INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, ROHTAK

PGP 12
Mid Term Exam (Term III)

Name: Chandana Landa

Roll No: PGP12038

Subject: BRM

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) The MDP identified with regards to the aforementioned statement is: Should Marriot
International consider launching a new chain of hotels that cater to the needs of the non-
business travelers’ section?

Q2) An MRP – Marketing Research Problem is formulated to determine the client’s

preferences and purchasing habits in order to decide whether or not a particular product or
service can be profitably sold.

In the given case, the MRP is: What steps must Marriot International take, in order to protect
the needs and preferences of the non-business class travelers? How to increase the customer
base and market share among this section?

In light of the MRP thus formed, the proposed research questions are:

1. What are the factors influencing the decisions of the non-business travelers to choose
a certain type of hotel?
2. How frequently does the class of non-business travelers use hotel accommodation?
3. How do they choose their accommodation and does a hotel brand affect their
decision?
4. With regards to the proposed hotel chain, what are the purchase intentions of this
section?
Q3) The research designs suited for this case would be: Descriptive and Exploratory.

Qualitative and Quantitative data sought from the primary and secondary sources is the most
effective way to answer the proposed research questions and solving the MDP. The
qualitative data would give an insight of the numerical values of the non-business class
travelers, while the qualitative date provides information with regards to the individuals’
demographic or lifestyle perspective. Thereby, Marriot International could build an efficient
strategy to target nonbusiness travelers once again by employing these right blended
methodologies.

Along with this, survey questionnaires and focus group interviews are needed as a part of the
exploratory research. It provides such facts about the target market that were previously
unknown. Based on the information so collected, the hotel group could supply with the
assortment of services that the consumers prefer. Furthermore, this approach is ideal since it
examines the target audience’s viewpoint, preferences and other desirable characteristics.

Q4) Secondary data is information gained by someone other than the user, which has already
been gathered and is available to researchers. Internal and external secondary data are the two
most common categories.
Data that exists and is kept within your organisation is referred to as internal sources. It might
be a company's sales history, a list of people who have been honoured by a public service
organisation, or previous public opinion polls.
Marriott can make advantage of this form of internal secondary data. Sales/patronage results
(outcomes), marketing activities (inputs), cost information, distributor reports and comments,
and customer feedback are all examples of data that can be employed. Internal secondary data
from the Marriott firm, for example, can be utilised in invoices, orders, P&L a/c, customer
databases, customer complaints, previous reports, sales statistics, personnel, epos, till
receipts, and so on.
 • Customer complaints may be analysed to gain a better understanding of the target
segment, as they can help identify the most common problems and remedy them, as
well as look into uncommon new problems that arise.
• Reservation data would reveal who our greatest customers are, where they come from,
and what requirements the hotel sector addresses for them.
• Invoices and financial data can assist us in segmenting the market and identifying the
most advantageous hotels and locations for the organisation.

Q5) We may conduct online surveys while offering an incentive to those who complete them.
This poll may be directed towards high-end hotel booking sites as well as other review sites.
Task Factors:
• In this situation, the variety of questions may be regulated.
• Physical stimuli may not be necessary, but responders can be provided a virtual tour
of the hotel and the package.
• To address the low response rate, we may provide an incentive such as a discount on
future hotel reservations.
Situational Factors:
• We will have a lot of control over the data we acquire. Because the questions are
posed on the internet, they may be regulated.
• Data would be collected at a rapid pace.
• The cost decreases, allowing for the provision of incentives.
Respondents factors:
• Anonymity could be preserved. We might, however, ask for their contact information
and send them promotional offers in the future.
• Respondent eligibility might be managed by promoting it on select websites with a
readership that is similar to our target group.

Q6) a) 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.
Experimenting will help the researcher to manipulate one or more variables while controlling
the others and measuring the effects. It is a vital step before launching a product to the
general public as it helps us analyse various scenarios that could potentially happen and help
us plan accordingly against them.
The best way is to invite some families focus groups to spend a short vacation at the Mariott.
After the experiment, families can share their feedback. Income group and duration of stay
can be an experimental design. To check the duration of stay of people of different income
groups.

b) Here, X1 be High income group, X2 be medium, X3 be low O1, O2, O3 for observation of
these income groups.
R X1 O1
R X2 O2
R X3 O3

c) The treatment effect can be measure by a survey at the end of the experiment in terms of
“worth for the money”, satisfaction levels during the stay.
d) Seasonal changes and government policies may have an impact on the experiment's
outcome. Customers' plans vary as the seasons change, and they may not be able to come to
the hotel for a vacation or with their entire family. In addition, with the change in
government. Policies such as lockdown, for example, may have an impact on the
experiment's outcome.
When making the random allotment, there is the possibility of selection bias. Instrumentation
challenges may arise if the experiment is done in many places or at different times of year,
such as summer and winter. We can have testing effects because the evaluation of the
experiment might be impacted by the consumers' awareness of the experiment and their
desire to provide high levels of satisfaction.
Weather circumstances on the day of the experiment: Bad weather may upset people, causing
them to dislike the hotel.
People may dislike the cuisine given at the loby if the chief chef is not there.

Q7) a) From the given scenario, the independent and dependent variables are identified as
below:
Independent- service factors like cuisine served and seating arrangement
Dependent- Customer’s experience/impression
The statistical design recommended to be adopted is Factorial Design (FD), since it allows us
to assess the influence of two or more independent variables on the dependent variable. This
design is the best suited one, since unlike RBD and LSD, it allows us to identify any
interaction between the dependent variables.

7B) find the graphs in the next page

b)
Q8) The primary scales that may be used for measuring consumer preferences for hotel
chains are discussed as below:

• Nominal: This scale is based on the identification of the measurable aspects that are
quantifiable in terms of elements.
For example, the categories of different cuisines available or the titles of the meals on
the menu.
• Ordinal: This scale is based on the indication of the object position on the grounds of
relativity rather than the difference in magnitude.
For example, quality ranking and other processes such as understanding customer
satisfaction, etc.
 • Interval: This scale is based on the direct differences between two variables that were
taken into consideration.
For example, the viewpoints of customers, their attitude, income, age, etc.
• Ratio: This scale functions on the premise of setting the minimum value to a recorded
value, which are then measured and compared against each other.
For example, factors such as costs, revenues, frequency of orders and visits.

Q9) The Itemized Rating Scale is an Ordinal Scale with a brief explanation or numbers
linked with each category, all of which are sorted by scale position. The most common are
Likert’s scale, semantic differential scale, and Staple’s scale.

Likert’s scale type, is usually a five-category scale with responses ranging from "strongly
disagree" to "strongly agree." A Likert scale is used to determine people's attitudes on certain
stimulus items by asking them to rate how much they agree or disagree with them. How
likely are you to Visit our hotel next time and the respondents answer on a scale ranging from
extremely likely to extremely unlikely which includes a neutral point as well.

Semantic differential scale is a point type of measurement; the end points of the scale are
associated with bipolar labels. In hotels, it can be used as the rate from +3 to -3 with notes
unpleasant/submissive. For hotel chains, the respondent can be asked how happy are you with
your stay experience on a scale of 1 to 7.

The Stapel Scale is a one-attribute, unipolar rating scale used to assess a respondent's attitude
toward an object or event. There are ten categories on the scale, ranging from –5 to +5, with
no neutral point (zero).The zero number is absent, which means that there is no neutral
attitude to the asked questions. For Hotel chains, the respondent is asked to rate an hotel’s
meal quality and crew member service on a scale of -5 to +5.