Market And Business Research Methods: Introduction And Overview

Subject Overview

The Tourism Australia is the statutory authority that is mandated by the Government of Australia in promoting Australia as tourist destination at both local and global levels and conducts research and projections for this sector. Tourism Australia was commissioned in 2004 and facilitates coordination of activities of institutions such as Australian Tourist Commission and Tourism Forecasting council. Market segmentation identifies and prioritizes on individuals’ needs, preferences and expects variations in traits from products and services that people have experiences with or purchase.

The number of tourists keeps fluctuating in every season and at times tourism industry gets adversely affected and some of the factors that lead to poor performance can be corrected. The management of the Tourism Australia faces significant challenges in market Australia as the best tourist destination. The purpose of this research is to reveal whether the marketing approaches adopted to market Sydney are effective, to identify whether Sydney is costly as many tourists claim and to identify which are the most preferred spots in Sydney that are visited frequently by tourists.

Segmentation of the market entails identifying that individuals have variation in their tastes, attitudes and lifestyles. Segmentation is a deliberate strategy of maximizing demand by channeling all marketing endeavors to create niche for itself to cater to all consumers. Segmentation entails scrutinizing a heterogenous market through a smaller number of homogenous markets. The smaller markets can be identified by varying consumer behavior, needs and preferences. For segmentation to be managerially important, each segment has to be available in terms of accessibility and measurability. The research focuses on Tourism in Australia and promotes Australia as a tourist destination nationally and globally.

The youth markets

The youth constitute of the group that have below average incomes, great enthusiasm when it comes to travelling and are more likely to engage in activities such as sports that are adventure oriented and other activities that are linked to raise levels of adrenaline (Schneider, 2018). Focusing on Sydney, as potential attractor of the youth market has segments that are considered as the most appealing and are discussed below.

Nature is considered as the most appealing experience that many youths like to have and has a high appeal across all markets. Sydney’s wild flora and fauna, scenic beauty all acts as unique gateway and holiday destination for the youths in this generation (Schneider, 2018). Sydney has a lot to offer in terms of sea, surf, sun and parasailing activities that remain as the attractions to youths as they feel more connected to nature while still maintaining the ecology.

Learning Objectives

The family market is composed of the above average in terms of education and income and is referred to as the most affluent as compared to other groups in the lifecycle. Most families are shorter-haul tourists due to the busy schedule at work and most often are accompanied with children. Most tourists that fall under this segment of the market concentrate on vacation holidays that are soothing and are rejuvenated only after a hectic schedule of work and life.

Taste and try

Tourists entering Australia as learners are branded as tyro travelers that are attracted to trendy famous destinations in Australia such as Sydney. This cohort of tourists rely on the recommendations from travelers that have experience in the region and frequent many attractions looking out for sun, sea and nightlife.

SWOT analysis for Sydney

Sydney is a well-travelled destination with lots of many travelers backpacking along the Coast. In order to understand and gain some insight it is important to conduct SWOT analysis for Australia. The analysis describes the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats.

Strengths

Australia and in this case, Sydney is popular as a backpacker’s tourism center. Sydney takes pride of the presence of world class nature. In accordance to a report that was released by Tourism Australia, the top three things that are most appealing in Australia are: the sandy beaches, wildlife and the Great Barrier Reef (Schneider, 2018). However, the casinos and luxury facilities have been ranked as the least attractive to many tourists.

The other strength is the safe environment that Sydney provides. The sole reason why Sydney is a safe haven for backpackers to travel is due to the existence of a stable political system, low crime rate, good infrastructure in terms of quality roads and adequate health care systems. Generally, Australia is a western nation with a good economy and facilities that are ranked as of good quality and this makes it easier to travel for the backpackers in places such as Sydney.

Weaknesses

The first drawback stems from notoriety of Sydney over the years. Since Sydney is popular among many travelers that frequent the place this means that there are problems with scarcity of tours and lodging facilities more so during the peak seasons and summer holidays. Tourists encounter inflexibility in travelling as it is impossible to visit some places since there is no time left to see the famous spots during the journey.

Tourism Australia

The second drawback is that life in Australia is expensive. According to statistics by Tourism Australia,83% of the tourists find Sydney an expensive destination in Australia (Bakker, 2016). This makes the cost of living so high due to the high standards of living in Sydney making lodging and travelling an all expensive affair in Sydney. The cost of food is also exorbitant in hotels and restaurants and acts as a hinderance to many travelers to eat in such places as they cannot afford such delicacies.

Opportunities

The economies in Asia are fast growing and this presents an opportunity for cities such as Sydney that happens to be a popular tourist destination in Australia (Bakker, 2016). Because of the close proximity of Asia to Australia, many Asian tourists visit and travel to Australia. Asian people spend a substantial amount of money while travelling which is good for the tourism industry and the general Australian economy in popular destinations such as Australia. The GDP of Australia has seen increases over years and it has been noted that Asia was the most contributor.

Hefty investments in the tourism infrastructure provides another opportunity. Australia takes pride in being at the eighth position among the top 10 countries with the largest tourism industry and this develops interest to invest heavily in this specific industry (Shankman, 2013).

Threats

The fluctuating rates of the foreign exchange currencies is one major threat to tourism industry in Sydney (Shankman, 2013). Tourism Australia conducted a survey that revealed that more than 63% of the travelers are impacted negatively by fluctuations in the world currencies (Bakker, 2016). It was also estimated that approximately 67% of the tourists spend less money due to the implications of the currency fluctuations.

Tourism has also been linked to causing environmental degradation in Sydney and other tourist destinations in Sydney. It has been noted that tourism indeed has led to grave damages in various mature sights in Australia. A perfect example is the great Barrier Reef and the Sydney harbor where tourism has led to increased pollutants that damage the ecosystem in the sea and the surrounding.

Descriptive design is the preferred design for conducting this research as helps provide answers to some questions such as who, what and where and how they are linked with a specific research problem (Vogt, Gardner, & Haeffele, 2012). Descriptive design helps in obtaining information regarding the current status to a particular situation and provides a detailed description of what exists in terms of variables or parameters in a situation (Leedy & Ormrod, 2013). Descriptive design is important in this research as it will yield substantial data needed for making the recommendations part (Gorard, 2013). The approach is crucial as it facilitates collection of large amount of data necessary for data analysis.

Market Segmentation

Data collection Strategy and Distribution

The process of conducting an online focus group

Schedule groups to run at a time that suits participants

It is important to schedule the online group early enough so that the participants have ample time to organize themselves (Booker, 2017). It is necessary to confirm with the participants the best time that is convenient for everyone. The evening sessions tend to work best for most of the participants. Timing can also be dependent on demographic and location of the participant.

It is also recommended that a time groups should take a maximum of 90 minutes.

It is after 90 minutes of discussion that most participants start developing fatigue making the quality of discussion deteriorate (Booker, 2017). Attendance and participation is greatly enhanced when all participants have access to a computer or big screen that is internet connected and are confident using such gadgets. The large screens are favorable for online focus groups as they enable sharing of images and texts on the screen while promoting interaction with the participants over online chats.

A research plan is the most fundamental aspect of an online process. Getting it right enables one to have a template model that can be employed in future cutting down the preparation time employed in developing focus groups (Booker, 2017). In identifying visual materials needed to be presented during a group session, it is crucial to spend enough time scribbling down ideas and creating rough outlines to be used in a chat timeline. This will help in planning for the digital material such as images that will be uploaded in the media manager for online focus groups.

A group of 7 to 10

In conducting an online focus group, it is recommended to use a group that is composed of 7 to 10 participants. If the participants are less than 6, the level of interaction needed may not be reached in maximizing the results and a number of more than 10 participants may be a challenging task for the moderator to manage. Trust will be developed between the participant and the moderator is developed through sending personalized messages.

Develop a moderator control panel

It is recommended that the moderator logs into the group earlier before the scheduled time so as to greet and welcome the participants as they arrive. A warm up task should be incorporated in the discussion group. A warm up discussion enables the moderator to assess the speed of the chats while at the same time profiling the participants’ chat. The moderator control panel enhances running an online focus group easy with just a click of the mouse.

Youth Market

Misinterpretation of questions

As compared to a face-to-face focus group the moderator may raise a question and if the participants do not fathom the question then the moderator can paraphrase or explain again (Clark, 2017). With online groups this may be hard as any problem that arises may only be identified following scrutiny of the posted answers by the participants.

The rate of participant’s dropping out is high

The participants of online focus group drop out easily during the process. This is the case in the event they perceive the research as being monotonous or too demanding (Clark, 2017). However, with a face-to-face focus group, it is almost impossible for the participant to walk out in front of other participants and leave the focus group. Face-to-face participants also find it difficult to abandon the entire process as they have invested in terms of time and cost in making it to the venue.

It is difficult to identify non-verbal cues

With online focus groups it is impossible for the moderator to identify non-verbal cues such as tonal variation and body language in answering questions by the participants. However, in practicality, such cues are difficult to establish in face-face focus groups as they can be interpreted wrongly as they could be simulated by the setting of the group.

Turnaround times

An online focus group can be run in a fraction of the time required to conduct face-to-face groups (Clark, 2017). The face-to-face groups may be conducted in a matter of weeks, online groups can only take weeks and this is fundamentally because they do not need to book venues for conducting focus groups in advance. It is also worth to note that recruitment is faster since it is done online and results are made available instantly.

Cost

An online focus group has a significant advantage over the face-to-face focus groups as there are no expenses incurred in form of travel or accommodation for rental premises.

Geographical widespread

The online focus groups enable participants from diverse geographical regions to participate and this includes areas that have no access to viewing facilities.

Ability to handle sensitive topics

An online focus group is able to handle topics or subjects that are sensitive or private to the participant (Clark, 2017). The sole reason behind handling such sensitive topics is partly because of the inability of participants to see each other and also because the participant only answers privately to the moderator.

Family Market

Process of conducting an online survey

The internet provides great anonymity providing an ideal environment for conducting an online survey. An online survey reveals true opinions of the respondents as well as facilitating sharing of ideas in a comfortable and safe environment (Smart Survey, n.d.). The process of building an online survey entails following the steps as outlined below.

Before conducting a research, it is important to have a general overview of the expected outcome. Having an ideal target audience is important as it determine if the surveys are for the general public (Leider, 2011). It is the answers derived from such questions that help to design a survey based on targeted respondents.

Create a list of questions

A survey can accommodate a number of different kind of questions that can utilized in a survey for instance, open ended questions, closed questions and single or multi based questions (SurveyMethods, 2018). In drafting the survey, it is important to keep the language easy to understand in order to eliminate cases of ambiguity.one benefit with the online survey is that the participants do not have to answer questions that are irrelevant to them.

Invite the participants

There are many strategies that can be used to invite individuals to take part in an online survey. The nature of the people that you want to take part in an online survey define the method that is best to contact such individuals. An email can be sent to a subscriber list or the survey can be posted on social media platforms such as Facebook. However, in the case that some individual wishes to collect information from a wider geographical region then the online surveys can be sent through the SMS or place designed banners in other websites.

Gather responses

It is crucial to monitor the response rate as the sample size to be used in research depends on the number of participants that have complete the survey. An incentive can be given in the form of a gift to the participants so that they can increase the response rate. Another way to ensure a high response rate is promising the participants that they will get the results after the research.

Analyze results

Visualizing data through presentation in the form of graphs and charts will help in referencing results in the reports. Text analysis and word clouds can be utilized in establishing common trends. The data can also be printed inform of spreadsheets which then can be exported for analysis. Online surveys facilitate storage of data automatically so that one can start analysis of the results immediately. In many instances, one can monitor the preliminary results while the survey is still ongoing.

Tyro Travelers

Writing a report

The last process involved in conducting online surveys entails writing a report that explains the findings and ascertaining whether the results have met the research goals (Jorgenson, 2013). A successful survey includes answers that are reliable as per the questions raised concerning the research. When online surveys are used correctly, they can reveal about major influences in a particular area of research. The process of conducting an online survey is cheap and easy.

Allows automation and access

The respondents input their responses that are electronically stored in automatic mode. This makes the analysis easier as it can be streamlined and made available instantly.

Takes less time

With the online surveys, there is massive deployment with immediate return periods with the online surveys something that cannot be attained using conventional methods.

The respondents have the flexibility of answering the questions in an online survey at the time and pace and can start and complete the survey at a later date.

No interviewer

Respondents may be more willing to share their personal and confidential information since they are not disclosing such information directly to another individual (Cvent, 2016). Interviewers as it has been noted are more likely to impact responses in some events

Limited sampling and availability of the respondent

The internet related limitations that arise due to some areas not having internet connectivity makes it difficult for respondents from such areas responding promptly to the online surveys (Wile, 2017). It is also difficult to draw probability spaces based on the provided email addresses or website visitations.

Despite the fact that online surveys from various fields are attaining faster responses than the traditional methods of data collection, due to the increase of scams, internet users may ignore advances made to them as they may consider such advances as scams.

The lack of a skilled interviewer who can clarify and question can lead to collection of data that lacks credibility.

Conclusion

As per the Tourism Australia Act of 2004, Tourism Australia has been mandated to help develop a sustainable tourism environment in Australia which has been difficult to establish for many decades due to poor marketing strategies and poor governance of the statutory authority. Sustainable tourism is the main focus for the tourism industry in Australia. The Government has put in place initiatives such as the Tourism White paper designed to attain growth and provide wider synergy to cut across all sectors. It provides guidelines for structural change in supporting and enabling growth of the tourism industry in Australia.