BELLBOY CASE MKTG D50 Report Group 6
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MKTG D50 – RESEARCH METHODS IN MARKETING
BELLBOY CASE

BELLBOY CASE MKTG D50 Report Group 6
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Southwestern Bell Telephone Company (SWB)
Research Design:
The survey objective is set to measure the customer’s interest of a new service known as BELLBOY. SWB would like to acquire both existing (customers who have the intention to buy) and potential (customers who have interest but are still reluctant to purchase) demand. SWB believes that existing and potential demands constitute unmet demand.
SWB went with the telephone survey, which is a descriptive research method, to gauge the interest of the BELLBOY service. This method was used due since all businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area had
This includes the
BELLBOY CASE MKTG D50 Report Group 6
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service, retailing, construction and professional industry. Therefore, to draw a sample systematically from businesses in all industries listed with the SWB may over-represent the industries for which BELLBOY services are not found useful. A larger portion of the sample should be drawn from the relevant industries mentioned above, and extrapolated for their sizes.
A telephone survey, as a method of gauging the interest of consumers in a new and unfamiliar product or service, would tend to understate their true demand because of the limited amount of information that can be conveyed through it.
• Time limit - The survey is conducted with personnel in charge of the organization’s communication needs during work hours. This personnel would have limited time to listen and respond to the surveyor.
• Negative perception of telemarketers - Telemarketers tend to be viewed negatively by most respondents. There may be a bias on the part of respondents to also view the product or service at question negatively. This also limits the amount of product or service information the telemarketer can convey to the respondent.
• Exit option - At the commencement of the survey, the respondent has the option to conclude the survey if they were disinterested in the BELLBOY service, even though only a brief description of the