This section will discuss the main concept based on which the entire paper will be conducted. Moreover, some aims, objectives and research questions will also be provided so that the concerned person can precede the entire research work smoothly. After that, the paper will provide research hypothesis that the researcher will analyze further with the help of some proper research methodologies. Moreover, this section will discuss about the structure of the study that can provide a brief overview of the entire paper through considering all chapters that the paper will going to discuss and analyze further.
The chief motive of a company is to supply product to its customers continuously without making any inconsistent activities. This consistent supply of product helps the firm to increase its demand as well as customer base (Cho 2015). On the contrary, inconsistent availability of product can force those customers to go somewhere else. Through fulfilling requirements of customers, the company can satisfy them and this in turn can lead the loyalty of new as well as old customers to increase further. For this, consistent availability of product is essential. However, many companies have failed to supply their products continuously and this phenomenon further has hampered these companies to conduct their business by decreasing demand for their products in market (Ottman 2017). Therefore, this paper intends to focus on inconsistent availability of product in the market of United Kingdom and for doing so, the paper has selected Mary Kay to analyze and discuss the issue precisely (Marykay.com 2018). This America based multi-level marketing company can sell beauty products directly to their customers for earning income or can earn commission from their wholesale purchasers. To understand about inconsistency of product, the paper intends to apply some statistical approach based on certain research aims and objectives. This chief relevance of this paper is to understand the main issue regarding inconsistent product availability of a company in market and further implication of this phenomenon on this company.
In following section, the paper discusses about some research aims and objectives related to inconsistent product availability of Mary Kay. These aims and objectives further can help the researcher to set some relevant questions for identifying chief complaints and strong suits of this company to provide further recommendation for satisfying their customers.
Aims of the research:
The chief aim of this paper is to observe that whether any previous complaints for inconsistent availability of product have been raised against Mary Kay or not. In addition to this, the paper will also find strong suits of this specified company based on which it can maintain customer loyalty as well as demand for their products in the U.K. After analyzing these situations, the paper will also provide some recommendations to Mary Kay for improving their customer satisfactions. The outcome of this paper can help other companies, who have suffered from inconsistent availability of products as well.
Objective of the research:
Research questions
Depending on above aims and objectives, some questions have been formed. The primary question related to this paper is:
Other questions for conducting the research are:
Research hypothesis:
Null hypothesis (H01): Likelihood of customers for purchasing products does not depend on product availability of the company.
Alternative hypothesis (HA1): Likelihood of customers for purchasing products does not depend on product availability of the company
Null hypothesis (H02): Likelihood of customers for purchasing products does not depend on product quality of the company
Alternative hypothesis (HA2): Likelihood of customers for purchasing products depends on product quality of the company
Null hypothesis (H03): Likelihood of customers for purchasing products does not depend on service of the company
Alternative hypothesis (HA3): Likelihood of customers for purchasing products depends on the service of the company
Null hypothesis (H04): Likelihood of customers for purchasing products does not depend on product availability, product quality and service of the company
Alternative hypothesis (HA4): Likelihood of customers for purchasing products depends on product availability, product quality and service of the company
The entire paper is divided into five main headings, which are, introduction, literature review, research methodology, data analysis and discussion. In introduction, the paper provides a brief overview of main concept on which the paper intends to research further. This section contains research aims, objective, research questions as well as hypothesis. These concepts help the researcher to frame the entire discussion in a systemic way. In second chapter, the paper discusses about some relevant previous studies, done by other researchers, to understand the theoretical concept of this paper along with other implications, such as impact of product inconsistency, affect of quality inconsistency on brand loyalty and persistent preferences for the product attribute. In third chapter, the paper intends to discuss about research methodology that describes about research philosophy, research design, method of data collection, sampling techniques and other ethical consideration. Forth chapter deals with data analysis, which is considered as the chief part of entire paper. This is because the researcher can draw an ultimate outcome at the end of this chapter. Chapter five discusses about entire research work considering data analysis and its outcomes.
At the end, the paper will provide a conclusion as well as a recommendation part. Conclusion part will conclude the entire discussion while recommendation part will provide some suggestions to the company for lowering its inconsistent availability of product supply. The researcher can provide some limitations as well that the person is going to experience during the process of research.
The literature review below consists of a theoretical framework of the paper. Then comes the impact of product inconsistency with the product availability. Inconsistent product descriptions very easily can affect the brand image and the standards which the managers have already set. The paper further describes the effect of quality inconsistency on brand loyalty. The term brand loyalty aims to focus the positive feelings towards the brand with the dedication to purchase the similar product consistently every time and also in the future from the similar brand. The consumers’ commitment towards repurchasing or continual use of a particular brand is also termed as brand loyalty. There had also been a huge impact of product inconsistency with respect to brand loyalty. The following literature review further describes an=bout the persistence preference of the product attribute. When there is an exposure to inconsistency, the amount of processing also increases. The presence of inconsistencies in the formation of attribute should increase the predictive ability of the attitude by increasing elaboration which is reconciliation driven. Brand loyalty therefore is also a good measure for the managers when they are trying to predict the outcomes of brand performance.
Consumers can have both negative and positive cognition towards the product. Consumers may stop using a product and switch to better product when they will find that the product is mainly dominated by the negative reviews (Kaura, Durga Prasad and Sharma 2015). It is also quite difficult for them to always judge the quality of product and the information processing of a particular product might also be difficult. The intra- attribute ambivalence has a more important impact on the intention of the purchase of the consumer than the inter-attribute ambivalence. Next comes the information processing fluency which states the degree of difficulty in the process of handling information off the object. There is a presence of both positive and negative evaluation of products which is quite inconsistent with the online reviews of the product attributes. When there is a presence of high ambiguity tolerance of the consumers, the information processing fluency can be highly reduced with the help of intra-attribute ambivalence. This will also reduce the consumers purchase intention. On the other hand, when there is a presence of low tolerance of the consumers’ ambiguity, the reviews of the product attribute will have no effect on the information processing fluency (Cha, Yi and Bagozzi 2016). Ambiguity tolerance can be referred to those characteristics in which consumers tend to respond to different vague situations. When the ambiguity tolerance of the consumers is high, the reviews of the product attribute will be quite appealing and challenging to the consumers. More energy and time will be devoted will be devoted to information processing along with high level of information processing fluency, the consumers develop a strong desire to buy the product.
When a product is dominated by any kind of negative reviews, the consumers will switch to better services and products and will stop using the products. It has also been found out that the consumers have to spend a lot of time and effort in order to make different kind of purchase decisions. The consumers who do not know the way to judge the quality of different products and also, they face the difficulty of information processing (Lam and Shankar 2014). The fluency of information processing states the degree of difficulty in the process of handling object information. In case of a common relationship form the information, processing fluency can be reduced by the inter attribute ambivalence and therefore can also reduce the purchase intention of the consumers. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that when some consumers face inconsistent information, there is a feeling of psychological conflict and nervousness. When consumers face intra-attribute ambivalence, the consumers can receive both positive and negative reviews of the product. According to the research it has been found out that presence of different kinds of reviews of product attribute can lead to information processing of different degrees. The information processing fluency plays one of the mediating roles with the effect of reviews of inconsistent product attribute on the purchase intention of the consumers (Marian et al 2014). They usually compare both the input and output when the enterprises and the consumers are in the presence of transaction relationship norm.
The attractiveness of a product line of particular brand changes a lot with respect to time along with the entry and exit of the new models along with changes in attribute and price levels. Managers in the field of the technology product markets faces a variety of challenges. One of the challenges is to look after the changes in brand preference of the consumers over time. Besides looking after the change in preference, managers are also interested in understanding the changes of preferences over time (Xu, Blankson and Prybutok 2017). They are therefore interested in understanding the role behind advertising. One of the major issues of the managers of the product is to understand the reason behind the changes in the performance of brand over time. The managers also need to evaluate the effect of the attributes of different products and marketing activities when there is rapid withdrawal and introduction of different models along with the changing consumer preferences. The inclusive value across different models provides flexible substitution patterns. Consumer satisfaction is also somewhat linked to brand loyalty building process. Cost of any kind of product is derived from the cost of production of the particular given product. Product mix includes the total number of product lines which the company has to offer. Consistency of a product refers to how much close the offered product lines are related to each other. One of the main problems with the inconsistency of the product is while venturing into a new domain. However, consistency of a product is quite advantageous while positioning the company in a particular market. Production and distribution are the two measurements of the consistency of the products (Biedenbach, Bengtsson and Marell 2015). The product mix includes all those varieties of products that sellers have put up for sale. Manufacturers should also ensure that the quality of the standard of the product are properly maintained. One of the great ways in order to make the product more competitive is by producing in huge quantities. Consumers who consistently purchase the same product from a particular store usually make a brand image of what to expect every time while they are purchasing any particular kind of product. There are two methods in the process of purchase where the problem of inconsistency may arise. One of them happens when the marketing communication messages are quite different from the prospects of the salespeople.
One of the most important elements in brand loyalty building process is to maintain product quality levels which will meet the expectation of the consumers. People try to express their loyalty towards a particular brand by consuming certain products recurrently and similarly, the brand owners also works hard to keep the trust of the consumers. In case of major quality inconsistency in a product, the consumers might question about their loyalty to that particular product. In those cases, the owners of that particular product faces difficulty in taking decisions in order to regain the trust of the consumers (Pappu. and Quester 2016). Maintaining brand loyalty is one of the most important themes in marketing. Loyalty towards a particular brand by a customer can be observed when he repeatedly buys that particular product for a long period of time. Brand loyalty is also linked to the psychology of the consumer. Brand loyalty also means commitment of rebuying a particular product consistently in the future which means purchasing the products from the same brands repeatedly despite of any kind of situational influences which can affect the purchasing behavior of the consumers. There are two dimensions of the brand loyalty which includes attitudinal and behavioral. The attitudinal brand loyalty consists of cognitive and affective dimension ( Sasmita and Mohd 2015). On the other hand, behavioral brand loyalty takes place in various forms which includes commitment in order to repurchase a current brand. Consumers get a multiple choice of products in the buying process that can satisfy the consumers need. When consumers get the preference of buying multiple products there also includes a possibility of making bad purchasing choice. However, majority of the customers highly believe that the brand which they prefer has much better characteristics compared to the other products. There has been higher sales volume, premium pricing ability, financial ability and increased usage and sending are some of the common benefits that the owners of the product can achieve from brand loyalty. Different tools are been offered by the research agencies like measuring brand awareness, market shares and retail distribution which helps in brand management (Biedenbach, Bengtsson and Marell 2015). The information materials gathered in the market along with the consumer researches can provide the managers an insight into their company’s brand. Consumer are quite aware of the importance of the quality of the product which is one of the most important factors for building brand loyalty. Lastly, it can be concluded by saying that consumer satisfaction is one of the main factors in food brand loyalty process.
One of the important issues of the marketing is the way consumers make their preferences for brands and products. The basis of the consumers’ preference mostly depends on the difference of goods. Consumers preferences in marketing can be stated as the subjective taste which can be measured by utility of different bundles of goods. In the recent years, there had been a number of factors which have led to the emergence of some complex products (Kaura, Durga Prasad and Sharma 2015). Therefore, the rise in the complexity of the products now implies new challenges for the researchers in order to explore the consumer preference. The strategy of differentiation has helped in creating a wide variety of product. The problem that the consumers faces today is that the number of features of a certain product have increased to such an extent that they are unable to consider the features for making any decisions. One of the ways of product differentiation is that addition of new functionality to the basic functions which exists. There is also a presence of significant difference between the different attributes of the product. It has been also found out that the stability of preference which is related to different product attributes are not similar (Xu, Blankson and Prybutok 2017). The preference which has been identified in responses differs significantly from each other in terms of the different types of the preferred attributes. It has been also found out that the distance in time of the decision influences the stability of the individual attributes. The factors which are dependent on product such as brad loyalty; degree of involvement significantly influences the stability of individual attributes. Consumers initially do not have preferences that are unstable with the attributes of complex products. Methods which has been used in marketing research in case of measuring attribute preferences does not examine the stability of preferences.
In this section, an overview of the methods that will be used to perform this research has been conducted. Justification of the techniques that has been chosen for the purpose of the analysis has also been provided in this section of the research. In a research, certain research ethics also needs to be followed which will also be discussed in this section. Moreover, in certain scenarios, there are issues related to the accessibility of data and information and these lead to problems in the analysis. These kinds of problems that can be faced during the research process will also be discussed in the paper.
This research has been conducted on the basis of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Thus, deductive approach as well as descriptive approach has been followed along with positive philosophy. In order to perform the quantitative research, primary data collection has been applied. The data has been collected with the help of a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was distributed to 50 customers who have been buying Mary Kay products and their responses has been analyzed. The customers were selected randomly. Both descriptive and inferential statistical techniques have been applied for the purpose of the analysis of the data. Further for the qualitative analysis conducted in this research, five most valued customers of Mary Kay have been selected randomly who regularly use the products of this brand. These 5 participants were interviewed about their recent experiences with the product in UK. Based on their responses critical analysis of the brand has also been conducted regarding the quality and availability of their products and the services provided by the company.
This research has been conducted with the help of both deductive as well as inductive approach. The deductive approach has been used to relate the results with the research aims and the stated hypothesis (Nueman 2013). With the help of the deductive approach used, the obtained results have been linked with the existing literature, that is the case study on the company products and services. While performing a research, the research designs that are followed are descriptive, explanatory and exploratory (Lewis 2015). In this research, the descriptive research design has been followed as with the help of this research the problems in the products and the services of the company can be explored. With the identification of these problems, the company can adopt remedies to improve the business performance (Vaioleti 2016). Further, with the help of this research design other factors that can be responsible for affecting the performance of the company can also be identified (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault 2015).
The descriptive research can be conducted in various ways. A survey can be conducted based on the aims and objectives of the research. Another approach in which the data can be collected is from secondary sources such as company websites and various journals (Flick 2015). In this case, the main interest was to find out the viewpoint of the existing customers of Mary Kay. Thus a survey has been conducted separately for this analysis from the customers asking them several questions on various attributes of the products and services provided by Mary Kay. The views of the customers were considered as the data.
There are various different types of sampling techniques that can be used for the purpose of the research. These include probabilistic sampling, non-probabilistic sampling system sampling and cluster sampling. The sampling technique adopted for conducting this research is the random sampling technique which is type of probabilistic sampling. This technique has been adopted as with the help of this technique, there is an equal chance of each member to be selected in the sample (Panneerselvam 2014). 50 customers among all the customers of Mary Kay has been selected for the study to express their views about the products and the services provided by the company.
Data collection can be of two different techniques – primary and secondary data collection technique. In this case primary technique has been used for the purpose of collection of data. For conducting both the qualitative as well as quantitative analysis, the data collected is primary (Neuman and Robson 2014). As the study was based on the inconsistency in the availability of the products of Mary Kay in UK, the data had to be collected from the people in UK who use the products of Mary Kay. Thus, the most recent data was important to obtain which was not possible to collect without conducting a survey.
Data analysis methods that has been used in this research are both qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative analysis has been conducted as the raw data collected from the customers of Mary kay in UK has been expressed numerically and analyzed the problems of the company. For the analysis of the quantitative data, the platform that has been used for this research is EXCEL. Further, the interviews of the five customers have been closely studied and the responses has been analyzed accordingly and critically.
While conducting a research, it is important to maintain the ethics of the research. This will help in the successful completion of the aims and objectives of the research. The most important ethics that has to be followed in any research is maintaining the privacy of the participants of the research. The identity of the participants must not be disclosed to anybody under any circumstances. Before doing any such thing, the permission of the participants must be considered. There should also be willingness within the participants to participate in the research. No participants should be involved in the research forcefully (Haggerty 2016). Thus, the respondents must be asked to sign any consent regarding participation to ensure the willingness of the participants. Further, collection of any resources for the purpose of the research must be from sources which are authentic. The resources must be only of academic use and must not be disclosed to anyone who are not directly involved with the research.
For the purpose of this research, an interview has been conducted on only 5 customers who most actively use the products of Mary Kay. All the other participants of this survey were provided with a questionnaire in which the questions were all closed ended and the participants has to choose any one of the provided options. Thus, there was no chance for the customers to share their experiences openly. Thus their individual grievances or satisfaction regarding the beauty products of Mary Kay has not been shared.
In this section of the report, the results of the analysis of the data collected from the survey will be illustrates with the help of appropriate graphs and charts. Both the descriptive and inferential statistical approaches have been used to evaluate the results and therefore conclude about the stated hypothesis. The analysis has been conducted in depth with the help of both the descriptive as well as the inferential statistical technique. The relationship between the independent and the dependent variable has been established with the help of the inferential statistical techniques and the descriptive measures has been used to explore the data obtained. With the help of these, the impact of product quality, product availability and service of the company on the likelihood of purchasing decision of the customers has been established.
At first, the descriptive analysis has been conducted on the responses provided by the customers. At first, the demographic profile of the respondents has been explored. Focusing on any particular type of respondents becomes easier with the help of the analysis of the demographic profile of the respondents. The first demographic issue that has been analyzed is the gender of the respondents. From the analysis it has been observed that the number of male users of Mary Kay are higher than the number of female users of the products of the brand. Though Mary Kay is a cosmetics and beauty product brand, still the company has more male users than female users. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.1 and table 4.1 respectively.
Table 4.1: Gender of the Customers of Mary Kay
|
Row Labels |
Count of Gender |
|
Female |
24 |
|
Male |
26 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
Following gender, the next demographic profile that has been assessed is the occupation of the respondents. It can be seen from the analysis that most of the Mary Kay customers are students or do service. Very less proportion of businessman, homemaker and self-employed people have been found to be using the products of Mary Kay. 38 percent of respondents have been found to be in service and 24 percent of the respondents have been found to be students who use the products. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.2 and table 4.2 respectively.
Table 4.2: Occupation of the Customers of Mary Kay
|
Row Labels |
Count of Occupation |
|
Business |
8 |
|
Homemaker |
2 |
|
Self-Employed |
9 |
|
Service |
19 |
|
Student |
12 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable that has been discussed is the Income of the respondents. It can be seen clearly from the analysis of the results of the income variable that most of the customers who use Mary Kay products belong to the lower income groups. People with higher income groups can be seen not to be using the Mary Kay products. Out of the 50 respondents on whom the survey was conducted, 41 respondents have been found to be having an annual income less than £30,000. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.3 and table 4.3 respectively.
Table 4.3: Income Group of the Customers of Mary Kay
|
Row Labels |
Count of Income |
|
Less than £20,000 |
15 |
|
£20,000 – £25,000 |
15 |
|
£25,000 – £30,000 |
11 |
|
£30,000 – £35,000 |
8 |
|
More than £35,000 |
1 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable that has been analyzed descriptively is the age group to which the respondents of the survey belong. It has been seen from the analysis that most of the respondents belong to the age group of less than 40 years. Moreover, people within the age group of 25 to 40 years have been observed to be using the products of Mary Kay mostly. Out of the 50 respondents, 49 respondents are less than 40 years old. 25 respondents have been found to be less than 25 years old. Thus, it can be seen from the age group also that the users of Mary Kay products are mostly students. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.4 and table 4.4 respectively.
Table 4.4: Age Group of the Customers of Mary Kay
|
Row Labels |
Count of Age |
|
Less than 18 years |
11 |
|
18 – 25 years |
14 |
|
25 – 40 Years |
24 |
|
More than 40 years |
1 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable to be analyzed is the type of Mary Kay products that are used by the respondents. From the results obtained by analyzing the information provided by the respondents, it can be seen clearly that there are three types of products sold by the company. These are hair care products, skin care products and cosmetics. Some of the respondents use all the three types of products from this brand, some others use two types of products and most of them use one particular type of product. As from the analysis, it can be seen that the most used product of Mary Kay by its customers are its skin care products. 20 out of the 50 respondents have been found to be using cosmetics, whereas, 28 out of 50 respondents have been found to be using the skin care products. On the other hand, as obtained from the analysis, it can be seen that 17 out of the 50 respondents use the hair care products of Mary Kay. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.5 and tables 4.5a and 4.5b respectively.
Table 4.5a: Product types used by the Customers of Mary Kay
|
Row Labels |
Count of Tick kind of beauty products do you use |
|
Cosmetics |
10 |
|
Hair |
12 |
|
Hair, Skin, Cosmetics |
5 |
|
Skin |
18 |
|
Skin, Cosmetics |
5 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
Table 4.5b: Individual Product types used by the Customers of Mary Kay
|
Product Type |
Number of Customers |
|
Hair |
17 |
|
Skin |
28 |
|
Cosmetics |
20 |
The customers were asked about their duration of using the Mary Kay products. As from the analysis. It can be seen clearly that most of the customers using the Mary Kay products have been using them for less than 2 years. 15 out of the 50 participants have been found to be using the products for less than 6 months. Most of the users have been found to be using the products between 6 months and a year. Thus, it can be said that the product gained its popularity in the last one year. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.6 and table 4.6 respectively.
Table 4.6: Duration of using the products by the Customers of Mary Kay
|
Row Labels |
Count of How long have you been using Mary Kay Products |
|
Less than 6 months |
15 |
|
6 months – 1 year |
20 |
|
1-2 years |
10 |
|
More than 2 years |
5 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The variable that has been analyzed is the amount spent by the customers per year for the Mary Kay products. It can be seen from the results of the analysis obtained that most of the customers spend within £400 on purchasing Mary Kay products per year. As can be seen from the results of the analysis that 14 out of the 50 customers spend less than £200 and within £300-£400 pounds. Moreover, 16 out of the 50 respondents have been found to be spending within £200 – £300. Very little proportion of people have been found to be spending more than £400 for the Mary Kay products in a year. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.7 and table 4.7 respectively.
Table 4.7: Amount spent per year on the products by the Customers of Mary Kay
|
Row Labels |
Count of How much do you spend on Mary Kay Products per year |
|
Less than £200 |
14 |
|
£200 – £300 |
16 |
|
£300 – £400 |
14 |
|
£400 – £500 |
4 |
|
More than £500 |
2 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable that has been analyzed is the number of customers who have been buying the Mary kay products online. From the results of the analysis, it can be seen clearly that 39 customers out of the 50 customers have been buying the products online. Thus, it can be said from here that the online market of the products of the brand Mary Kay is much more active than the retail market. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.8 and table 4.8 respectively.
Table 4.8: Number of Customers purchasing Mary Kay Products Online
|
Row Labels |
Count of Do you buy Mary Kay products online |
|
No |
11 |
|
Yes |
39 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable considered for the analysis is the number of customers purchasing the Mary Kay products via the representatives of the company. It can be seen from the analysis that the customers have a preference of buying the products via representatives as well. Thus, it can be seen that the retail market is not that popular for the products of Mary Kay. Most of the customers have been found to be preferring the online mode or via the representatives for purchasing the products of this brand. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.9 and table 4.9 respectively.
Table 4.9: Number of Customers purchasing Mary Kay Products via Representatives
|
Row Labels |
Count of Do you buy via representatives |
|
No |
15 |
|
Yes |
35 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable that has been considered is the issues regarding the delivery and payment that has occurred while ordering or purchasing the products. It has been seen from the analysis that the respondents have faced issues regarding these matters. Most of the respondents have agreed to the fact that they have faced issues regarding the non-delivery and payment for the products. 30 out of the 50 respondents have faced issues in this regard. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.10 and table 4.10 respectively.
Table 4.10: Customers facing Issues regarding Product delivery and Payment
|
Row Labels |
Count of Have you ever had any issues regarding non delivery and payment |
|
No |
20 |
|
Yes |
30 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The customers participating in the survey has been asked a few questions on the satisfaction of them regarding the products and services. It can be seen from the analysis that most of the customers have given average ratings to issue that the products have always maintained its quality standard. The number of people disagreeing to the fact is higher than the number of people agreeing to the fact that the standard of the quality of the products have been maintained by the brand. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.11 and table 4.11 respectively.
Table 4.11: Customer responses for maintaining the standard of product Quality
|
Row Labels |
Count of The products always maintain its standard |
|
1 |
6 |
|
2 |
10 |
|
3 |
12 |
|
4 |
16 |
|
5 |
6 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable that has been analyzed is the quality of the customer service that is provided by the brand. From the analysis, it has been obtained that most of the people have rated very low for the customer service. 16 people out of 50 have said that they are satisfied with the customer service, whereas, 22 out of 50 people have shown their dissatisfaction towards customer service. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.12 and table 4.12 respectively.
Table 4.12: Customer responses for Rating Customer Service
|
Row Labels |
Count of Rate customer service |
|
1 |
6 |
|
2 |
10 |
|
3 |
12 |
|
4 |
17 |
|
5 |
5 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable that has been analyzed is the quality of the product delivery service that is provided by the brand. From the analysis, it has been obtained that most of the people have rated very low for the product delivery service. 12 people out of 50 have said that they are satisfied with the product delivery service, whereas, 31 out of 50 people have shown their dissatisfaction towards product delivery service. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.13 and table 4.13 respectively.
Table 4.13: Customer responses for Rating Product Delivery Service
|
Row Labels |
Count of Rate delivery service |
|
1 |
5 |
|
2 |
7 |
|
3 |
7 |
|
4 |
25 |
|
5 |
6 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable that has been analyzed is the quality of the product availability that is provided by the brand. From the analysis, it has been obtained that most of the people have rated very low for the product availability. 14 people out of 50 have said that they are satisfied with the product availability service, whereas, 36 out of 50 people have shown their dissatisfaction towards product availability service. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.14 and table 4.14 respectively.
Table 4.14: Customer responses for Rating Product Availability Service
|
Row Labels |
Count of Rate product availability |
|
1 |
4 |
|
2 |
10 |
|
3 |
10 |
|
4 |
15 |
|
5 |
11 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
The next variable that has been analyzed is the quality of the likelihood of purchasing Mary Kay products in future. From the analysis, it has been obtained that most of the people have rated very low for the likelihood of purchasing Mary Kay products. 15 people out of 50 have said that they are likely to purchase Mary Kay products in the future, whereas, 22 out of 50 people are unlikely to purchase Mary Kay products in the future. The results of the analysis are presented in a graphical as well as in a tabulated format in the following figure 4.15 and table 4.15 respectively.
Table 4.15: Customer responses for likelihood of purchasing Mary Kay products
|
Row Labels |
Count of You are likely to purchase Mary Kay products in the future |
|
1 |
3 |
|
2 |
12 |
|
3 |
13 |
|
4 |
13 |
|
5 |
9 |
|
Grand Total |
50 |
Inferential analysis has been conducted to evaluate the impact of the independent variables on the dependent variable. In this research, the independent variable that has been considered are the customer service, product delivery service and the product availability. The impact of these three variables on the independent variable, the likelihood of the customers in purchasing Mary Kay products in the future is to be determined.
From the correlation analysis, it can be seen clearly that the likelihood of purchasing Mary Kay products is strongly associated with the attributes such as Customer Service, Delivery Service and Product Availability. The association between these variables is highly positive. That is with the increase in the satisfaction ratings for the attributes, the purchasing likelihood will increase. The results of the correlation analysis are provided in the following table 4.16.
Table 4.16: Correlation Analysis
|
customer service |
delivery service |
product availability |
Likelihood to purchase Mary Kay products in the future |
|
|
customer service |
1 |
|||
|
delivery service |
0.751 |
1 |
||
|
product availability |
0.798 |
0.666 |
1 |
|
|
Likelihood to purchase Mary Kay products in the future |
0.767 |
0.796 |
0.816 |
1 |
The relationship between each of the variables are established with the help of the regression analysis. To establish the type of relationship between Customer service and likelihood, regression analysis has been performed. From the results of the analysis (Table 4.17), it can be seen that the significance F value of the model is less than 0.05, the standard level of significance. Hence, it can be said that the null hypothesis (H01) is rejected. The model is significant and there is a relationship between Customer service and likelihood of purchase of the products.
|
Table 4.17: ANOVA for Relationship between Customer Service and Purchasing Likelihood |
|||||
|
df |
SS |
MS |
F |
Significance F |
|
|
Regression |
1 |
40.903 |
40.903 |
68.370 |
0.000 |
|
Residual |
48 |
28.717 |
0.598 |
||
|
Total |
49 |
69.62 |
To establish the type of relationship between Delivery service and likelihood, regression analysis has been performed. From the results of the analysis (Table 4.18), it can be seen that the significance F value of the model is less than 0.05, the standard level of significance. Hence, it can be said that the null hypothesis (H02) is rejected. The model is significant and there is a relationship between Delivery service and likelihood of purchase of the products.
|
Table 4.18: ANOVA for Relationship between Delivery Service and Purchasing Likelihood |
|||||
|
df |
SS |
MS |
F |
Significance F |
|
|
Regression |
1 |
44.162 |
44.162 |
83.267 |
0.000 |
|
Residual |
48 |
25.458 |
0.530 |
||
|
Total |
49 |
69.62 |
To establish the type of relationship between product availability and likelihood, regression analysis has been performed. From the results of the analysis (Table 4.19), it can be seen that the significance F value of the model is less than 0.05, the standard level of significance. Hence, it can be said that the null hypothesis (H03) is rejected. The model is significant and there is a relationship between product availability and likelihood of purchase of the products.
|
Table 4.19: ANOVA for Relationship between Delivery Service and Purchasing Likelihood |
|||||
|
df |
SS |
MS |
F |
Significance F |
|
|
Regression |
1 |
46.377 |
46.377 |
95.775 |
0.000 |
|
Residual |
48 |
23.243 |
0.484 |
||
|
Total |
49 |
69.620 |
To establish the type of relationship between Customer service, Delivery service and product availability with likelihood, regression analysis has been performed. From the results of the analysis (Table 4.20), it can be seen that the significance F value of the model is less than 0.05, the standard level of significance. Hence, it can be said that the null hypothesis (H04) is rejected. The model is significant and there is a relationship between Customer service, Delivery service and product availability with likelihood of purchase of the products.
|
Table 4.20: ANOVA for Overall Relationship between Independent and dependent variables |
|||||
|
df |
SS |
MS |
F |
Significance F |
|
|
Regression |
3 |
54.451 |
18.150 |
55.043 |
0.000 |
|
Residual |
46 |
15.169 |
0.330 |
||
|
Total |
49 |
69.62 |
The analysis conducted above have shown that the unavailability of the product, the problems relating to delivery and the bad customer service has been vital for the company to lose their recommendation in the UK market. People have already shifted from the retail market to the online market for purchasing these products that they require or they use mostly. If the problem related to product delivery now continues, the customers will be bound to shift to other brands with better availability and lesser problems for purchasing these products. Further, there has been complaints on the quality of the products as well. Some people have highly shown their grievances regarding the fact that the quality of the product is not up to the mark as it should have been for a product of this cost. Continuation of all these problems will be leading to the brand to be driven away from the UK market.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Thus, from the analysis performed above, it can be seen clearly that the availability of the products of Mary Kay in the UK market has been a problem. That might have been the reason for the customers to be ordering the products online or with the help of company representatives. Still there has been complains about the delivery issues, payment issues. From the conducted interviews, it has been observed that customers have been complaining about the quality of the product not being up to the mark. The company do not maintain the standards of the products that they have specified in their advertisements.
Moreover, from the purchasing likelihood of the products by the customers, it has been observed that the customers are losing their willingness to buy the products of this brand. To find out the reasons behind this, the correlation and the regression analysis has been performed. The results of the analysis have shown that customer service, delivery and availability of the products are highly related to the products. Thus, the company has to develop these services to have a competing position with other beauty products brand that exist in the market.
This research has been conducted on only 50 customers and on an interview of 2 valued and royal customers of this company. This sample of customers is too small to have a representation of the whole UK properly. Thus, the analysis can be expanded further with a larger sample size. Moreover, the reasons behind the inconsistency in the availability of the products of Mary Kay in the UK market also needs to be identified as that is the main cause of the problem to the customers. Thus, keeping in mind all these factors, the study can be expanded further.
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