MKTG2010: You Have been Asked to Prepare a Marketing Research report for a Marketing Manager: Marketing Research Research Paper,, Singapore

Marketing Research Report

You have been asked to prepare a marketing research report for a Marketing Manager. An organization has undertaken research and provided you with raw qualitative data (focus group transcript) and quantitative data (SPSS data file).  The Marketing Manager has asked you to interpret both sources of data, and provide recommendations regarding the company’s decision problem, and marketing research objectives.

Task

You are a member of a large magazine’s marketing team. Management is concerned that the media and advertising industries are responsible for promoting images that celebrate the thin, athletic body. Your aim is to generate ideas that will help management identify factors that influence consumer response to these media images.

The Research Study

Exploratory Research – A focus group was conducted with seven (7) participants to explore whether there are certain personality types that may be more vulnerable to media messages that promote thin and athletic bodies. See attached focus group transcript to perform your qualitative analysis. 

Descriptive Research – Data was collected by means of three convenience samples. In

Australia, participants were selected at random from a large regional shopping center, in

Singapore, students randomly interviewed subjects from within their workplaces; and in the Netherlands (Holland), the sample was collected from the student population of a large regional university.

To address the subject matter, the survey obtained information regarding the respondents’ physical appearance, body image, body surveillance, thin-ideal internalization, media exposure, demographic information, and attitudes towards cosmetic surgery. See attached questionnaire and accompanying data set to perform your quantitative analysis. 

Your report should aim to address the following marketing research objectives:

Marketing Research Objectives

1. To explore how consumers view the portrayal of body image in the media
2. To determine if there is a relationship between magazine purchase and thin-ideal internalization.
3. To compare perceptions of the portrayal of body image by models in magazines between males and females.
4. To determine if there is a relationship between wanting to undergo plastic surgery and the country that a person lives in.
5. To determine if there is a difference between perceptions that magazines place pressure on an individual to look good and perceptions that magazines present reliable information.
6. To compare the level of pressure placed on magazine readers to question their appearance between countries.

To determine the influence of overall physical appearance on perceptions of the inappropriate portrayal of body image by models in magazines