Business Research Methods Part 1
QNTP/561
March 11, 2013
Christopher Whitehead
Business Research Methods Part I
Consumers choose to shop at specific stores based on many different criteria. “Department stores were hit especially hard by the recession, as many shoppers began to watch their spending. However, the economic recovery promises to bring consumers back to department stores (IBISWorld, 2013).” The following outlines the type of research that will be gathered and compiled to specifically identify whether shoppers are more drawn to Wal-Mart or Target, based on the different methods of consumer appeal each location offers.
When creating the appropriate research design, we must take into account Wal-Mart and Target’s operational motives. They are described as retail entities, thus their direct operational approach is selling and/or producing products and services. The question we ask is which effort produces the best sales results? The design is a basic review. In this design, Target is systematically reviewed to provide high quality products and services at a variable price. In this design, Wal-Mart is systematically reviewed to provide cheap products and services.
Independent variables that are present are differed. For Target, the independent variables can be quality adjustment to combat low market price equilibrium. For Wal-Mart, the independent variables can be the option to create the lowest price point in order to corner a price-driven market. From an operational standpoint, it is clear that Target focuses on high quality for the purpose of low price opposition and Wal-Mart focuses on pricing.
A sample design measures a portion of something or issue, and then a generalized statement is made about that the whole thing. When looking at Wal-Mart they seem to focus on having lower prices than the competitor. Target focuses on providing merchandise that is a higher quality than their competitors. In order to test and analyze if our statement...