Research Proposal: Samsung's Market Research and Product Success

This research proposal aims to identify how Samsung's market research processes contribute to the company's successful product development. Focusing on the methodology Samsung adopts, the study investigates how the company segments the market and designs targeted products, challenging market incumbents like Apple. Through a qualitative study, data will be gathered from business journals and Samsung's website to understand the research processes, identify strengths, and assess the benefits of market research for the company. The research will culminate in a general hypothesis and recommendations for other firms based on the insights gained from Samsung's approach, utilizing a CRAP test to ensure the reliability of secondary data sources.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Problem statement......................................................................................................................3
Aims and objectives...................................................................................................................3
Methodology..............................................................................................................................4
Secondary data sources and data................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

2RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Title: Research relating to management process in product development.
Problem statement
The problem which this research paper will aim at identifying is how exactly market
research processes of Samsung has helped in the successful product development of the
company. Since market research and product development are broad terms in terms of
conducting research, the research paper will be specifically focusing on identifying the
methodology which the company adopts in its venture of product development. Samsung has
been a competitive challenger to the market incumbent, Apple, with its Galaxy and Galaxy
Note series. Both of the products have almost similar features, with IPhone leading the
competition. However, Samsung has given tough competition to IPhone despite the
incumbent’s positioning as a luxury brand, in terms of revenue generation. According to
Steenkamp (2019), Samsung has a way of segmenting the market into various categories,
based on which it designs a variety of products targeted at each segment. This will be the
hypothesis of the research paper, backing the success of the brand in product development.
Aims and objectives
The aims and objectives of this research paper are as follows:
• To identify the research methodology of the company.
• To understand their research process.
• To identify strengths in their research processes.
• To understand the benefits of the market research for the company.
• To provide a general hypothesis and recommendation for other firms, based on the
assumption and ideas gained from the research.

3RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Methodology
For the purpose of the research, a purely qualitative study will be conducted to gather
data from a range of sources. One of the most significant forms of analysing the data will be
through literature review. Data will be collected from a range of literature, from several
business journals, like Journal of Business Research and Journal of Business Ventures, in an
attempt to detail the research processes that go behind the market research process of
Samsung. Qualitative study of data will also be done on the company’s website, which
imparts relevant information regarding the topic of the research.
Followed by the qualitative study, the data analysis will also be qualitative in nature.
This is because the problem of the research is to find out how market research and
methodology helps Samsung in the venture of product development. Since that is a
comparatively broad topic, quantitative analysis will only answer the “what” aspect and very
little about the “how” or “why aspect” of the research. To detail things further, the qualitative
methodology will be adopted for data analysis.
Secondary data sources and data analysis
The internet will be the main source of data collection for the purpose of this research.
This is because interviewing and surveying about how the company goes about in its market
research process, will bring forth feasibility concerns. However, a CRAP test will be done
against each of the sources for the research, to ensure authenticity and reliability of the
research paper. Key Academic Journals will include Journal of Business Research, Journal of
Business Ventures, and Journal of Business. The company’s official website will also be used
as source of data, in order to find out relevant data to the topic of the research. Apart from the
main academic journals mentioned, Google Scholar will also be used to retrieve relevant
academic articles regarding the topic.

4RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Some of the key sources of data are as follows:
 Alzahrani, A., Corban, H., Hsu, W. C., Lu, C. C., & Dai, X. (2017). Samsung Gear
VR Marketing Plan.
 Straker, K., & Wrigley, C. (2016). 11. The role of emotion, experience and meaning:
the comparative case of Apple and Samsung. International perspectives on business
innovation and disruption in design, 231.
 Lee, J., Lee, K., & Heo, J. (2015). Supplier partnership strategy and global
competitiveness: A case of Samsung Electronics. Eurasian Journal of Business and
Management, 3(4), 1-12.
 Steenkamp, J. B. (2019). Reflections on defining global brands, fragmentation and
segmentation, and the emergence of richer brandscapes. International Marketing
Review.
The thing which each of these literatures have in common is the fact that each of these
aims at focusing on Samsung’s market research process (or considers it as a part or example
of the literature), and how it strategizes according to the retrieved data.

5RESEARCH PROPOSAL
References
Alzahrani, A., Corban, H., Hsu, W. C., Lu, C. C., & Dai, X. (2017). Samsung Gear VR
Marketing Plan.
Lee, J., Lee, K., & Heo, J. (2015). Supplier partnership strategy and global competitiveness:
A case of Samsung Electronics. Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, 3(4),
1-12.
Steenkamp, J. B. (2019). Reflections on defining global brands, fragmentation and
segmentation, and the emergence of richer brandscapes. International Marketing
Review.
Straker, K., & Wrigley, C. (2016). 11. The role of emotion, experience and meaning: the
comparative case of Apple and Samsung. International perspectives on business
innovation and disruption in design, 231.