Research Request Agreement Report – Marketing Research
I have started the report . However, I need to add and edit it.
Please also try to add at least 2 more research problems for the 2 decision problems that are already given .
Need done within 24 hours . Thank you
I will attach an example that was given by the professor , a grading form and the work that I have already started.
Research Request Agreement
Marketing 41
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Jennifer Alvarado – Genesis Hernandez
Mike Hess – Trevor Parsons – Jake Nimmo
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A. Background
The Division of Student Affairs is dedicated to assisting in the success of all student endeavors.
Student Affairs seeks to prepare students for the global community, making them ethical and
responsible leaders. The Division of Student Affairs is made up of several departments that
serve to build personal development by guiding and positively interacting with students
throughout their time at WCSU and onward.
Key departments within Student Affairs have been recruited to create the Student Life Area
Committee: Office of InterCultural Student Affairs, The Center for Student Involvement, Housing
and Residence Life, Career Success Center, Department of Athletics and Campus and Student
Centers and Auxiliary Services and at least one SGA Senator. The purpose of the Student Life
Area Committee is to identify the underlying issues of low student involvement on campus
during weekdays and weekends. The committee is open to the public and welcomes students to
sit in during the meeting. The goal of this committee is to improve the attendance on overall
programming at Western Connecticut State University.
Problem:
The Division of Student Affairs has struggled with producing weekend and weekday
programming that is well attended by the student body. They aren’t sure if it’s because of a lack
of awareness, disinterest, commute time, work commitments etc. Student Affairs is also unable
to identify if they are using social media effectively to promote activities, and to communicate
and engage with students. Student Affairs has increased the amount of weekend events
on-campus and have not seen satisfying results in student attendance. On average they will
have less than 50 students attend each weekend event.
The committee has also determined they lack funding and resources necessary to produce
high-quality programming. In order to be a “Full Service Weekend Campus” they must provide
funding for faculty and staff that run the programs, services, and departments on weekends in
addition to actual expense of the events/services taking place.
Marketing Mix:
Price:
Most of the programming and services provided to current WCSU students are free. Most
programming has also been open to alumni free of charge however the public tends to pay for
admittance. Events that aren’t free to current WCSU Students are usually offered at a low and
affordable price.
Product:
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The products offered are the events produced by Departments, Clubs and Organizations such
as Division of Student Affairs, Intercultural Affairs, Center of Student Involvement, Housing and
Residence Life, Career Success Center, Department of Athletics, PAC, SGA, Greek Council,
IRHA, REC, ACSA, BSU, WMA etc.
Additional resources that incentivize students to stay on-campus are provided by the Dining
Services, Library, Writing Center, Computer Labs (IT&I) etc.
Place:
WCSU programing/services take place both on-campus and off-campus. The majority of events
are held on-campus however off-campus programming tends to have high participation is
usually popular among the current student population.
● Examples of on-campus events include: Bingo, Roller Skating, Career Fair, Clubs
Carnival, Stuff-A-Plush, Intercultural events, Run or Dye
● Examples of off-campus events include: Ice Skating, Broadway Shows, Ski Trips,
The Big-E, New York Art Trips, Basketball Games
Promotion:
Events are promoted through flyers, posters, banners, word-of-mouth, social media, WOW,
WOW Weekender, WOW Alumni, (email blasts). Departments, Clubs and Organizations often
collaborate with each other by co-hosting events. This serves to divide expenses, increase
awareness and bring the community together.
Current Efforts to Resolve Issue
Currently the division has attempted to raise awareness of their events in order to produce a
higher turnout of student. They have also increased the number of events offered during the
weekdays and weekends. The committee has attempted to gather information from students to
identify issues and address them.
● Created a survey and sent it out to the student body
● There have 3 to 5 programs on weekends on both campuses
● Created special programs such as the InterCultural Festival and cultural celebratory
month, Welcome Week Programming and Homecoming programs
● SGA/PAC/Greek Council are overseen by Student Affairs and are also involved in the
promotion and creation of events
● Expanded Weekend Dining hours and options
○ Example: A chicken and waffles event was popular enough to make it a official
menu option
● Full Shuttle service on Weekends
● Increased efforts to promote and advertise events
○ All events placed on WOW, Alumni WOW, and WOW Weekender
○ Used Social Media such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to promote events
○ Create flyers and posters
○ Word of mouth
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● Message board at the bottom of University Blvd has weekly schedule displayed
● Extended their evening office hours and have encouraged all other offices to do so as
well as to provide weekend hours. However some departments are hesitant because
despite student requests for extended hours, not many students actually come in.
○ Career Services did extend and open their doors on the weekend.
● Hired a University Assistant to market events
Goals:
● Increase their funding/budget to accomodate for 24/7 services
● Use our Marketing Research class to better understand students attendance to events
on weekends and weekdays
● Improve their publicizing efforts for all events by identifying appropriate, effective and
efficient tools/resources
● Enhance the use of social media
● More advertisement
● Align programs with other departments, clubs and organizations
● Communicate with other departments clubs and organizations to ensure duplicate
programs do not occur ineffectively.
● Extend hours of weekend services from all departments
○ Departments that might participate are
■ Health Services
■ Counseling Center
■ Academic Affairs
■ Library
■ Computer Labs
■ Writing Center
● Increase attendance and involvement of New York and New Jersey students and all
other out-of-state students
● Increase attendance and involvement of in-state commuters
B. Decision Problems
1. “How do we keep students on campus on weekdays and weekends?” The Western
Connecticut State University Division of Student Affairs desires to gather information on the lack
of student involvement on campus. This is a discovery-oriented decision problem that has
arisen from an unplanned change in the marketing environment, an unexpectedly low
percentage of student involvement.
2. “What resources do we need to keep students on campus on weekdays and
weekends?” The Western Connecticut State University Division of Student Affairs desires to
gather information on the resources needed to keep students on campus. This is a
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discovery-oriented decision problem that has arisen from an unplanned change in the marketing
environment, an unexpectedly low percentage of student involvement.
C. Research Problems
Research Problems for Decision Problem 1.
1. Investigate student awareness of campus programs.
a. The Committee Student Life center has stated that lack of awareness could be
one of the variables contributing to low student attendance to campus events.
Awareness is something that can be measured through student surveys that are
low in cost ($0.00) and can include a significant sample size.
2. Determine student satisfaction of campus programs.
a. Student overall satisfaction with campus programs are the keystone
measurement of this research. This information will give the Division of Student
Affairs insights as to which programs students are most likely to attend with the
variable of awareness held constant. This can be measured through in depth
interviews, and surveys.
3. Investigate student perceptions of campus programs.
a. By investigating student perceptions of campus programs we can determine if
students are aware of the campus events taking place, or if the events
themselves are not of interest to students. This could be measured through
surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Surveys offer structure,and are low time
intensive, Interviews and focus groups are time intensive but offer greater insight
and give room for probing.
4. Determine student attendance rates for campus programs.
a. The Assistant Dean of the Student Life center stated that they have had low
attendance for the events currently being held. Researching through internal data
would give an accurate number of what the Assistant Dean is considering to be
low, and also set objectives for how many students should be attending future
events. This information is readily available at the Student Life Affairs.
5. Determine student awareness of WOW and WOW Weekender.
a. Campus events are shared via WOW and Wow Weekender. By understanding if
students are checking Wow and WOW Weekender, it would give the research
team insight if students are looking up where events are or are they hearing
about events from different channels of communication.This research problem
can be combined with Research Problem 1 because it would require the same
population, with these research problem cost remain low.
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6. Determine student satisfaction of WOW and WOW Weekender.
a. If students initially use WOW and WOW WeeKender, but find it difficult to use or
not beneficial, if may cause them to stop using it. This could cause students to
miss campus events due to a lack of awareness. Using surveys to gather this
information would give the research team structure and keep costs low.
7. Determine which media channels are used most by students.
a. If we can obtain greater insight into what media channels students are using, we
can further understand where there attention is going along with what is keeping
them engaged, and how they like to engage. This information can be useful for
the Student LIfe Committee in determining what type of events to put on. To
measure this we would conduct personal interviews to able to probe subjects,
and get insight into what questions should be asked on the survey. The
interviews will time intensive, and the surveys will be low time intensive both will
be low in cost.
8. Determine which media channels are currently reaching students regarding campus
programs.
a. Knowing where students are getting the information from will allow the Student
Life Affairs to know where to put their efforts in terms of advertising and
promoting events. This is extremely useful because students may like the events
but are not made aware of them in time to attend. This can be examined in
conjunction with student awareness. Awareness is a straightforward
measurement and low in cost.
9. Investigate student satisfaction of specific clubs/organizations on campus.
a. If the Student Life Committee can understand what events are attracting the most
students, it would help with hosting events that involve those particular clubs, and
looking at best practice of those clubs that could help other clubs use it as a
benchmark. Doing in depth interviews to explore further information that is
relevant to this matter helps to gain insight in to the specifics that are causing the
degree of satisfaction allows for flexibility. In depth interviews are time consuming
however the research team finds that with certain matters the probe is worth the
time.
10. Determine the relationship between attendance of campus programs and overall
satisfaction of WCSU.
a. Gaining further insight into the level of satisfaction from students could explain
part of the reason they may not be attending. It could also lead to next question if
satisfaction levels are low, then what would make the events more attractive.
Measurements used include interviews for greater insight to not just satisfaction
but also to which degree, and what would students like to see more of. Using
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Interval measurement can also give this feedback on bigger scale as we can
reach more students with online survey. The interview will require time, and
human labor but is worth the trade of getting energy of students satisfaction
beyond surveys. Surveys are cost effective, and low time intensive.
11. Compare the attendance of campus programs over the last (five) years.
a. Looking back at previous programs will give insight to what students liked and
what was working. Comparing this with current information will get insight to
student trends in the last five years and we will be able to understand what
events have been consistently popular, this information is useful because
Student Affairs can create similar events that have been liked by students.
Getting this information would require research into data owned by Student
Affairs and could result in time intensive but will be low in cost since they own the
data.
12. Investigate student perceptions of campus culture/community.
a. Having insight into the perception of university cultural could give further
understanding into what students like/dislike about what they are currently
experiencing, and what changes are they looking for. This information can also
show if there are strong consistencies across students. To measure this the
research team suggests using focus groups, and in depth interviews to dig
deeper into the perceptions and start a dialog about what successes there have
been, and where the Student Life Affairs can pick up the ball. The research team
would like to get the overall campus mood beyond surveys and find that in depth
interviews allow the flexibility to capture exactly what is going on. This will require
time in finding students to participate, and time spent doing the interviews.
13. Determine the percentage of students who go home on weekends for work.
a. If the Student Life Committee has insight into when students are most available
then they can host events that are convenient for students to attend. If enough
students have work then these are obligations that are non negotiable so it may
make sense to focus on different times if the number of students working on the
weekend is high. We can conduct exploratory research in the form of surveys
and use nominal scaling to see the differences in percentages. This
measurement is low cost as it can be done through online surveys.
14. Determine the percentage of students who go home on weekends for social purposes.
a. Using nominal scaling we can look at percentages to see if a significant amount
of students are attending other events that tells the research team that the want
to engage in social setting is there. Using surveys the information can be
gathered in low-time, and is cost effective.
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Research problems for decision problem 2.
1. Determine the current costs of campus programs.
a. The resources provided by WCSU for student programs are a major portion of
the school’s budget. By obtaining the costs of each program from the Center for
Student Involvement, we will be able to perform cost/benefit analysis more
accurately.
2. Evaluate the ratios of cost per student for campus programs.
a. By comparing the cost per program and dividing it by the number of students
attending each of those programs, we can better evaluate the success of campus
programs.
3. Assess the attitudes of campus staff regarding weekend work hours.
a. The WCSU staff’s attitudes about working weekends will play a major role in the
viability of certain programs. By issuing surveys, we can collect this information in
an efficient manner.
4. Determine the costs associated with becoming a “full-time” campus.
a. Many of the barriers associated with student involvement on weekends are tied
to the costs of operating all departments seven days per week. These costs can
be measured by interviewing campus officials and by reviewing past budgets.
5. Determine the student usage rates of academic campus resources on weekends.
a. The volume of students attending academic help resource offices on weekends
will allow the Assistant Dean of Students to make better choices regarding
investments in additional weekend hours. This information can be gathered from
staff and department chairs.
6. Compare the student usage rates of academic campus resources on weekends versus
weekdays.
a. The differences in usage rates of academic resources on weekends versus
weekdays will give insights into the effectiveness of weekend programs. This
data can be gathered via attendance logs from each office/department.
7. Assess the financial forecasts of WCSU budgets for campus programs.
a. In order to fully understand the scope of WCSU’s budget, forecasts should be
analyzed as far ahead as ten years. Although some of this data will be
speculative, it will be helpful for the Assistant Dean of Students to have an idea of
the increase or decrease in funding that is expected in the future.
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8. Determine the availability of staff for extended and weekend hours.
a. Weekend programs and campus resources will depend on staff availability. By
interviewing and collecting survey data, we can further understand the scheduling
issues surrounding weekend campus activities.
9. Evaluate the satisfaction of students regarding event planning for clubs.
a. If a club decides to cancel the planning and execution of an event because of the
level of difficulty regarding permissions, evaluations can be made about the
process of planning. This research would entail interviews and focus groups of
club officers, who are the decision makers navigating the school’s red tape. This
research will be time and effort intensive, because only club officers deal with
these sorts of logistical issues surrounding event planning.
10. Determine the step-by-step process by which campus club officers decide which
programs to plan.
a. By determining the steps taken by club officers to plan events, conclusions can
be drawn regarding the internal process of program selection. The steps involved
in this process can be gathered from clubs officers through surveys, focus
groups, and interview.
11. Evaluate the satisfaction of club officers regarding campus staff support in the program
planning process.
a. By determining the satisfaction of club officers, regarding campus staff support,
conclusions can be drawn about possible flaws in the way events are run. A lack
of staff support could make events unappealing to WCSU students whcih in
return could cause a lack of student involvement.
12. Evaluate the effectiveness of current social media practices conducted by the division of
student affairs.
a. By determining the current effectiveness of social media efforts, we can further
understand the assistant deans concerns about the Department of Student
Affairs social media in general. We can achieve this by looking at social media
analytics.
D. Research Problems Selected
After reviewing these research problems (and others), the research team has concluded that
research problems 1 – 14 offer the greatest value in terms of providing information that is likely
to address decision problem one, and 1 – 8 and 12 for decision problem two. Each involves
collecting information from the same population (See F. Targets and Subgroups).
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E. Use
The key information we are looking for is (a) what is the level of awareness among students of
campus programs and events, and (b) the level of satisfaction with the current campus
programs available. In addition to this key information, we can collect data via digital survey
regarding perceptions, attitudes, availability of students and staff, as well as budgets/costs of
programs.The Western Connecticut State University Division of Student Affairs plans to use this
information to determine the degree to which a problem exists in terms of awareness and
satisfaction with the current campus programs, and how to help increase the attendance of
these events. Supplemental data will support conclusions about the main focus of awareness
and satisfaction.
F. Targets and Subgroups
Although the population will be formally defined in the research proposal, the researchers intend
to collect data from Western Connecticut State University Students. The studnets interviewed
will primarily be ones that live on campus, but subgroups will include commuters, transfer
students and non traditional students (23 years and older).
Student participants will also be divided by graduating class, gender, ethnicity, age, major,
occupational status, in-state/out-state, residency and credit hours.
G. Logistics
This project should be completed in approximately two months. WCSU will be able to complete
this market research at no cost by utilizing the readily available student body.
Research Request Agreement Report
Grading Form
Research Request Agreement: a document prepared by the researcher after meeting with the decision maker ( the client). The document should summarize the problem and lay out the needed information to address the problem.
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(A) |
The events that led to the manager’s decision problem. While the events may not directly affect the research that is conducted, they help the researcher understand the nature of the problem more deeply. |
10 points |
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(B) |
The underlying question confronting the manager. A brief discussion of the source of the problem should be included, along with a discussion of whether the problem is discovery oriented or strategy oriented. |
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· Planned vs. unplanned change |
Did the problem happen due to planned change or unplanned change? Why? |
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· Strategy vs. discovery |
Is the problem a discovery-oriented or a strategy-oriented problem? |
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· Decision problem |
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(C) Research Problem(s) (How will you interpret the decision problem in research terms?） |
The range of research problems that would provide input to the decision problem. Please stay exhaustive first and list as many relevant research problems as possible. Then, you need to provide an overview of costs and benefits of covering each research problem. Last, you need to pick the research problem(s) that you plan to address given the time and resource you have and explain why. |
15 points |
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· Alternative research problems |
The range of research problems that you provide |
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· Evaluation of alternatives and research problems selected |
The explaination of costs and benefits of covering each research problem. What information will you be able to get from covering each research problem? How will addressing each help to tackle the decision problem? |
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· Consistency with decision problem |
You need to make sure that each research problem you raise stay closely relevant to the decision problem that you have identified |
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(D) |
Reiterate what information can be obtained from investigating the research problem. Try to stay ABSTRACT here. For example, you can state that by investigating the research problem you select, you are able to figure out consumer awareness in the area, which can help you to determine whether low awareness of the brand has led to the slow sales of the new brand. Supplying logical reasons to ensure that the information is valuable to tackle the decision problem. |
7.5 points |
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(E) Targets and Subgroups ( From whom will I obtain the information I need?) |
The groups from whom the information must be gathered. Specifying these groups helps the research design an appropriate sample for the research project. Notice that sometimes more than one group is necessary. |
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Total points |
50 points |
Research Request Agreement Report
A. Background
The Western Connecticut State University Alumni Association allows students and Western Connecticut State University Alumni to develop mutually beneficial relationships by raising awareness of alumni philanthropy and fundraising. This association allows students and alumni to build lasting relationships with each other, as well as students, staff and the greater Danbury area.
Members of the association receive benefits and privileges including invitation to special WCSU and alumni events, career services, Alumni travel program, insurance saving programs, as well as U-Save membership and business. The purpose of the Alumni Association is to give alumni resources to stay connected to their roots at Western Connecticut State University through a number of different events on and off campus, allowing alumni of any age the opportunity to meet through a mutual interest and create personal as well as business bonds.
Problem
:
Currently, the WCSU Alumni Association is struggling with engaging and encouraging young alumni to participate in alumni events. The lack of responsiveness from young alumni ranges from students who graduated 2010 to those who will be graduating this May 2020. Currently, the WCSU Alumni Association is having trouble identifying the reason for the lack of response from younger alumni. The Alumni Association is unable to identify what events will attract young alumni in order to engage them to the association. Some factors could be that alumni have moved far from the University, they’ve started families and it’s hard to come back when they have responsibilities, they aren’t receiving the information to a relevant source. These are just ideas not actual facts so the association wants to know the reasoning behind the lack of students that aren’t returning. This way they can find ways that would interest students to return.
Marketing Mix
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Price:
Most of the events the WCSU Alumni Association holds are at a discounted price for off campus outings. The events held on campus are either free for members or at a discounted, affordable price.
Product:
The products being offered are the events held by the Alumni Association. The Alumni Association are the ones planning and holding the events that occur either on or off campus. Events are not solely focused on any one specific major, or even involving a specific theme or topic relating to a major. The events are held in order to bring together alumni with similar interests, such as “Sip & Sculpt ”, WCSU Opera, or Alumni Golf Tournament.
Place:
Majority of the events the WCSU Alumni Association holds are located on campus in Danbury, CT. However, off-campus events are offered as well. Although off-campus events may include a cost, it is at an outstandingly affordable cost and provides tickets and transportation to a given event.
Promotion:
The Alumni Association promotes events through email, social media, word of mouth, WOW Alumni, WOW Weekender, and flyers/papers posted throughout campus. This is where the Alumni Association is currently struggling. Alumni are either not receiving emails or paper mail, or are not interested enough to find out more information about the association or the event.
B. Decision Problems
1.)“How to engage alumni who graduated recently (0-10 years ago)?”
The WCSU Alumni Association would like to research the lack of engagement in Alumni events from young alumni. This discovery-oriented problem is caused by an unplanned low involvement of young WCSU alumni.
2.) “How to increase attendance from recent graduates (0-10 years)?”
The WCSU Alumni Association would like to research in what ways they can increase the amount of young alumni to attend association events on and off-campus. This discovery-oriented problem is caused by an unplanned low involvement of young WCSU alumni.
C. Research Problems
Research Problems for Decision Problem 1.
1.)Investigate student awareness of the WCSU Alumni Association.
a.) The WCSU Alumni Association needs to investigate the current student awareness of the WCSU Alumni Association. The lack of awareness of current students can be a variable as to why young alumni are not attending events.This may help the Alumni Association understand if young alumni are not attending events, it may be due to their unawareness of the association.
2.) Determine rate of young alumni attendance of events.
a.) Since the problem of the WCSU Alumni Association is focused on young alumni, those who graduated 2010 to 2020, data collected regarding attendance will give on-target numbers of what is considered low, as well as set target numbers for the future of young alumni attending events.
3.) Determine satisfaction of current Alumni Association members with events.
a.) Overall satisfaction of current Alumni Association members will help measure success of event topics and locations for future events. This will give the WCSU Alumni Association insight as to what events were most successful in attendance. This can be determined through the use of in depth surveys or interviews.
4.)Determine what media channels effectively reach alumni regarding events
a.)Understand what media channels are most effective in reaching alumni members, more specifically, young alumni. Example; Email vs. advertising.
Research Problems for Decision Problem 2
1. Determine cost associated with becoming a member of WCSU Alumni Association
a. Cost is a relative role in attendance of events for any association. Determine the cost associated with members attending events and if the cost affects attendance to any given event.
1. Determine young alumni satisfaction with WCSU
b. If students had an exceptional experience attending WCSU,would they be more likely to return? This research would involve in depth interviews of alumni to determine their overall satisfaction of WCSU and if it will affect their return.
1. Investigate Alumni interest rates to returning to WCSU
c. After students graduate, measure the rate in which they would be interested to return for Alumni activities and events.
1. Assess Target market perceptions on what would bring them back
d. Find out what alumni is interested in and take action on the events and activities that would bring them back to enjoy with the alumni association.
D. Use
The essential information the WCSU Alumni Association is looking for is the awareness of current students of the Alumni Association, as well as the awareness of the young alumni of the association. The association wants to grow as a community and expand the opportunities for Alumni to strengthen bonds and relationships with the University and other members of the association.
E. Targets and Subgroups
The researcher will collect data from the Western Connecticut State University students and young alumni. Students that will be interviewed will be junior and senior students. The alumni that will be interviewed will be those that graduated 0-10 years ago, 2010-2020.