The University Center is looking to improve its brand image and food offerings. Shanna Isaacs proposes conducting qualitative research through focus groups and interviews with UC students and residents to understand: 1) What strengths of the UC cafeteria are important and how the shopping experience could be improved through new products. 2) The role that price and food options play in encouraging or inhibiting a positive experience. 3) Methods would include 2-6 focus groups of 5-6 students each, including those with and without meal plans, to be conducted in the UC cafe and classrooms. 2-4 in-depth interviews also proposed. Reporting would provide highlights, comprehensive findings summary, and in-person presentation.

1. New Product Concept
Qualitative Research Proposal
March 27, 2014
Shanna Isaacs

2. background
• The University Center (UC) is conveniently located in the South Loop on the second
floor of the UC, offering an assortment of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, as well as
snacks, frozen meals, sweet treats and refreshments throughout the day. They are trying to
build a better brand image and make themselves the number one food choice for students.
• UC residents and students living in affiliated buildings (dorms) can use their ID card or
meal plan ID to swipe and pay. Residents who live in the suite-style units are required to
have a meal plan. Residents in the apartment side have the option of signing up for a meal
plan or using flex dollars. Guests and residents have an a la carte option as well.
Residents can add money to the UC dining accounts online. No options for students
living off campus, unless they’re signed in as a guest with a UC resident.
• Shanna’ Research Associates (SRA) believe it is important to market to students and
residents of the UC because:
• Spending power: students and UC residents have a lot of spending power. Important to connect
and build a loyal brand following from the start. We want people to come back more often.
• Promotional opportunity: When school cafeteria experiences are good, students will boast and
spread good word of mouth, creating opportunities for the future

3. research objectives
• To better understand what key strengths the University
Center Cafeteria has that are important to students who
consume goods there often
• Identify what ways the shopper experience could be
improved through new product introductions
• Exploring the role that price and food options play in
encouraging or inhibiting a positive shopping
experience

4. method
• I recommend conducting 2-6 focus groups (5-6
people each) held in the classroom and another
location. One segment will be current students
who used to have a meal plan but don’t
anymore, and the other segment is residents
who currently have a meal plan.
• SRA will be using the classroom and the UC to
conduct the focus groups. SRA will attempt to
conduct at least one focus group in the UC
Café during their meal if students pass
screeners and are willing to participate.
• Furthermore, insights from 2-4 in-depth
interviews will be used.

5. selecting the best method
Focus Group In-Depth Interview
Advantages • Allows for synergistic
discussion and access
to many people and
opinions at once
• Great for projective
exercises/taste
tests/hands on
experience
• Easy observation of
verbal and non-verbal
responses
• In-depth
understanding of the
current satisfaction
level and use of a
product/service
• Unbiased by others’
opinions
Disadvantages • Group think, based on
recall, limited location
• Scheduling a meeting
with students who
have end-of-the-
semester
• Time consuming
• Based on recall
• Lacks incubation time
• Limited locations

6. recruiting specifications
45 minute groups (4-6 people per group). Respondents recruited based on the following
criteria:
• Has purchased more than $10 of food from the University Center (UC) cafeteria or a South
Loop restaurant within the past month
• Are not a “price only” shopper – They don’t typically buy only the lowest price item. Price
can be important, but they also take into account convenience and features.
• Recruit practical style seekers. These are basically people who like and appreciate good
design that brings a specific look and feel to a restaurant but they don’t want to pay a lot for
it.
• Mix of males and females per session
• Mix of ethnicity
• Mix on household income
• Mix of ages per group
• Mix of residents in the UC and/or students going to Columbia College Chicago, Roosevelt,
DePaul, or Robert Morris
• Security: No one in food service at the UC café, or working for the UC in any way
• Past participation: Not past six months, never on UC cafeteria or South Loop food options
• Articulation: please no heavy accents, looking for participants who can clearly articulate
their opinions.

7. recruiting specifications (cont.)
• In preparing the estimate, we have proposed three
different methods of recruiting:
Recruiting of students in the classroom if they meet the
screening criteria
Recruiting students I know who meet the criteria to participate,
and get them to recruit friends as well
Asking people purchasing from the UC café to participate in
the study

8. areas of investigation
• A detailed Discussion Guide will be submitted upon approval, but at this time SRA
envisions discussing the following topics:
What the UC Café Stands For
• How familiar are you with
the UC café?
• Do you currently have a
meal plan?
• Describe the UC café
experience.
• Unique attributes?
• Projective exercises:
- Personification – if the UC
café were a celebrity who
would it be?
- The UC café is on the
psychiatrist couch. Why?
• What you would tell
incoming freshmen asking
if they should get a meal
plan
Ways the Experience could be
Improved
• How could the UC diner
experience be improved?
• What do you think of the
brands that are there? Any
missing?
• What other types of food
would you like them to offer?
• What features do other South
Loop food options offer that
you would like at the UC
• Could the layout of the UC be
improved? How?
• What can make the café
space ideal? Describe a
previous café experience that
was better.
Role of Price and Food Options
• With food, how do you know
you’re getting a good value?
• How do prices at the UC
diner compare to other food
options?
• What price range would you
desire?
• Payment preference?
• Projective exercise:
- Sentence completion
- “If I could change one thing
about the UC diner it would
be ___.”
- If the UC prices were kept
the same, but they added the
option of ___, then I would
go there more often.

9. reporting
Included in presenting the findings:
• Highlights along the way
• Comprehensive summary and
analysis of findings from the focus
groups
• In-person report to talk
through the learning, and answer
questions