Market & Consumer Survey students at Loyola University Chicago partnered with Chicago Fair Trade (CFT) to explore how to launch a fair trade soccer ball product line to generate new revenue streams and increase awareness of the fair trade mission. Initial results from a descriptive survey are presented here representing a 10% response rate with 189 cases of data collected from people who have opted into CFT's email list as well as undergraduate business and communications students. This represents an application of service-learning in the context of a required marketing course to earn a Bachelors of Business Administration. Eighty-two students participated in the project to be renewed in the Fall of 2010.
Market Research Service Learning Project: Loyola University Chicago and Chicago Fair Trade
1. Mark 311 Market & Consumer Survey Fall semester Data analysis solutions set Presented to Nancy Jones 2 December 2009
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3. Research Methodology Formulate Problem Determine Data Collection Method Determine Research Design Design Data Collection Forms Analyze and Interpret the Data Prepare the Research Report Design Sample and Collect Data
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5. Sample plan: Non-probability Convenience Some snowball Results: 10% response Rate with no follow-up message needed!
11. How often do you play soccer? Answer Options Response Percent Response Count Never 85.9% 146 1-2 times per month 11.8% 20 3-4 times per month 1.2% 2 5-6 times per month 0.0% 0 7 or more times per month 1.2% 2 answered question 170 skipped question 0
12. How frequently do you purchase soccer balls? Answer Options Response Percent Response Count Several times a year 2.4% 4 Once a year 7.1% 12 Once every 2 years 3.5% 6 Once every 3 years 4.1% 7 Once every 4+ years 6.5% 11 Never 76.5% 130 answered question 170 skipped question 0
13. How much to you usually pay for a sport ball? Answer Options Response Percent Response Count $30 or less 25.9% 44 $31-$40 5.9% 10 $41-$50 5.3% 9 $51-$60 0.6% 1 $61 or more 0.6% 1 I do not purchase sport balls. 61.8% 105 answered question 170 skipped question 0
14. What is your gender? Answer Options Response Percent Response Count Female 79.4% 131 Male 20.6% 34 answered question 165 skipped question 5
Management Decision Problem: ? Research Objectives: Determine which types of schools will be best receive the product. CFT has a dual purpose in selling the soccer balls, and this fact has led the organization to target schools. Targeting schools would allow CFT to sell the balls, and it would also provide a platform for the education aspect of its mission. If this strategy is to be undertaken, it is important to determine which schools should be targeted. Grade schools, middle schools, and high schools all experience very different issues in regards to athletics. As a result, schools in each of these categories will possess different values in their athletic programs. For instance, the competitive level of athletic programs will vary across these categories. Factors such as this may have an effect on the school’s willingness to use FTS balls. Another potentially important factor is whether the school is public or private. For example, a private Catholic school may place a higher value on the mission of fair trade than a public school. Issues such as this can have a great impact of the on an institution’s interest in switching to fair trade balls. Determine what geographic area of Chicago land will best receive the product. CFT must determine whether they will be most successful in schools in Chicago or in the suburbs. For instance, the bureaucratic situation of a school can have a large effect on the ease at which a school can switch to fair trade balls. It will most likely be easier to partner with suburban schools in providing school soccer teams with soccer balls. Alternatively, working with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) would require the navigation of a large bureaucracy. There is also a potential benefit of working with CPS if the large bureaucracy can be navigated, partnering with a larger system of schools can produce far more sales than a smaller system could. A focus on different neighborhoods may even affect the success of the product. It is important to consider that attitudes about the mission of CFT may have higher support in particular neighborhoods or towns. These attitudes may greatly affect the success of the soccer ball sales in an area. Discover which advertising techniques will generate shopper traffic to website. Aside from targeting schools, CFT also noted that it will be offering the product on its website. Since very little resources are available to launch the product, the website will be an inexpensive way to provide the general public with an opportunity to purchase fair trade soccer balls. CFT must determine inexpensive methods it can use to effectively and cheaply increase awareness of the product, and it must determine methods to direct these consumers to the website. Furthermore, the organization must discover other ways to generate a flow of shopper traffic to its website. Determine the demographics of people who consume other fair trade products. By examining the demographics of people who already consume fair trade products, CFT can gain insight into the types of people who are likely to be interested in expanding their use of fair trade products. Once determining what this group of consumers looks like, CFT can target them through its website. The organization can also gain insight into the question of which areas are expected to warmly receive the product.
The number of people aware of all of the products seems unusually high. Most of the people in our class had never heard of CFT and this survey was given to a large number of students. The method of sampling may have skewed the results so one could question the rest of the responses. If this is truly a random sample, this graph would seem to indicate that sport balls are a viable option
The lack of men involved in the survey is a point of concern. While much of the data indicates soccer balls may not be a good choice, only 34 men were surveyed. It would be nice to have the opinion of more men, especially those that have more buying power than students. 3
This graph shows that if CFT decides to go ahead with soccer balls, it should not target students. Much of the data from this survey negatively reflects on the soccer ball choice, but one must also consider the amount of student respondents. As a student, I would not be likely to purchase a product like this, but as I grow older (have more money, kids) my thinking will likely change. Although we recommend CFT does not continue with soccer balls, if they are to move forward, they need to talk to more professionals.
Keep in mind these aspects!
Fair Trade already has an advantage over brand names. This is most likely because of their mission. Shouldn’t necessarily focus on being like brand name.
Perhaps different ways to market. Nearly everyone knows about fair trade coffee and tea. Can we use these to begin marketing sports balls?