Business Research Methodology

Business Research Project

Slawomir Starzec
Bachelor of International Business
Dorset College Dublin
2014/2015
 General Topic

The contemporary demand for dietetic healthy food.

 Research Hypothesis

‘There is a niche market for restaurants serving dietetic food

tailored to individual needs, because of the rising demand for
healthy and organic meals opposed to the trend of fast food’.
 Research Ideas

1) I think, there is a rising demand for dietetic healthy food in the

opposition to the leading trend of fastfoods.

2) I think, the rising demand for dietetic food may create a market for
restaurants serving dietetic meals tailored to individual needs.
 Research Objectives
GENERAL TOPIC:
To determine if there is a viable market for healthy food to order
via the Internet.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:
1) To establish general perception of healthy food in Ireland.
2) To identify the reasons for which the Irish consumers would choose
restaurants serving healthy food.
3) To identify groups of people who might be customers of restaurants
serving healthy food.
4) To assess how regular and loyal potentiaal groups of customers
might be.
5) To assess if affluence affects consumers’ decisions about the type
of food they buy.
 Litarature Review

Primary sources of literature: Databases of Mintel and Euromonitor

reports; articles searched through Google Scholar.
1) Mintel, 2013. Irish Lifestyles - Ireland, Dublin: Mintel Group Ltd.
2) Mintel, 2013. Attitudes to Food - Ireland 2013, Dublin: Mintel Group Ltd
3) Feldman, M., 2013. Consumer Health in 2014: Review of Trends
Shaping Newer Approaches to Healing and Wellbeing, Dublin:
Euromonitor International Ltd.
Secondary sources of literature: Magazines, online publications,
websites
Forbes, 2013. US Online Retail Sales To Reach $370B By 2017; €191B in
Europe. [Online]
Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forrester/2013/03/14/us-
online-retail-sales-to-reach-370b-by-2017-e191b-in-europe/
[Accessed 30 12 2014].
 Literature Review

1) The literature review revealed that most available reports used

quantitative methods.

2) The awareness of healthy/organic food and healthy lifestyle is

relatively high in Ireland but qualitative methods of research might be
required to obtain more in-depth knowledge.

3) Insufficient literature on consumer usage of the Internet to order

ready meals online.

4) Lack of literature on whether consumers would use online-based

applications to order healthy meals to homes/officies.
 Literature Review – Key findings
The review of available literature indicated the following trends on food
market and the perspectives at which those trends are researched:

1) The recession strengthened the position of fast food which continues to

be a leader on the food market. The sales in pubs/restaurants
decreased by 7,2% between 2011-2013 ( BordBia, Mintel).

2) The key motivational factor for customers to choose healthy meal

options are health-related concerns (hypertension, diabetes, heart-
related conditions).

3) The development of personalised nutrition based on individual

genotypes appears to be the most exciting in the food science.
However, there is a number of ethical concerns related to reliability and
availability of genetic data (storage, management, making available)
 Methodology

In order to investigate all aspects of the reserched issues and obtain an

in-depth quality word data, the research project will utilise mainly
qualitative research techniques (mixed-method design).
 Focus group and a semi-structured interview

Objectives to be met include:

 To establish general perception and awareness of healthy food in
Ireland.
 To identify groups of people who might be consumers of the
restaurants serving healthy meals.
 To identify the reasons for which the Irish consumers would choose
restaurant serving healthy food.

Focus group of 8 persons aged 18-65

Duration: 1h 30min
Type of moderator: dual moderator focus group - one moderator
ensures the session progresses smoothly, while another ensures that all
the topics are covered.
 Focus group

Open-ended questions i.e.:

1) How would you define healthy food?

2) How would you define a healthy life style?
3) What are the reasons for which people buy or switch to healthy food?
4) Do you think that the demand for healthy food is rising? Why?
5) Who are the people interested in healthy meals?
6) Which groups of people might be customers of restaurants serving
healthy meals?
7) What are the barriers for switching to healthy food?
 Semi-structured Interview

The semi-structured interview will follow the focus group.

The list of open-ended questions may vary depending on the

course of the conversation. The questions to be asked to
respondents will result from the focus group sessions.
 Survey and focus group

 The second phase of the research will combine quantitative and

qualitative methodology.

 The survey will be conducted face to face and use a structured

questionnaire with closed-ended questions. The application of closed-
ended questions will allow to obtain grater precision of answers and
make the further analysis easier.

 The sample size is calculated based on the number of population

of Dublin.
The population of Dublin: 527.612 (CSO, 2011)
The accepted margin of error: 5%
The confidence level: 95%
The recommended sample size: 384
 Focus group
This focus group is intended to interpret and specify the general
findings from a survey.

Research questions to be examined include:

1) What prices would people be willing to pay per order/meal?

2) How loyal would the customers of the healthy food restaurants be?
 Conclusions
1) The findings from the literature review suggest that there is a gap in
the available reports on the consumer willingness to order healthy
ready meals via the Internet.

2) The available reports revealed data and provided with an incentive

to conduct this research for number of reasons: strong awareness
of healthy lifestyle supported by various initiatives, high adoption
and usage of new technologies (i.e. mobile apps), increasing health
concerns, changing eating habits.

3) The research project, if it was to be conducted in real life, might

provide with valuable data whether consumers are ready to order
healthy meals via the Internet or not.
 References
1) Mintel, 2014. Foodservice - Ireland 2014, Dublin: Mintel Group Ltd.
2) Mintel, 2013. Irish Lifestyles - Ireland, Dublin: Mintel Group Ltd.
3) Mintel, 2013. Attitudes to Food - Ireland 2013, Dublin: Mintel Group Ltd.
4) BordBia, 2011. Exploring the role of food and drink in the future of
health and wellness. [Online]
Available at:
http://www.bordbia.ie/industry/manufacturers/insight/publications/bb
reports/Documents/Future%20of%20Health%20and%20Wellness%20201
1.pdf
[Accessed 01 12 2014].
5) Forbes, 2013. US Online Retail Sales To Reach $370B By 2017; €191B in
Europe. [Online]
Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forrester/2013/03/14/us-
online-retail-sales-to-reach-370b-by-2017-e191b-in-europe/
[Accessed 30 12 2014].
Thank you