Reminder on AI Usage and Academic Integrity

As discussed in class, using AI in ways that are not permitted and submitting work with a high percentage of AI-generated content is a violation of the VU Academic Integrity Policy.

For all Marketing Research assignments, please ensure your AI matching percentage is below 15%. You are responsible for your own work and know how much you have relied on AI. Please check and manage this carefully to avoid breaching the policy.

You should have completed the three Academic Integrity Modules in VUC. If you are unsure or cannot recall the details, please review the VU Academic Integrity Policy to make sure your work meets the required standards.

The policy is available through MyVU or the VU Library.

The Case is already given to you in class. Start preparing it and ask questions to clarify on Tuesday 27 January in the Lab. The presentation date is Tuesday February 3rd in CL 1.2 from 1.30pm to 3.00pm. You will draw lot to determine the order of presentation. Print a hardcopy of your power point to give it to me before the presentation. Submit a soft copy (pdf file) to VUC Assessment 4 Dropbox before 3.00pm on 3-2-2026. You also have to submit an Assessment Declaration form to the Dropbox.

(2) Complete Assessment 1 (Quiz 1) before due date.

2b. What are the factors that influence the willingness of consumer buying the products so that SnackXpress can develop an effective online strategy

2c.

- What are the factors that influences consumer's intention to buy from SnackXpress online (eg. convenience, delivery, price, duration)

- How does the age group, income levels and lifestyle affect the purchase intention

2d.

- To identify factors that are affecting SnackXpress' online store

- To compare how different demographic of consumers react to SnackXpress online store

There is a declining sales in urban areas, so should the snackxpress launch an online store to address the declining sales and to reach their potential customer like young professionals, families and older adults, how should they position their products?

b) Marketing Research problem -

1. to identify and understand what makes customers want to buy snacks online.

2. to determine how these reasons change based on age, income, and lifestyle groups.

c)

What are key factors that influence different age group thinking and social behaviour when purchasing snacks online?

How much does income level and urban lifestyles influence the frequency and interests in using online purchase for snacks?

d) To identify and rank the key reasons for online snack purchase among different age groups..

To measure the interest of online snack store among different income brackets to decide the best pricing and positioning strategy.

a. Management Problem:

- Why are the sales declining especially in urban areas although the brand is a well-known snack brand and already have five years experience?

- Should we consider to launch an online stores to increase sales?

b. Research Problem:

- To understand the determinants of online snack purchases across a broad target market.

To determine the position of their products effectiveness towards this wider audience.

c. Research Questions:

- What are the key factors that influence consumers to purchase snacks online?

(NOT YET DONE)

1b) SnackXpress could find their information on the customers age group, incomes, lifestyles and the product positioning. With knowing the demographic information needed to be better understand the target audience

1c) What factors influence online snack purchasing consumers behavior among different age groups, incomes, and lifestyles?

How can SnackXpress position its potato chips to appeal to a broad online target market including young professionals and families?

1d) To determine optimal product positioning strategies in online channel.

Identify key drivers of online snack purchases across diverse demographics to inform online store strategy.

b. To determine the consumer interest in buying snacks online and to identify the factors that drive online snack purchases across a broad target market to appeal to a wider audience.

c. How do age group and lifestyle influence consumers to purchase SnackXpress online?

What factors affect consumers when it comes to online purchases?

d. Consumer perception that drives online snack purchases to a broad target market and effectively appeals to a wider audience.

Word association test is used because asking participants to immediately say the first word that comes to mind reveals their instant, subconscious associations and feelings toward the new product name without overthinking or bias.

Focus group-Through group discussion people can share opinion, likes, dislikes and views. This helps the company to understand the users perception, emotional response and usability.

This type of technique allows access to multiple perspectives, is flexible, and is inexpensive. By providing quick and in-depth insight, the focus group interview shows how the group feels and interprets the new campaign. The brand consultant can determine what resonates with the audience before refining the ad before launch.

-Assumption-making

i)How well do you understand the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's new corrective advertising policy?

-Not at all

-Slightly

-Moderately

-Very well

ii)Do you like the ACCC's new corrective advertising policy?

-Yes

-No

Avoid error caused by double barreled wording.

Question 1: Leading

Would you buy a small Electric car?

-Yes

-No

Question 2: Complexity

Would you buy an electric car if it cost the same as a fully equipped full-size car from the big three car makers but cost only half as much to run over five years?

-Yes

-No

Non-response error as the person refuses to answer the interviewer

How to reduce such errors

1) offer incentives (voucher or cash price)

2) use multiple channels (sms/email)

1. Potential Source of Error and justification:

Sample selection error, happens when you only survey your company's current customers instead of the general public or potential new ones. These bias results because existing customers already know the campaign and like it more, making awareness seem higher than it really is for everyone.

2. Error reduction:

To get representative sampling, pick people who truly reflect your full target group not just current customers. Telephone interviews work well if you use random dialling instead of only the customer list.

Potential Source of Error and Justification

This situation shows interviewer bias because when the interviewer asks the respondent an open-ended question, the respondent looks unsure and do not know what to answer, then the interviewer suggests an answer to the respondent. This may influence the respondent's response and make the answer/data inaccurate.

Error Reduction

The error can be reduced by training the interviewer to stay neutral and avoid leading or suggest the answer to the respondent.

-Non-response error
It occurs when selected respondents refuse to participate or cannot be contacted. The respondent hangs up immediately and provides no data.

Justification

The customer was part of the selected sample but did not provide any responses.

Error reduction

-Improve contact strategy

Call at different times of the day (evenings or weekends).

Make multiple call attempts instead of abandoning the number after one refusal.

Non-response error as the person refuses to answer the interviewer

How to reduce such errors

1) Increase sample size to offset refusals

2) Call back at different times (evening/weekend)

3) Keep survey shorter (tell them “only 2–3 minutes”)

For the second scenario, an administrative error has occurred that has caused the interviewer to forget the questions' skip pattern. This is caused by the researcher's unintentional oversight over the execution. More specifically, an interviewer error has occurred.

Error Reduction

As a result, the researcher can increase interviewer training to ensure accurate results. Additionally, real-time quality control through spot-checks should be executed too like supervisor observation.

-Systematic error because Facebook users do not represent all computer users as MacBook.

Error reduction

-Use sampling by age, profession or computer usage.

-Limit conclusion to Facebook users only if the sample cannot be expanded.

direct observation can be used as The researcher uses an observation form/checklist and a timer to record the customer waiting time. THe researcher should be a non-participant observer, so customers behave normally. Data should be collected across different time periods (peak vs non-peak) to increase accuracy and reduce bias. This design is suitable because wait time is a directly observable behaviour and does not rely on customers’ memory.

the outline will be structured, and non-participation (Electronic observation)

The observation would be a mechanical observation for online, and for in-store, it would be direct observation.

For mechanics, they can extract behavioral data automatically from the network to find the data, meaning customers are not approached or questioned, and their routine usage patterns are passively captured by the system.

E) Toy manufacture (qualitative data)

Children in a playroom with toy in the center

The researcher can conduct a direct observation that tests the children's engagement through a nonparticipant observer, which is in a naturalistic play setting where they observe the toy in a normal playroom.

d. The given situation can be observed by using direct human observation as we can just directly observe them and record the time while observing the customer from the fast food shops.

Also by Mechanical observation we can just take the recorded the time from the machines that are used in the process of ordering and purchase time.

To calculate the number of female appearances in Australian covers, the researcher can apply the content analysis. By computing the frequency of appearances, the researcher can conduct a quantitative observation of physical objects. 

D) How long does a customer entering a store have to wait for their fast food order? 

The researchers can conduct a mechanical observation where they record data using kiosks and cashiers. The researchers calculate the waiting time by analysing the inputted timestamp data, which starts from the ordering kiosk and ends at the cashier desk, where the staff marks the order as done or delivered. The same can be applied to customers who order online through app platforms, where data can also be collected.

• Mechanical observation

• User actions happen online, so the provider uses system log in automatically to record what services users click, use and the timing they do for the actions. This is accurate, objective, and does not need a person to watch.

b. State government (seat belt usage)

• Human observation (if can with camera)

• Seat belt use is a real-life behavior, so trained observers or traffic cameras watch drivers on the road to see if they are wearing seat belts without disturbing or communicating with them.