Mkt 230 Marketing Plan Exercise
Marketing Plan Exercise
MKT/230: Introduction to Marketing
March 03, 2013
1. Define one specific problem it could address through marketing research.
I have to say without a doubt that McDonald’s is one of the most popular fast food restaurants out there today. This franchise has proven success consistently. However, something I feel that needs to be addressed is their dollar menu. I can remember when it was actually the dollar menu! Now it seems that there are only select items on that list. For instance in my area you will mainly see a value menu or extra value menu. I feel that this franchise can expand the dollar menu as it once was! The biggest question I see here is why has the dollar menu started to recant their items? Is it because of higher food costs? How can McDonald’s address the problem of not having enough selection in their dollar menu?
2. What type of research design do you recommend for addressing that problem, and why? Since asking the question of adding more foods in the dollar menu is an opinionated one, it should require a research design that is more specific to customer needs/wants. However, this may require researching McDonald 's ability to sell cheaper food; it may also require a slightly different approach to research design. The many unknowns such as financial data, its best to start off using the primary research for its research design. This means conducting exploratory research which includes customer interviews, focus groups, or case studies. By doing this, it gives McDonald 's a better idea what they should add to the dollar menu.
3. What is the most appropriate way to collect the data? Justify your choice. The two best appropriate ways to collect data are from online questionnaires and conducting questionnaires at the actual restaurant. It is fairly obvious that the best way to get feedback from customers is when they are in the process of ordering their foods. For example, imagine an average person looking up
MKT/230: Introduction to Marketing
March 03, 2013
1. Define one specific problem it could address through marketing research.
I have to say without a doubt that McDonald’s is one of the most popular fast food restaurants out there today. This franchise has proven success consistently. However, something I feel that needs to be addressed is their dollar menu. I can remember when it was actually the dollar menu! Now it seems that there are only select items on that list. For instance in my area you will mainly see a value menu or extra value menu. I feel that this franchise can expand the dollar menu as it once was! The biggest question I see here is why has the dollar menu started to recant their items? Is it because of higher food costs? How can McDonald’s address the problem of not having enough selection in their dollar menu?
2. What type of research design do you recommend for addressing that problem, and why? Since asking the question of adding more foods in the dollar menu is an opinionated one, it should require a research design that is more specific to customer needs/wants. However, this may require researching McDonald 's ability to sell cheaper food; it may also require a slightly different approach to research design. The many unknowns such as financial data, its best to start off using the primary research for its research design. This means conducting exploratory research which includes customer interviews, focus groups, or case studies. By doing this, it gives McDonald 's a better idea what they should add to the dollar menu.
3. What is the most appropriate way to collect the data? Justify your choice. The two best appropriate ways to collect data are from online questionnaires and conducting questionnaires at the actual restaurant. It is fairly obvious that the best way to get feedback from customers is when they are in the process of ordering their foods. For example, imagine an average person looking up
References: Solomon, M. R., Marshall, G. W., & Stuart, E. W. (2008). MARKETING RESEARCH: GATHERING, ANALYZING, AND USING INFORMATION. Marketing: real people, [real] choices (5th ed., p. 136). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.