American Intercontinental University

Understanding the market is recommended before making any important marketing decisions. Quantitative or qualitative research can be used for business market analysis, and both has benefits and drawbacks (Greener, 2008). However, when utilized in tandem, these approaches can help you better understand the caliber of your rivals and the demands of your clientele. This essay examines the two approaches used by the Coca-Cola company.

The process of gathering, logging, and analyzing market data to identify plausible events and patterns is referred to as market research. it significantly reduces customer’s price sensitivity hence positively impacting the sales as customers are likely to recommend such a product to their friends. Marketers are at liberty to use quantitative marketing skills which are known to estimate and quantify or qualitative methods which are known to define and describe.

Organizational background

The coca cola company is a well-known brand in the beverages industry. Since the perception and tastes of customers are key in the determination of customer loyalty in this industry, research on both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the organization is necessary for the event of introducing new products. After the coca cola company had experienced a significant decline in sales in the seventies and eighties, it resolved by introducing a new beverage brand (Paracha, Waqas, Khan & Ahmad, 2012). This paper adopts both a quantitative and qualitative research designs in analyzing the impacts of this move to the market.

Research on qualitative research methods

Qualitative research methods are based on a subjectivist-type research, in which respondents are asked questions regarding various aspects such as satisfaction, observations, and communication. During the Coca-Cola market research, the 200,000 blind testers were asked whether the taste of the new coke was satisfactory (Clark, 2015). A majority of them approved the new coke to be of great taste, and this prompted the management to adopt the new coke and eradicate the old coke.

Research on quantitative research methods

Quantitative research is referred to as objective-based as it focuses more on the market outcomes (Greener, 2008). It entails the application of market quantitative parameters such as amounts of sales and revenue. After the blind testing and the consequent introduction of new coke in the market, the new product experienced a customer backlash, and its sales did not reflect the results obtained in the qualitative research. Rather, the customers appeared to have maintained their loyalty to the original coke.

Conclusion

As seen above, both quantitative and qualitative research designs are of great significance in marketing, and even more effective if applied simultaneously.

References

Dr, Clark, E. (25th Aug, 2015). Marketing Research Methods, E. C & ASSOCIATES BUSINESS MARKETING CONSULTING. Retrieved from http://elijahclark.com/marketing-research-methods/

Greener, S. (2008). Business Research Methods, New York, NY: Dr Sue Greener & Ventus Publishing ApS.

Paracha, A. M. J., Waqas, M., Khan, A. R., & Ahmad, S. (2012). Consumer Preference Coca Cola versus Pepsi-Cola. Global Journal of Management And Business Research, 12(12).