MKTG 630 Unit 1 Discussion: Environmental Factors and Marketing Plan

This assignment, a discussion board post from a student, delves into the critical environmental factors impacting marketing strategies, with a specific focus on political, economic, and technological influences. It contrasts qualitative and quantitative research methods, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages, and explores how these methods are applied in marketing contexts. The assignment further presents a marketing plan for a new expense tracking application, including SMART goals for sales, market share, and profitability, while also considering the environmental factors affecting product launch. The student provides insights on risk assessment related to the product, and the importance of adapting to changing market conditions. The assignment is a valuable resource for students seeking to understand marketing principles and strategic planning, provided by Desklib, a platform offering AI-powered study tools and past assignments.

Running head: APPLIED MANAGERIAL MARKETING
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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Discuss the research method for Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is basically the scientific method by which one can observe in order
to acquire data that is not in a numerical form (Antwi & Hamza, 2015). I think qualitative
research mostly refers to definitions, concepts, characteristics and many more. There are various
research methods for qualitative research like immersion, observation, interviews, content
analysis, surveys that are open ended. Researches who use this method use their intelligence,
eyes and ears in order collect descriptions and perceptions in depth about various things like
events, places, targeted populations and many more. Most of the data that is generated from the
qualitative research is analyzed and coded by the researcher.
The advantages of qualitative research method
Qualitative research methods have many pros. They help in capturing the attitudes that
are changing within the target groups like attitudes of employees in the workplace or consumers
of a service or a product. The best thing about qualitative research approach is that even if the
results do not match the expectation of the researcher still it is very useful this helps in adding
extra context to the research giving a different perspective and also to explain something that
accurate numbers will be unable to reveal. I find this method to be highly flexible as it gives the
researchers the liberty to make changes in the process like questions or the setting to improve the
responses.
The disadvantages of qualitative research method
As there are many pros of using qualitative research method, there are many cons as well.
According to me, the sample size is a big problem. During a research if one seeks to infer from
samples for around a 100 people which based on the sample of around 10 people then this can

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make the research irrelevant as it raises question as to how authentic the research is. Another
issue, which I find with this method, is that there may be sample bias. A research might have
some competing agenda, thus the researcher can influence unconsciously or consciously the
people to select samples that will help in favoring the outcome which is anticipated.
Discuss the research method for Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is generally defined as an investigation phenomenon which is
systematic and helps in acquiring quantifiable data and performing mathematical, computational
or statistical techniques (McCusker & Gunaydin, 2015). The methods used to gather information
in quantitative research is polls, questionnaire and surveys. These results can be depicted in
numerical ways. The researchers need to be careful in their calculation to come up with the
accurate results as this research provides accurate numbers and percentages which determines the
outcome of the research give makes the research authentic and not vague.
The advantages of Quantitative research method
I think that quantitative research method is suitable and has many advantages as the data
collected from the quantitative methods can be analyzed in as short period of time because of the
closed-ended answers in comparison to other methods. I believe that the reliability of the data is
also very high in this method. The best part is it is anonymous thus the people give their own
views without being scared of anyone and they are not influenced by anyone that makes the
research more authentic. Another thing which I think makes it convenient for the researcher is
that the data can be acquired from locations that are far away via online.

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The disadvantages of Quantitative research method
Though the qualitative research method is seen to be the most reliable however there
some disadvantages like the it is difficult to determine the fact whether the questions answered
are accurate or true or not. The biggest disadvantage that I feel of this method is that the
researcher cannot get feedback details about the research conducted thus the researcher cannot
make changes and refine the research. Another issue of using this method is that if the sample
size is small, then the output of the research is also small which makes the research insignificant.

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Reference
Antwi, S. K., & Hamza, K. (2015). Qualitative and quantitative research paradigms in business
research: A philosophical reflection. European Journal of Business and Management,
7(3), 217-225.
McCusker, K., & Gunaydin, S. (2015). Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed
methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), 537-542.

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