MARK2052 - Markering Research (UNSW) Final Report

8/10/2019 MARK2052 - Markering Research (UNSW) Final Report

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MARK2052 Final Report Client: Harvey Norman Contents:

1. Problem Discovery Stage1. Background2. Literature Review

2. Opportunity Statement1. Management Decision Problem2. Marketing Research Problem3. Research Questions4. Research Objectives

3. Project Timeline4. Project Mindmap5. Research Design and Methodology > details of fieldwork

5.1 Design approaches5.2 Implementation:

examples and timing schedule6. Research Findings

summaries explanations focus groups - transcripts in appendices interviews -transcripts in appendices surveys - responses in appendices

7. Discussion of findings in relation to research objectives & Recommendations8. Limitations and Recommendations of qualitative research conducted9. Further Research - Quantitative Approach (include final survey)10. References11. Appendices

1. Problem Discovery Stage1.1 Background

The purpose of this study is to provide guidance for Harvey Norman in regards toaddressing the changing customer expectations within an industry of growing innovative onlineretailers and competitors. There is also a particular focus on potential Harvey Norman consumersin the Australian context and the clients expressed concern for the development of theirfurniture line. In order to do so we have to understand the structure and nature of the companyand its history.

Harvey Norman (HN) is a large Australian-based franchise that focuses on retail productsfor both the home and the office ranging from electrical, computer & communications, smallappliances, furniture, bedding and Manchester, Home improvements, Lighting and Carpet &Flooring. They operate in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia, Ireland, and Malaysia.The nature of the franchise business means that store culture varies across the board asmanagement style depends upon the operator (Harvey Norman Company Profile, 2012).However, due to the entrepreneurial roots of the business and despite these individual difference,


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Harvey Norman launched its own integrated e-commerce website in 2011 followed by acustomised website for mobiles to provide its customers an integrated omni -channel retailexperience.

With ever-changing consumer expectations and increasing competitors due to technologyadvancements and globalisation, Harvey Norman is working to fulfill the current consumer

needs and expectations. By adapting the ever-growing technological capabilities, platforms andmediums to existing consumer behaviour, they aim to make the purchasing process a simplesmooth and mobile process. Another challenge for Harvey Norman in this regards is a current

business belief that furniture products cannot be sold online limiting their market share andability to compete with other online furniture retailers.

Amidst this evolving retail landscape, Harvey Norman continue to operate under thesame brand promise that customers can shop with confidence at Harvey Norman, pa rticularlyin regards to quality, value and service and this has been since 1982. Whether these values havechanged for the consumers over time, is something that has to be examined.

1.2 Literature Review

The first major hurdle is for Harvey Norman to consider is how to effectively use theironline channel to aid consumers and motivate them to purchase. Research suggests that there is a

positive correlation between the amount of information available online and positive decision-making, up to a certain point where consumers reach a state of information overload (Gao et al.,2012). Information available is generally categorised as either the quantity of choices or thequantity of information for individual products. As a result we aim to discover how muchinformation is ideal for Harvey Norman Customers and what type of information is moreimportant to have.

Whilst research has been done on online-specific retailers, identifying their high degreeof control, lower prices and ease of use as key strengths (Keen et al., 2004) we have to rememberthat Harvey Norman implements both online and in-store retailing. The consequence to this isthat some of the aspects previously identified, such as lower online prices, may not be possiblefor HN. There is then the need to differentiate which values are still upheld and if they aretransferrable to an operator that offers both forms of retailing. Salient factors that motivateconsumers to purchase have been identified as price and choosing their preferred format ofshopping (Keen et al., 2004), suggesting that price may be the most important factor if HN offers

both formats. Other research also suggests that interactivity of the two would assist indifferentiating them from the traditional separate businesses (Javadi et al., 2012).

In order to provide a good value proposition to the consumer, Harvey Norman mustunderstand the Australian consumer attitude towards furniture in general and the importantfactors that contribute to each purchase decision. Past research conducted in a number ofcountries has suggested that females who buy furniture, weigh each of the factors differently, andtend to be more thorough in considering things such as price, design and size compared to theirmale counterpart (Cho & Yoon, 2009). The identified main factors consist of; price, design,quality, and country of origin, however, theres no clear cut towards what is the most importantfactor. Although, alternate research done by Ponder (2013) and Bednarik (2010) has found that,quality is the most important factor in choosing furniture. Nevertheless, these researches areconducted outside of Australia. Consequently we present an analytical framework forunderstanding the Australian consumers preference and importance of each the mentionedfactors for furniture purchases.


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Since furniture is sometimes expensive and serves mostly as an expression of ones ownidentity and personality, an extended decision making process creates the situation whereinformation search can be quite extensive (Ponder 2013). Undeniably, the internet is a valuablesource of information for consumers as it allows immediate comparison between different

products and brands. Research done by Franklin Furniture Institute of Mississippi State

University had found that, majority of the people look at different products and brands beforeactually going to the store. Some even like to browse furniture catalogs even if they arent planning to buy anything. However, the actual purchasing decision for furniture in onlineretailing was nt popular among the majority.

Research that has been conducted recently in Australia by Euromonitor that identifiedthat furniture is one of the least appealing products to online shoppers, indicated by low salesnumbers and slow forecasted growth rate (Euromonitor International 2014). In contrast, the

products that do well on online retailing are clothing apparel, computer software, entertainment,and electronic products. The conflict arises for HN when dealing in multiple productcategories and whether they should approach them differently online. Supplementary study onAustralian online furniture retailing must be conducted to further understand consumer attitudes

and identify reasons why they buy or dont buy furniture from online retailers, potential lyidentifying new opportunities for Harvey Norman.

2. Opportunity Statement

2.1 Management decision problem

Considering the major aspects of the current technological age and Harvey Normans companystructure and history, we have concluded that a suitable management decision problem would be:

How can Harvey Norman update their online and in-store infrastructure in order tocombat emerging e-Commerce savvy competition and evolving customer expectations,

particularly in regards to their furniture department?

2.2 Marketing Research Problems

From a marketing perspective, the management problem can be deconstructed into thefollowing marketing research problem:

When making either in-store or online purchases, how are current HN consumersaffected by the retaile rs online presence during their information search evaluation stages.

Are current service provisions addressing customer needs or are there greaterexpectations and needs not being met that may influence buying behaviour?

2.3 Research Questions

In order to understand the research problem, it is necessary to explore and understand thefollowing research questions:Research question 1 : In regards to price, product design, quality and country of origin, what isthe most significant in influencing the consumer purchase decision for furniture at Harvey

Norman in comparison to other furniture retailers?


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Research question 2 : How does shopping at a physical store for furniture differ from the onlinestore, in regards to salesperson service, the ability to see and feel the product, delivery options,and website ease-of-use in determining purchase preference for in-store or online retailing

Research Question 3 : Is the layout of Harvey Normans physical stores and online website userinterface reflective of the bran d and its brand promise Shop with Confidence? That is, theconfidence of receiving value, quality and service.

Research Question 4 : What quality and quantity of information about product specification, price, stock availability and sample picture is effective for consumers during theonline information search and evaluation stage.

2.4 Marketing Research Objectives

Our objectives for conducting the marketing research according to our research questions are asfollows:

Research objective 1 : To identify the influence of price, perceived quality, design, and countryof origin on the consumers decision to buy furniture from Harvey Norman, and how theconsumer position Harvey Norman among its competitor based on those factors.

Research objective 2 : To determine consumer attitude toward online and offline furnitureretailing of Harvey Norman and which aspects of the online and retail store are key in influencesconsumer preference for shopping in-store or online.

Research objective 3 : To determine degree Harv ey Norman stores and its website represent the brand position and identify consumer expected value proposition.

Research objective 4 : To determine whether online customers value quality and accurateinformation or quantity and more detail when undergoing information search and productanalysis stages for price, product specifications, stock availability and sample pictures.

3. Project TimelineThe following project timeline serves as a guide for us to complete the required allocated tasks inorder to complete the research in a timely manner:

Week Task Further Details StartingDate

Completion Date

3 Group formation Form groups of 3-5 Assign different roles

14th Aug 14th Aug

4 Draft MarketingResearch Proposal

Establish context and backgroundinformation Begin secondary data collection Define decision problem, marketresearch problem, research questionsand research objectives

15th Aug 21st Aug


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Assess primary and secondary dataneeds Draft literature review Evaluate benefits of expectedinformation Establish project timeline

5 Submit MarketingResearch Proposal

22nd Aug 22ns Aug

6 IncorporateFeedback

Discuss proposal feedback Revise decision problem, questions andobjectives Discuss and draft researchmethodology, primary data collectionimplementation plans, sample survey

Continue secondary data collection Begin primary data collection with pilotsurvey

23rd Aug 12th Sep

7 Complete finalsurvey

Analyse pilot survey results and reviseaccordingly Finalize survey Conduct final survey

13th Sep 20th Sep

8 Continuecollecting primarydata

Continue conducting interviews and focus groupsRecord primary data collection

21st Sep 25th Sep

9 Data Preparationand Analysis

Analyse data in terms of researchquestions and objectives Create data structures to generateinformation Process research findings

25th Sep 2nd Oct

10 PresentationPreparation Complete finalreport

Prepare for in-class presentation Create video presentation

4th Oct 10th Oct

11 Presentation offindings

Incoporate any feedback for video

Upload video to moodle.

Finalise and edit final report

11th Oct 12th Oct


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12 Hand in finalreport

13th Oct 23rd Oct

4. Project Mindmap


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5. Research Design and Methodology 5.1 Research Design Approach

Due to the nature of the marketing research problem, our main objectives are to discover

the consumers thought and feelings about Harvey Norman. This falls under the category ofexploratory research and as a result, we have chosen mainly qualitative methods for our researchdesign. We wanted to use a variety of methods for qualitative research procedures including bothdirect and indirect approaches.

Within the direct approach we chose focus groups and in-depth interviews, utilisingopen-ended questions and probing techniques. Our indirect method was a survey that combinedqualitative projection techniques such as the completion techniques and construction techniques,as well as the quantitative approach of scaling. The quantitative approach was added after theconclusion of focus groups and interviews because we wanted to have a better grasp on thenumber of consumers who represented what we discovered in our qualitative research.5.1 Implementation

Target Market:For the exploratory research we did not want to restrict our market to any age or gender bias. Although we mostly asked respondents who have shopped and used Harvey Normanservices and those who fall under Ha rvey Normans target market of younger male adults. Focus Groups:

In order for us to better understand how consumers felt, we chose focus groups to allowus to broaden our ideas conceived through our literature review and our 4 research questions. Itwas chosen because it would allow us to explore if these were still relevant in the evolvingmarket of e- commerce and specifically to Harvey Normans current perceptual position in themarket or if there other factors which were now becoming recognized by consumers.

We understand that the results from our focus group cannot be representative of the

general population but would allow us to generate more alternatives.Although recommended focus group designs state 8 - 12 people for lengths of 1 hour upto 3 hours, we chose to alter this to suit our project timeline and moderator capabilities. Wechose to conduct mini focus groups with 5 or 6 participants for 1 hour lengths to make it easierfor the moderator to control the group dynamics as well as easing the scheduling process.

To aid the process of conducting our interviews, we wrote down a basic questionnairethat our moderators could follow and maintain a standard across all focus groups (Appendix11.2). These consisted mainly of open ended questions to engage the respondents, although themoderators would be able to probe more deeply or follow the line of conversation when suitable.

An important factor of conducting focus groups is the ability of the moderator to create acomfortable atmosphere for respondents by being both objective and personal. Included at the

beginning and end of the questionnaire were sample introductory and conclusive passagesincorporating the style and approach the moderators should take to help respondents feel able togiven their opinions (Appendix 11.2)

The focus groups were implemented over the planned 2.5 week time frame to conduct thefocus groups and interviews. Moderators are asked to record their sessions and are given thequestionnaires as guidelines, although they are encouraged to keep a natural flow of conversationand are allowed to ask other questions when respondents have brought up ideas that have not

been discussed.


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Interviews:After discovering through focus groups any underlying trends of ideas regarding our

research, we used the in-depth interviews to reduce the bias developed in focus groups and to probe for reasoning as well as fill in the gaps in our understanding. We wanted our interviews tofeel more personal and relaxed, so interviewers were given the same list of questions as provided

for the focus groups but we had the freedom and flexibility to probe the participants and delvemore deeply into answers.In order to reduce the friction and forced feelings of the interview, the supplied questions

do not have to be followed in any order and can be altered but must be relevant to the 4 researchquestions and objectives. Interviews would be conducted one on one and should last from 15minutes to 20 minutes. These will be recorded for monitoring and examining relevance ofresponses and questions. Interviews would be conducted over the same period as the focusgroups of 2.5 weeks.

Surveys:As a supplement and preliminary quantitative approach to the research, a pilot survey and

an actual survey would be conducted to gain a sense of validity and reliability of data.The pilot survey tested the flow of the survey, the difficulty of questions, relevance ofresponses and questions. This was done by asking the participants how they felt about thequestions and what they meant afterwards as well as observing difficulty and interest in thequestions. We generated our survey questions relating to individual research objectives and the

pilot survey tested these questions in no specific order and simply followed what was shown inAppendix 11.4. In total, 5 to 10 pilot surveys would be conducted and based on this, the actualsurvey could be generated.

Actual Survey Structure: Surveys: target of 50 - 75 actual surveys to be conducted within a 1.5 week period, given

that surveys are easier to conduct in higher quantities in a shorter amount of timeWe chose a computer-aided survey format including screening questions for participants thatensured responses were made only from those satisfying certain criteria. For example: only

people who had visited the Harvey Norman website, could answer questions about the websitesusability and interface. see appendix 11.5.1 This was done due as pilot survey participantscommenting that, unless having prior shopping experience at Harvey Norman, some questionswould be impossible to answer.

We structured the flow of the survey to have 4 clearly labelled sections given in this order:(Appendix 11.5.2)

1. Shopping online at Harvey Norman2. Shopping in-store at Harvey Norman3. Online shopping vs in-store shopping preferences4. Furniture Shopping

This order was chosen as it seemed to provide structure and clarity for consumers toanswer questions about a specific part of their shopping experience rather than in the order of ourresearch objectives. The first two sections had the screening process mentioned before and werespecifically about Harvey Norman. The last two were questions that required comparisons andgenerally longer times to answer.


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In comparison to the focus groups, the participants seemed more willing to provide more personal answers and felt more comfortable going into detail about their personal shoppinghabits and the reasons behind them. They also tended to be more emotive in their answers, andtook less time to think before answering.

The most significant finding from the interviews was in regards to Harvey Normans brand perception, particularly in relation to their competitor IKEA. Although this was brieflyexplored in the focus group interviews, one participant in particular revealed that they feltHarvey Norman did not cater for a younger target market and associated Harvey Norman withtradition whereas competitors such as IKEA were seen as cool and on -trend.

As a point of significance, the participant felt that consumers themselves were the mainsource of marketing for IKEA as they felt it was a brand that they were happy to associate withand recommend to their friends. On the other hand, when probed about Harvey Norman and theirmarketing strategy participants could not easily recall any recent marketing campaigns or effortsand felt that Harvey Norman possessed very little brand presence in the modern era ( Appendix11.1D).

In comparison to competitors such as IKEA, consumers perceived Harvey Norman as being more expensive without a significant increase in the quality of the products. Interestingly,although Domayne is actually owned by Harvey Norman customers tended to associate the brandmore strongly with furniture and felt the product selection was greater. Although they perceivedHarvey Norman products to be of a high quality, they felt that there was not a large selection incomparison to other retailers.

The country of origin was deemed unimportant, with many participants commenting thatas the majority of things were now made in Asia (especially China), there was no real perceiveddifference in preference based on the country of origin.

The interviews were also effective in drawing out the deeper reasoning behind anindividuals consumption behaviour. One participant believed that digital literacy was perhapsthe most significant factor in influencing whether an individual chose to shop online rather thanin-store (Appendix 11.1E) although they felt that this would change in the near future.

Surveys

A benefit of conducting the survey was the ability to obtain findings that were veryspecific to our research questions as they answered targeted questions, which was sometimes lostin the more free qualitative approaches. As such our findings from the surveys are presented foreach research question

Findings for RQ1:

The surveys show that for the identified factors of price, quality, design and country oforigin of furniture, that there is an increasing trend of importance for the factors of price, qualityand design as seen in Graph 1. Although these three factors are all very important, the graphsuggests that price is the overall factor receiving the least amount of negative responses.


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Graph 1.

Finally we see that the country of origin was generally rated in the middle to right,indicating a generally neutral to negative position of the participants. This may indicate that thecountry of origin as a value varies greatly from individual to individual and is not as significantof a determinator of product choice.


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Graph 2

Here, you can see that customers were asked if they preferred Harvey Norman ondifferent qualities and that for all the qualities asked, Harvey Norman has quite a defined

position of being in the middle to low end of consumer preferences. This is indicated by the peakin level 3, neutral responses and the number of responses falling in positions 4 and 5 which

indicates a negative preference for Harvey Norman.Findings for RQ2:

Some questions were asked outside the scope of Harvey Norman and were aimed atdiscovering the consumers general preference for furniture retailing online and in -store.


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Graph 3

From graph 3 we can see that although the general trend for furniture is that consumershave a greater preference to shop in-store for furniture. However, when given a specific reason tochoose why to shop in-store, the ability to see and touch the product, respondents chose to shop

in-store at a much greater rate than before. This may indicate the importance of this particularfactor for shopping in-store, or simply show that when given the reason, the consumers areinfluenced to see shopping for furniture in-store in a more positive light.

To combat this effect prior to asking for their preference consumers were asked to fill inthe blank with reasons why they preferred to shop for furniture in-store. A variety of answerswere given with the most common regarding touch and feel the product , to try or test runthe product or even just to see the product for visual satisfaction.


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Some people felt like it was a quality assurance whilst others were worried aboutdimensions being different to online and wanted to get a feel for the dimensions. A fewother factors more scarcely brought up was the fact that furniture is a more long -term purchaseand therefore should be done in- store. The ability to haggle for better prices in -store and eventhat in- store shopping offered a better shopping experience.

Here consumers were also asked how important each factor (online services, productexpectations, delivery time, delivery cost and price) was in determining their choice to purchase

products in general online or in-store. These factors were chosen as they were given by our focusgroup and interview respondees. Although majority of the responses indicate that there is no

particular factor that has a more significant role to make consumers choose in-store or onlinethere are slight differences for individual factors.

Price was general a more uniform distribution ranging from 9 to 15 responses for eachlevel (Appendix 11.6) and had less variance, which probably reflects the fact that price may notactually be better online or instore. When asked how they felt about prices online and in-storeand which one offered better prices. The pie chart (Appendix 11.7) shows that about half thought

online had better prices and about a quarter for the other categories. When put together, the datasuggests that although more than half believe online prices are better, they are not necessarilychoosing to purchase online. This may have several reasons but it shows the complexity ofdecision making processes.

Findings for RQ3:

Number of responses that HAVE visited the Harvey Norman Website: 31 out of 63 soapproximately 50% of participants have actually visited the website.

In graph 4 below we can see that Harvey Normans website is performing in a generally positiveto neutral position in the customers perception.


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Graph 4

Numbers of responses that HAVE shopped at Harvey Norman: 48 out of 63, which means 76%of the participants, have shopped at Harvey Norman.


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Graph 5

Graph five shows that the Harvey Norman stores are also fairly even positioned in the middle

upper region of th e customers perception. Both of these scenarios show that there is room forimprovement for Harvey Norman both online and in-store.

Findings for RQ4:

For this section, we decided that it would be easiest for consumers to relate and compare the typeof information they desired if we provided them with different types of products. We still wantedto focus on furniture and as such we chose the categories of beds, office desks and lamps andalso their opinion in general.

The findings show that although there are variances for each product category, theinformation that is believed to be the most important to have available changes very little

(Appendix 11.8) and is ranked in order as Price, Sample pictures, product specifications and thenstock availability. The greatest change would be the difference in respondents who value price ingeneral, switch to valuing product specification when it came to all the different furniture types.

However, when it comes down to accuracy of the information, there is almost an equalamount of preference for both price and product specifications (Appendix 11.9), if not more for

product specifications.


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7. Discussion of Findings in Relation to Research Objectives &RecommendationsResearch objective 1 : To identify the influence of price, perceived quality, design, and countryof origin on the consumers decision to buy furniture from Harvey Norman, and how theconsumer position Harvey Norman among its competitor based on those factors.

All our methods of researched points towards price, quality and design (in that order) as the mostsignificant in determining whether a consumer would purchase furniture from Harvey Norman.From what weve seen, Harvey Normans perceptual position in the mind of consumers is onethat sits in the middle, neither cheap, nor too expensive and offering a variety although not asgreat as others. This suggests that Harvey Norman should choose at least one of these 3 factors todifferentiate themselves from their competitors and not worry so much about the country oforigin of their products

Research objective 2 : To determine consumer attitude toward online and offline furnitureretailing of Harvey Norman and which aspects of the online and retail store are key in influencesconsumer preference for shopping in-store or online.

It was revealed from our focus groups and interviews that the most significant factor ininfluencing a consumer to shop online was an overwhelming sense of convenience. Participantsfelt that they were not limited by geographical location or time and did not have to leave thecomfort of their homes to make a purchase.

The opinion that shopping online led to cheaper purchases as there was more of a chanceto compare prices with competitors although this often came at the cost of quality, wassomething that was found across the board. Many of the participants also felt that there was amuch larger selection online than brick-and-mortar retailers such as Harvey Norman. At the endof the day, price was indeed the most salient factor when consumers had to choose between

online and in-store.

Furthermore, it was found that the nature of the furniture itself was a significantdeterminant on whether the consumer purchased the product online or in-store. For example, ifthe piece of furniture was to be used long-term, whether it was a decorative item or to be used formore practical purposes. Personal items such as beds, couches and chairs were less likely to be

purchased online as consumers felt it was necessary to touch and feel the items, test ing them before making a purchase. However, the online store can aid in the consumers evaluation stageand accurate and well-represented information can aid consumers to choose to browse at Harvey

Norman and eventually make purchases in-store. Other alternatives would be to offer stress freereturns and deliveries, or some method to reduce the barriers and concerns of online shopping.

Research objective 3 : To determine degree Harvey Norman stores and its website represent thebrand position and identify consumer expected value proposition.

The focus groups and in-depth interviews revealed an overwhelming lack of brandawareness in regards to Harvey Norman, meaning that few could accurately say how the storeand the website portrayed the brand. However, the online surveys that were able to targetrespondents who have visited the website and the store indicate that the brand promise was bettercommunicated online than in store. For the in-store sector it appears that the staff service and


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knowledge was better perceived despite the fact that service is a part of their brand promise. Thismay indicate that people are unaware exactly what their brand promise shop with confidenceentails.

From our research we have a rough picture of where Harvey Normans brand p ositions is,as one that is middle ranged, however we feel that there are still consumer expectations thatarent being met. The gap presented between the number of people who position harvey normanas a neutral option suggests that the customers are not being satisfied by what Harvey Norman iscurrently offering both in terms of services and atmosphere.

Research objective 4 : To determine whether online customers value quality and accurateinformation or quantity and more detail when undergoing information search and productanalysis stages for price, product specifications, stock availability and sample pictures.

Specifically in relation to the Harvey Norman website, the participants felt that they wereinundated with a large amount of irrelevant information whilst important information wasunavailable. This lack of information and detail made them feel less confident in purchasing

from the Harvey Norman website while the unreliable information regarding stock availabilitymade it difficult to shop in-store.Our research indicates that there is a greater importance set on price of products, which,

may suggest that Harvey Norman should consider offering prices on all their products online.When it comes to quality and and accuracy of information, there is a heavier lenience towardsthe product specifications. When considering updating the information they provide, thesefactors would be the first to consider and then the others factors in decreasing levels ofimportance.

8. Limitations and Recommendations of ResearchA limitation of the current study was the small, non-probability sample of convenience.

Due to financial constraints, the study was under-powered. In addition to the small time frame,the research couldnt reach statistical significance as the res earch samples were mainly chosen

by convenience as well as the limited number of interviews / focus groups conducted.Larger number of research participants and their diversity in terms of age, income, or

even qualification would have benefited the research by providing a better indication of thewhole picture. The survey questions could be advised with an additional amount of time, givingthe participants a better understanding of the survey items. Providing incentives such as cash orgift cards may help to reduce the biases within the result as the respondents would be morewilling to take the research seriously. Furthermore for data reliability, the use of projectivetechniques could have allowed for a better understanding of consumer behavior.

Theres al so a limited amount of secondary data on online furniture retailing which

suggest a possible error in defining important factors in the research questions. Along with budget and time constraints, the scope of the project is fairly limited. Further researches ononline furniture retailing should provide better determinants and a larger scope for the future.

Lastly, the research could have gather more sensitive data from the respondents byhaving a professional marketing researchers with proper qualifications, training and experiencefor primary data collection. As it stands in this research, unqualified researchers were used, thissurely raised the respondents awareness in the light of their privacy and misuse of personalinformation.


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9. Directions for Further Research via Quantitative Approach

Due to multiple research constraints mentioned above, its a possibility that furtherquantitative research methods could be used to gain supplementary insight into the researchquestions. In this research where quantitative research has been conducted using online survey,

we had found that using online communities such as Facebook and forums yield poor result asthe majority doesnt have the incentive to answer the questions truthfully. In the light of ourattempt to gather random sampled result, we suggest that considerable amount of time is requiredto conduct an online survey without an incentive. Its also possible to obtain decent randomsampled respondents who are willing to honestly complete the survey with a small compensation

by utilizing the power of crowdsourcing.For survey questions, future researchers can use this research as a guide to construct and

determine the important determinants for similar research objectives. However, greater amountand more in-depth survey questions should be used to procure better understandings of consumer

behavior. Its also important to mention that exploratory research may be required as consumer behavior keeps changing along with the determinants used in this research.

Multiple data analysis technique such as tabulation or regression analysis should be usedto analyse the quantitative data as this research only uses ordinal scaling technique which isfairly limited in terms of the information provided. For example, regression analysis would helpresearcher find relationship among variable such as design liking and price for furniture wherethe researchers would understand how the changes in design liking affects the importance of

price in purchasing decision.

10. References

Cherie Keen, Martin Wetzels Ko de Ruter, Richard Feinberg, E -tailers versus retailersWhich factors determine consumer preferences, Journal of Business research, 2004, S7, pp. 685- 695

Darley K.W, Blankson. C, Luethge J.D, Toward an integrated fr amework for onlineconsumer behaviour and decision making process: a review, Psychology & Marketing, 2010,Col 27(2), pp. 94 - 116

Javadi.M.H.M, Dolatabadi H.R, Nourbakhsh.M, Pousaeedi A, Asadolllahi A.R, 2012,An analysis of factors affecting on online shopping behaviour of consumers, InternationJournal of Marketing Studies, 2012, Vol 5 no.5

Jie Gao, Cheng Zhang, Ke Wang, Sulin Ba, Understanding online purchase decisionmaking The effects of unconscious thought, information quality, and information qu antity,Decision support Systems, 2012, pp. 772-781


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Yoon, S. Y. & Cho, J. Y. 2009, Understanding Furniture Decision Making Process andDesign Preference using Web- Based VR Technology, Annual Conference of IDEC, St. Louis,Missouri, March, pp. 25-28

Euromonitor International 2014, Internet Retailing in Australia, accessed 20 August2014 from Passport

IBISWorld 2014, Online Shopping in Australia, accessed 20 August 2014 fromIBISWorld Liveperson 2013, A global in -depth study of the online customer experience,accessed 20 August 2014,

Ponder, N 2013, Consumer Attitudes and Buying Behavior for Home Furniture,Franklin Furniture Institute, Mississippi State University, accessed 10 October 2014,

Bednarik, E 2010, Consumer Behaviour Model on the Furniture Market, Department ofEntrepreneurship and Marketing, University of West Hungary, accessed 10 October 2014,

Franklin Furniture Institute n.d., Understanding the Furniture Purchase Decision,Mississippi State University, accessed 10 October 2014,

11. Appendices

11.1A Focus Group 1 Transcript

Date: 10/10/14

H: Huwin Li (Female, 19)

S: Salina Lam (Female, 22)

M: Mai Pham (Female, 53)

J: Jeremy Power (Male, 25)

W: Wade Yang (Male, 23)

What do you think are the benefits of online shopping?

H: You dont have to walk. No physical activity

M: The convenience. You can see all of your options in front of you with the click of a finger. Not limited by geographical location.


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J: Its cheaper and you don t have to leave your house. Not limited by where you aregeographically or what time you can shop for people who work or are just busy. If you want to

buy a table, you can get people to deliver it

W: More variety and its cheaper.

11.1B

Focus Group 2 Transcript - excerpt 1 Date : 28th September, 2014Participants: 5G: George Chan (Male, 63)C: Carrie Chiu (Female, 58)K: Kai Chan (Male, 28)J: Jasmine Chan (Female, 23)H: Howard Chan (Male 21)To what extent do you enjoy shopping for furniture in a physical store such as Harvey

Norman? G: I like the way we can actually see the furniture, touch it and feel it in the actual stores.C: Yes I agree with you. The most important part of shopping furniture in store is the way wecan see it. I also like to ask the salespeople lots of questions about the material and where itsmade.J: Howard and I seldom shop furniture ourselves, furniture in our home are mostly bought by our

parents.

To what extent do you enjoy shopping for furniture online? G: We do not need to drive to stores to get see and think and buy the furniture in physical stores,it is time consuming compare to shopping it online, we can just do our research online, and

easily finish the transaction by clicking few buttons on the websites. But I dont like that I cantsee it. How do I know how big it is or what it looks like in real life?C: I have not tried shopping furniture online before, but it does sound much convenient to do itthis way. I would just be worried that I cant really see it. I dont think I would buy a bed online

because you cant tell how comfortable it is by just seeing a picture. J,H,K : Yeah, we have not bought any furniture online either, but we do agree that shoppingonline is kind of convenient, in terms of time.

11.1C

Focus Group 2 Transcript - excerpt 2

If you have visited a Harvey Norman store before, what did you enjoy about the experience?G: I have been there for few times, since I mostly go to Ikea for furniture haha, um... I thinkHarvey Norman can provide us a comfort environment to shop there, but nothing much special inthe stores actually.C: I have bought furniture there before it is just like the other stores selling furniture, nothingmuch special, with a fair enough service provided.J: I have been there several times before, the stores look tidy and well organised in terms ofdifferent categories, but I haven't shopped furniture there before.


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K, H: Same for us, we haven't shopped furniture there before as well.How does a stores layout affect your purchase deci sions? G: To me the most important factor is to have a clear layout in the store so I can always find the

product I want there.C: Same.

J: Yes it is important to me as well, moreover, I like to have a feel like Ikea, it feels like shoppingin our home. It s so bright and everything is set out so nicely. Everything I see I think I want it inmy house!Have you ever visited the Harvey Norman website? If so, what did you think of the userinterface and did it contain the information you were looking for? J: It looks ok to me, can always get the information I need from there.C: My husband and I have never been to the website, we actually seldom shop online. But itlooks quite messy to me. Just looking at it now I dont really know where to look. J: Now that I actually look at it Im pretty shocked that not everything is priced. I would havethought that it is the first thing they put on.K: I have been on it briefly and it seems pretty ordinary. Nothing special about it.

G: I actually wanted to buy something from Harvey Norman a long time ago and I remember Iwent online but it wasnt good. I couldnt see the price and then when I went to the local storethey didnt even have it. I havent really shopped much there recently though.

11.1D In-depth Interview 1 transcript - excerpt 1 Date: 2/10/2014A: Amy Li (Female, 26)

Which online retailer(s) you chose to buy furniture from? Why or why not Harvey Norman? A: I buy from Ikea a lot or Office Works for chairs and study tables etc. To be honest, I think itsmostly word of mouth. A lot of my friends have products from Ikea and everyone knows Ikea ischeap and has a lot of cool furniture. I always see friends with things from IKEA and then I feellike I want them too. Especially when its cheap and affordable. I have looked at Harvey Normanfrom time to time, but it wasnt that easy to look at the products properly and they didnt tell youwhich stores had what or even costs or anything like that so I didnt really browse for long.

You described Ikea as cool. What image do you feel Harvey Norman projects? A: I dont knowbut definitely not cool. I havent really heard a lot about Harvey Normanrecently to be honest so I guess I feel its pretty outdated?

Do you think that they need to change their marketing strategy? A: I mean definitely. The whole idea of marketing is to get people talking about your companyor product or whatever. A big proportion of people these days are online and so obviously to besuccessful you need to have some sort of online marketing. I remember Harvey Norman had adson TV ages ago but even they were pretty boring. If you look at what ads have been reallysuccessful it tends to be ones that are memorable because theyre really funny or outrageous oreven just stupid. Like the whole red bull makes you fly ads that they had even if they got sued!

11.1E


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In-depth Interview 2 transcript - excerpt 1 Date: 4/10/14J: Jinnu Han (Male, 35)

Do you buy furniture online?

J: Ive bought some things like a table lamp and chairs because its not really something I need tofeel and touch before I buy. Although Im part of the online generation, I still dont feelcompletely comfortable buying something as expensive as furniture online.

Do you think age plays a factor in a consumers willingness to purchase online? Do youthink older people less likely to shop online? J: Yes, of course! If you dont use the Internet a lot and you dont really know how to thenyoure definitely less likely to buy online. I cant really imagine my grandparents sitti ng on thecomputer and browsing through websites. I think each generation gets more and more digitallyliterate and the rest are kind of left behind.

Do you think this will change in the future? J: I think so. My mum has recently gotten into online shopping which just goes to show how far people have come. In a hundred years I think everyone will be online and there wont really besuch a thing as digital natives or anything like that anymore

11.2 Focus Group Questions Introduction

Welcome, and thankyou for participating in the focus group. I want to ensure you that there areno correct answer - only your opinions and feelings. You are speaking for other people likeyourself.

Dont worry if you dont know much about a particular topic - just express any opinions youhave about any topic we discuss.

Questions

1. To what extent do you enjoy shopping for furniture in a physical store such as Harvey Norman?

2. To what extent do you enjoy shopping for furniture online?3. If you have visited a Harvey Norman store before, what did you enjoy about the

experience?4. How does store layout affect your purchase decisions?5. Have you ever visited the Harvey Norman website? If so, what did you think of the user

interface and did it contain the information you were looking for?6. What do you deem important when shopping for beds in a physical store? When

compared to shopping for beds online, what do you think is important?7. What do you feel is important when shopping for office desks in a physical store? What

is important for shopping for office desks online?8. What do you deem important when shopping for lamps in a physical store? What is

important for shopping for lamps online?


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9. What would be the determining factor that would influence you to buy a piece offurniture online rather than in-store? (and vice versa)

10. To what extent do you believe in the brand message Shop with Confidence whenshopping in a Harvey Norman store? What specific factors contribute to you agreeingwith this? What do you think they mean by Shop with Confidence?

11. To what extent do you believe in the brand message Shop with Confidence whenshopping on Harvey Normans website? What specific factors contribute to you agreeingwith this?

12. For beds, office desks, and lamps, how important it is should the retailer provide itsconsumer with product specifications and stock availability online?

13. For the same set of products, how important it is should the retailer provide its consumerwith current price and sample pictures of the product? What do you look for?

Recommendations and Final Thoughts

Taking into consideration our discussions, what specific actions would you recommend toHarvey Norman to help make the furniture shopping experience as easy and enjoyable as

possible, both in-store and online? (probe for clarification of ideas and details - form constructs)

Any last thought, feelings or comments?

Conclusion

Thankyou for participating and sharing your ideas and thoughts.

11.4 Pilot Survey Questions

1. Have you ever shopped at Harvey Norman?2. Have you ever visited Harvey Normans website?

Please rate on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being very important and 5 being not important, thefollowing factors:

1. Price is an important factor that affects my decision to purchase a piece of furniture. 2. Compared to other furniture retailers, I think Harvey Normans prices are price

competitive? may have to provide an average price as reference. 3. Product design is an important factor that affects my decision to purchase a piece of

furniture.4. The furniture offered at Harvey Norman suits more to my liking compared to other

furniture retailers.5. Product quality is an important factor that affects your purchase decision for furniture. 6. I feel that the furniture range at Harvey Norman is greater than that of other furniture

outlets.7. The Country of origin is an important factor that affects my decision to choose to

purchase a piece of furniture8. The furniture offered at Harvey Norman were mostly manufactured at a country I have

positive opinion in.9. I find the Harvey Norman website is easy to navigate.10. I feel that the Harvey Norman website is user-friendly.


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11. I prefer to shop in-store for furniture rather than online.12. 13. I prefer to shop in-store for furniture rather than online because I can see and touch the

product.14. The price of the product plays the largest role in determining whether I buy the product

in-store or online.15. The delivery cost plays the largest role in determining whether I buy the product in-storeor online.

16. The estimate delivery time of the product plays the largest role in determining whether I buy the product in-store or online.

17. Offered services of regular phone calls, e- mails, and live chat meet your servicerequirements when shopping online.

18. I choose to buy in-store rather than online because I am concerned that the product willnot meet my expectations and will be different to what I imagined.

19. I feel that Harvey Normans store reflects its brand promise Shop with Confidence 20. The store atmosphere make me feel safe and that the brand can be trusted.

21. I trust the Harvey Norman staff is knowledgeable and can be trusted with productrecommendations.

22. Harvey Normans online website reflects its brand promise Shop with Confidence. 23. The online web interface make me feel confident that I will be able to find a quality

product.24. The online live chat service at Harvey Normans website is an appropriate place to ask

for reliable product recommendation.25. I can confidently make purchases both in Harvey Normans physical stores and through

their online store.26. The online website has the same quantity and quality of information available for their

entire products range.

The following questions are based on your online shopping experience and requires you rank,from most important to least important, the information available online.

If you feel that a factor is equally ranked, you can rank both features the same.

When browsing for the following products online, select, which aspect is the most important feature that youevaluate the product on.

Beds Price Stock availability Product specification Sample Picture

Office Desks Price Stock availability Product specification Sample Picture

Lamps Price Stock availability Product specification Sample Picture

When browsing for the following products online, select which product you would rather have more detail inregards to:

Beds Price Stock availability Product specification Sample Picture

Office Desks Price Stock availability Product specification Sample Picture


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Lamps Price Stock availability Product specification Sample Picture

When browsing for the following products online, please select which aspect you would rather have more accurateinformation in regards to:

price Beds Office desks Lamps

stock availability Beds Office desks Lamps

product specification Beds Office desks Lamps

Sample pictures Beds Office desks Lamps

When browsing for the following products online, please select which product you would rather have moreaccurate information in regards to:

price Beds Office desks Lamps

stock availability Beds Office desks Lamps product specification Beds Office desks Lamps

Sample pictures Beds Office desks Lamps

When browsing online what is more important to you: The quality and accuracy of the information or access togreater amounts of information?

Please answer the following question in regards to a little bit about yourself

3. Your gender?4. How old are you?5. What is your occupation?6. What is the highest educational level you received?

11.5 Actual Survey

11.5.1 - Example of survey interface screening for suitable participants that match criteria


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11.5.2 - Example of headings in the Actual Survey

11.5.3 - Examples of different question types

Continuous rating scale


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Nominal Scale

Completion technique

Appendix 11.6


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Appendix 11.7


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Appendix 11.8


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Documents

MARK2052 - Markering Research (UNSW) Final Report