Marketing for Managers: Coles Supermarket Research Plan

This report presents a comprehensive marketing research plan tailored for Coles Supermarket. It begins by emphasizing the significance of marketing research in gathering critical information to shape pricing strategies and other marketing parameters. The report outlines the four key steps in the marketing research process, delving into primary and secondary data sources, their advantages, and disadvantages. It explores research questions, the research process, and design methodologies, including explanatory, exploratory, and descriptive approaches. The report also addresses potential ethical issues, such as confidentiality breaches and manipulation of respondents, and proposes effective solutions to mitigate these concerns, ensuring research integrity. The report concludes with recommendations for improving the marketing plan and emphasizes the importance of authentic data sources and ethical practices. The report uses examples such as Porter's five force analysis and different pricing strategies to give a detailed analysis. The report also includes appendices with survey questionnaires and reference materials.

Running head: MARKETING FOR MANAGERS
Marketing for Managers
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Four Steps in the Marketing Research.............................................................................................2
Source of Information along with advantages and disadvantages...............................................2
Research Questions, Research Process and Research Design.....................................................4
Possible ethical issues..................................................................................................................5
Ways to overcome ethical issues.................................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9
Appendix........................................................................................................................................11
Survey questionnaires................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The marketing research activity is believed to be essential for collecting detailed
information related to the marketing environment. This can help a company to decide upon their
pricing strategies and other marketing parameters. The current study is aimed to provide a
marketing research plan for the Coles Supermarket. The main focus will be the source of
information for the research alongside the research process and design. The ethical issues will
also be highlighted along with the measures that can be implicated to overcome the same. The
market research will focus upon a particular customer segment, who regularly visits the Coles
Supermarket. The customer segments include people of all age categories mostly belonging in
the urban areas of Australia.
Four Steps in the Marketing Research
Source of Information along with advantages and disadvantages
The market information is believed to be the most essential part of marketing research
that can help the Coles Supermarket to implement their marketing mix plan. There are two main
source of data collection that includes that of primary and secondary (Kotler and Armstrong
2013). The primary data are collected directly from the market from customers and other
stakeholders. The information is collected through online and offline surveys. The Coles
supermarket will conduct the research mainly on the target customer groups, who have high
contribution to the micro environment.
With the rapid rate of development in the department of digital technology most of the
market researchers are dependent upon the methods of online survey. According to Hopkinson

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and Blois (2014), the main advantage of the online survey is that in little span of time huge and
wide ranges of data can be collected. Chae et al. (2017), have added that it is also easy to track
the respondents and provide them with detailed product information. On the other hand, Felix et
al. (2017), have mentioned that the main drawbacks of online survey are associated with the fact
that; market researchers do not get the opportunity to directly interact with the customers. Hence,
there is a risk of collecting fake, manipulative or irrelevant information.
Telephonic interviews can also be conductedthat will give the market researchers the
opportunity to directly interact with the customers. The interview is conducted by designing of
short questionnaires (Pedersen and Nielsen 2016). The customers will able to share their
opinions about the existing service and product quality of Coles. They can even further suggest
details about the future improvements of service and product features. This method will be
implemented for the segments, who regularly visit the local store of Coles Supermarket.
The marketing tool of porter’s five force analysis can be applied for collecting
information related to the competitive environment (Sun and Wang 2015). This will enable the
marketing managers to identify the main source of external threats. In case of the Coles
Supermarket, the main source of threats includes that of tough level of competition from the
rivals and the pressure from the customers to provide products at much cheaper rates.
The pricing strategy is believed to be the key parameters of marketing mix that are
implemented to deal with all major challenges within the marketing research(Nagle et al. 2016).
The customer perceptions are believed to be the key to deciding upon the pricing strategy. With
the help of the marketing research, it is possible to get information related to that of the customer
perception. Here, they can get the information about the cost effectiveness of the product. With
detailed information related to the marketing strategy, it is possible to draw upon competitive

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advantage. The marketing managers of Coles can also relate their price and the product details
along with that of the competitors. They also can get detailed information about the offers that
are introduced by the relevant brands. Nevertheless, the main drawbacks in the context are that
while lowering the price, the quality of the products is often compromised. This pricing strategy
will be effective in deciding upon the needs of the specific customer segment of Coles. For
example, for the middle-class section of the society, it is essential to implement the strategy of
economic pricing, where it is necessary to provide cost-effective products.
The secondary data are mainly collected from internal business, finance and marketing
reports. Few of the significant sources include that of the profit and loss statement, balance sheet,
inventory records and annual sales figures. There also can be external sources that include
Government records related to that of business taxes and laws, reports of trade associations along
with that of the articles that are published in print and electronic media. The marketing managers
of Coles Supermarket will consult the business and trade journals that are published in Australia
consisting the detailed information related to the business environment in Australia. The market
researchers can also get the data from past sales record of the company, which is estimated in the
annual finance report.
Research Questions, Research Process and Research Design
Following are the research questions that will be addressed in the marketing research of
Coles Supermarket:
 What is the best pricing strategy that can be implemented by Coles Supermarket?
 How is the customer behavior of Coles depended on the implemented pricing strategy?
Following are steps within the marketing research:

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 Problem definition: The main existing problems for Coles are due to the intense level of
external competition. The customers are also not satisfied with the cost-effectiveness of
the products Development of an Approach to the Problem: The approach of the research is to collect
primary and secondary data. It will be therefore possible to develop and get idea of the
situation that is needed for analyzing the business environment. Research Design Formulation: Three types of research design can be used for the given
purpose that includes explanatory, exploratory and descriptive. The psychological
aspects are considered in case of exploratory research design that will use to understand
the behaviour of the customer in Coles Supermarket. Descriptive research design is
applied in the given case, as the research has a specific set of objectives. Data Preparation and Analysis: As date is being collected from the primary and
secondary sources, they are analyzed properly to draw out the conclusion. Proper
statistical tool will be used by the market researchers to compare and analyze the same
for deciding upon the future marketing strategies (Burns et al. 2014). The framework of
the research will be designed by using the survey and interview questionnaires. Survey
will be conducted from at least 100 existing customers of Coles. Inclusion and exclusion
criteria will be applied for selection of relevant business journal articles for secondary
data collection. At least 15-20 journal articles will be chosen by their content related to
that of Australian business environment. Preparing report and Recommendations: The report will be prepared accordingly and
will be used for future references. Proper recommendations will be provided accordingly
to improve upon the existing marketing plan of Coles Supermarket.

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Possible ethical issues
The first ethical issue related to the market research is violation of participant’s
confidentiality. While conducting market research, the personal or professional data of the
participants should not be disclosed to any third party, without the consent of the participants
(Nunan and Di Domenico 2013). The researchers should not frame the question to get a
favorable answer from the respondents. Manipulation of respondents for a favorable answer can
affect the authenticity of the research (Zikmund et al. 2013).
The third issue is the privacy and confidentiality of the respondents. The researchers
should not provide the personal information of the respondents without their permission (Bryman
and Bell 2015). The research data collection process should comply with the state's law and
policies of conducting research. The private data of the organization should not be leaked while
researching as it could harm the organization in future. Therefore, this ethical concern should be
focused (Zikmund et al. 2013).
If the market research is about renowned company, people become influenced by the
brand name and did not focus on the product. Therefore, to comply with the ethically correct data
collection format, the company name should not be disclosed while conducting a survey (Nunan
and Di Domenico 2013). Finally, if the respondents are not being provided with their rights
while performing the research, then it can be a concern for the authenticity of it (Bryman and
Bell 2015).
Recommendations to overcome ethical issues
The research method and data collection should comply with the Australian
Government’s research norms and methodology so that ethical concern related to data collection

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and data leaking cannot arise (Australian Government Law Reform Commission 2018). The
respondents of the research will be provided with several rights such as right to choose, right to
safety, directly to be informed, right to privacy so that the research methodology (interview or
survey) cannot manipulate the respondents, and the authenticity of the research could be
maintained (Eriksson and Kovalainen 2015).
The research should be based on the information provided by the organization only and to
publish that information, the organization's consent should be taken. This will help to keep the
private data of the organization safe (Amelina and Faist 2012). A proper permission letter or
consent document will be collected from the parents of respondents below the age of 15, so that
no one can question the method and data collection process of the research (Eriksson and
Kovalainen 2015). The respondents will be provided with the opportunity to refuse to be a part
of the research and it should be decided that the company authorities, its employees and the other
stakeholders could not affect the authenticity of the research (Amelina and Faist 2012).
In order improve the validity of the research work, it is recommended to only make use
of the latest information. It is also recommended to collect more volume of information that can
help to improve the accuracy of the implemented market strategy.
Conclusion
It is essential to have authentic source of data collection that are needed as a part of the
marketing research activity. Hence, it is recommended for the market researchers to decide upon
the authentic sources of data both from primary and secondary sources. It is also essential to deal
with the ethical issues by maintaining confidentiality of classified information. The survey has to
be conducted from wide ranges of customers that will help the company to improve their

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customer bases. Descriptive and exploratory research design is being used for the given purpose
that will help in determining the customer behavior of Coles Supermarket.

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Reference
Amelina, A. and Faist, T., 2012. De-naturalizing the national in research methodologies: key
concepts of transnational studies in migration. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 35(10), pp.1707-1724.
Australian Government Law Reform Commission 2018. Present regulatory framework for
research ethics | ALRC. [online] Alrc.gov.au. Available at:
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods, 4t Edn, pp. 345-367, Oxford
University Press, USA.
Burns, A.C., Bush, R.F. and Sinha, N., 2014. Marketing research (Vol. 7). Boston, MA, USA:
Pearson.
Chae, S., Choi, T.Y. and Hur, D., 2017. Buyer power and supplier relationship commitment: A
cognitive evaluation theory perspective. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 53(2), pp.39-60.
Eriksson, P. and Kovalainen, A., 2015. Qualitative methods in business research: A practical
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Felix, R., Rauschnabel, P.A. and Hinsch, C., 2017. Elements of strategic social media marketing:
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Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G., 2013. Principles of Marketing (16th Global Edition).
Nagle, T.T., Hogan, J. and Zale, J., 2016. The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: New International
Edition. Routledge.
Nunan, D. and Di Domenico, M., 2013. Market research & the ethics of big data. International
Journal of Market Research, 55(4), pp.505-520.

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Pedersen, M.J. and Nielsen, C.V., 2016. Improving survey response rates in online panels:
Effects of low-cost incentives and cost-free text appeal interventions. Social Science Computer
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Sun, L. and Wang, Y.Z., 2015. Identifying the core competitive intelligence based on enterprise
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Zikmund, W.G., Babin, B.J., Carr, J.C. and Griffin, M., 2013. Business research methods, 9th
Edn, pp.134-146, Cengage Learning.

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Appendix
Survey questionnaires
1. Do you think that the prices of products in the Coles Supermarket are cost effective?
2. What is most essential elements that you think can be improved for Coles Supermarket?
3. How far are you satisfied with the product quality of Coles Supermarket?