
mall location. The findings from the research will also ensure the future business prospects to
participate in a competitive business scenario.

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3. Research Questions:
3.1 Theoretical Framework:
Construction of a research essentially requires a theoretical framework to depend upon.
Theories refer to the logical and researched analysis regarding phenomenon and explain the
relationship between the events and behaviour (Denzin, 2017). It is a general assessment of
the observations and developments on the models. Therefore, the theoretical framework
refers to the structure and the relationships between the concepts and the variables in order to
provide a sound conceptual; understanding of the topic as a whole (Denzin, 2017). The
theoretical frameworks have two types of analysis, process, deductive and inductive methods.
This particular research work will include a deductive e process of analysis, whereby, the two
hypothesis will be made and further, in course of the research work, either one will be
proved, and the analysis will be made upon the collected data.
The theoretical frame work therefore includes, examining the problem or the rationale,
developing thee hypotheses, viewing the available literature and conducting the research
and observing and interpreting the collected data (Denzin, 2017). The theoretical
framework serves as the guidance for the research o be conducted.
3.2 Research Questions/Hypothesis
RQ1: Why is it necessary to develop the understanding about consumer preferences and
experiences?
RQ2: How the understanding of the consumer preferences lead towards developing better
customer experiences at Takapuna Town Centre?

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RQ3: What are the major challenges faced during developing the understanding regarding the
consumer preferences and experiences?
RQ4: How these encountered challenges can be overcome to develop better customer
experiences at Takapuna Town Centre?
Research Hypothesis:
H0: Understanding consumer preferences and consumer experiences can lead to betterment of
the Takapuna Town Centre.
H1: Understanding consumer preferences and consumer experiences cannot lead to betterment
of the Takapuna Town Centre.
4. Research methodology: quantitative positivist
4.1 Research design
Research design is the divided into three distinct parts, namely, exploratory, analytical
and explanatory (Flick, 2015). For the purpose of this research study, it will be undertaking
the analytical research design. The rationale behind the choice of the analytical research
design is that it helps to conduct the study in logical fashion that is important for developing
evaluating the study in a descriptive manner. It is also significant to note that this research
analytical research design is essential to understand the study by analysing each component
of the same. The research framework is designed according to the theoretical framework for
every research. In this case, it is significant to consider that there are three dominant research
frameworks of positivism, realism and interpretivism. For the purpose of this research, the
positivist philosophy would be undertaken due to the fact that this research philosophy helps
the researcher to understand the issue of consumer preferences by allowing the sensory