How to identify the users’ motives that has made cigarette smoking popular in the past.

How to identify the users’ motives that has made cigarette smoking popular in the past.

Assignment – Comparing Research Tools (2-3 pages long)

You have just been hired as the promotion manager for a tobacco company. You are concerned that recent labeling and advertising legislation as well as all the publicity about the harmful effects of tobacco products your company, after years of success, may begin to falter. Your problem is how to identify the users’ motives that has made cigarette smoking popular in the past.

Your assignment consists in selecting the most adequate research method (focus groups or Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique) to conduct your research.

1.  First, you must conduct research and describe the basic features of each method.

2.  Next, indicate pros and cons of the two methods.

3.  Lastly, you will provide the rationale for your choice, considering the scope of the research problem described above.

·  Focus groups are one of the advertising researcher’s most versatile tools. It is a discussion session with typically 6-12 participants who have been brought together to provide new insights about a product, service or idea. It involves narratives.

·  Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) is a projective technique used to draw out consumer’s thoughts and feelings about products and/or brands in terms of metaphors. (A metaphor defines one thing in terms of another). It involves both imagery and narratives.

·  Please use Times New Roman font, 12 pt.

·  Be precise, concise and to the point.

·  The minimum number of pages is 2. The maximum number is 3.

·  Be as creative as possible to present your findings.