Research Proposal On Customer Satisfaction In Apple Retail Stores: Essay.

Question:

Write initial research proposal on customer satisfaction in apple retail stores. 

The fundamental purpose of this exploration paper is to clarify how significance the consumer loyalty is in any retail industry, which is the exceptionally engaged field fulfilling client desires and requests that is the hugest perspective to accomplish development and overall revenue[1]. This research is expected to study and illustrate the steps taken by Apple stores in UK to address the issues of clients and also to highlight the significance of consumer satisfaction to make Apple stores effective. Apple is one of the primary multinational associations with 364 retail locations, with base situated in United States[2].

Apple Inc. has a high brand image in the electronic industry. However, in spite of a price constrain, i.e. their high range of products, huge number of customers is remaining loyal to the company throughout a long period[3]. Thus, it is clear that the organization is using some different strategies to satisfy their customers, as customer satisfaction is the key to customer loyalty and thereby high productivity of the organization. This research is being conducted to investigate their unique strategies and trends of customer satisfaction.

The point of this proposal is to demonstrate the significance and criticalness of consumer loyalty for the reasonable development and advantage of an association and diverse policies embraced by Apple stores to satisfy the clients.

The objectives of this research are:

• To assess significance of consumer loyalty in retail industry
• Identification of the standard purposes behind client devotion and disillusionment.
• To discuss approaches and methodologies received by apple stores to benefit the clients
• Facts and figures of the Apple stores in U.K. 

The topic of this research has concentrated upon the investigation of customer satisfaction in Apple. Customer satisfaction is an important aspect of business. Nowadays, customers have become selective, as they are getting more than one option in the market for a product having similar features. Thus, customer satisfaction is a very important to retain customers and retaining the business sustainability[4]. In this context, it has been reported that Apple follows niche marketing in spite of mass marketing like Samsung. As the company is following the niche marketing, customer satisfaction is more important. It is because, they have less number of customers and retaining those customers is very much important, loosing few clients can affect the sustainability and growth of the organization. While investigating the customer satisfaction of Apple, it is important to know the business growth of the company in past few years and the business customer requirement trends which are affecting the business sustainability[5]. In addition, the approaches and strategies which are being used by the company for attracting and satisfying their customers are also important to be analyzed.

According to the report of a study, it has been suggested that 97% customers are satisfied with the original iPhone with new features[6]. This report was made on the basis of survey on customer satisfaction rate of Apple. Therefore, it can be said that the organization is undertaking appropriate strategies and advertising strategies for satisfying their customers. The customer care executives are able to resolve the queries of customers. Loyalty of the customers is the key of customer satisfaction, because, as much the customers would receive good product and services from the organization, meeting their needs, they would be more attracted towards the company and would not switch over other companies[7]. Therefore, from the analysis of the previous literature; the research questions would be drawn. The research questions would help to reach the research outcomes in a simple and quick process. The research questions are:

• What are the aspects of customer satisfaction in Apple Inc?
• What are the rates of customer satisfaction in past few years?
• What are the advertising strategies used for satisfying customers by Apple inc.?
• What are the processes used for customer satisfaction?
• How much efficient are the employees to satisfy their customers?
• What are the suggestions for the company for improving their customer satisfaction?

Research Objectives

Research methodology is the set of strategies based on which the research is conducted. The research methodology consist different research processes and tools and the processes are done in systematic way. Different strategies are used for accomplishing the best results through the research. From the knowledge gained through reviewing the previous literature res regarding the research topic, the appropriate research methodology suitable for the study is selected[8]. This study is a primary research thus the research methodologies suitable for the primary study would be used. The research methodologies consist research philosophy, research approach, research design, data collection and analysis, research ethics and time frame of the work. In this research the primary and secondary data would be collected for gaining the expected research outcomes.

Research Philosophy

There are three types of research philosophies used in research, these include, positivism, interpretivism and realism. Here, the positivism research philosophy has been used as it promotes the analysis of research findings and data with the help of existing theories related to the research topic. Positivism philosophy is suitable for primary study also.

Research approach

There are two types of research approaches including the inductive and deductive approaches. The deductive approaches has been selected to be used in this research because the deductive approach helps to establish the research hypothesis first and after gathering information and research findings these are analyzed based on the proposed hypothesis. This approach is suitable for the current study[9]. On the other hand, the inductive approach promotes the establishment of new hypothesis after finding results. Therefore, the deductive approach would be suitable.

Research design

Research design is an important aspect while conducting a scientific research, as it helps to direct the planning of research in a correct way and thereby completing the research in an easier way. Any kinds of mistake undertaken by the researcher in selecting the research design will attempt to mislead the research. Thus, the researchers need to conduct the research with required problem solving and critical thinking skills for making the research worthy and transparent. There are three types of research design used in research; these are explanatory, exploratory and analytical or descriptive. In this research, the analytical research design would be used as it is a primary study[10]. The descriptive or analytical design helps to analyze the research finding with both quantitative and qualitative data and thus enhance the efficiency of the research outcomes. The framework for the research designing segments includes:

• Drafting first thoughts: this will deal with drafting initial thoughts that will come for the implication of the case study and research followed by final research design.
• Sampling Technique: here staff and customers of the company will be selected for interview to judge customer-company relationship of the Apple which is called focus group or research population.
• Sampling selection technique:There are some predefined techniques behind the selection of the research population, the selection of the proper technique with the correct reason is always essential, and the outcome of the research would depend on it to some extent[11]. As for example in the probability sampling technique the focus group is selected randomly. Thus, in this research, while interviewing the managers of Apple, the non random sampling technique would be selected, as samples would not be selected randomly here.
• Interviews: it will help in collection of primary data for perfect drafting. It is the primary data collection method for collecting qualitative data from the people who have in-depth knowledge about the research topic and background.
• Observations: outcomes will mainly depend on things observed during the course of research. Observation of the research aspect helps in analyzing data with more in-depth analysis. 

The selection of appropriate data collection method is important for gaining success in the research. There is a number of data collection methods used in research, however, the data collection method is different for primary and secondary data collection methods. As this research is primary, surveys, interview, case study, sampling, experiments, meetings and group discussions can be implemented[12]. In this context, primary data collection would be done here through case study, survey and interviews. In addition, secondary information would be collected through the case studies from the previous articles and company websites.

Customer Satisfaction in Apple

Survey and sampling: Survey helps to collect the random quantitative data. Usually, the numerical data are collected through survey and a wide range of data can be collected through this data collection method in short time.

Interview: Interview is usually done for collecting in-depth and qualitative data from the participants who have a good knowledge about the organization.

Two types of primary data would be collected for this case study, these are:

• Qualitative data: Qualitative data would be collected from 3 managers of Apple retail store in U.K. A telephonic interview would be arranged for each manager of Apple Inc. They would be asked questions about the significance of policies for customer satisfaction[13].
• Quantitative data: Quantitative data would be collected through the survey of 50 customers of Apple retail store. The customers would be provided a survey questionnaire through the online platform and their feedback would also be collected through the same way. They would be asked about their satisfaction towards the company’s service. It would help to gather wide range of numerical data at a time.

The primary data collected would be subjected to the sampling methods. The quantitative data collected from the customers of Apple retail store would be subjected to the probability or random sampling technique[14]. On the other hand, the qualitative data collected from the managers would be subjected to the non-probability sampling technique. 

Data analysis would be done for gaining the answers of the research questions. The results found from the data analysis would be compared with the previously achieved results and the expected outcomes according to the theoretical assumptions. For analyzing the quantitative data collected from the customers of Apple retail store, the statistical analysis would be done and the results would be presented in the graphical and tabular form. On the other hand, the qualitative data collected from the managers of the Apple retail store would be analyzed through descriptive analysis, statistical analysis would not be applied here.

Outline Number	Task Name	Duration	Start	Finish	Predecessors
1	Research proposal for customer satisfaction in Apple Inc.	85 days	Wed 6/15/16	Tue 10/11/16
1.1	Finalizing of research topic	25 days	Wed 6/15/16	Tue 7/19/16
1.1.1	Selecting the research topic	3 wks	Wed 6/15/16	Tue 7/5/16
1.1.2	Reviewing on the selected topic	2 wks	Wed 7/6/16	Tue 7/19/16	3
1.2	Literature review	10 days	Wed 7/20/16	Tue 8/2/16	4
1.2.1	Reviewing different views on literature	1 wk	Wed 7/20/16	Tue 7/26/16	4
1.2.2	Summarizing on the reviews	1 wk	Wed 7/27/16	Tue 8/2/16	6
1.3	Implementation of the research	10 days	Wed 8/3/16	Tue 8/16/16	7
1.3.1	Identification of the appropriate methodology suitable for the research process	1 wk	Wed 8/3/16	Tue 8/9/16	7
1.3.2	Implementing the selected methodology	1 wk	Wed 8/10/16	Tue 8/16/16	9
1.4	Data collection	10 days	Wed 8/17/16	Tue 8/30/16	10
1.4.1	identification of primary and secondary sources	1 wk	Wed 8/17/16	Tue 8/23/16	10
1.4.2	Implementing the appropriate data collection method	1 wk	Wed 8/24/16	Tue 8/30/16	12
1.5	Data analysis	10 days	Wed 8/31/16	Tue 9/13/16	13
1.5.1	Identifying appropriate tools and techniques for analysing the data	1 wk	Wed 8/31/16	Tue 9/6/16	13
1.5.2	Summariizng the findings of the analysis	1 wk	Wed 9/7/16	Tue 9/13/16	15
1.6	Final report submission	1 mon	Wed 9/14/16	Tue 10/11/16	16

The research findings from the analyzed data will help to generate the answers of the research questions drawn from reviewing the literature. Here, the research should be concentrated to generalize the findings. In addition, it would also be considered that the findings must be reliable, valid and free of bias. From the outcomes of the research, it can be expected that the strategies for customer satisfaction are well enough and customers are agreed with the organizational operations. The company’s advertising approaches are being utilized for enhancement of production which is affecting the sales also. 

Conclusion

This is only a frame work of a proposed research and no sort of research itself. So once this proposal is accepted then this examination will be led according to this framework to meet the aims of this research effectively. This proposal will highlight the noteworthiness of customer loyalty for the success of an organization. Along these lines, we will concentrate on the strategies of Apple store in UK in an orderly and sorted out way with all diverse part of the examination been appropriately planned and by gathering information about their services and how satisfactory they are, to demonstrate that consumer satisfaction is backbone of an organization's development. Apple having already scripted the marvelous tale of success that it has already banking on its fully satisfied customer base will prove to be the perfect specimen for our case study.

Despite the fact that this examination won't be as highly generalized, yet as we will gather information from various apple stores in UK that will make it somewhat generalized.  

Reference List

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Dr.K.Vanitha D, 'Customer Relationship Management On Customer Satisfaction' (2012) 3 IJSR

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Hyeong Yu Jang, 'The Effects Of Service Qualities On Customer Satisfaction And The Moderating Effects Of Customer Involvement And Customer Delight In Sports Center' (2012) 13 jounalofkoreaservicemanagementsociety

Joshi A, Liao H and Martocchio J, Research In Personnel And Human Resources Management(Emerald 2011)

Kamran Siddiqui, 'Personality Influences On Customer Satisfaction' (2012) 6 African Journal of Business Management

Lewis S, 'Qualitative Inquiry And Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches' (2015) 16 Health Promotion Practice

Martins Gonçalves H and Sampaio P, 'The Customer Satisfactionâ€ÂCustomer Loyalty Relationship' (2012) 50 Management Decision

Mauthner M, Ethics In Qualitative Research (Sage Publications 2002)

Pickard A, Research Methods In Information (Facet 2007)

Shaikh A, Employee Recognition & Customer Satisfaction (LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing 2012)

Singla V, 'Role Of Service Quality And Customer Satisfaction In Predicting Customer Loyalty' (2012) 5 J. for Global Business Advancement.