Analysis of the Key Consumer and Marketing in Scotland (Research Proposal Sample)

Context and background
Since joining the organisation, Felicity Gordon, McGregor Holdings’ Marketing Manager, has sought to modernise its marketing operations and to encourage colleagues to be far more data-driven in their decision making. One of the elements of this process has involved developing computerised systems to capture relevant social media, press and visitor information. The data from this exercise are now being used to help support marketing planning and evaluation.
Laird and Lady McGregor are strongly supporting this initiative, and colleagues are increasingly realising that for any new business venture to be approved, it needs to be backed up by reliable and valid data.
In recent weeks, Felicity has received numerous requests from colleagues within McGregor Holdings for marketing data that the organisation does not currently possess. This includes, for example, internal data on the handling and outcomes of visitor complaints and market data on the changing demographics of visitors to the area. She also has several of her own projects, which would benefit from some marketing research. Unfortunately, she does not have the capacity to design, develop and undertake these research projects herself, so she has approached your marketing research agency. She has drafted four briefs that are deemed by Laird and Lady McGregor to be of strategic importance to the estate. The budget available for each of these projects is modest. To offset the cost, the marketing research agency undertaking the work have agreed that all data collection and data processing will be undertaken by students at a local university supervised by a senior member of the agency staff.
As outlined in the assignment task, you are required to design a marketing research proposal (Part 2) that addresses the research objectives and questions that you have developed from your earlier consumer and marketing trends report (Part 1). To help you, your line manager at the agency has provided additional information on the nature of the marketing research problem and suggested guidance on the issues you may need to consider when developing your proposal.
Research Brief
True Scot
Lady Ailsa McGregor has been working closely with a Board Member of VisitScotland, the body responsible for tourism in the country. She is keen to promote the idea of ‘Scottish authenticity’ so that visitors to the McGregor estate can be confident that the products and services they offer are ‘the real thing’. She envisages that this will help to protect Scottish cultural and historical identity and also enhance the McGregor brand’s cultural value. One approach would be to establish a ‘quality mark’ to signify that the product or service has achieved third-party recognition for being ‘authentically Scottish’.
Marketing research problem:
To support her aspiration, Lady McGregor would like you to prepare a research proposal to establish whether other Scottish organisations and civic groups feel that such a quality mark would be helpful to protect and promote their attachment to Scottish identity.
Guidance from your line manager:
This is an interesting challenge. Before contemplating your proposed research approach and methods, it is helpful to consider what the client is ultimately trying to achieve and what decision(s) they will need to make. The marketing research will need to provide the client with sufficient information (that is both reliable and valid) to enable them to make an informed decision.
In this brief, the client is looking to establish the level of ‘demand’ for an idea, attitudes toward the proposed idea and the degree of ‘support’ for a proposed course of action. A useful starting point is to establish if there are or have been any available relevant quality marks. These can be local to Scotland, UK-wide or international standards. This would require secondary research, perhaps through news archives or a review of the websites of typical providers (e.g. tourism bodies, government agencies responsible for food and culture). The experience of previous or current quality mark providers can offer valuable insights into the proposed initiative.
In trying to assess the level of local demand for a quality mark, you may wish to propose approaching tourism bodies, both nationally and regionally, or other food or service providers who may benefit from a quality mark to support their provenance. In a previous project undertaken by the agency where we were looking to bring interested parties together, we have used pre-existing events, where we think those parties will attend (e.g. conferences or workshops) and have set up focus groups or expert panels at the event.
Primary data collection is expensive to undertake, so it is only undertaken when necessary. Consider also that releasing ideas into the public domain, even if you are only exploring the concepts, carries commercial and reputational risks. An important stakeholder group to consider for involvement in the proposed research are politicians, who may need to either authorise the quality mark or provide support. They are likely, however, to want to see evidence that the idea has backing from key groups before they will invest their political capital. In considering your proposal, weigh up the risks and benefits of different research approaches and carefully consider the population and sample.