Developing a Marketing Research Problem Statement for Business Owners and Managers

Identifying and Clarifying Information Needs

Business owners and managers often identify problems they need help to resolve. In such situations, additional information typically is needed to make a decision or to solve a problem. One solution is a marketing research study based on a scientific research process. In this Assignment, you are on a quest to identify and develop a problem statement for a marketing research study. Your instructor will provide a list of organizations you may choose from to study and formulate a marketing research problem statement and research questions. 

Using expository writing style, identify a marketing research problem and develop a marketing research problem statement and propose research questions for your chosen organization by completing the following steps:

Step 1. Identify and Clarify Information Needs: You can learn a lot about a company by engaging in several different activities to define an existing problem (see pages 32-34 in the textbook), including:

? Conduct secondary research about your chosen organization to identify an existing problem the organization may be experiencing.

? Visit the organization's social media pages and websites to identify a problem the organization may be experiencing.

? Visit a physical location where you can learn more about the organization’s product and/or operational capabilities to identify a problem the organization may be experiencing.

? Contact a manager or leader at the organization to learn more about problems the company may be experiencing. 

Step 2. Situation Analysis: Once you have identified a marketing oriented problem to research for your chosen organization, conduct a situation analysis (SWOT and/or PESTLE analysis) to critically analyze the internal and external marketing environment of your chosen organization in order to understand the complete marketing problem situation.

Step 3. Diagnose the Marketing Problem: Define the problem in a concise purpose statement. Determine the consequences of not addressing certain issues by considering the urgency or immediacy of the issue. Diagnose the marketing problem to identify the root cause and differentiate it from the symptoms of a marketing problem.

Step 4. Develop the Marketing Research Problem: Discuss the organization you chose, explain the industry in which they operate, the markets they serve, and the problem you identified and would like to study.

Step 5. Support with Research: Conduct a brief literature review using secondary research resources to uncover relevant theories related to the research problem under study. Synthesize a minimum of three peer-reviewed research resources in your writing

Step 6. Research Questions: Formulate a minimum of three probing research questions. Interpret the problem definition and purpose of the study to aid in formulation of the research questions. Explain how interpreting problem definition stimulates critical thinking.