A finished MKT-445 Topic 1 decision problem statement example, turning an ice cream maker's vague attitude study into a launch decision, stated alternatives and an action standard set before fieldwork. Searches like "mkt 445 topic 1 assignment example", "mkt445 topic 1 sample" and "mkt-445 topic 1 example" land here.
What a finished MKT-445 Topic 1 decision problem statement looks like
Short as it is, most of the finished statement concerns what the research will not do. It quotes the original request, a study of how shoppers feel about sugar, and shows that no finding from such a study would tell the company what to do on Monday. It then names the decision: launch four reduced-sugar flavors next spring, launch two, or hold. Each alternative is costed in a line, all figures labeled illustrative, including an estimated $180,000 for new packaging and slotting fees at two supermarket chains. The research problem follows from the decision: estimate trial intent among current category buyers and the share of that trial likely to come out of the company's own regular pints. An action standard closes the statement, agreed with the owner before any data exists.
How an MKT-445 Topic 1 example is structured
Three questions organize the statement: what was asked, which choice is pending and which result would settle it. An opening paragraph quotes the owner's request and names the gap between an interesting topic and a question with a use. A decision section states the choice, the three alternatives and the date it must be made, since a finding arriving after the slotting deadline is worth nothing. The research problem is then derived in one sentence and broken into three information needs: trial intent, cannibalization of existing pints and the price shoppers expect. A section on what the company already knows lists its scanner data from one chain and a trade article on reduced-sugar sales, so research does not repeat them. The action standard follows, written as the result that would trigger each alternative. A last line records the owner's agreement to that standard.
The original request quoted and returned
A study of feelings about sugar appears in the owner's words, followed by the observation that no result from it would change what the company does.
Three alternatives, each with a cost
Launching four flavors, launching two or holding are set out with their packaging and slotting costs, so the research is sized against the money at stake.
A deadline the research must beat
Slotting agreements with the two chains close in the autumn, and a finding delivered after that date could only describe a decision already made.
Information needs derived from the choice
Trial intent, cannibalization of the regular pints and expected price each follow from the launch decision, and nothing appears on the list without that connection.
What the company already holds
Scanner data from one chain and a trade report on reduced-sugar sales are listed first, so new research is spent only where existing evidence stops.
An action standard agreed in advance
The owner signs off on the result that would trigger each alternative before fieldwork, which prevents the findings from being read to fit a preference afterward.
Where marks go in MKT-445 Topic 1
Statements that restate a topic of interest, consumer attitudes or market trends, and call it a research problem forfeit the most, since nothing in them says what anyone will do with the answer. A decision named without alternatives leaves the next gap, because research can only help choose between options somebody has actually listed. Drafts often skip the deadline, and research arriving after a commitment has been signed is history rather than input. Information needs that do not follow from the decision, demographic profiles collected because surveys usually include them, inflate the study and its cost. Ignoring data the company already holds invites the question of why nobody consulted it. An action standard written after the results arrive, or never written at all, leaves the findings free to be read however the owner hoped.
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MKT-445 Topic 1 questions, answered
What is the difference between a management decision problem and a marketing research problem?
The management decision problem asks what the decision-maker should do, such as whether to launch a product line. The marketing research problem asks what information is needed to make that choice well, such as estimated trial and cannibalization. Many marketing research texts, Malhotra's among them, treat the pairing as the first step in any project, because the second has no boundaries until the first is written down.
What is an action standard?
A statement, agreed before data is collected, of the result that would lead to each course of action. In the example, trial intent above a set level among category buyers triggers the four-flavor launch, a middle band triggers two flavors and anything lower means holding. Writing it in advance protects the study from being interpreted to support whatever the decision-maker already preferred.
Why list what the company already knows?
Because paying to learn something already on file wastes the budget and delays the decision. The ice cream maker holds scanner data showing how its pints sell at one chain and can read published trade coverage of reduced-sugar products. Listing those sources first narrows the new research to what they cannot answer, chiefly how the company's own buyers would respond to its own product.