Demand for the General Painting Services - Assignment Example

Introduction This section of the research involves data interpretation where the data collected has been analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) and windows excel so as to transfer the data into appropriate, logical information. The interpretation has been done under major headings where some have subheadings. Under the major heading of demographics issues discussed are gender, marital status, number of children, annual income and whether the participant is taking care of any child. Under the major heading of general information on painting demands the subheadings are: house type, cost willingness and frequency of painting, and, purchasing points and Information sourcing. Another major heading is painting a service which has level of service requirements and expectation of customers as the subheadings. The major heading titled communication channels is discussed under the following subheadings: information about paint stores; communication preferences; source of information and attitude and scheduling home service appointments. Finally there is conclusion and recommendations. Demographics The research sought to find out the demographics of the participants. This included the gender, marital status, the number of children the participants had if at all they had any, if the participants stayed with any children and annual income of participants. From table 1 it can be seen that there was no big difference in the number of female and male participants as 53.5% of the participants were female and the remaining 46.5% were male. For marital status the results were as in table 2 where 33.8% of the participants were single while 66.2% were married. When the participants were asked about children 33.8% indicated that they had no children, 21.1% had one child while 40.8% had two children or more. 45.1% of the participants indicated that they lived with children 16.9 indicated that they did not live with children while 38% did not respond to the question as shown in table 4. Lack of response could mean that the participants had already indicated that they did not have children. The income range with majority of the participants was that of $45,001-$60,000 per annum with 36.6% of the participants falling into the group. From the table of income it can also be seen that 38% of the respondents had an income of $45,000 or less per year while the rest earned more than $45 000 per year. TABLE 1 What is your gender? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Male 33 46.5 46.5 46.5 Female 38 53.5 53.5 100.0 Total 71 100.0 100.0 TABLE 2 What is your Marital Status? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid single 24 33.8 33.8 33.8 married 47 66.2 66.2 100.0 Total 71 100.0 100.0 TABLE3 Do you have any children? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid no 27 38.0 38.0 38.0 1 Child 15 21.1 21.1 59.2 2 or more than 2 29 40.8 40.8 100.0 Total 71 100.0 100.0 TABLE 4 Do you live with your children? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid yes 32 45.1 72.7 72.7 no 12 16.9 27.3 100.0 Total 44 62.0 100.0 Missing System 27 38.0 Total 71 100.0 TABLE 5 What is your approximate individual annual income? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid $0-$15,000 1 1.4 1.4 1.4 $15,001-$30,000 17 23.9 23.9 25.4 $30,001-$45,000 9 12.7 12.7 38.0 $45,001-$60,000 26 36.6 36.6 74.6 More than $60,000 18 25.4 25.4 100.0 Total 71 100.0 100.0 General information on painting demand House type As part of the general information which is related to painting the participants were asked about the type of house they were residing in. A bigger house is an indicator of high paint requirement as a bigger area requires painting. The type of house can also be taken as an indicator of ones purchasing ability. From table 6 and figure 1 it is clear that the majority of the respondents stay either in two bedroomed house or three bedroomed house. The participants who have two bedroomed house were 42% while those with three bedroom were 35%. From this it is clear that there is higher market potential for the painting and the related services bearing in mind that about 60% of the respondents either had no child or had only one child (Table 3). From table 7 it is observed that 70% have considered painting their houses while 29.6% have not painting. From this there is an indication that if the new DIFM program is packaged in an attractive manner most of the people who have thought of painting their houses may actually do it. This is in agreement with the servicescape model, which stipulates that a designer must be aware of how particular environment enhances the productivity of frontline personnel and the quality of service that they deliver (Lovelock, Wirtz & Chew 2009). TABLE 6 Is your house a Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Studio 10 10.0 10.0 10.0 1 Bedroom unit 13 13.0 13.0 23.0 2 bedroom unit 42 42.0 42.0 65.0 3 or more than 3 bedrooms 35 35.0 35.0 100.0 Total 100 100.0 100.0 Figure 1 TABLE 7 Have you ever considered painting/repainting your house/rooms Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 50 70.4 70.4 70.4 No 21 29.6 29.6 100.0 Total 71 100.0 100.0 Figure 2 Cost willingness and frequency of painting When the participants were asked about the price they were willing to pay for premium services the response were as shown in the table 8 and figure 4. The price of $500-$999 and $1000-$1999 was the choice of majority with values of 28.2% and 22.5% respectively. This is an indication that for the services to attract the this majority the lower figure should be chosen or there should be marketing to convince those unwilling to pay a higher price in case the higher figure is taken as the price of the service. The participants were also asked how often they paint their houses with the results being as shown in table 9 and figure 5. Those who paint after 5-6 years are the majority standing at 39.5% while those who paint after 3-4 years stood at 28.2%. This could be an indication that there could be the need of repainting after 3-4 years but majority chooses not to do so due to lack of the desired services or inefficient marketing of the available painting services or the services are not desirable to the consumer. On the other hand the frequency of painting could be due to purpose for which the painting is done. From table 10 and figure 6 the reasons for painting have been given out where slightly over 50% indicated that their purpose of painting is to give the house a new look. TABLE 8 How much are you willing to pay for a premium service? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid $0-$499 8 11.3 16.0 16.0 $500-$999 20 28.2 40.0 56.0 $1000-$1999 16 22.5 32.0 88.0 More than $2000 6 8.5 12.0 100.0 Total 50 70.4 100.0 Missing System 21 29.6 Total 71 100.0 Figure 4 TABLE 9 How often do you paint your house/rooms Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1-2 years 3 4.2 4.2 4.2 3-4 years 20 28.2 28.2 32.4 5-6 years 28 39.4 39.4 71.8 more than 6 years 16 22.5 22.5 94.4 never 4 5.6 5.6 100.0 Total 71 100.0 100.0 Figure 5 TABLE 10 What could be the reason for painting/repainting your house/rooms? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid House Renovation 24 33.8 33.8 33.8 New look 36 50.7 50.7 84.5 Old paint worn out 11 15.5 15.5 100.0 Total 71 100.0 100.0 Figure 6 Purchasing points and Information sourcing From table 11 it is evident that the main purchasing points for paints are paint stores and hardware stores with values of 49.3% and 35.2% respectively. Online store and other alternatives had a very low share of 9.9% and 5.6% respectively. This is an implication that this is the hardware stores and paint stores are enjoying a big share market. At the same time the fact that online purchase is not popular with the respondents could be an indication that this mode of selling has not been utilized by paint companies. This could be an area where there should be capitalization in order to have an edge over the competitors. The introduction of the DIFM program may take part of the market share of paint stores and hardware stores who may happen be trade customers of the paint company (Inspirations). This is in agreement that the five forces framework also emphasis that bargaining power of buyer is dependent on the threat of its suppliers to integrate forward into the buyer’s industry (Peng 2009, Servipedia 2006).If this happens the trade customers may be tempted to switch to other paint companies. However, this is unlikely to happen owing to fact that the trade customers are likely to be repetitive customers and could be enjoying better prices or product incentives from economies of scale or as a result of being brand loyal. The new program should aim at expanding market through creation of new customers but not just depending on the customers from other traders. When asked about places where information is obtained about painting supplies the results were as shown in table 12. It is clear that modern technologies like yellow pages and online are not preferred as compared to the traditional methods like obtaining information from friends and through advertisement. TABLE 11 Where would you purchase paint from? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Paint stores 35 49.3 49.3 49.3 Online store 7 9.9 9.9 59.2 Hardware store 25 35.2 35.2 94.4 Other 4 5.6 5.6 100.0 Total 71 100.0 100.0 Figure 7 TABLE 12 Figure 8 Painting services Level of service requirement It was in interest of the research to establish what type of services the clients required for the painting services. To achieve this, the respondents were asked to respond to some statement where the responses are as summarized in the table 13 and figure 9. On the response of the statement that painting is an easy job there was generally disagreement although many of the respondents did not want to term it as a very difficult job. As can be seen from the table 36 of the respondents disagreed with the statement while 34n were neutral on the issue. Many of the respondents indicated that they would prefer buying paints and hiring a painter as can be seen that 46 agreed while 38 strongly agreed with the statement. On the statement of painting being unsafe with age, 36 agreed while 11 strongly agreed with the statement. On the same statement 24 of the participant were neutral and 26 disagreed. This is an indication that the participants believe that there is a certain age where painting is not safe. Those who disagreed could be young and therefore do not see any threat at the present age. On the other hand those who are neutral can easily be convinced to join the new program where the services are fully offered to them. On the need for cleaning the houses after painting 43 agreed they needed the service which is also a revelation that the new program is likely to be successful. TABLE 13 strongly agree disagree neutral agree strongly agree Painting is an easy job, I can do it myself 3 36 34 24 3 Painting is quite challenging for me so I will buy the paints and hire the painter to do the job 0 4 2 46 48 Painting is considered as unsafe for my age so I would prefer to pay for a professional to take care of everything in the painting process 3 26 24 36 11 I would love my house to be clean after the painting 0 18 30 43 9 Travelling to the paint store to purchase paints and everything else is quite difficult for me 8 31 41 19 1 Figure 9 Expectation of customers The research investigated the factors that lead to customers being loyal to a particular service. The factor that had the majority of the participants rating it as being of very high importance was reviewing process and fixing problem quickly with a “very high” score of 38. Accountability had 33 participants rating it as being of very high importance. The factor with the highest score for “high” was awareness of service with a frequency of 45. The factor with the highest frequency of low was promotion with a frequency of 13. It can also be noted that price is not a very big issue as average rating had the highest frequency of 36. TABLE 14 Figure 10 Communication channels Information about paint stores To find about the communication channels the participants were asked about the place they were likely to receive information about paint stores. The response was as summarized in table 14 and figure 11. It is clear that the most likely source of information about paint store is the internet where there were 27 and 29 participants indicating that they were very likely and likely respectively that they were likely to get information through the channel. The other option that had a reasonable number of people indicating that it could be there source of information was the magazine and newspapers where 9 chose very likely and 21 chose likely. In general however it can be seen that these channels of communication are not being utilized TABLE 14 very likely likely neutral unlikely very unlikely Internet 27 29 8 3 4 Bilboards/posters 16 4 26 20 5 Radio 3 8 9 13 38 Magazine/Newspaper 9 21 14 21 6 Other 0 1 2 1 67 Figure 11 Communication preference When the participants were asked about the way in which they would like to receive information their response was as shown in table 15 and figure 12. The most preffered source of information is instore with 38 and 14 indicating it their most preferred and preferred respectively. For online communication 20 and 18 participants indicated that it was there most preferred and preferred respctively. Telephone had 25 participants indicating it as preferred and 14 indicating it to be most preferred. TABLE 15 most preferred preferred neutral not preferred least preferred 1nstore 38 14 9 8 2 Telephone 14 25 23 3 6 Online 20 18 21 6 6 Other 2 1 1 0 67 Figure 12 Source of information and attitude The participants were asked to respond to some statements in order to establish their attitudes on some sources of information about paints. On the statement about the participants seeking services by themselves 58 were in agreement while 11 disagreed. It can also be seen that most participants highly value the opinion of friends as 68 agreed that they sought the opinion of friends when doing purchases as opposed to 8 who did not. It should also be noted that an appreciable number have nothing good to report about television advertisement as 38 of participants were in agreement that television advertisement were irritating while 33 disagreed. This could be because of the fact that the advertisement are brief and do not give enough information. It could as be that the participants find the advertisements to be very subjective. On telephone calls as a source of information 32 participants indicated that they found this to be intrusive while 39 were comfortable receiving telephone calls. This should be worth to note as the paint company may loose some customers on the process of trying to speak to them in person. TABLE 16 Agree Disagree If I wanted a particular service I would seek it out myself 58 11 I seek the opinions of friends and family when purchasing products and services 62 8 I find advertising on television irritating 38 33 I like to be approached by staff members within stores 61 10 I find phone calls to my home number intrusive 32 39 Figure 13 Scheduling home service appointments On the issue of the scheduling home service appointments the response of the respondents were as shown in table 17 and figure 14. It can be seen that those who prefer the use of modern technology like email and webfarm are very few. This could be an indication that the use of emails and webforms has not fully been accepted as a way of communication in the general society. It could also be an indication that comminication made through the internet is not taken seriosly.Those who selected face to face were 36 while 35 did not select it. There was 33 who selected mobile telephone as compared to 11 who selected telephone (landline). The difference in selection of the two types of phones could be due to the fact that that the participants are rarely available on the landline telephone calls or they do not have the service all together. TABLE 17 Selected Unselected Face to face 36 35 Telephone 11 60 Mobile phone 33 38 Email 21 50 Webform 5 66 Other 4 67 Figure 14 Conclusion In conclusion the research was generally successfully as it brought out the market situation where it is clear that there is a lot of demand for the general painting services. It is also clear that the new program will have a lot of demand. The research has shown that customers are looking for quality work and they are ready to pay for it. From the study it is clear that that marketing of the new product is very important but the mode of marketing used should be chosen with keenness. This is because a substantial portion of the respondents indicated that they found some of the advertisement like television to be irritatating despite the fact that this could be very expensive. Telephone calls which might also be expensive were considered by many respondents to be an intrusion which was unwelcome. It is also worth noting that the respondents indicated that friends were an important source of information. The reason for this could be that that there is no reliable information from other sources. It is also an indication by conduction some thorough face to face education programs to few people the information is likely to spread to the rest. Recommendations Following the research the following are the recommendations that can help in making the DIFM program a success. There should be a lot of innovations when painting services are being offered as most of the customers paint as a way of giving the houses a new look as revealed in table 10 and figure 6 where 50.7% of the responded indicated that this was their reason for painting their houses. Use of television adverts and direct phone calls may be very expensive but is not very effective source of information source for some of the consumers. This can be seen from table 10 and figure 6 where 32 of the respondents were in agreement that telephone calls was intrusion while for the case of television 38 indicated that they found advertisements irritatating compared to 33 who disgreed.. It is highly recommended to give face to face information as this is more effective. Giving information through the websites and e-mails could be very cheap but it is not yet pupular with majority of the people. This can be seen in table 17 and figure 14 where when asked the alternatives that could be used on when scheduling for home service appointments only 21 selected email as away they could be comminicated to while 50 did not select it.It is is therefore recommended that this means of communication should be used but should not be sololy be depended upon. This will ensure that this comminication mode reaches a point where it can dependad upon as a cheap and effective way of comminication. Following the results in table 14 it is recommended that review of processes and fixing of problem areas be given atmost attention. this was rated by 38 participants as being of very high importance. Accountability is another that should be emphasized as 33 of the participant rated it as being of very high importance. Other things that really need to be observed keenly are customers awareness of services which 45 participants rated it as being of high importance. Professional appearance and service personnel were other issues that were emphasized by respondents with 39 respondents rating them as being of high importance. It is recommended that cleaning of houses after painting be mandatory many respondents found it to be very necessary as can be seen in table 12 where 43 respondents indicated that they loved house cleaned after the painting exercise References Lovelock, C., Wirtz J. & Chew P. 2009, Essentials of Service Marketing, Prentice Hall, Jurong. Peng, M.W. 2009, Global Strategy, 2nd edn, South-Western Cengage Learning, OH. Servipedia 2006, ‘Servicescape’, American Marketing Association, viewed 20th March 2011, Read More