1.0 Introduction
Before entering any market, it is important to identify whether the customers will be willing to buy your product. As Nokia marketing research assistance, I have been commissioned to find out whether Nokia Lumia will compete favorably in the market. Nokia is a company that was started in Finland in the year 1865. Initially, the company used to produce and sell paper products. However, the company merged with other companies and became larger. It changed the products it sold as it expanded and after the Second World War, the company started selling telegraph and telephone electronic devices. Currently, the company produces and sells telephone electronic devices. In addition, it provides internet services. The company sells its products in over 150 countries. Even though Nokia is a company that is famous throughout the world, it is important to know whether its new products are viable in the market that is full of competitors. This is why the senior management has demanded for the research on the viability of Nokia Lumia in the global market. This research will evaluate whether Nokia Lumia will be preferred to the current smartphones in the market. This is considering the fact that the size of the phone is not preferred in by many customers. Nokia has competed favorably in the world market before in its sale of mobile phones. However, the increased competition has necessitated production of a variety of mobile phones such as Nokia Lumia. This phone has large memory storage of 16GB, a good camera, Bluetooth, internet application, good battery life and other applications. This is why we hope that the phone will compete favorably in the market.
2.0. Market research stages.
In any research, a procedure that involves several stages is usually followed. This is to ensure that relevant and enough information is collected so that the problem being addressed is adequately dealt with (William, 45). Errors in the collected and analysis of research information can result to adverse effects to the organization. It is understood that research involves a lot of costs. However, it is not advisable to ignore some of the procedures involved in the research process with a aim of minimizing the research costs since the costs of inaccurate and misleading research can be more than the costs of research itself. There are generally six stages in the research process.
2.1. Market research opportunities.
Market research opportunities are the sources of information on the research. The first stage in market research is to identify the audience from whom the information will be collected. There are many groups of people from whom information can be obtained about the new phone to be introduced in the market. First, the target audience should be interviewee. The phone has features that are mostly preferred by youths who are mostly in colleges. In most cases, this is the groups that buy smartphones in large quantities. Therefore it is important to get information from this group.
The second research opportunity is the network providers from different countries. This is because this group has a lot of information about mobile phone use. They are aware of the types of mobile phones use by most of their customers. The network providers can therefore access the most features that are preferred by their customers. From this information, Nokia Company will be able to determine whether the features of Nokia Lumia will be preferred by the customers in the market.
The other research opportunity is the Nokia phone suppliers. This group has information about the features that most customers demand in mobile phones. It is important to collect information from this group since it has close links with the customers. Therefore the group is very much aware of the needs of the customers. The suppliers will therefore give useful information that will be evaluated to find out whether the phone will compete favorably in the global market.
The other retailers from different countries may have important information that can help to find out whether it is viable to introduce Nokia Lumia in the market. These sellers are aware of the features that are preferred by the mobile phone buyers. In addition, they are aware of the features of the mobile phones that sell best in the market. Therefore this group of people can provide important information on whether Nokia Lumia will perform well in the market considering its features and the features of the smartphones that sell best in the market.
The various groups of people that use mobile phones are potential providers of research information. The groups include the youths, ladies, men, employed and unemployed. These groups will give information on whether they can buy a phone with similar features like those of Nokia Lumia. With this information, Nokia Company can be able to estimate the demand of Nokia Lumia.
2.2. Objectives.
Every research should have its objectives. This ensures that the research will be useful to the company. Research objectives are what the company needs to achieve by the completion of the research process. The objectives are important in ensuring that the researcher collects information that is relevant (William, 47). This ensures that the information collected solves the problem being addressed in the organization.
The first objective that Nokia Company should set is: to identify whether Nokia Lumia will be purchase by the customers. This objective needs to be evaluated since it is important to estimate the demand of the product being sold in the market. A product can only be produced a sol if it is demanded. If the demand is so low that the costs of producing Nokia Lumia, then it will not be advisable to produce this type of mobile phone. Since there is no assurance of demand of Nokia Lumia in the market currently, it is important to find out through research whether the customers will buy the mobile phone before engaging in its production.
The other objective would be: to identify whether the price of Nokia Lumia is favorable to the customers. A product usually has price since costs are incurred in its production. However, it would be useless to produce a product that cannot be afforded by the customers. In the marketing research, it would be important to find out whether the price that the company intends to set is favorable to the customers. This finds out whether the price of Nokia Lumia will be preferred as compare to the price of other smartphones in the market. This is important because a higher price than the price of other phones would mean that the customers will go for the cheaper smartphones.
The other objective that the research would aim at is to find out why the customers would prefer to buy Nokia Lumia as oppose to other smartphones in the market. It is clear that Nokia Lumia has several attractive features that would benefit the customers. However, the most important thing is to find out whether the customers are aware of these benefits. This research objective is important in ensuring that the respondents give their information based on the information they have about the phone and not just for the sake of pleasing the researcher.
2.3. Research category and methods to be used.
In this stage of research, it is important that the company identifies the sources of information from which information will be collected (William, 68). In this case, the company is to use both primary and secondary sources of data. This is because; most information is already in the field. Therefore the company will be required to go to the field and collect this raw data from the users of mobile phones, retailers and network providers. Most of the information about the needs of mobile phone customers has not been collected. In addition, the fact that Nokia Lumia targets a specific population means that it will be important to collect information from this specific group of people. It therefore means that the research will highly apply data collection methods that will assist in collection of primary data.
The company will also use secondary data collection methods in its research process. This is because there is already documented data that is useful to the company. This data can be collected from various groups such as retailers and network providers. The retailers have records that show the demand of smartphones. This information can be use to evaluate the demand of the Nokia Lumia. In addition, the network providers have information that shows the features that are mostly used by the mobile phone users such as network. This information is secondary and is useful in evaluating whether the customers will prefer purchasing the new mobile phone due to its new advance features.
In addition, internet will be a good source of information. This is because many mobile phone users comment about the effectiveness of the mobile phones they use. In addition, the customers post their mobile phone requirement preferences in the internet. Therefore internet can be a good source of identifying whether the new phone suits the needs of the customers.
2.4. Data collection.
The company can use several methods to collect the require data (Lamb, 77). Focus groups are one of the effective ways that Nokia can use to collect information about the sale of Nokia Lumia. The researchers will have to divide the population being surveyed into groups such as youths, ladies and gentlemen. The group members will then be allowed to discuss the various issues as the researcher collects the data using a tape recorder. This method is important in helping to identify which group in the population is to be mostly targeted during the sale of Nokia Lumia.
Another method of collecting the data is by use of questionnaires. This will target the people who have no time to be in focus group discussions such as office workers. The uses of questionnaires are also important in collecting information that the respondents will not be willing to respond to when the interviewer is present. The questionnaires should be framed in such a way that all the necessary information will be collected.
Sample surveys can be carried out to collect information about the demand of Nokia Lumia. The company can display a sample of the phones in the market to observe the demand of the phones as compared to other smartphones. This will be a good basis of predicting the future demand of Nokia Lumia.
Another method that the company can use to collect the required data is by use of telephone interviews. In this case, it is possible to reach many users of mobile phones all over the world. The advantage of this method is that the researcher will be able to get the preferences of the potential users of Nokia Lumia. Therefore this information can be relied on in the prediction of the future demand of the mobile phone.
Online surveys can be used to collect the primary data required by Nokia Company. This will involve sending emails to potential customers who then respond to the questions asked. The information sent to the respondents is such that the data required by for the research is inquired.
2.5. Data analysis.
The next step in the research process is to analyze the data collected. In this case, there are various methods that can be used to analyze the data collected (Ott, 78). One of the methods is descriptive statistics. This involves using the data collected to describe an observation. For example, when surveys are conducted, it can be observed that as the price of Nokia Lumia is increased, the demand for this mobile phone decreases. Therefore the data observation can be used to describe an observation.
Use of graphs can also be used to analyze data. For example, when surveys are conducted, a graph of price against quantity can be drawn to determine the behavior of the customers (Ott, 95). The graph can be used to show that as the price of Nokia Lumia increases, the quantity demanded decreases.
Probability distribution can be calculated to evaluate the probability of purchase of Nokia Lumia. Since the respondents are interviewed on whether they are willing to buy Nokia Lumia considering its features, the population of positive and negative responses about this case can be used to evaluate whether Nokia Lumia will be purchased. This is important in helping the company to determine whether to produce Nokia Lumia or not.
Tabulation is another method that can be used to analyze the data collected. In this method, comparison can be done on the strengths and weaknesses of Nokia Lumia in the market as compared to other competing mobile phones in the market. For example, the advantages of Nokia Lumia could be tabulated on one side and the advantages of other smartphones on the other side. This would be important in evaluating the mobile phone that is most preferred by the customers.
2.6. Reporting the findings.
This stage of research process will involve presenting the analyze data to the company for further decision to be made. The report will include the strengths of Nokia Lumia in the market and its weaknesses. The reports will also include the probability of success of the phone in the market if it is introduce in the market. The report is based on the analysis of the data collected in the research.
3.0. Conclusion.
Generally, research is a procedural activity that involves a series of activities. The company is required to follow the six stages in its research process so that the needs of the customers are known and therefore proper implementation is done to ensure that the needs are address (Pride, 121). If the needs of the customers are addressed, the customers are satisfied with Nokia Lumia and therefore there can be assurance that this Smartphone will perform well in the market. Satisfied customers are important in ensuring success of Nokia Company.
Works cited.
Ott, Lyman, and Michael Longnecker. An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
Grünewälder, Arend. Analysis of Nokia's Corporate, Business, and Marketing Strategies. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2008. Internet resource.
Emery, William J, and Richard E. Thomson. Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography. Amsterdam [u.a.: Elsevier, 2001. Print.
Lamb, Charles W, Joseph F. Hair, and Carl D. McDaniel. Essentials of Marketing. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
Pride, William M, and O C. Ferrell. Marketing. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.
