Akula Padma Priya, PGP12101, SecB

POST GRADUATE PROGRAM (PGP) IN MANAGEMENT

Business Research Methods

Term III Mid-Term Exam 2021-22

Time: 2.5 Hours

Total Marks: 60
Instructions:

∙ All the questions are compulsory.

∙ Keep your answers short and precise.
∙ Only typed answers are accepted.

Read the following case and answer the related questions:

With roots that go back to before the Great Depression, Marriott International has come a long way from
its founding by husband and wife John and Alice Marriott. As of 20017, Marriott had a presence in 110
countries with more than 5,700 properties.
This sustained vast expansion over the last several decades is due in large part to marketing research.
Marriott began pioneering segmentation in the hospitality industry by expanding its product offering in the
1980s, both upward and downward in quality from its flagship Marriott brand. Marriott found from focus
groups and survey research that it could have many types of hotels serving different market segments and
that these market segments, although all providing the same basic needs, would not compete with each
other. Certain brands under the Marriott umbrella serve the business traveler. Courtyard by Marriott, with
pricing and scaled-back service levels compared to the larger Marriott hotels, is targeted toward the price
sensitive frequent business traveler. Courtyard hotels – said to be designed for business travelers by
business travelers – offer high-speed internet access, ample workspace within the room, and other
amenities that are appealing to the business traveler. Fairfield Inns are priced still more modestly to
appeal to travelers who are even more price sensitive. Other brands under the Marriott flag serve more of
a family-style vacation market, with a focus toward comfort and affordability.

However, differentiation is not based on service and pricing alone. Marketing research has revealed other
attributes that are important. For example, a family or a basic business traveler on a budget might be
looking for a convenient location in addition to affordability. Hence, Marriott places Fairfield Inns along
interstates and highways, because these targeted groups travel by car. Convenient
location becomes another attribute that adds value and enhances perception of the Marriott brand name.
When Marriott began its Fairfield Inn and Suites brand, it started simply as Fairfield Inn. Then, with
marketing research (focus groups and surveys), Marriott found that its Fairfield Inn customers desired a
luxury-class room within the value hotel of the Fairfield line. Responding to this, Marriott changed the
name to Fairfield Inn and Suites and added high-class rooms that contain amenities such as a spa.
Analysis of internal secondary data identified a substantial number of travelers who stayed in Marriott
hotels for more than a few nights. Focus groups and surveys revealed that these extended-stay travelers
 have different needs. They might need meeting space to conduct business, a kitchenette to dine in
occasionally, or a suite space so that they do not get tired of seeing the same four walls around their beds
when they come “home” in the evening after yet another day on the road. For these travelers, Marriott
opened the Residence Inn line (a hotel line designed for an extended stay). Marriott found from
subsequent marketing research that this segment had room to expand to a more value-priced line as well.
Again,
responding to this research, Marriott introduced TownePlace Suites (a value-priced extended-stay hotel
line). Some of the guests at the Residence Inn or TownePlace Suites spend up to 6 months to a year at the
same hotel.
At the high end, Marriott offers even fuller service and higher prices with its Hotel Resorts & Suites and
its Renaissance upscale business properties. According to Marriott’s research estimating potential
demand, the size of this high-end segment is substantial. With all of these hotel lines, Marriott continues
the commitment to quality that began with John and Alice. Knowing from research that all hotel residents
desire quality, Marriott strives to provide this in all facets of the hotel service. One way in which Marriott
demonstrates this is by empowering its customer service representatives to address customer problems.
Although each of the various Marriott brands has worked hard to carve out a niche for itself, they all share
the Marriott brand identity – the key ingredient to their success. The Marriott brand identity is all about
commitment to service excellence that is consistent throughout the world from Philadelphia to Hong
Kong. Having a strong focus on the employees who work in the hotels and taking care of the associates
so that they can really focus on their jobs provide the level of service that customers demand and expect
today. Although each Marriott hotel has a different personality with a distinct design and service level so
that guests feel like they are in London or Munich or Paris, all these hotels have a common thread
running through them that identifies them as Marriott hotels.

The numerous Marriott brands, rather than creating competition for each other, actually help bring in
more business. Each of the brands does an excellent job of going out to its particular segment. Each brand
has its loyal following and markets itself independently and as a part of a portfolio of brands. There is
some crossover, however, but Marriott views it as a great opportunity, to serve customers whose needs
may change. So a customer looking for an extended stay might prefer the Residence Inn, but choose a full
service hotel such as the Renaissance for a shorter trip. Therefore, whatever happens, whatever that need
might be, Marriott is well positioned to capture that customer and that piece of business.

Marriott has been highly successful in using marketing research to develop a segmentation strategy of
targeting different needs by providing different products and options. The diverse offerings have helped
Marriott appeal to an increasingly wide range of clients and win greater business. Continued reliance on
marketing research will be critical to Marriott’s success in the future.

Questions:

1. Marriott would like to penetrate further the non-business travelers segment in the United States. Define the
management decision problem (MDP).
(1 mark)
MDP:
What should Marriot do to enhance the appeal to the nonbusiness travelers' segment in the United States?
2. Define an appropriate marketing research problem (MRP) and related research questions (RQs)
corresponding to the management decision problem you have identified.
(2+4 marks)
MRP
What are the characteristics and preferences of the nonbusiness travelers' segment?
Research Questions
1. What are the demographics that define our target group?
2. What are the needs of nonbusiness travelers while looking for a hotel?
3. What is the price point that they are willing to pay What is their duration of stay?
4. What is the most important aspect for them while selecting a hotel to stay?
5. What can be the purpose of stay for nonbusiness travelers?

3. What type of research design should be adopted in this case? Justify your recommendation. Also,
recommend data collection technique/s to be used in the chosen design/s. Provide the rationale. (3+3
marks)

We should adopt descriptive analysis. The reasons for this are-

● The descriptive analysis describes the market characteristics that we would like to study in our
research. We would like to know various characteristics of nonbusiness travelers characteristics
● It will also help us determine the TG's perception with respect to different offerings that Marriot is
planning.
● Also, Descriptive analysis is generally used when the problem is already defined and we are trying to
find a solution for the same. In this case, we are trying to find the solution to penetrate in nonbusiness
travelers' segment.

Data collection techniques to be used.

● The best way to collect data, in this case, would be through personal interviews.
● There would surely be certain customers who would visit the Hotel for non-business purpose stays.
We could ask them to fill out a survey form or ask them certain questions to know their insights about
the preference of hotels.
● We could also visit certain tourist places and assist them over there and ask them to fill out a survey.
● We could also use an internet survey by collaborating with different websites which provide reviews
about different hotels.
4. What kind of information (give 3 examples) could internal secondary data provide in this case, and how
will this information be useful for your research purpose?
(3+1 marks)
Internal secondary data could provide the following information –
1. What amount did non-business travelers spend in the past while staying at our hotel?
2. What was the duration of stay?
3. Did they come by their own vehicle or did they need assistance from our end for traveling needs?
4. Complaints if any. And how could that be resolved
This information will be helpful in designing the plan for nonbusiness travelers while planning out the
charges, packages, requirements, assistance, and preferences.
5. Marriott has developed a new hotel package for families on vacation. It would like to determine consumers’
response to this package before introducing it in the marketplace. If a survey is to be conducted to
determine consumer preferences, which survey method should be used. Why? Explain in terms of task,
situational and respondent factors.
(1+6 marks)
We could do internet surveys but while providing some incentive to the one filling up the survey. This
survey can be targeted to premium hotel booking websites and other review websites.
Task Factors
● Diversity of questions can be controlled in this case.
● The use of physical stimuli may not be required, but a virtual tour of the hotel and the package can be
shown to the respondents.
● To tackle the issue of response rate, we could provide incentives like discounts on next bookings in
our hotel
Situational Factors
● The control of the data collected will be high on our end. The questions framed can be controlled as
they are over the internet.
● The speed of collection of data would be fast
● The cost reduces which can be used in providing incentives,
Respondents factors
● Anonymity could be maintained. However, we could ask for their contact details and could send
promotional offers to them in the future.
● Eligibility of the respondents could be controlled by marketing it on specific websites where the
audience is generally close to our TG.

6. (a) Describe the situation in which Marriott can make use of experimentation?
(b)Present the relevant experimental design symbolically.
(c) How is the treatment effect measured?
(d)What extraneous variables might affect the results of the experiment? How?
(2+2+1+5 marks)
a. They can use experimentation to determine how much are customers willing to pay for a particular set
of services. This can be done to different income level customers to see how much each of those income
cohorts are willing to spend for the same set of services.
b. X1 through X5 are customer groups each having different income levels and O1 to O3 are a different set
of services provided. R is a random experiment.
R X1 O1
R X4 O2
R X5 O3
c. The treatment effect can be measured by a survey at the end of the experiment in terms of “worth for
the money” and satisfaction levels during the stay.
d. Extravenous factors can be
1) sponsorship by the company
2) Type of Job
3) Preference of location
4) Reason for stay
There can be selection bias while making the random allotment. If the experiment is conducted across
various locations or at different time periods like in summer and winter, we can have instrumentation
 issues. We can have testing effects as the assessment of the experiment can be influenced by the customers
being aware and would want to give good satisfaction levels

7. Marriott recently opened a new restaurant in the premises of TownePlace Suites. It offered both continental
and traditional cuisine on the menu at all times of the day. The restaurant offers indoor as well as poolside
seatings. The management wanted to understand the impact of various service factors on the customer
footfall. In order to do so, Marriott decided to reach conclusions regarding the matter using experiments.
(4+8 marks)
(a) Identify the dependent and independent variable/s for the experiment. Which Statistical Design
should be adopted for investigation? And why?
(b) Graphically present all the main effects and interaction effects possible in this case. Make
hypothetical scenarios with the following levels:
Time of the day Morning, Afternoon, Evening

Cuisine type Continental, Traditional

Seating Arrangement Indoor, Poolside

8. llustrate the use of primary scales for measuring consumer preferences for hotel chains. Give one example
for each primary scale of measurement. (8 marks)
There are a number of scales that can be used for the purpose which are:
NOMINAL
The nominal scale is based on the identification of quantifiable aspects that can be measured in the form
of objects. For instance, the titles of the meals on the menu as well as the cuisine categories available.
ORDINAL
The ordinal scale is based on the indication of object position based on relativity rather than the
magnitude difference. Quality ranking and procedures such as understanding customer happiness and food
quality, for example, can be considered to be on this scale.
INTERVAL
The interval scale is based on the direct differences between two variables. For instance, we can state that
the customer's opinion, as well as their age, attitude, and income, fall under this scale.
RATIO
The ratio scale can be thought of as working on the premise of setting the minimum value to the recorded
value, which can then be measured and compared. Factors like income, cost, and the frequency of orders
and visits, for example, can all be deemed to be reflected on this scale.

9. Develop Likert, Semantic differential, and Stapel scales for measuring consumer preferences for hotel
chains. (6 marks)

Respondents are asked to use a Likert scale to express their level of agreement and disapproval in a series
of statements. Each scale piece has five answer categories, ranging from strongly accept to strongly
disagree. This scale can be used in hotel chains to gauge client satisfaction with hotel service, ranging
from completely satisfied to completely dissatisfied. The semantic differential scale is a point-based
measurement system with bipolar markers at the scale's ends. It has notes that are unpleasant to
submissive and can be discovered in motels at a rate of +3 to -3. A single word/category describes the
dimension that an item represents. According to Stapel's scale, one thing has ten categories, and one item
has an even number of categories. This version of the rating system excludes the zero number, suggesting
that there is no neutral approach to the question.