DBA Annual Progression Report: Brand Awareness, Sales Strategies

This DBA annual progression report details the first year of research, focusing on the relationship between brand awareness and purchasing intention, and providing sales strategy recommendations for mid-sized companies. The report outlines the research process, starting with topic assessment, literature review, and ethical approval. It includes the development of questionnaires, data collection, and analysis using SPSS. The study investigates consumer buying behavior, brand perceptions, and effective sales strategies. The report highlights workshops attended on data analysis, presentation skills, and marketing, alongside progress on data collection and analysis. The research aims to provide actionable insights for mid-sized event-based companies to improve their brand awareness and sales performance. The report covers the period from March 2017 to March 2018, detailing the work completed, challenges faced, and future plans for the DBA project.

DBA ANNUAL
PROGRESSION REPORT

Table of Contents
DBA Annual Progression Report...........................................................................................1
Question 1: Requirement of further training for the study.....................................................5
Question 2: Achievement during the previous study.............................................................6

DBA Annual Progression Report
Title: An investigation in to the relationship between brand awareness and purchasing
intention recommending of the suitable sales strategy for mid size event based companies
The report gives a clear idea of my DBA progress starting from 01 March 2017 and
ending on 01 March 2018. It is the first year of my DBA candidacy where I started working as a
research scholar. The main goal of my project is to assess and investigate the relationship
between brand awareness and purchasing intention and providing recommendation with regards
to appropriate sales strategy for mid sized companies. It will help in evaluating that what all sales
strategies can be used by the company based on the awareness level of the brand and purchasing
intention of the customers. It will help in recommending the mid sized companies and giving
idea of right kind of sales strategies that can be used by them. Further, it will help in assessing
the problems faced by them with respect to sales and brand awareness. The drawbacks are also
taken into consideration while preparing strategies for mid sized entities.
Presently, I have finished my data collection work based on the questionnaire and trying
to figure out the data analysis methods that can be used on the data set. I will soon put the data in
an appropriate software so that analysis can be done effectively.
March 2017 to April 2017
This was the time when I started assessing the topic in order to get a fair idea about what
is to be included in the thesis and the research work as well. I decided my research philosophy,
research methods, aims and objective so that I can get a clear idea of the subject matter. I also
went though various thesis that were directly related to the topic of my research. I critically
evaluated these research projects to get an idea of how the things flows in a thesis structure.
Made a rough overview of what is to be included. I get to discuss my topic with the professor
who helped me to analyse the other aspect of the topic as well. I read different books on brand
awareness and sales strategy to enhance my core knowledge about the subject.
I started working on my first research paper which I need to present in front of the panel
in the month of August. The paper is required to be effective enough that can get selected for
publishing. I started working on my first chapter, that is introduction part where I wrote about the
importance of brand awareness in mid sized companies. I also wrote about what is required to be
done in the whole research project as well. Different limitations and research gap were also
discussed in the introduction chapter of the thesis as well. The mid segment organization will be
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studied as a whole to make the study generalised that can be effective on every entity belonging
to this category.
As I had to submit ethical application format at the end of this month, I started to fill that
form. In that form, I wrote about the background of the study. I also summarized my whole
research objective along with research purpose, design and methodology etc. I also mentioned
about data collection technique I will apply and instrument I will use to analyse the data. After
completing the ethical draft form, I got it checked from the professor in order to get the idea of
what all changes I can make in it. He suggested me some rectification which I incorporated in the
form and the final one was submitted to the ethical committee by the end of May.
I went through a seminar which was related to brand awareness where I get to know
about various brands which were related to mid segment companies and the sales strategy
followed by them. Moreover, I attended a workshop which was related to critical thinking where
I got to learn various things. It enhanced my knowledge and skills that will contribute in
completion of the thesis as well.
May 2017
In the month of May and June, I worked on the second chapter, that is, literature review
to enhance my knowledge related to the topic. It helped me to gain knowledge about different
intentions of people while reading or hearing about brands. I also studied about buying behaviour
pattern of the consumers. It helped me to develop my information related to the consumers who
are my prime focus in this research. I got various books from the library to read about the topic.
Moreover, I also took help from online journals and electronic library to get the information.
Internet is the vast area to get all the information and my research is deeply contributed by this
source of knowledge. I wrote about different types of customers and their buying behaviour.
Further, I also wrote about different sales strategies that are adopted by mid segment companies.
I got to attend two important workshops in this period. One was related to SPSS and
other was related to data analysis techniques. It helped me understand that how the collected data
is analysed. Moreover, what kind of tools are used of different data sets. I got a fair idea with the
help of both the workshops. Further, it will help me analyse my data set in better manner.
Second half of the month was totally utilised to prepare instruments which can be utilised
in data collection. I worked on the questionnaire first, which I got checked from my professor so
that I get to know an idea that what all mistakes I have made and rectification can be done in the
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initial stage only. The questionnaire consisted of both open ended and closed ended questions so
that full fledged information can be gathered from the sample. I also conducted interview for
some people so that I can get to know about their point of view. The questions helped me to
analyse how many people are aware of the brands? What make them switch from one brand to
another? Is their buying behaviour affected by the brand they are aware of? These were some
questions I was able to find answer for. It helped me understand their perspective in relation with
the particular brand.
Further, I tried to understand that whether the way I am asking the questions is
motivating them to give their suggestions or not. It helped me to get a wider idea about the topic.
I also get to know about various things that I was not aware of. Regarding this, I also attended
few workshops in the month of April where I get to that how a data can be analysed and what
statistical tests I can perform on my collected data.
At the end of the month, I attended another workshop which was related to improve
presentation skills. I also have to prepare a presentation related to my thesis which I have to
present in front of the board.
June 2017
In this duration, I started finalizing my data collection methodologies which basically
consisted of consumers buying behaviour where I included the other author's point of view. I got
various suggestions from my professor which I incorporated in the thesis. It helped me to make it
an effective one. I got to present my literature review in front of the panel at the end of June.
They got very impressed with the work I conducted.
Further, I attended a workshop where I got to know about multimedia writing that can be
included in the literature review of the thesis. It helped me to make my thesis effective enough. It
showed that how can literature review be presented in tabular and multimedia format. It is much
better way of presentation then writing theory in the thesis. It helps in giving clear idea about
author's view and present it in effective manner.
It was an important month for the research work where edited my literature review which
I collected from various sources. Further, I started to work on a new section which was related
assessing various sales strategies that are adopted by mid segment companies. It helped me to
assess that what strategies prove to be effective for the companies which helped them to increase
their sales as well as the customer base. Finally, I wrote about different effective strategies as a
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whole that can be adopted by the middle segment organizations and what are the major
difficulties and barriers faced by them while conducting marketing campaign for their brand. I
also attended few classroom sessions related to marketing which helped to brush up my concept
regarding marketing.
I also learned about different software that are used by the companies in order to promote
their brand and tap potential clients on daily or weekly basis. Moreover, I also attended a
workshop with regard to this so that I can get fair idea about the topic and I can include its study
and analysis in the thesis.
During this month I got ethical approval from the committee to conduct my research
where I also happened to achieve scholarship from their side as well. A few changes were
advised by the committee which I incorporated in the study. I worked on the pilot study where I
got my school teacher to advise me on that topic. Pilot study is conducted to test the data
collection instrument which is mainly through questionnaire.
Moreover, I also attended workshop regarding writing skills. It helped me enhance the
way I write and helped me to choose right kind of vocabulary for thesis writing. I used to
practice writing by taking a random topic every day and writing 500 words on it on daily basis. It
helped me to enhance my writing skill and choose better words for my project study.
I also had a meeting with the head of the department DBA chamber where he discussed
about the progress of the research. He was very impressed after hearing the objectives and aim of
my research. He suggested few changes in data collection methods in order to enhance the
outcomes and findings of my research. These changes were incorporated in the thesis for better
understanding and research conclusions as well.
During this two months period, time was spent in collecting data from the sample after
incorporating necessary changes which were required to be made after the pilot study. A sample
of 500 potential customers was decided by me. I was able to take the sample data from 200
people for which I had to travel different places to collect data in December. Rest of the sample
was collected in the month of January. I was guided by the professor that from where I can get
authentic data which will help me to get genuine outcomes of the research study.
I attended a seminar where I get to learn about various data analysis techniques which
helped me to choose correct approach for the thesis. It also helped in analysing different
statistical tools available in the market that can be used by a researcher.
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July 2017 to August 2017
During this duration I started to work on my data analysis part where I analysed the data
collected from the sample. It helped me to assess the reaction of the consumers regarding
different brands. It also helped me assess the perception of people with respect to different
middle segment companies. SPSS was used to analyse the collected data.
I participated in one of the competition which was related data analysis practices. I got to
listen to the idea of different people as well which helped me to understand the data in better
manner. I was not able to win any prize in that competition but it helped me to learn several
things related to data collection and analysis techniques. I also got to interact with different
research scholars who were also conducting research study on one or the other topic. I was also
enquired by some scholars regarding the topic. I was pleased to get different ideas from them as
well which can help me in further research while incorporating findings of the study.
Future Work
Once, I will complete my data analysis that will require another two months to complete;
that is upto end of April 2018. I will also start working on conclusion and interpretation part as
well. I will find various methods that can be used to study and interpret the data in the better
manner. Moreover, I also have to attend workshops that are related to data interpretation so that
effective outputs can be included in the thesis with proper explanation as well.
Hopefully I will complete the manuscript upto July 2018 ad submit it in the concerned
department.
Question 1: Requirement of further training for the study
It is important to have proper knowledge of different sampling techniques in order to
conduct the research in better manner. I do not have much knowledge about the use of different
statistical tools and analysis techniques. I require a proper training session that can help me to
deal with the data collection, comparison and analysis techniques in effective manner. Moreover,
I will also require training of SPSS so that I can get an idea of how to deal with large chunk of
data in one go and get output based on it.
Assessing the findings is the another important aspect of a research study. As a
researcher, it is important that all the findings are authentic and useful for the particular group as
well. Therefore, a special training on how to develop findings from the research is the another
important training I will be required to take in near future.
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A training on how to write a research paper is also required for the research scholar. A
particular format is followed while writing it. It is important that the scholar is aware of it in
order to write an effective one.
Question 2: Achievement during the previous study
During my previous study, I was able to generate various success moments for myself. I
was able to present a research paper which was highly appreciated by the panel. It motivated my
to write more research papers. The ethical team was quite happy with my research proposal and
decided to give scholarship on my research every month for next 2 years. Further, I attended
numerous seminars and workshops in order to enhance my knowledge. It helped me to grow in
research field and prepare an effective research thesis. I was also able to gather various
appreciation certificates based on the presentation I conducted in different conference and
universities through presentations and participating in other activities as well.
During these seminars and workshop I got in contact with different research scholar who
gave valuable idea based on my research topic. It helped my research to be effective. It also
helped me enhance my knowledge in this field. I was also given a class to teach a particular topic
in a three days workshop. It became a successful one and it was highly appreciated by the seniors
as well. It helped to boost my confidence that I can perform my work in effective manner.
Moreover, I am looking forward to getting some other research papers published in the next year
as well.
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