Market Research Report: Convenience Store Choices of College Students

This market research report investigates the convenience store preferences of Washington College students, focusing on 7/11 and Royal Farms. The study aims to determine which store is more favorable, understand student opinions, identify factors influencing choices (such as proximity, brand, and product offerings), and analyze buying behavior. The methodology involves questionnaires using simple random sampling to collect data on demographics, store choices, and motivational methods. Both descriptive and inferential statistics will be used to analyze the data, including measures of association between variables like gender and store preference. The research considers factors such as proximity, brand recognition, product variety, and unique promotional strategies employed by each store. The findings will provide insights into student purchasing behavior, aid in store improvements, and contribute to existing literature on consumer behavior, potentially sparking further research and filling gaps in previous studies. References from Huang & Sarigollu (2014), Romano (2009), Kotler (2012), and Khan (2014) are included to support the research.

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Background information
Convenience in service delivery in various service delivery points in colleges such as
library, cafeteria, canteens and others facilities is of great importance. Since students always
have limited time and resources, they would always require quick services and at an affordable
prices. This is always to ensure that they save time, money and energy. This research survey will
focus on two stores in Washington College which sell majorly fast moving consumer goods to
students such as snacks and household items. The two stores are 7/11 and Royal farmers. To be
specific, some of the products being stocked by these two outlets are toothpastes, plates, drinks,
ready foods and toiletries.
Previous researches on the same topic supported by secondary data has shown that over
80% of students from various colleges globally have always preferred buying from outlets that
have shown efficiency in service delivery in terms of speed, quality and affordable cost (Huang
& Sarigollu, 2014) and (Romano, 2009). Statistics has it that the many outlets that are within the
college’s neighborhood have recorded the highest number of customer students compared to
those that are a little far away (Kotler, 2012). It is therefore for this reason that Convenience
Store Marketers are conducting a survey to find out which convenience store between Royal
Farms or 7/11 is a more favorable option for Washington College students and the United States
market in general. Through this research therefore, we will be able to determine which store
people would rather purchase goods such as fast food, toiletries, and any other product that 7/11
or Royal Farms offers.
Research objectives
The main research objective was;

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1. To establish which convenience store is a more favorable option for Washington College
students and United States market between the Royal Farms and 7/11
The other specific objectives included;
2. To know the students’ opinions or ideas of a convenience store.
3. To establish the factors that affect student choices’ on which convenience store to buy
from.
4. To establish the buying behavior of the students from the two stores.
5. To identify some of the methods used by the store owners to lure students into buying
from their stores.
Methodology
This research survey will employ the use of questionnaires to collect data from the
students. Data collection through this method was found appropriate as information could be
collected from a large number of respondents within a short span compared to other methods like
one-on-one interview or observation. To add on due to financial constraints and convenience of
reaching more students, it was relatively cheaper when it came to collecting information from
across the student body as the questionnaires could be emailed to the respondents for filling then
emailed back to the researchers. The research will incline much towards qualitative design since
most of the questions the respondents will answer will be seeking their opinions or feelings on
their buying behavior therefore not measurable. To ensure that the data collected was not biased,
the research survey will employ simple random sampling or non-probability sampling. This is a
sampling method that ensures respondents are picked from the target population without
employing any trick. In other words, every respondent will have an equal chance of being

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selected to the sample. The survey will employ both descriptive and inferential statistics to
explain the findings. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the demographics of the
sample such as gender, age and faculty. Measures of dispersion such as mean, median and mode
will also be established using descriptive statistics. Measures of dispersion such as variance and
standard deviation, range and variance will also be established. Inferential statistics such as
measures of association between variables will also be established. For example, if there exist an
association between gender and store preference or buying behavior. The data collected will be
analyzed using excel and statistical package for social sciences, SPSS.
Action standards
Proximity to the outlets will be one of the major variables the research survey will
concentrate on due to the fact that not every student on campus has a car or their own personal
form of transportation (Khan, 2014). The act of actually getting to the convenience store as easy
as possible will affect students decisions on which one they would prefer to go to. Another
important construct we will measure is the brand, the two main convenience stores in
Chestertown being 7/11 and Royal Farms. Most of the products the two stores sell are very
similar, ranging from snack food to household appliances to hot and ready food. One of the main
differences between the two are Royal Farms offers their “World Famous Fried Chicken and
Western Fries” as well as other chicken products. 7/11 offers hot food as well; such as pizza, hot
dogs, chicken wings, tacos, etc. Both corporations sell a variety of drinks, such as milkshakes,
Slurpee’s/ICEE’s, sports drinks, energy drinks, juices, etc., but due to the fact that Royal Farms
is larger in size, they have a broader variety. A third construct to take into consideration is the
fact that Royal Farms doubles as a gas station, where 7/11 does not. This makes it possible for
consumers to choose Royal Farms and for them to bring in more consumers over 7/11. The

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research survey in a bid to establish whether age and gender are factors when it comes to brand
choosing, will compare customer loyalty to the two outlets based on gender and age. Unique
motivational methods of the two outlets to customers will also be assessed and resultant effect be
analyzed. With this kind of information, the research will able to communicate to the customers
and store owners the major reasons why buying behavior of students are the way they are.
Additionally, this research will help the convenience stores to understand the facilities that the general
people include in the preferences while choosing the stores for their daily needs. This will help in healthy
competition and improvement of facilities in the stores from the feedback gained from the customers. The
findings from this research study will also go a long way in filling the gap in previous research that had
been done on the same topic. It will also give chance for other researchers to critique it and come up with
its weaknesses thereby provoking further research on the same topic hence coming up with better findings
and recommendations that will help. Lastly, the findings will form part of literature in consumer
purchasing behavior.

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References
Huang, R., & Sarigollu, E. (2014). How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand
equity, and the marketing mix In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors. New York:
Springer.
Khan, M. T. (2014). The concept of ‘marketing mix’ and its elements (a conceptual review
paper). , 6(2), p.95. International journal of information, business and management, 6(2),
95.
Romano, C. (2009). Research strategies for small business: a case study. International Small
Business Journal, 7, 35-43.
Kotler, P. (2012). Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control.
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.