Preparing to Conduct Business Research

Preparing to Conduct Business Research

Movie theatre owners are preparing to conduct research to find out how to stop movie goers from brining their own food into the theatre, instead of purchasing the products from the concession stands inside the theatre. Business research is an important tool used to provide essential information to a company to ensure their success. There are key steps in the research process such as research questions, hypotheses, variables, ethical considerations; as well as discussing the significance, scope, magnitude, and feasibility of finding a solution to the issue, opportunity, or problem.
Research Questions 1. Is it ethical to sneak snacks into a movie theater? 2. What happens if a person gets caught sneaking snacks into a movie theater? 3. Why does the food at movie theaters cost so much? 4. How do movie theaters make their money? Going to the movies has become an extravagant commodity. The sale of a movie ticket have gone up and doubled in price. An individual looks for ways to downplay the expenses of a day at the movies. Sometimes a person just wants to sit back and enjoy a snack and a drink while watching a movie, but does not want to pay the high price for it. It seems as though some movie theaters concerns themselves more with the food at the concession stands than the movies it shows. So, people feel obligated, whether right or wrong, toward sneaking food into the movie theater. He or she runs the risk of getting caught by sneaking in his or her own food. If caught, he or she could become banned from watching future movies in the theater. A movie theater deluges lots of money into research to acquire the knowledge needed for competitiveness. Snacks cost so much in movie theaters because of the theater’s uniqueness. If an individual gets hunger pains or becomes thirsty in a typical movie theater, he or she has an option to purchase snacks or remain hungry. The movie theater commits sufficient resources to organize business research prior toward selling their products. The concession stands usually the only permitted source for food and drink, and has a low profit margin whereas its executive could authorize a large surcharge on its marketing.
Hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: If the movie theater offers a variety of snacks, such as: Sun Chips, Doritos, popcorn, various candies, and various drinks then more people would be willing to buy snacks at the theater rather than bringing their own. Some people want a healthier choice than just buttery popcorn and various candies. Hypothesis 2: If we offer “meal deals” by combining popular items with a choice item and cut the price a little, more people will purchase the foods and snacks we offer. The prices have gone up substantially so if the movie theater runs a deal with what is offered, it will make it more affordable allowing more people to splurge on it. If large popcorn, 2 large drinks, and a candy choice are usually $12.00, make the offer large popcorn, 2 large drinks, and a choice food for $9.50 with coupon offered on-line or with a matinee and $10.00 deal for later shows as they usually bring in more customers. Variables: One variable to consider regarding the issue of people/customers sneaking in their own food is the loss of revenue for the movie theatre. The independent variable would be the sneaking of food in whereas the dependent variable would be the loss of revenue. Movie theatres are historically known for extremely inflated prices at the concession stands within the actual theatre. Perhaps if the theatres lowered their prices, people would not feel the need to sneak their own food in. In many cases, items being brought in to theatres are similar to the ones sold at the concession stand. The biggest differences; aside from variety, is the ultimate cost. Another dependent variable to consider could be the need to downsize employee headcount because there is not a significant amount of money being generated at the concession stand. Security and inspection may also need to be a subject that is visited in the research of this issue. Ethical Considerations The ethical considerations that must be taken into account are both personal and business oriented. From the viewpoint of personal ethics, it really comes down to a question of morals. If an individual feels it is morally correct to sneak food into the theater to save a few dollars, even as they paid for the movie ticket, then it is deemed ethical. From the standpoint of the theater, if they feel that their pricing for their concessions is fair, and they prefer not to have people bring food in from outside sources, then that would be deemed ethical. Overall, the consumers should respect what the theater is providing, an opportunity to see a movie at a price, with the amenities provided within. The theaters, in turn, should respect the fact that not everyone will want to purchase concessions from their establishment and have some flexibility to maintain their customer base. Theaters everywhere deal with people that sneak in their own food and drinks. I believe that the magnitude of this issue is that no matter how much variety of food you sale people will still bring their own food because theaters are always so expensive. It may stop some people if they want fresh food or a refill. If there was a way to check people without getting in trouble then the feasibility of people bringing their own food and drinks could happen. If they knew that you could check them then they would get scared of losing their ticket and money therefore they will buy from you. If theaters lowered their prices so that would really help with people wanting to buy from you or even give some good deals like buy two burgers and get some free popcorn. So from what we know you can’t stop it without checking people but you can lower it by changing prices. It is very important and significant to find a way to solve the problem of customers sneaking their own food into the movie theater because the concessions are where the money is made. For most movie theaters the money that is made from selling tickets is used to pay for the rent of the building and all of the utilities. The concession money is the profit that the theater makes. As for the scope, researching prices of food in the theaters versus; the food in the grocery store. The grocery store may sell a 20oz bottle of soda for two dollars but the movie theater sells a 32oz cup of soda for four dollars. Research whether people would rather get more for their money, or pay less and not get as much. The restaurants around the theater also need to be researched for what type of food they sell to see if the theater can match it and make the same things that way customers only have to make one stop. It is important for the theater to figure out if they would be better off selling all different kinds of food at a maybe lower price in order for people to purchase theirs instead of sneaking in food, or if the they just want to stick with common movie theater food and lower their prices to try and get people to purchase it and still make a good profit out of it. The purpose of business research is investigating the problem of customers brining in their own food to the move theatre, and to work towards finding a solution. Business research is essential to the success of a company for several reasons. First business research can identify issues, opportunities, and or problems facing an organization, such as why customers are bringing in their own food. Second, if business research is done properly the results from the process can provide valuable information and ideas or suggestions, such as lowering the price of their products. This information can assist management with preparing a plan of action to resolve the problem.

References
Cooper & Schindler. (2011). Business Research Methods. Retrieved from Cooper & Schindler, RES351 website.