Operations “A” 8 marks
1 (a) Explain two reasons why Dee used sampling when carrying out a questionnaire.
Reason 1: Reduce costs
Explanation: if only a % of the Dee’s target market of homeowners are surveyed this means less staff will be needed to carry out the questionnaires.
This will mean a lower cost for market research and as Dee can use the capital saved on promotional activities
Reason 2: More accurate results
Explanation: as potential customers considering decorating can be targeted,
so answers only relate to potential customers and results are not influenced by answers from people not interested in the service.
Operations “B” 12 marks
(b) Explain the following three methods of promotion DVP could use. Which method should DEE
use? Justify your answer.
• Leaflets
• Advertise in local newspaper
• Social media
Leaflets: Handed out in the streets to a wide range of people and can be delivered to households and offices that may require painting– giving a wide distribution to potential customers.
However, home owners may not read the leaflets and just throw them away – waste of money and ineffective.
Advertising: Relatively cheap to place advertisements compared to national advertising – reduces advertising costs as only targeting local home owners/too expensive for a new business. However, many younger households do not read newspapers and so may not see the advertising.
Social Media: Social media is the cheapest of the three methods and can easily be seen by many home owners. This will be especially effective if regular customers put favourable posts about DVP cleaning services. This will not need DVP to do anything or spend money printing leaflets or paying for advertising.
However, customers may not trust posts on social media – may think they are fake.
Recommendation: As the business is new then it will need to keep marketing costs low and therefore leaflets might be the best method to use as they are low cost. They can be put through the doors of prospective customers and may be more effective in directly targeting these customers. These customers may not read local newspapers and social media may not reach them and take a long time to build an audience.
OR
Alternative Recommendation: Advertising in local newspapers is likely to reach the target market in the local area as the business is a service and is only aimed at the local population. Social media may be less effective as it will reach a wide range of people who may not all live locally to DVP. Leaflets may not be seen by busy homeowners.
