Evaluating Impacts of Different Promotion Methods on Increasing Sales in Alounak Restaurant - Research Proposal Example

Evaluating impacts of different promotion methods on increasing sales in Alounak Restaurant Name: Grade Course: Tutor’s Name: Date: Table of Contents 3.0 Research Questions, Aims and Objectives 6 3.2 Research Aim 6 3.3 Research Objectives 7 4.0 Literature review 7 4.1 Definitions 7 Promotion strategy: This refers to the action aimed to inform, persuade as well as influence the decisions of customers towards a given good or service (Rajagopal, 2007). 7 4.2. Some Relevant Theories 8 4.3. Theoretical Framework: Promotional Mix 9 5.0 Research Methodology 11 5.1 Research Philosophy 11 5.2. Research Approach 11 5.3. Research Design 12 5.4 Research strategy 12 A case study as a research strategy has been chosen for the proposed study. According to Yin 1984, 23 case study refers to “as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used.” It includes the following steps determining and defining the research questions, choosing cases and deciding on the data collection and analysis techniques, preparing for data collection, collection of data, evaluating and analyzing the data and finally preparing a report. 12 5.5 Time Horizon 12 5.6 Research Instruments 13 6.0 Research access and limitations 13 6.1 Research Access 13 Before one conducts a research study, there is need to seek approval from the relevant authorities. First in order to gain entry or access to the relevant materials and participants, I will write to the University Independent Review Board so that it can approve my study. Similarly I will seek formal permission from the Alounak Restaurant as well as the participants I will interview. 13 6.2 Research Limitation 14 7.0 Ethical considerations 14 8.0 Required resources 14 9.0 Timetable of doing research 16 References 17 Evaluating impacts of different promotion methods on increasing sales in Alounak Restaurant 1.0 Background 1.1 Recent research Promotion strategies have been adopted by both small and big organization in order to increase their market share, increase sales, provide customers with relevant information about a product or service, differentiate their products and services, and stabilize sales as well as accentuate the value of products (Nielsen, 2012). All these are done in order for these businesses to remain competitive and relevant in this competitive market. It is wise to first define what promotion is, scholars have though it as the act to inform, persuade as well as influence the decisions made by consumers. As such different studies have been carried out by different scholars with regards to use of different promotion methods used by businesses. In all these studies emphasize have been put on the general function of promotion and the advantages as well as drawbacks of these methods (Rajagopal, 2007). However to the best of my knowledge, none has been done to establish the effectiveness or impacts of the varied promotion methods in increasing sales of any organization. Additionally businesses have not be offered scientifically proven combination of promotion strategies that yield the highest sales volumes. It is against these backgrounds that the study is drawn. 1.2 Alounak Restaurant The chosen company is Alounak Restaurant in Iran. It is worth noting that the restaurant has branches in other parts of the world especially in the Middle East and Europe. It is a restaurant of its own kind since it serves Halal dishes. Visitors as well as locals get to feel the test of Iranian food. Interestingly the restaurant has been known to offer and serve food at reasonable prices while the atmosphere is authentic (Alounak Restaurant, 2011). Another issue about the restaurant that makes it unique is the concept of bring your own. This means that one can come in the restaurant with his own drink without being charged or denied entry with such drinks. The restaurant do not serve alcohol hence they are more than happy when a customer walks in with his or her own drink be it wine or alcohol. Additionally Alounak Restaurant offers take away services which suit those who are travelling and wish to have a taste of Iranian food. 1.3 Rationale for selecting Alounak Restaurant There are a number of reasons that led me to choose Alounak Restaurant for the purposes of this study. First it is a small company hence the available data will not be too huge and complex hence making data handling, analysis and presentation less complex. Similarly it will be easier to get the relevant data with ease since I will not have to go through the various hierarchical channels. Another rationale for choosing this company is because am an employee of the firm and as such I have noticed that the firm has not yet found a perfect combination of promotion strategy that will help it remain relevant and competitive in this world of business characterized with globalization and stiff competition from both domestic and international firms. On the same note it will be easier for me to obtain the relevant data and information necessary for completion of the study. 2.0 Research rationale and scope 2.1 Research rational The proposed research carries a lot of significance. It will seek to critically evaluate the impacts of the different promotion methods on increasing sales in Alounak Restaurant. The findings will be of importance to the restaurant in particular and other related businesses (Rajagopal, 2007). 2.2 Research scope It is not possible for one to adequately cover everything in a given topic especially when time allocated for such a project is limited. With this in mind, the concept of scope of the study comes into the limelight. For the proposed study the scope is to critically evaluate the impacts of the different promotion methods on increasing sales in Alounak Restaurant. In order to do this successfully, the different types of promotion strategies used by the restaurant will be identified, this will be followed by an examination of how effective of these strategies are and finally a combination of the best promotion strategies that will help the firm effectively and successfully increase sales volume will be identified. The study will take place at Alounak Restaurant in Iran. The findings from the study will not only be used by the firm but can be generalized and applicable to closely related businesses. 3.0 Research Questions, Aims and Objectives 3.1 Research questions 1. To what extend does the different promotion methods can increase sales in Alounak Restaurant? 3.2 Research Aim The aim that will guide the proposed study is to evaluate the impacts of the different promotion methods on increasing sales in Alounak Restaurant. 3.3 Research Objectives With this aim there are specific objective that will be guiding the study; 1. To find out the major types of promotional methods used by Alounak Restaurant to increase sales. 2. To establish how effective each of the identified and used promotional methods are in increasing sales of the company. 3. To recommend to Alounak Restaurant and other closely related businesses the best combination of promotional methods that can yield higher sales volumes. 4.0 Literature review 4.1 Definitions Promotion strategy: This refers to the action aimed to inform, persuade as well as influence the decisions of customers towards a given good or service (Rajagopal, 2007). Sales: For the purposes of this study the term is defined as the amount of dollar received by a firm for products or services offered to customers. Additionally sales can only be recognized in situations where transaction has been realized (Petersen, 2008). Promotion mix: According to Solis, 2011) the term has been used to refer to a well planned mix of controllable elements of a given product marketing plan which include product, price, place as well as promotion. It is worth noting that the four are adjusted till the best combination is arrived at. 4.2. Some Relevant Theories Increase competition in the market has compelled businesses to experience periods when their sales are down. For this reason businesses have relied on a number of promotion strategies in order to increase sales, lure new customers, retain existing ones, stabilize sales, increase their market base, differentiate their products, provide customers with vital information among others. By definition promotion strategies refers to the action aimed to inform, persuade as well as influence the decisions of customers towards a given good or service. It is worth noting from the onset that promotion is one of the 4 P’s of marketing (Rajagopal, 2007). The major components of promotion include the following; personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and public relation. It has been noted by Achabal et al., 1990 that in order to increase sales of a given business whether in the short-term or long term, there is need to conduct or carryout a set of activities. However, there is need for the business to find the best combination I order to meet their goals. Among the things that can be done include the following; improving the firms marketing as well as sales process, offering sales discount, promoting higher use of the products and services by the current consumers, cutting down prices to increase volumes of sales, attracting new customers especially those from the competitors, converting non users to utilize the products and services of the firm, entering new markets as well as finding new non users (Kurtz, 2010). From the list it is evident that all these can be attained through one or a combination of the previously mentioned promotion strategies. Despite all these promotion strategy, little has been done to evaluate their impact on increasing sales of a given business or company. Scholars have derived ways in which one can measure the effect or impact of promotion. It is noted that before embarking on such an initiative, researcher should note that the task is easy but call for careful analysis of sales data usually before and after the promotion is done. To accomplish this task, there is need to keep record of the types of promotion being used as well as the generated sales volumes (Holmberg, 1992). It is relatively easy to establish determine the effect of sales since sales is a tangible concept. As such counts can be made and the same can be compared to sales figures of the firm after and before the promotion was done. This is followed by comparing the sales figures the firm generated before and after using the promotion strategy in question. It has been advised that in order to get ‘true’ picture of impact of promotion, firms or the researcher ought to hold other media expenses as well as types the same at the time of analysis. This ensures that the researcher measures only the effect of given promotion strategy (Kurtz, 2010). 4.3. Theoretical Framework: Promotional Mix Promotion strategies refer to the action aimed to inform, persuade as well as influence the decisions of customers towards a given good or service. It is worth noting from the onset that promotion is one of the 4 P’s of marketing (Rajagopal, 2007). The major components of promotion include the following; personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and public relation. As suggested by Kotler and Armstrong, 2011 personal selling is a kind of promotion carried out in a form of person to person basis. Companies and businesses have employed sales person who offer the services to customers. A part from performing sales services, sales personnel perform other functions such as being advisors where they aid customers to use the product or services in question in the most effective manner. Another type of promotion strategy utilized by firms is advertising. Advertising has been thought of as a method or mechanism of marketing or promoting products and services through adverts made via different media such as billboards, television, cinema, magazine, internet among others. This approach is usually directed towards a larger population or audience. There are different types of advertisement for instance informative advertising which is aimed at building initial demand for goods and services, persuasive advertising mostly used when the life cycle of the product is growing aimed at improving the competitiveness of such products and services, comparative advertising where the firm directly compares its products and services with those of direct competitors and finally reminder-oriented advertising which is used after the product and services are well established aimed at maintain the brand name in the minds of the customers. Sales promotion is another promotion strategy used by firms to among others increase sales. The terms has been thought of as those initiatives aimed at marketing products or services with the aim of increasing sales usually by persuading buyers while they are offered incentives as well as deals that they consider to be irresistible (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011). There are various approaches used in sales promotion and they include offering discounts, buy one get one free, loyalty cards, bonus points, free samples, point of purchase advertising, trade shows among others (Holmberg, 1992). Lastly public relation is the other component of promotion mix. It entails efforts put in place by a business organization to communicate with its customers as well as other stakeholders. The main purpose of this communication is to market the goods and services the firm produces. Ideally this approach is utilized in boosting the efforts of personal selling as well as advertising (Kotler and Armstrong, 2011). With all these a firm is then able to analyze opportunities, develop marketing strategies, plan marketing program as well as manage the marketing efforts. 5.0 Research Methodology 5.1 Research Philosophy After due consideration of the various philosophies of research, the principals of realism was adopted for this study. It has the elements of both constructivism and positivism. It is important to mention that realism concerns multiple perceptions with regards to a single, minded-independent reality. It is also value cognizant meaning that it is conscious of values of human systems as well as of the researcher. More importantly realism recognizes that perception is linked to plasticity hence a difference between reality and perceptions of individuals with regards to reality (Saunders, 2008). 5.2. Research Approach With regards to the approach adopted for this study a deductive research approach best suits the situation. The approach allows one to work from a broad to a specific. One critically looks at the different theories before developing ideas that will either add or extend the knowledge in a particular field. The conclusions arrived at rests on the premises or available facts. 5.3. Research Design Based on the topic under investigation, the research philosophy adopted and the chosen research approach, the best research design for the proposed research is mixed research design. As a result both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected. 5.4 Research strategy A case study as a research strategy has been chosen for the proposed study. According to Yin 1984, 23 case study refers to “as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used.” It includes the following steps determining and defining the research questions, choosing cases and deciding on the data collection and analysis techniques, preparing for data collection, collection of data, evaluating and analyzing the data and finally preparing a report. 5.5 Time Horizon Since the study will chose one case and evaluate the data at a specific time, the time horizon for the proposed study is a cross-sectional study. Additionally a cross-sectional study is descriptive. 5.6 Research Instruments The required data will be collected through two main approaches, questionnaires and semi- structured interview. The desire to use questionnaire was guided by the fact that it will be used to evaluate the frequency and volume of customers’ purchase from Alounak Restaurant and as such it covers a larger sample size, larger geographical area. Additionally questionnaires being a standardized data collection tool tend to be more objective, analysis of data is easy and it is a cost effective method of collecting data compared to face-to-face interview (Konthari, 2004). On the other hand, the choice to use semi-structured interview was guided by the fact that it allows the investigator to gain deeper insight with regards to the issue at hand. Ideally the approach makes it possible for the researcher to examine deeper with the interviewee hence getting to obtain greater knowledge and understanding compared to let say focus-group discussion and surveys (Saunders, 2008). The collected data will be analyzed using statistical software SPSS. On the other hand qualitative data will be analyzed using thematic and content analysis. Presentation of the same will be through tables, graphs, figures and words or quotes in that order. 6.0 Research access and limitations 6.1 Research Access Before one conducts a research study, there is need to seek approval from the relevant authorities. First in order to gain entry or access to the relevant materials and participants, I will write to the University Independent Review Board so that it can approve my study. Similarly I will seek formal permission from the Alounak Restaurant as well as the participants I will interview. 6.2 Research Limitation The major limitation of the study is with regards to the fact that the data will be collected from one company. Having in mind that every business has unique setting, it might be irrational to use the results obtained in this study to generalize the findings to other businesses. There is also a limitation in terms of cost and time. 7.0 Ethical considerations Before proceeding with the study, the University will review it before giving the researcher a node to carry out the research. The respondents will be fully informed about the research in advance before the actual day of interview. No one will be forced to take part in the project. In the interview, respondents will be made to understand that they were free not to talk about things that he or she is not comfortable with. The researcher will also promise the respondents that they were guaranteed of their privacy (Saunders, 2008). Additionally one will be free to withdraw from the study without any intimidation. Concerning data sharing, the same will only be shared with the supervisor. Similarly, I will give due credit to creative work and contribution of other scholars with regards to my topic of investigation by properly referencing my work. This is aimed at adhering to provision of plagiarism in the University (Konthari, 2004). 8.0 Required resources First there will be need to have money to aid the researcher accomplish a number of tasks such as travelling, accommodation, buying paper for printing, mailing questionnaires, hiring a research assistant as well as acquisition of recording equipment. In terms of time, the research will require a minimum of 4 months to be completed and handed over to the school. Other physical resources that I will need include a tape recorder, software to play the recorded conversation or interviews and one for statistical analysis, a computers and a printer. More importantly the proposed study will require vital information from both primary and secondary source. Sales data will be required by the researcher. No. Item Description Amount (USD) 1 Data collection Interviews and travelling [INSERT] 2 Tape recorder Recording interviews [INSERT] 3 Software Data analysis [INSERT] 4 Printing Hard copy of the project [INSERT] 5 Binding Binding the printed work [INSERT] Total [INSERT] 9.0 Timetable of doing research Time in weeks [September-December] Activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Prepare topic, research question                         Carry out research proposal                         Introduction                         Submit research proposal and presentation                         Literature review                         Prepares questionnaires and interview guide                         Carry out primary research                         Data analysis and preliminary presentation                         Discussion of the finding                         Prepare final report and making corrections                       Submit the final report                         References Achabal, D. et al. (1990). Maximizing profits from periodic department store promotion. Journal of retailing, 66, 383-407. Alounak Restaurant, (2011). Bayswater: Restaurant Reviews. Retrieved on 30 August 2012 from http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g186338-d966195-r129318848-Alounak_Restaurant_Bayswater-London_England.html Creswell, A. 1994. Research design: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Holmberg, C. (1992). Effects of feature advertising and other promotions: a study of Swedish grocery retailing using scanner data. Research Report, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm EFI. Kontari, C. (2004). Research methodology: Methods and techniques. New Delhi: New Age International Kurtz, D. (2010). Contemporary marketing. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Magid, A. & Lodish, M. (1990). Getting the most out of advertising and promotion. Harvard Business Review, 50-60. Nielsen, L. (2012). The effect of sales promotion on sales volumes. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/effect-sales-promotion-sales-volume-5051.html Petersen, G. (2008). The Profit Maximization Paradox: Cracking the Marketing/Sales Alignment Code. New York: Booksurge Llc Rajagopal, M. (2007). Marketing dynamics: Theory and practice. New Delhi, India: New Age International. Saunders, 2008. Research methods for business students. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Solis, B. (2011). Engage! The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Yin, R. K. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Read More