BSBMKG401 Market Profiles: Analyzing Market Data & Reporting Info

This assignment focuses on market profiling within the context of marketing and communication, specifically addressing the BSBMKG401 unit of competency. Part A involves answering questions related to gathering background market information, identifying data collection methods (interview & questionnaire), and discussing reporting formats (MS-Word & MS-PowerPoint). It also covers organizational and legal requirements for data gathering, hypothesis generation, data quantification options, market research methodologies (qualitative & quantitative), data extraction tools (spreadsheet), and identifying potential respondents. Further, it explores survey tools, data quality checks, summarization techniques, software for data storage, data processing methods, data interpretation, and creating a research report. Part B provides a case study based on a graphic design and photography business in Australia aiming to penetrate the wedding photography and videography market. Desklib offers similar solved assignments and past papers to aid students in their studies.

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION

Table of Contents
Part A...............................................................................................................................................2
Part B...............................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Part A
Q1: What appropriate sources could you use to gather background market information?
Market survey through questionnaire among the customers, interview with them, research
publications and internet sources are some of the sources.
Q2: Identify two methods for information collection and collation tools. Highlight a positive
and negative aspect of each.
As mentioned before, interview and questionnaire may be considered to be some of the most
useful and widely used methods. One of the primary advantages of this method is that it helps the
researcher to extract the personal opinion of the interviewees through open-ended questions and
therefore helps in analysing the issues in more details (Brace, 2018). However, the method
suffers from limitations regarding personal biases as the target audiences may be biased in
providing their opinion which may dilute the objective of the research. On the other hand,
secondary research and internet search may be another option for gathering information which
helps the researcher to refer past researches conducted on similar topics and thereby formulate
own opinion (McQuarrie, 2015). However, the secondary research may not be an appropriate
method for data collection as the standard error may creep up. For example, if the past researches
may be faulty, the same issue may remain in the current study as well.
Q3: What reporting formats could you use for market research documentation? Give an
example of a use for each.
A formal market research report may be in the form of a word processing file or a presentation
file. MS-Word may be a useful utility which may be utilised for writing a business report with
graphs, charts and notes. MS-PowerPoint Presentation, on the other hand, can be extremely
useful for higher management where the summarised view and gist may be needed to be
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presented. Higher management may not be interested in listening to the detailed discussion and
gaining the entire insight which may be presented to them in a crisp and simple manner through
PPT file (Abdulkadiroğlu, Angrist, Narita & Pathak, 2017).
Q4: What organisational and legal requirements are applicable to the gathering of relevant
data and productions of reports?
Organisations may want to know the information regarding competitors' strategy, benchmarking
standard, customers' need and preference and also the present market trend. Also, in terms of
legal requirements, the researchers may need to adhere to the data privacy and data security
policy. It may so happen that while gathering market information, customers; maybe reluctant
divulge their personal data and information. Hence, a researcher, the ethical issue may need to be
ensured (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016).
Q5: Suggest a hypothesis related to your industry sector or position.
The identified industry sector is graphic design and photography. The market is vast and may
consist of several segments like digital photography, cinematography, printing and designing etc.
The hypothesis, for the given case, may be assumed to be the identification of future market
trend in wedding photography and related digital video creation segment.
Q6: What options could you choose for quantifying data?
The quantitative research method aims to quantify the data gathered and analyse them to draw a
conclusion and link the same with the research objectives to test the pre-determined hypothesis.
One of the methods is the calculation of various ratios and presentation of the same through the
bar and line chart (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). Also, the regression analysis helps the researcher to
identify the variables associated and establish the mutual relationship between them to reach to a
conclusion (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015).
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Q7: Suggest a type of market research methodology and explain how it works.
Market research methodology may be qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative research is
something wherein the findings may not be quantified and thematic analysis is carried out for the
responses and findings to reach out to the conclusion Abdulkadiroğlu, Angrist, Narita & Pathak,
2017). Quantitative research, on the other hand, presents the findings through numbers, graphs
and charts Abdulkadiroğlu, Angrist, Narita & Pathak, 2017).
Q8: Select a method of data extraction, collation and analysis that you could use in your
current position.
A spreadsheet is a tool that may be used to extract, collate and analyse the data for the purpose of
research. The utilities embedded in a spreadsheet offer different functions to the user for sorting,
summarising, and presenting data in various forms and formats (Baker & Saren, 2016).
Q9: Give an example of how market research plans could identify potential respondents
and their requirements.
The market research may be performed as per the organisational needs (Baker & Saren, 2016). In
the given case, the research is conducted for identifying a potential market for a given offering.
Accordingly, the respondents would be chosen that has been elsewhere in the paper.
Q10: Identify respondents in line with research and organisational requirements.
The organisation in the given case is involved in graphic designing and photography business in
Australia. The market research may, therefore, accordingly be based on identifying the market
for a digital photography business in wedding photography segment in next 5 to 10 years. In
order to conduct such market research, the respondents may be the general public, preferably of
ages between 20 to 30 years, who have plans to get married in the next 2 to 3 years. In short, the
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respondents should be chosen in such a manner that the research objectives get fulfilled in most
efficient manner (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015).
Q11: What is your organisation’s agreed search methodology for recruiting respondents?
The organisation's agreed search methodology is interview and questionnaire. The respondents
will be accordingly selected based on organisational needs and objectives.
Q12: What resources could you need to prepare and arrange for data gathering?
Human resources will be needed to conduct the personal interview and collecting the data, as and
when required, In addition, the technological resources like a computer, spreadsheet, the internet
will be required to store and summarise and analyse the data.
Q13: Suggest a survey tool you could utilise and the information you could gather by using
it.
Survey Monkey is one of the very widely used survey tools that are being used in conducting a
survey and gathering responses out of the survey so conducted. Survey money enables the
researcher to design a questionnaire to suit the nature and type of the respondents and store the
responses in the most efficient manner (Hayhurst & Wills, 2018).
Q14: What checks could you use to verify the quality of data and information? Why is this
recommended?
The background check of respondents' personal data should be performed. In addition, the
researcher should consider that there is no violation of the country's legal system while extracting
the market data.
Q15: Suggest three ways of summarising data and information.
Data and information may be summarised through using a utility like MS-Excel in tabular form.
In addition, the summarization may also be done using software like MATLAB. Lastly, the
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researcher may also resort to adopting the pivot table which is again an MS-Excel functionality
that helps to present a large data set in abridged form.
Q16: Pick a software file that is used for entering and storing data and information.
Highlight the positive and negative aspects of the format and note any useful features.
Collected data may be processed using Microsoft office utilities, especially MS-Office and MS-
Excel. The spreadsheet may be used for presenting the responses in a tabular and summarised
format. MS-Word, on the other hand, may be used for making short notes on the responses
which may further be used for analysing the findings and summarising the results. However,
office utilities may require training before using the same and hence an inexperienced person
may not use the software with accuracy. It is needless to mention that such training involves both
time and cost implications.
Q17: What method could you use to process data that is appropriate to research design?
Explain your answer.
The method that may be used to process data for the given research is the quantitative method.
The research to explore the market with respect to the wedding photography in the next few
years is exploratory research which aims to explore something new that may not be present in the
present. In other words, the organisation may introduce a disruptive innovation in the market to
grab most of the market share (Veal, 2017). For the purpose, it is important to identify the
responses and quantify the same to assess the trend by way of charting.
Q18: How could you interpret and aggregate data and information to provide observations
relevant to search objectives?
The collected data should be interpreted using qualitative as well as quantitative research
methodology. As far as responses from the interview or questionnaire are concerned, the
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responses should be further segregated between qualitative and quantitative responses. The open-
ended questions and related answers should be analysed using a thematic analysis approach. For
the purpose, the findings should be linked to research objectives to satisfy if the responses are
sufficient (Coviello, 2015). As far as quantitative data is concerned, the graphical and tabular
presentation should suffice to present the observation in numeric. Aggregation of data and
information may be performed by employing human resources for collection and collation
purpose. Softwares may be used for tabulating those data in systematic manner.
Q19: What aspects could you judge collected data on, to determine whether it is relevant
and suitable for the objectives of the research?
Collected data and information should be evaluated against the backdrop of pre-determined
market research objectives. The organisations may conduct such research to know the potential
market for a newly conceived product or the research may be undertaken to assess the
competitiveness of the own offering and develop the existing product. Based on the objectives,
the collected data should be assessed in terms of their utility for the purpose of given research.
Q20: How could you prepare to create a research report?
In order to create a market research report, several points may need to be considered by the
market researcher. The primary objectives being undertaking such research may clearly be
mentioned in the research report. In addition, some of the biggest market players should be
clearly specified within the report along with their corresponding market share and relative
position of the organisation in the industry (Moser & Kalton, 2017). Also, the profile of
respondents, questionnaire, responses and analysis of the responses should be summarised within
the report. In addition, the ethical framework should also be uttered in the report in order to
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avoid any risk out of the same in future in terms of data privacy and data protection of third
parties.
Q21: To whom should you submit reports to? What is the organisational policy regarding
this?
Market research report may be submitted to the organisational head, generally CEO or VP of
marketing and distribution. Since marketing is one of the critical aspects of business operations,
higher management may be interested to know the outcome and hence, it is necessary to submit
the report to the persons who are decision makers of the organisation (Taylor, Bogdan &
DeVault, 2015).
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Part B
The given case is based on the business of graphic design and photography business in Australia.
The intended research is based on the hypothesis that the business wants to penetrate into the
wedding photography and videography. In Australia, the photography market is growing subtly
and as per the report by IBISWorld, the market was growing at a rate of 1.2% in the year 2011
(“Photography business – SmartCompany”, 2019). As per the Australian Institute of Professional
Photography, the market has a large number of amateur photographers who are not competent
enough and thereby creating market unnecessarily competitive in terms of a number of players.
As a result, the professional photographers have high potential because of their high-value
offering, only if their services reach out to the public. In the given situation, the research aims to
present the market through a SWOT analysis of the industry.
Strengths
 The service of wedding photography is very much personal and hence the offering may be
construed to be personified that attracts the customers.
 The service involves creativity which is valued by the customers.
 The wedding planning industry was valued at approximately $256.6 million which is
substantial and includes wedding photography also ("Wedding planning business -
SmartCompany", 2019).
Weaknesses
 The service is mostly seen at the individual level and hence the scope for expansion limited
because of capacity.
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 Since creativity is one of the critical components in the offering, any lack of creativity and
value addition may adversely affect the business
Opportunities
 Since the market is niche with most much of players with professional calibre, there remains
substantial scope for growth.
 Introduction of printed photographs with the cover in Canberra style may cause disruptive
innovation in the market, if offered at a competitive rate, provided own edit set up and
printing set up exists (Barry, 2018).
Threats
 Acute competition and number of players may adversely affect the business
 Other professional players use the software like Photoshop and high-end digital editing tools
that may prove to be costly for a start-up
Based on the SWOT so conducted, the market research will be carried out after selecting
respondents from the chosen locality. The respondents will be young aged male and female
persons. The data will be collected by way of interview and questionnaire distribution. The
questions will mostly revolve around the tested and preferences of the respondents regarding
digital photography and its importance in the wedding. Also, their feedback on present market
players will be collected for benchmarking and relative ranking purpose. All the findings will be
summarised and analysed using tools like a spreadsheet. Finally, the same will be presented to
the decision makers of the organisation.
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References
Abdulkadiroğlu, A., Angrist, J. D., Narita, Y., & Pathak, P. A. (2017). Research design meets
market design: Using centralized assignment for impact evaluation. Econometrica, 85(5),
1373-1432.
Baker, M. J., & Saren, M. (Eds.). (2016). Marketing theory: a student text. Sage.
Barry, M. (2018). SWOT Analysis for Wedding Planners. Retrieved from
Brace, I. (2018). Questionnaire design: How to plan, structure and write survey material for
effective market research. Kogan Page Publishers.
Coviello, N. (2015). Re-thinking research on born globals. Journal of International Business
Studies, 46(1), 17-26.
Hayhurst, R., & Wills, G. (2018). Organizational design for marketing futures. Routledge.
McQuarrie, E. F. (2015). The market research toolbox: a concise guide for beginners. Sage
Publications.
Moser, C. A., & Kalton, G. (2017). Survey methods in social investigation. Routledge.
Photography business - SmartCompany. (2019). Retrieved from
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2016). Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., & DeVault, M. (2015). Introduction to qualitative research methods: A
guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.
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