3. Description of the target market:
3.1. Segmentation:
Well, it is nearly impossible for companies to reach out to all potential customers in this large and diverse market which is tourism in morocco , therefore by dividing the customers into groups, Six Flags should know what groups of consumers it is better suited to serve. So they have to conduct market segmentation. In (2005) Kotler and Armstrong define market segmentation as “dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who have distinct needs, characteristics, or behaviour and who might require separate products or marketing mixes”
Meaning, Market segmentation, is the act of dividing a market into subgroups and therefore understanding the needs, characteristics and behaviour of each different group of customers hence understanding how they decide between one offer and another. Market segmentation has a numbers of possible variables that can be categorized into: Demographic variables, Geographic Variables, Behavioral variables (Philip Kotler, 2005).
3.2. Targeting:
Once the marketer has identified the segments it must decide how many and which segments to target (Dibb and Simkin, 1996). Targeting narrows down the whole market to a target segments hence helping getting a clear view of just potential costumer’s behavior, therefore saving a lot of time and money, since it will be known who the product will be advertised and sold to, it will help plan against market changes, and gain market integrity with costumers . In our case more than one segment will be targeted, such as families and young adults, which is segments that has more disposable income than others do. And that well be our target for both the domestic and foreign level.
3.3. Sampling Size and Unit:
As we all know market research involves the collection of data to obtain knowledge into the needs and wants of customers. In nearly all cases, questioning all the population would be impossible, that is why we use sampling, the results from a survey or questionnaire with a carefully selected sample will allow us to draw relevant information about our targets, Choosing a sample is choosing a sampling unit (choosing which segment is to be surveyed) and a sampling size (choosing the number of people to be surveyed), There are two methods of sampling, one that provides quantitative data and other qualitative data(Philip Kotler, 2005). Quantitative methods (e.g. surveys, questionnaires) big sampling size. Qualitative methods (e.g. focus group and interviews)small sampling size, They provide a more in depth and rich description. (Quantitative and Qualitative Data ).
After a little research with came up with the following informations:
(RAB Instant Background Report, 2003)
In Our case here, our sampling unit would simply study the segment that consist of tourists between the age of 18 and 45 because these are the people that after the secondary data are still willing to get active and have fun at a theme park full of breathtaking roller coasters, as for the sampling size it would be something between 1000- to 1500.
4. Research Methods:
-when secondary data sources are exhausted, it’s then a must to conduct what is known as Primary Research, Primary Data may be collected in a variety of ways. Such ways can be by surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, face to face interviews, telephone interviews, and computer assisted interviews. The main advantage of primary data are as following, primary data will be Up to date, it will be specific to the purpose the companies will gather data considering only their own situation, the data will be novel the collector will be the only one that has access to it, however sometimes it can be time and effort consuming to collect, thus expensive to get( Market research - primary research). As stated before, there are many ways of gathering primary data but which of them will be the most effective in ourcase, Crimp and Liu (2000) assert that questionnaires are a common way of collecting information from markets, The latter is a good method of collecting both quantitative and qualitative data from people. Using a questionnaire enables you to organize the questions and receive replies without actually having to talk to the every participant. As a method of data collection, it is a very flexible tool but we must use it carefully in order to get the most accurate data for our research. Let us briefly consider why we are choosing this method of data collection. One of the main features of the questionnaire is that unlike interwiews and focus groups, the responses maybe anymous, which encourages openness and honesty allowing to potentially embarrassing questions to be asked with a chance of getting a sincere reply, another feature is that questionnaires can be answered quickly, in addition that they can be an economic method, in time and cost , of collecting data from a large number of people( Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. ,2000). Sometimes more than one method is needed, such as interviewing, Kahn and Cannell, (1957) describe interviewing as “A discussion with a purpose”, the use of interviews can help you to gather valid and reliable data which are relevant to your research. Since it’s a one-on-one conversation, it allows repondents to express thier understandings in their own way, therefore obtaining fairly good statements ( Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. ,2000).
5. Interview and Questionnaire:
- How many people would be in your group?
Just me
Me +1
3 or More
- Tell us about Yourself
How old are you: ; Are You Male or Female:
15- 25 Male Female
26 - 35
36 – 45
- Would you be interested in this type of entry:
Entry fee excluding ride charges
Entry fee including ride charges
Entry fee including rides and parking space
-
Would you be interested in: (Check as many as you want)
Single day
Short weekend park events
Short weekend including staying
- What motivates you to go to an amusement park? (Check as many as you can)
The Ambience
To Relax and Unwind
Fun Rides
Low Costs of Rides / Entrance Fee
One of a Kind Experience
- How many times do you usually go to an amusement park in a year?
Once
Twice
3 times
4x and more
- How much are you willing to spend for an entrance fee?
Dhs 250 -- Dhs 350
Dhs 350 – Dhs 450
Dhs 450 – Dhs 500
Dhs 500 and above
- In which city would you prefere a new theme park to be set?
Casablanca
Marakech
Agadir
Fez
……………………
Thank You for Your Time.
After testing and piloting the questionnaire, I’ve been convinced to change some questions or the way a stated them, like for example the question N°2 about age, I change it to something Like “ Tell us about yourself “ then “ How old are You, and I ‘ve added one more question which is “Are you Male or Female”, then a Thank You at the end of the questionnaire.
6. Conclusion :
We’ve seen now what are the requirements in order to conduct a market research, we’ve also seen the steps and methods to collect both primary and secondary data to have an idea about the future potential customers, and of course studing the market and deciding which segments will be target, Hoping the information we provided will be relevant in the intention to actract a british amusement park corporation to invest in Morocco.
Referencing
LITERATURES:
Anthony R Morden, (1989) Elements of Marketing. 1st Ed.London. DP publications)
Armstrong, Gary & Kotler, Philip (2005) Marketing: An introduction. 7. Edition Upper Saddle River, N.J, Prentice Hall.
Dibb, Sally and Simkin, Lyndon (1996) The market segmentation workbook: Target marketing for marketing managers. London, Routledge.
Len Tiu wright & Margaret Crimp (2000), The Marketing Research Process, fifth edition. Pearson Education Limited
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2000) Research Methods in Education 5th Edition. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Kahn, R. and Cannell, C. 1957 The Dynamics of Interviewing. New York, Wiley.
Philip kotler & Gary Armstrong (2005) Principle of marketing. 11. Edition, Prentice Hall.
Philip Kotler, Gary Armstrong, (1996) Principles of Marketing. 7th Ed. Prentice Hall Inc.
SITES:
Marketing research: Secondary data [Internet], Available from: < http://www.managementstudyguide.com/secondary_data.htm> [Accessed 16April 2011].
Market research – primary research [Internet], Available from: < http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/marketing_research_primary.htm> [Accessed 25April 2011].
MOROCCO’S TOURISM INDUSTYRY RECORDED GROWTH IN 2009 [Internet], Available from: < http://www.tourism-review.com/moroccos-tourism-industry-recorded-growth-in-2009--news2084> [Accessed 2 May 2011].
Quantitative and Qualitative Data [Internet], Available from: < http://www.holah.karoo.net/quantitativequalitative.htm > [Accessed 20April 2011].
RAB Instant Background Report [Internet], Available from: < http://www.rab.com/sales_meetings/amusement.pdf > [Accessed 5 May 2011].
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