"Programmers and marketing people know how to get into your subconscious-they spend millions of dollars researching colors, shapes, designs, symbols, that affect your preferences, and they can make you feel warm, trusting, like buying. They can manipulate you." Richard Hatch

Instructional Objectives: Students will analyze data and formulate hypotheses based on the results of their surveys. Students will gain an understanding of what is involved in market research.

Time Required: two to three hours

Advance Preparation: Review how to create pie graphs in Microsoft Excel. If you need help, the graphing links in http://kn.sbc.com/wired/fil/pages/listmarketinan.html will assist you in this endeavor.  Students should know how to incorporate graphs in PowerPoint. Make copies of the Product presentation rubric & market research graph rubric and hand them out to each group.

Materials / Resources Required: Internet access, a projector, Excel, Word, PowerPoint

Focus Questions, Generalizations and Key Points: What conclusions can we draw from our research? How can we use these conclusions? Marketing is the craft of linking the producers (or potential producers) of a product or service with customers, both existing and potential. Some form of marketing arises naturally in all capitalist societies but is not limited to capitalist societies. Marketing techniques are also applied in politics, religion, personal affairs, and many other aspects of life. Marketing research (also called "consumer research") comprises a form of applied sociological study which concentrates on understanding the behaviors, whims and preferences, mainly current and future, of consumers in a market-based economy. The surveys conducted by students are forms of market research called "concept testing" and "segmentation research." Concept testing is done to determine if consumers consider a concept or product useful. Segmentation research is used to determine the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral characteristics of potential buyers.

Knowing what people think gives you a competitive edge. In business, if you know what your customers are thinking, you can focus your products or services to meet their needs and have a better opportunity for your product to be successful.

 Procedures:  

1. Have students take out their homework (survey results) .
2. You may want to spend a minute or two discussing student experiences conducting the surveys.
3. Students should create pie graphs from their data. Use the market research graph rubric to evaluate the graphs. You may want to spend a minute or two discussing rubric criteria with the class.
4. In their cooperative groups students should discuss their results and modify their ideas for their products based on the results of their research.
5. Groups should make hypotheses based on their discussions and present and support their conclusions about their product in a PowerPoint presentation. Use the product presentation rubric for the presentations. Spend a minute or two discussing rubric criteria with the class.

 

Extension: Groups should present their presentations.

Tips: Have students read the market research link http://bambooweb.com/articles/n/e/New_product_development.html to help them formulate ideas and draw conclusions.

Evaluation: Product presentation rubric & market research graph rubric

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