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30 May 2016, 09:41
ESSAY QUESTION:
The following appeared in a market research report examining consumer perceptions of a chain of clothing stores:
"A recent survey commissioned by the market research department of XY Gen Stores indicated a high level of recognition among consumers of the brand and the nature of the apparel sold in XY Gen Stores. However, the survey also indicated that approximately 60% of those surveyed that recognized the name of XY Gen Stores had never shopped at one of the company's stores. Because of this result, XY Gen Stores executives should launch a significant rebranding and marketing campaign to change the company's image and thereby bring new consumers into the stores.
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.
YOUR RESPONSE:
The argument states that about 60% of people who were surveyed by market research department of XY Gen Stores know the name of the store. However, they have never visited the shop. Therefore, the store's management team should rebrand and release new marketing activities to attract more customers. Stated in this way, the argument fails to mention several factors on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The conclusion of the argument relies on several assumptions for which there is no evidence. Thus, the argument is not convincing and has many flaws.
First, the argument fails to mention the group of people whom the company's staff goes to survey. The group may not truly be the representative of the store's customers. For example, XY Gen Stores mainly sells clothes to teenagers and children. However, the people who were surveyed are mainly working people who are more than 30 years old. In this case, although they know the brand and the products of this brand are so adorable, they will not buy the products anyway and the company should not worry because they are not the target customers. Hence, to conclude that the company should launch rebranding without mentioning the details about the people who were asked is not reasonable.
Second, the author fails to mention the number of people who were asked to do the survey. If the number of people in the survey is not big enough, the conclusion of this report is not quite accuracy. For instance, XY Gen Stores are opened in many cities in Thailand such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. Total number of customers in these three cities are more than 10,000 people. However, the market research staff only interviewed about 100 people. The number of 100 is quite small compared to the number of total patorns in these cities. Therefore, the argument would be more convincing if the the authored mentioned the number of people in the survey and the percentage compared to the total customers in the area.
Third, the argument states 60% of people in the survey have never visited the store. As a result, the store should have been renovated and the company's management team also should have launched new marketing activities. This is a very weak and unsupported claims. The large number of customers may not visit the physical store but they may purchase the products on the company's website. Many clothes stores in Thailand are a shining example of this. People in Thailand do not want to buy clothes at the stores since they are far away. Thus, customers buy them online and return if the products are not fit to them. For the case of XY Gen Store, the customer may do like this as well. As a result, the company may not need to rebrand or do any new marketing activities.
The argument is flawed because of reasons mentioned above. It would be considerably strengthened if the writer provided details to show that the people in the survey are truly the representative of customers of XY Gen Stores. Also, the author should provide details about the sales from online channels to prove that the people who were surveyed have never visited any channels of the stores to buy clothes. Without additional data, the argument is not reliable. It remains questionable.
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Thank you very much in advance!