Week 4 Discussion 2

In this discussion, Sara and Jason crave to conclude whether confusing factors for customers, is related to merchandise location and availability of goods. They also want to know if this is what is causing sales to decline and repeat visits of the consumers with the help of observational study. Observational study is a type of study in which the investigator only observes behavior in an organized manner without influencing or interfering with the behavior. In order to complete this task Sara decided to go with a subcontractor, Market Views. The observation study will identify specific types of shopper confusion in the store and the sales and the sales associate’s response to that confusion (Cooper & Schindler, 2011).

Investigative questions are specific types of questions the researcher must answer to satisfactorily answer the research question; what the manager feels he or she needs to know to arrive at a conclusion about the management dilemma (Cooper & Schindler, 2011). The investigative questions that could have been used to guide Jason and Sara’s mechanical observational study are:

What does the average customer want?

Do we provide products and services that meet the customer needs?

Are our sales people versed in the products we offer?

Should we rearrange our products in the store?

Should we have expensive products in the front of the store and cheaper products in the back?

Is seasonality affecting the sales of our products?

What is the demographic of our shoppers?

What is the income level of our shopper?

Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2011). Business research methods (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.