How Consumers React to the 24-Hour Service - Research Proposal Example

An assessment on how consumers react to the 24-hour service al Affiliation) Key words: Tube, London Underground INTRODUCTION The tube is the best innovation to occur in London’s transport sector. The 24-hour advanced Tube service will carry more passengers than ever before (Denzin, & Lincoln, 2000). By introducing weekend travels, this tube will offer a more frequent and reliable service. Improved services will include; simpler ticketing, a better human resource system, and more accessible stations. These services will ensure that consumers get the best possible value for the fare they pay (Ashford, 2013). This plan has its own set of reactions from both the staff and consumers. Although the tube will enhance the transport sector, it comes with its own package of criticisms. Change is inevitable. Being a new innovation, the service has incorporated sophisticated technology (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 2008). This means that some workers will be laid off and fares will increase. This research proposal focuses on how consumers react to the 24-hour service in respect to its marketing strategy (Martin, 2012). LITERATURE REVIEW Consumers have shown concern over the new service in respect to ticket office closures, but have broadly welcomed the 24-hour service. London underground is set to run weekend services under this plan (Emmerson, 2010). By focusing on consumers, the major aim of this service will be to create efficient marketing strategies. Why should a consumer choose this service over another? In terms of marketing strategy, London Underground will have an edge over its competitors; in respect to the system’s efficiency (Gibaldi, 2009). According to Tfl, tourists are also considered in the plan. This service aims at reaching a huge market base, thus, creating special customer points to serve tourists. Foreigners would be encouraged to utilize this service for this reason. The six central London stations, with special customer points, will be equally staffed; while the tube is running. Looking at this plan in a competitive aspect, it might just be the answer to an effective solution for the transport sector. Tfl acknowledges the value of consumers, and this will ensure that they receive the best value of their money (Machi, & McEvoy, 2009). As earlier said, change is inevitable. One of the adverse effect attributable to the tube is that, all ticket offices will be closed by 2015. This would have some beneficial effects to the consumers. An introduction of the oyster card will be the ‘selling point’ for London Underground, and the mayor. Consumers appreciate automated systems. This service will improve the whole transport sector in a ‘cost saving’ manner. By automating the ticket system, time will be saved. Time is money. Although fares will increase, huge costs will be saved by eliminating the ticket offices. The plan incorporates a 24-hour weekend service. Consumers have the advantage of utilizing the service over the weekends. This means that their daily activities would not be halted during the weekends due to inherent inefficiencies in the transport sector. This service is bound to capture a wide market base due to this ‘extended’ service. By incorporating the 24-hour weekend service, consumers will wholly benefit from this service (Pride & Ferrell, 2008). Consumers would, however, be uncertain over the efficient running of the service. A looming strike by the Rail, Maritime, and transport (RMT) Union, in the run-up to Christmas over employee cuts, is the main reason behind the uncertainty. This strike would lead to a massive disruption, especially over the Christmas season where people travel for holidays. In the court of passengers’ opinion, the following would be decided; Wi-Fi coverage across all underground stations, contactless bank card payment for easier payment of tickets, and new and updated trains for all stations. All these are factors that would encourage consumers to utilize the service. A marketing strategy involves offering services that would make a product unique. By offering Wi-Fi coverage over 27 stations, this plan would be exceptionally demanded by numerous consumers. Paying for tickets through contactless bank card payment is what a consumer may ask for, for efficient services. This service has the advantage of saving time, which would be beneficial for all passengers. The 24-hour plan is diverse in the sense that it considers the interest of all consumers. According to Boris Johnson, “The 24-hour Night Tube is a platform for opening up the tube network” (Ashford, 2013). Overnight running of the Tube on Friday and Saturday will ease daytime traffic; some passengers will opt for night travel. By easing up congestion in the Tube, the Night Tube will improve the transport sector by a huge margin. The Tube has transported millions of people for over 150 years (Martin, 2012). London Underground would not want to compromise people’s transport by enacting compulsory redundancies on employees. Mike Brown, London Underground’s managing director, promises that all Tube stations will be staffed and controlled in future. This will ensure that more employees are available to customers. This is a beneficial effect of the 24-hour plan to the consumers. It was reported that Tfl faced a cut in government grant. In the first year, BBC London reported a 1% cut on the government grant to Tfl, and a 2% cut the following year. This had an adverse effect towards the passengers since fares across the Tube, trams, and buses increased by 4.2%; on average. This means that passengers had to bear the burden of a cut in government grant by paying high fares. Increasing prices would not serve as a good market strategy; especially for a new service that demands a huge market base. Passengers would opt for cheaper ways of travelling (Smith, 2004). The London Underground in 24-hour plan would have widely consulted with analysts to examine its effects on passengers. From the above literature review, it is evident that consumers reacted differently to the 24-hour service. Most consumers tend to be on the same side; hence the differences in reaction would not vary by a great margin. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The London underground 24-hour plan has effects on the passengers. To conduct such effects, it would be necessary to raise the following questions (Flick, 2008); According to cynics, London Underground has been undermining the unions by sweetening the pill for the travelling public (Emmerson, 2010). Is this the main intention of Mike Brown and his team? How do the job cuts affect how passengers access the services provided? According to the article, BBC London reported that Tfl was facing a cut in its government grant. This cut led to an increase in fares charged across the Tube, trams, and buses. What are the other causes of the 4.2% increase in fares? METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH The above proposal involves a huge population. The system, transport system, is a cycle. Activities are recurrent. This means that one method of data collection can be applied throughout the study. I will adopt a survey methodology of data collection (Fowler, 2002). Due to the nature of the area under research, data is expected to be consistent. A sample of every category (passengers, employees, unions, and the management board) will be picked and a survey conducted. A sample of the passengers will be picked and asked for their opinion on how employees are treated in relation to the services provided. This will end the ambiguity on the intention of the management (Hoque, 2006). Is the management trying to make a good name for the company while ignoring the needs of the employees? Passengers will be best suited to be the main respondents of this survey. In terms of job cuts, will the services be any different in the future? Respondents will comprise of the management and passengers. Management is expected to explain the reasons for the ‘cut’. Passengers are expected to provide information on how service delivery has been affected by the job cuts. The increment in fares is attributable to many factors; not only the reduction in government grants. Respondents will comprise of management, employees, unions, and passengers. Any personal interests and bias in providing information will be highly discouraged. Employees will not form a great portion of respondents. This is because; their anger towards management may provide unreliable information on the questions asked (Ridley, 2008). According to the demographics of the respondents, a survey would be easy to develop. An advanced survey incorporating survey software has multi-code capabilities that would enhance my ability to survey a wide range of passengers. Surveys have the following strengths (Kothari, 2004); They are easy to administer. In my study, the London underground 24-hour plan, a survey would be the best methodological approach since the respondents are many and variances in the information collected would not be more than negligible. Surveys are time saving as they are developed faster. With the research questions above, developing a survey is relatively easy as compared to other methods, such as conducting a case study. Due to the multiple numbers of respondents, a survey would be cost effective. The cost of accessing information is not significant. Tube users would not hold back any information; since the survey involves a public sector. Surveys create room for collecting data from a large number of respondents. Any information deemed relevant to this survey of the passengers would act as data. This survey will, therefore, provide the necessary capacity for accommodating a wide range of information from the respondents. Other methods do not incorporate certain respondents’ attributes such as, beliefs, attitudes, behavior, and values. A survey captures all attributes from respondents. A passenger would not mind the increment in fares, but would be discouraged to utilize the service due to the threat of strikes by unions. Standardized surveys are free from several types of errors. Data collected from surveys may be inhibited by the following factors (Wodak, & Meyer, 2001); Passengers may not feel encouraged to provide accurate information. Based on past experiences, some surveys are conducted as a solution to a problem and yet nothing changes. If there are such experiences, information obtained from this survey may not be reliable. Employees and members of unions may not feel comfortable disclosing information that would ‘tarnish’ the name of the respective company. This may be due to threats of getting sacked or presenting themselves in an unfavorable manner. The success of a survey requires that respondents be aware of what it is all about. If the passengers are not aware of what the survey entails, they may not know what information to provide. Formulating survey questions is quite demanding. Questions should not be closed-ended as they may have a lower validity on the survey. Customized surveys may be biased. They may only consider what is of interest to the researcher as compared to the main objectives of the study. METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION Interviews act as primary sources of data (Kamil, 2002). They are used to draw data from the respondents by asking questions. Information drawn from interviews is important since it originates from the people affected by the problem at hand (Smith, 2011). In this case, I will conduct interviews with the passengers and assess their reaction towards the 24-hour service. The main types of interviews include (Chaplin, & Hayes, 2005); Informational interview: It is aimed at asking for advice and adding on to knowledge. Individual interview: This is a one-on-one exchange between the interviewer and interviewee. Committee interview: the interviewee meets with several decision makers all at once. Non-directive interview: It is usually unstructured, and seems like a conversation. Screening interview: They are conducted when there are a large number of applicants to ensure that candidates meet minimum requirements. Behavioral interviews: they are used to assess the behavior of respondents. Interview questions would include; How often do you use the Tube? Approximately, what is the ratio between passengers and employees? How is passenger traffic distributed across the week? After an interview, I would ask for a comment to inquire whether the service is smooth and/or user friendly. There exists a relationship between an interviewer and an interviewee (Matt, & Matt 2007). In this case, the effect would be a causal relationship. The interview would be informative for the interviewer, and would be a platform for airing concerns for the interviewee. Advantages of interviews Interviews can reach a large sample They ensure that questions are fully understood With the consent of the interviewee, face to face interviews can be recorded A representative sample is possible and results can be used to make statements. Disadvantages of interviews Data on personal attributes cannot be collected. They are time consuming since the interviewer can only interview one person at a time. In the case of the London underground 24-hour plan, interviewing all passengers may prove impossible. Different interviewees may give conflicting information due to different personal interests. Participant ethnography is another important method of data collection (Reilly, 2005). I would act as a passenger for a couple of days and record what is of importance to the study. This is a primary source of data and very reliable. The researcher gets to feel/experience what the respondents are experiencing; that is, the researcher gets the opportunity to be on the ground. An important aspect to consider when carrying out a participant ethnography is that, other people should not discover that a research is being conducted otherwise they would alter their behavior. In carrying out this research, I will observe how the passengers perceive the whole system. I will also investigate on the behavior of employees towards serving the passengers. This system has its own strengths and weaknesses. Advantages The researcher gets to obtain firsthand information about the real situation It does not require intensive planning It is simple The information obtained may improve on knowledge Disadvantages It is subjective. Information obtained depends on how the researcher perceived the situation. It cannot be carried out by a visually impaired person. Personal attributes of the people around cannot be obtained. I will adopt computational methods to analyze the data (Train, 2003). This computational method will involve a simulation analysis of the data collected and incorporated with the system as a whole. A simulation analysis is best suited for this study. Since the area of study is large, incorporating a simulation method would provide a detailed analysis of the whole system (Ross, 2006). A simulation method would be best for analyzing data. A simulation method has the following strengths; It uses real data to inform simulations in the future. Simulation methods assist in forecasting the behavior of a system. This means that the unforeseen future can be predicted. Errors can be corrected before they occur. In this case, analyzing the data would assist in predicting how the London Underground in 24-hour plan would behave in the future. This method plays a “convincing” role. By analyzing data, the researcher can change the mindset of those using the system. It assists in erasing inherent doubts in any system. This means that the viability of a system is tested and either proved or disapproved. This method is so accurate that one of its weaknesses is that it makes people confront reality. In this case, it might reveal; to the London Underground management, inefficiencies that would prove them wrong. Unions and employees may end up mocking them. Management should always be in control. If simulation methods do not indicate that, employees might lose hope with the team and the company as a whole (Samkin, 2010). EVALUATING THE USEFULNESS OF THE PROPOSAL Successful completion of the above study will indicate whether; Passengers are contented with the 24-hour plan, There exists any conflict between, employees and passengers; employees and management; and unions and management, The marketing strategy employed is beneficial to the organization, Increment in fares is due to the cut on government grants, and Job cuts have an effect on service delivery. This proposal will be adopted by London Underground to indicate how their operations affect passengers. To indicate whether it will be useful, the organization must carry out a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis and a cost-benefit analysis. In the cost benefit analysis, I will ensure that the benefits that are derived from this study outweigh the respective costs. Benefits do not have to be monetary. Non-monetary benefits include; employment of an effective marketing strategy, service delivery does not deteriorate in the occurrence of job cuts, and passengers provide positive feedback on services consumed (Miller, 2005). In the SWOT analysis, I will ensure that the organization is able to respond to the variations in the transport sector. Technology is dynamic. Passengers prefer expensive, but comfortable means of transport to cheap and on edge means. London Underground should consider the interests of the unions and employees before the job cuts are implemented. The major objective of any profit making organization is to have a wide market base so as to maximize profits. If employees and unions are not satisfied with the working environment, they will ensure that passengers are not satisfied with the services offered. The organization will strive to utilize this study to ensure that passengers are contended with the 24-hour service (Seale, 2004). REFERENCES Ashford, D. 2013. London underground: a cultural geography. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. 2008. The craft of research 3rd ed.. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Chaplin, C., & Hayes, K. J. 2005. Interviews. Jackson, Miss.: Univ. Press of Mississippi. Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. 2000. Handbook of qualitative research 2nd ed.. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Emmerson, A. 2010. The London underground. Oxford: Shire. Flick, U. 2008. Designing Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications. Fowler, F. J. 2002. Survey research methods 3rd ed.. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Gibaldi, J. 2009. MLA handbook for writers of research papers 7th ed.. New York: Modern Language Association of America. Hoque, Z. 2006. Methodological issues in accounting research: theories, methods and issues. London: Spiramus Press. Kamil, M. L. 2002. Methods of literacy research the methodology chapters from the handbook of reading research, volume III. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum. Kothari, C. R. 2004. Research methodology methods & techniques 2nd rev. ed.. New Delhi: New Age International P Ltd.. Machi, L. A., & McEvoy, B. T. 2009. The literature review: six steps to success. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press. Martin, A. 2012. Underground, Overground a Passengers History of the Tube.. London: Profile. Matt, G., & Matt, G. 2007. Interviews English ed.. Köln: Walther König ;. Miller, D. 2005. Beyond benefit cost analysis: accounting for non-market values in planning evaluation. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate. Pride, W. M., & Ferrell, O. C. 2008. Marketing 14th ed.. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.. Reilly, K. 2005. Ethnographic methods. London: Routledge. Ridley, D. 2008. The literature review: a step-by-step guide for students. London: SAGE. Ross, S. M. 2006. Simulation 4th ed.. Amsterdam: Elsevier Academic Press. Samkin, G. 2010. Qualitative research in accounting & management. Bingley, UK: Emerald. Seale, C. 2004. Qualitative research practice. London: SAGE. Smith, M. 2011. Research methods in accounting 2nd ed.. Los Angeles: SAGE. Smith, S. 2004. Underground London: beneath the city streets. London: Little, Brown. Train, K. 2003. Discrete choice methods with simulation. New York: Cambridge University Press. Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. 2001. Methods of critical discourse analysis. London: SAGE. Read More