Marketing Research Proposal

Final Assignment—8% of Semester Grade

MKT 381 Marketing Research

Fall 2020

Due: Canvas dropbox by 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Required as a “Turnitin” Assignment on Canvas

You are to be hired as a marketing research consultant ($8,000 and five weeks of work with $2,000 additional money for expenses) for one of the following businesses. Before you are hired, the business owner wants a “proposal” of the work you will provide. You will want to discuss why marketing research is important and what work you will do for the start-up business. You will likely want to suggest some follow-up work 6 months after the business has opened.

Some key points of information given to you are:

• The start-up business will open its doors in 3 months.
• The owner has had a dream of opening this business for quite some time (and is going to open the business with or without your consultancy work).
• The owner has plenty of money to begin the business but not enough to carry the business for more than a year with minimal sales.
• One employee will be hired for the business to help with sales.
• You are not to worry about the logistics of the owner opening and operating the business (e.g., assume that the owner will handle locating and purchasing office equipment, etc.).

It is expected that the paper will be 4 to 5 pages in length (1 ½ spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman, 1” margins). The paper should be written in your own words and credit should be given to all sources—you do not need to quote/source the textbook as we will assume this information is common knowledge. Keep in mind that this is a marketing research plan, not a business plan, so use the business for contextual purposes only. Include page numbers but not contractions.

Business choices:

• An antique store in the Midtown Miami area (a three year lease of approximately 4,000 square feet of retail space for $4,000 per month has been signed). The owner does not have any inventory yet but will begin attending auctions throughout the state.
• A used semi-luxury and sports car lot selling autos between $25,000 and $50,000. The owner has signed a lease for a lot on Biscayne Blvd. just south of 123^rd which will hold approximately 35 cars at any given time. The owner will purchase cars at auction in Fort Lauderdale. Additionally, the car lot can finance purchases by customers.
• A cremation business located in the Miami Shores area. A small office (a three year lease of $1,500 per month) will be needed to meet with individuals/families for arrangement purposes but no funeral home is required. Additionally, the business outsources the actual cremation process.

Again, this is not a proposal for a business plan nor is it for a “market research” plan—this is a marketing research proposal. You should explain what marketing research is, why it is important and show what information and terminology you have learned through the semester (in the context of the chosen business). You should not do “research” on the business or discuss too much about the business.