Business Research Methods: "Shodh - Market Research For Economy Housing (A) " Case Analysis

Business Research Methods
"Shodh – Market Research for Economy Housing (A)"

Case Analysis
Guided by
Prof. Aswathy Asokan
Name Roll no
Dinesh Yadav MBA07197
Gayatri Balkrushna Awagan MBA07198
Nitesh Yadav MBA07236
Krishnaprasad V MBA07209
Shikhar Hemkar MBA07225
Mohit MBA07214
Submitted by – Group 9
Summary
Shodh is a Market Research agency based in the then Bangalore, and a client named
“Oriental Builders Ltd.” (OBL) had accepted their proposal for a market research study. The
client belonged to the housing sector and wanted to understand about the market potential and
consumer preferences in the economy sector. They wanted to assess the opportunities
available in the price range of below 2.5 billion INR. After the major debacle of 2008, the
economy segment was gaining the attention of realtors, since people wanted were not really
interested in higher price ranges. The client wanted to cater to the economy sector while
simultaneously entering 10 cities in the Southern India. Since the segment potential was
unknown, the client wanted to conduct a pilot-research in Bangalore.
The main objectives of Oriental Builders Limited was for Shodh to assess the consumer
requirements, market size, and consumer preferences in the pilot-city which was taken to be
Bangalore. Shodh used tools such as secondary data analysis, focus groups, field surveys,
expert interviews and conjoint analysis to conduct marker and consumer research. The major
challenges in doing so in a timely manner included the analysis of data, preparation of
demand forecasts, defining the consumer segment profiles and describing the consumer
preferences based on conjoint analysis. Hence, a marketing strategy had to be formed and
submitted to the client.
The Indian housing market had been gradually on the rise since 2001. However, owing to the
global slowdown, the prices began falling drastically after a surge in 2006-’08. This led to the
reduction in prices and the demand got rekindled again, especially in the economy sector and
that was the area of opportunity for OBL. The fact that Bangalore was a business hub helped
the need of new constructs being formed and the demand never really took a fall. Several
companies had started their projects in the economy sector during that time including
Prestige, Brigade, etc.
Even though Shodh was an established consultancy in many sectors, real estate was new to
them. The MD Vaseem personally spent time doing secondary proto-research and talking to
people to get an idea regarding the topic, He started collecting data, which started with
formulating the pros and cons of various localities of Bangalore, insights about consumer etc.
After collection of some data, he drafted a detailed proposal to be sent to OBL covering
introduction, scope, and research objectives. The proposal subsequently got approved and
Vaseem and team had to conduct the research using the tools and techniques used in
paragraph 2.
Q1. Vaseem's understanding of the client's management decision problem:
 Oriental builders ltd. were a construction company with successful mid-range housing
projects in different parts of the country, they recognized the decrease in the demand for
premium and luxury apartments 2009 onwards. It was expected that the B1, B2 and C socio-
economic segments would be main drivers of demand, hence OBL wanted to venture into
economic housing targeting the costumers with income between 2.5 to 5 million.
 They are looking to gain the first movers advantage building a strong brand image by
launching multiple economic housing projects across 10 cities in south India. However they
are uncertain regarding consumer expectations, actual demand and local competition which is
why the company wanted to fully understand the characteristics of economic housing market
before venturing into different cities.
 Shodh, a market research firm was approached to do market research study of the economy
housing segment potential in Bangalore, India. In response, Shodh compiled a comprehensive
research proposal involving secondary data analysis, expert interviews, focus group
discussions, psychographic segmentation, primary data collection through surveys and
conjoint analysis to assess market attractiveness and market potential
Q2. Business research problem

The case described a study to evaluate the potential in the economy housing market, which includes
units under INR 2.5 million. Real estate developers were taking notice of this market, and several
major builders had announced affordable home projects. Vaseem's client intended to make a major
splash in the economic housing market by launching projects in ten cities across South India all at the
same time. The client intended to perform a formal market research effort on a trial basis in Bengaluru
to confirm the magnitude of the opportunity and understand customer wants and preferences because
the segment potential was unknown at the time.
For Business Research, Vaseem considered the below mentioned points:
 To identify potential customers' most promising demographic, geographic, and psychographic
segments.
 To investigate target consumers' price perceptions and price sensitivity.
 To determine the economic houses' product profile and marketing mix.
 To investigate target consumers' desired features and price structure.
 To locate an appropriate site for the housing project.
 To identify critical success factors, growth drivers.
Q3. What are the information needs?

Vaseem was well-versed in management's decision-making process and information
requirements. He assumed that the client was planning to enter the economic housing
segment in a big way, so he assumed that the client was planning to enter the economic
housing segment, the Bengaluru location where economy housing developments are most
likely to be successful, the project and housing features preferred by consumers, a cost that
consumers were ready to pay, profit of target consumer, and description of the critical
variable of customer behavior.
The market research flaw was that it didn't consider Knight Frank's estimate of a consumer
earning 300,000 to 50,000, which accounts for 80% of housing demand. These are also the
buyers that are looking for a home in the 1.3 to 1.8 million INR
Q4. Research Objectives:

The Shodh team began the study effort by meeting with OBL decision-makers to understand better the
company's management decision problem and information needs. From the discussion they had in the
meeting, they established the two main research objectives. The first was to build an economic
housing project in Bengaluru or not, and the second was to launch the same in Bengaluru or not.
During his meetings with OBL, Shodh discovered that the client was especially interested in
investigating the possibility of economical housing in the Bannerghatta Road region, where OBL
already possessed a vast tract of land. Shodh also knew that OBL was looking for marketing strategy
suggestions regarding target segments, positioning strategies, product attributes, price structures, and
promotional channels.
Based on the client's need for information, Shodh laid down several objectives for market research.
They are as follows:
 Estimation of demand for an economy house in Bengaluru

 Market segmentation and its size estimation
 Target market identification
 Assessment of interest level of customer in buying an economy house
 Profiling of customers based on the target segment
 Identifying the preference of customers for different features of the house
 Understanding the trade-offs made by clients while deciding between given options

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Business Research Methods

"Shodh – Market Research for Economy Housing (A)"

Q2. Business research problem

Q3. What are the information needs?

Q4. Research Objectives:

 Estimation of demand for an economy house in Bengaluru

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