Introduction
The Natural Food Co was founded by Gareth DeRosa in St. Louis, Missouri in the year 1993. The main motive for the formation of the company was for sale healthy food to its customers in different locations of Midwest of United States of America. This company had to achieve its objectives by producing products that were of higher quality than its competitors. This made the company gain competitive power thus thrived well in the foods market. It offers products such as gourmet groceries, and a new innovated product namely pizza, which may be useful in our research.
The success of the company over the years is achieved through various strategies on market research of its products. This has made the company remain the best seller of food products. The product pizza is a new innovation which is made of full grain. The product will be produced in a way that will allow its refrigeration. The product will be designed to feed two or three persons.
A research proposal will be to investigate the new product performance in the market. The product is a substitute of other products in the market. Its unique feature of being made from whole grain will create differentiation among pizza products. It forms the basis of the research to be done.
Objectives
The general objective of the study is to investigate the performance of the new product, whole grain pizza, in the foods market. This can be subdivided into several specific objectives which include the following;
The main aim of this motive is to find the how the pizza is consumed by various consumers. This will help to determine the total market demand of the product. This information will be useful in designing marketing strategies of the new product.
Different consumers have different tastes and preferences. This affects the choice of products to consume. The information will help in determining the regions to focus most to sell the product. Also, the information will help the company prepare an effective marketing mix.
Presence of other existing products shows an indication of the competition. Through researching on the level of competition, the company can design measures of gaining competitive power. This can be achieved through quality improvement and health considerations. This will help to create real differentiation thus increased competitive power. This shows that, a research based the objectives given, will play a huge role in the determination of market share of the new product, Whole grain Pizza.
The proposed research will be made of three sections of the study. Every level will have its motives of the study. The first level will be analysis of any secondary data. This will help in obtaining any relevant information that can be used in the study. Secondly, details on the product consumption will be analyzed. Also, a deep analysis of the market for the product will be done. The third stage will be preparation of questionnaires to guide in the collection of first hand information.
DESK RESEARCH
The main aim of obtaining data from secondary sources is to help in analyzing the existing consumption of pizza in the region. The data will serve as a way for research, by providing the background information. The information obtained will be resourceful in the whole of the study. The information required will be such as information on the existing products, market and price of the product.
Procedure
The research will carry both internally and externally. Internal examination of existing records will be done to obtain any relevant information. This will involve consultation from a relevant person with the required information. This will help in obtaining information that is direct from the producer and the seller of the product. External examination will involve actual collection of data from consumers and market. This will help the researcher to have a clear view about the product consumers and the product performance in the market. The information will help in designing a product that meets the consumers tastes and preferences.
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Some aspects of the objectives cannot be quantified. The information can only be qualified. This will guide in exploring the information pertaining the consumption of the products. For instance, in analyzing the consumer tastes and preferences, the information obtained can only be analyzed in qualitative form but not quantitatively. This is an indication that, a qualitative research is of great importance. The information will be mainly to evaluate how well the product will perform if introduced in the market.
Population and Sampling
The sampling procedure will be random and will cover a minimum of 100 households. This size if efficient enough to reduce the chances of sampling errors. This will make the sample data analyzed to reflect the true population parameters. The study area will be divided into three regions as follows;
Procedure
The data collection will involve the use of product design. The researcher has to carry out an intensive evaluation of the area of study. The three areas of study have to be studied differently but with the similar subject matter. The result will be combined to arrive to a conclusion.
QUANTATIVE RESEARCH
A quantitative research is done to cater for information obtained which is in number form. The information obtained can be used to carry out various statistical tests. The test helps in making of efficient conclusions on the research done based on information collected. The information will be collected from the selected households. It will be subdivided in accordance with family size and consumption level. This will be based on the amount of pizza bought and frequency of purchase.
Procedure
The analysis will involve the study of the consumers of the pizza. It will entail an actual evaluation of every household selected. The data obtained will be cleaned and coded for any statistical tests. This will make it easier to make inferences on the objectives of the study.
Data collection method
Both primary and secondary methods of data collection will be used. Primary collection of data will entail methods such as direct interviewing, use of questionnaires and direct observation. Respondent ethical consideration will play an important role during this process. The information obtained will be later coded for further analysis. Secondary methods will involve data collection from stored sources such as journals, statistical abstracts and any published book on the product in question.
Research Design
The main topic of the research will be to evaluate the performance of the whole grain pizza in the market. The topic will be studied subject to various variables such as price, market competition and quality. The variables will be explained much on the research topic.
REPORTING
The aim above reporting is to convey information obtained from the study to the members of the company. This will help the promoters of the product to design the product based on the findings of the study. The product to be designed should meet the tastes and preferences of the consumers since the consumer behavior is analyzed in depth. The market information will also guide in the implementation of competitive approaches.
Data Analysis
The data analysis will be done using various statistical techniques. These include tests of hypothesis to determine the effects on the performance of the product due to change in one of the variables affecting it. The significant tests will also be necessary in the data analysis stage. Qualitative data will be analyzed using various techniques such as graphs and charts. This will help to show the actual trends of performance of the product. Also, this can be used for comparison purposes.
TIMING
The research will be carried out in a defined time frame. A schedule of activities will be done to meet the time constraint. Weekly activities will be reported to relevant authorities. This will make the process of inferences drawing simple. Timing disciplines will be observed in order not to be out of time before the completion of the study. The schedule of activities will be as follows;
The time schedule is based on total time available. The schedule is subject to adjustment based on the complexity and completion of an activity. The schedule is an assumption of the researcher's procedural way of carrying out the research. The research will take duration of two and a half months. The period is substantial due to market entry by other competitors.
FEES
The following is an estimation of fee structure of the research project expenditure. The figures are subject to changes based on time and activity.
This is a projection of the cost to be incurred in the study. This cost mainly results from transport allowances of the researcher, remunerations and other miscellaneous expenses. The researcher is obliged to reduce the cost as much as possible and be effective in his work. The time frame cannot be extended, and activities have to be complete within the allocated time.
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