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Preparing to Conduct Business Research Part I Griselda Carrasco, Jennifer Pastore, Ingrid Rodriguez RES/351 March 16, 2014 Ruzanna Topchyan

Preparing to Conduct Business Research Part 1
Innovation is needed in all business varieties. Organizations that sell a service or products have to consistently come up with new ideas in order to keep a competitive edge. It is difficult to grow without adding new products, specifically for smaller businesses. Research is needed in order to determine which products will be successful, and how to present these products to attract more customers. A popular beverage company is currently looking to add an energy drink to their selection. Their current beverage line includes a variety of sodas, sports drinks, water, vitamin water, and teas. In order to compete with other beverage companies they need to present something that will attract current energy drinkers, coffee drinkers, athletes, and sport fans.
Problem Statement
The beverage company has drinks in most classifications that compete with other popular drinks on the market. The organization is looking into the opportunity of marketing a new energy drink. When starting this process the company wants to know, “What matters more to consumers when purchasing an energy drink: taste, price, or duration of energy?”
Research Purpose
The goal of this research is to understand what consumers want from an energy drink. If the company can obtain this information, it will make things easier in the production process. The popularity of energy drinks on the market is increasing, and making it necessary to introduce a product that is unique in taste, price, and satisfaction.
Significance of Finding a Solution
Understanding consumer wants and needs will benefit the company. It will help with the production of this new energy drink. The beverage company needs an energy drink that can compete with other leading brands like Red Bull, Monster and 5 Hour energy drink, which currently takes the lead in sales. Therefore, delivering what customers are asking for will possibly make this new energy drink above all the rest, and raise company profits.
Scope of Research The research process will begin with a survey. The study’s main goal is an investigation of what people are looking for in an energy drink. The survey will interview coffee drinkers, athletes, construction workers, college students, and sport fans. This is a wide selection of people to gather a significant amount of data. The company wants to know if taste, high energy, or price acquires the attention of a customer when making a selection.
Research Questions The main question of the survey is, “What factors relate to a customer’s decision to buy an energy drink: taste, high energy, or price?” There are numerous broken down questions to follow the main question: What is an appropriate price for this energy drink? What is your favorite flavor? How many hours should the energy in the drink last? Is being FDA approved an important factor in your selection choices?
Research Hypothesis The beverage company is hypothesizing that all three factors will be equally important to the participants, but duration of energy being the number one factor. When an individual is purchasing an energy drink, obviously their main focus is energy. After the data is analyzed, the company can first focus on what the participants stated was most important.
Variables
In order to conduct effective research, the sponsor and research team must have an understanding of the variables of the study. The consumer is the independent variable (IV). On the other hand, the taste, price, and duration of energy are the dependent valuables (DV). This is important to understand because the research will study the relationship and effect one has over the other. Furthermore, these variables will govern the result in the research exploratory stage that deals with the collection of data.
Ethical Considerations
Lastly, the research must uphold vital ethical considerations such as avoiding plagiarism, slander and fallacies. Although the research is based on finding to beat the completion, there should be no slander of the other products that are currently on the market. The search should include a subjective version of the features that the new energy drinks without copying or down playing the competitors. Plagiarizing information is also unacceptable. Quotations and authenticity of the work are priorities. Executing good business research is not just about good findings, and more about doing so without violating ethical principles that can ruin a company reputation.
Conclusion
While innovation is essential to must companies, it is also just as important to prepare for the research required prior to testing the introduction of a new product. As expressed in the beginning of this paper, research is needed in order to figure out which products will be successful, and how to present these products to attract more customers. The purpose of this paper was to state a problem in an organization which may be solved by introducing a new product line. It outlined the scope, hypothesis, variable, research questions, and ethical considerations in preparing the business research. Now that all these elements have been identified, there is a clear vision on what needs to be addressed and how to get those answers. The answers need to guarantee the energy drinks will be beneficial to the company.

Resources
Cooper, D., & Schindler, P. (2011). Business Research Methods (11th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.

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