INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, ROHTAK

PGP 11
Mid Term Exam (Term III)
Business Research Methodology
(BRM)

16.02.2021
MM -

Name: Siddharth Mahto

Roll No: PGP11127

Marks Secured:
(In figures & words)

Question No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Maximum Marks
Marks Scored

Examiner’s Signature
 Please write in given space only

Q1 –
MDP defines what the decision maker needs to do so that the current problem is
solved and is action oriented.
Hence, the MDP should be along the lines of
“What are the steps Marriot International should take to increase its customer
base and market share in the Non-Business Traveller’s segment. What are their
needs and their inclinations and where to reach them?”

Q2 –
MRP Defines what information would be needed to solve the problem in hand
how to collect that information etc
Hence, the MRP should be along the lines of
“What would be the appropriate target market to expand into for Marriot and
what are their needs, inclinations and their expectations”
The research questions can be
1 – What is the best target segment to grow, expand or venture into for the
company
2 – What are the needs and requirements to be addressed of the selected target
audience
3 – What do the target market consumers expect while staying at a hotel.
4 – How can we help them choose Marriot International over other brands in the
specific target segment.

Q3 –
Marriot International needs to identify its market segment and hence its
potential audience. This can be done best by using a Descriptive Design
Method. We use descriptive design when we need to define market
characteristics and functions. Here, a descriptive design will help us gather data
about different target markets extensively and help us make our decision faster
and with data to back us up
A cross-sectional design will be the best option here as there will be no biases in
the result as we will collect data from any sample once only. This would help
get a fairly accurate data collected and with a larger size of sample size to
understand variations we can define and understand different market segments
with the use of descriptive design

Q4 –
Internal secondary data is data that has been generated by the business during its
business processes and already available for analysis like -
1 Financial Data
2 Sales Invoices
3 Lodged customer complaints
4 Customer Reservations details

This data can be analysed to provide better understanding of the target segment
as customer complaints can help identify the most recurring problem and solve
them or look at rare new problems cropping up. Reservation data would provide
us who are our best customers and from where our customers come from and
what needs the segment of hotel fulfils for them. Invoices and financial data can
help us segment the market into different groups and help us identify the most
beneficial hotels and locations for the company.

Q5 –
Syndicated data is data that is available in a common external database and is
accessible for a service fee. It is usually not one client specific but industry
specific and contains vital data available readily for the company paying the
fees.
Useful information that syndicated data can provide Marriot International are
Demand Forecasting – Substantiated Consumer forecasts based on patterns
and extensive collected data can help understand when to expect an uptick in
the business and when to adapt accordingly to the change in demand and supply

External Surveys – Readily available survey data can save a lot of time and
resources for the company and help understand perceptions and other gaps in
literature
Marketing Results – A marketing analysis would help the company know
when and where to run its advertisements ,what distribution channels to use and
how to truly reach the customer by providing customer data and information on
how to reach the specified target audience in best way possible

Q6 –
Consumer behaviour is very difficult to replicate even with various
experiments, however it is vital to understand what drives the behaviour of the
public and what are their motivations and how do they change in the course of
time. However, given the complex nature of the process, a small focus group to
help us understand is suited best
Task – We can invite a group of families and find out what drives their
decisions for holidays or trips, what are their budgetary constraints, how
flexible are they etc.
Situational – Ensure everyone is present in order to gain most accurate data as
possible
Respondent Factors – The Preferences, decision drivers to various parameters,
habits, and basic individualistic needs common to all of them can be identified
and studied of the family members -

Q7 –
An experiment is a created situation where the researcher can control, change
and observe one or more variables and observe the changes in others while
measuring the effects and results than occur during the process.
It is a vital step before launching a product to the general public as it helps us
analyse various scenarios that could potentially happens and help us plan
accordingly against them.
A – Marriot International can invite people or focus groups to stay over at
newly minted properties or existing ones where they need feedback or need to
find chinks in the armour and hence gain valuable data
B-

Q8 –
The Given table indicates positive relationship between product use and income

Here, we can see that the people with high income use the product much more
frequently than the medium and low income groups. Medium income people are
more moderate in usage while low income people use the product the least