MR Asg 2 Cora Lee

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

UniSA / SCE Undergraduate Business Programs

HK BBUS Students
Assignment Cover Sheet

Please print clearly and attach to the front cover of your assignment

Student Name UniSA ID SCE ID

Lee Oi Yee 100056642 05608775

Course Name Course Code / Abbreviation

Market Research MARK 2020

Lecturers Name

Dr Nick Danenberg
Assignment Number Assignment Due Date

Asg #2 15 Oct 2007

I declare the following to be my own work and that to the best of my knowledge
and belief does not contain any material published or written by another person
except where due reference is made in the text.

Signed: Cora Dated: 15 Oct 2007

Signed: Dated:
Signed: Dated:
Signed: Dated:

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Amicably, Ocean Park is known theme park in Hong Kong as many people predicted
that the open of Disneyland would be a threat to Ocean Park. However, the attendance
has an increase even through Disneyland opened. One of the reasons is Ocean Park
doing very well on its public relations. The industry comprises establishments, known as
amusement parks, primarily engaged in operating variety of attractions, such as
mechanical rides, water rides, games, shows, theme exhibits, refreshment stands and
picnic grounds. These establishments may lease space to others on a concession basis.
Ocean Park Hong Kong, opening hours from 10am to 6pm, and after hours for special
events, social functions or parties. Thus, admission costs HK$ 140 for adults and HK$
70 for children between 3 to 11 years old and inclusive of admission to all rides, exhibits
and shows. Since it opened in 1977, Ocean Park had been pretty much the only game in
town for parents who wanted a day out with their kids. Ocean Park edge: It knew the
local market better than Disney did. During its 30-year anniversary celebrations, for
instance, Ocean Park featured its animated sea lion mascot Whiskers with bamboo
basket filled with traditional buns symbolizing longevity.

Moreover, in measuring satisfaction and building such satisfaction survey requires

essential knowledge of satisfaction dimension text as it is combined with customer
satisfaction experiences. The need for utilizing customer satisfaction surveys to be given
at the entrance gate of Ocean Park as true that, customer satisfaction is the most
common of all marketing surveys and is part of crucial studies in marketing that include
market segmentation and concept testing and measures how well the parks product
services meet and or exceed customer expectations. These expectations reflect many
aspects of Ocean Park’s business activities including actual product, service and the
business nature and how the Park operates within the global environment (Cited from,
Athanassopoulos, 2000; Hallowell, 1996). Effective marketing focuses on two activities:
retaining existing customers and adding new customers. Customer satisfaction
measures are critical to any product or service company because customer satisfaction
is strong predictor of customer retention, customer loyalty and product repurchase.

Aside, satisfaction measures involve such psychological elements for evaluation of

service experience the, cognitive, affective and behavioral as the satisfaction
measurement questions can include items like: (Cited from, Athanassopoulos, 2000;
Hallowell, 1996)

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Sample Question:

An overall satisfaction measure (emotional)

Overall, how satisfied are you with Ocean Park’s services?

A loyalty measure (affective, behavioral)

Would you recommend Ocean Park to your family and friends?

A series of attribute satisfaction measures (affective and cognitive)

How satisfied are you with the regular price rates of Ocean Park?
How important is promotional discounts to you in visiting Ocean Park instead of other
parks?

Intentions to revisit (behavioral measures)

Do you intend to revisit Ocean Park together with your family?

Then, customer satisfaction is influenced by perceived quality of service attributes,

features and benefits, moderated by customer expectations regarding the service as it
constructs that influence customer satisfaction need to be defined by the researcher
(Cited from, Homburg, Workman and Krohmer, 1999; Woodruff, 1997). Then, it is
important to address what are the specific customer expectations for visiting Ocean Park
in dealing with interpersonal expectations involves the relationship between the
customer and service provider. Person to person relationships are increasingly
important, especially where products require support for proper use and functioning
(Cited from, Homburg, Workman and Krohmer, 1999; Woodruff, 1997). Expectations for
interpersonal support include technical knowledge and ability to solve the problem,
ability to communicate, time to problem resolution, courtesy, patience, enthusiasm,
helpfulness, understood my situation and problem, communication skills and customer
perceptions regarding professionalism of conduct and can be measured in the following
ways:

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- Importance-Value of the service fulfilling the expectation

- Overall Affect-Satisfaction Expectations
- Fulfillment of Expectations
- Expected Value from Use

The best timing for measuring customer satisfaction and building customer satisfaction
surveys depends on the kind of service provided, the kinds of customers served, how
many customers are served, the longevity and frequency of customer interactions and
what you intend to do with the results (Cited from, Homburg, Workman and Krohmer,
1999; Woodruff, 1997). The continuous Satisfaction Tracking Satisfaction feedback is
obtained from the individual customer at the time of service delivery. Satisfaction
tracking surveys are often part of a management initiative to assure quality is at high
levels over time (Cited from, Rea and Parker, 1992).

The advantages of the survey can involve the flexibility in sequencing the questions,
details and explanation with such opportunity to administer complex questions as well as
the improved ability to contact respondents sample with higher response rates and
increased confidence that data collection instructions are being followed. There are
some disadvantages that includes higher cost of the survey also researcher bias as well
as some respondent’s reluctance to cooperate having greater stress for the respondents
and researcher and with possible less anonymity (Cited from, Fowler, 1993; Goulding,
1999). The non-respondent problem can be addressed in two ways: (Cited from,
Lambert and Harrington, 1990)

- by trying to increase response rate

- by trying to identify the non-respondents to control whether they are different
from the respondents

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Response rates can be increased considerably when subsequent follow-up are being
applied: (Cited from, Lambert and Harrington, 1990)

- after one week a notice card is sent to everyone

- after three weeks letter and replacement surveys are sent only to non-
respondents
- final mailing similar to previous one

There can be sample customer satisfaction survey as a method that can be used by
Ocean Park in Hong Kong as illustrated below.

1. Overall, how satisfied are you in visiting Ocean Park?

 Very Satisfied
 Satisfied
 Neutral
 Slightly Dissatisfied
 Not Satisfied
2. How would you describe your experience upon your frequent visits of the
Ocean Park?
 Very Satisfied
 Satisfied
 Neutral
 Slightly Dissatisfied
 Not Satisfied

3. Are you satisfied with the park’s customer services, attractions and prices?
 Very Satisfied
 Satisfied
 Neutral
 Slightly Dissatisfied
 Not Satisfied

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4. Compared to other Hong Kong amusement parks, how well did Ocean Park
perform in satisfying your wants?
 Very Satisfied
 Satisfied
 Neutral
 Slightly Dissatisfied
 Not Satisfied

5. As a loyal visitor to the park, how satisfied are you in speaking of its
overall impact to you and your family?
 Very Satisfied
 Satisfied
 Neutral
 Slightly Dissatisfied
 Not Satisfied

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References:

Athanassopoulos, A.D. (2000), Customer satisfaction cues to support market

segmentation and explain switching behavior, Journal of Business Research,
Vol. 47 No.3, pp.191-207

Fowler, F.J. (1993), Survey Research Methods, Sage Publications, New York, NY

Goulding, C. (1999), Consumer research, interpretive paradigms and methodological

ambiguities, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 No.9/10, pp.859-73

Hallowell, R. (1996), The relationships of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and

profitability; an empirical study, International Journal of Service Industry
Management, Vol. 7 No.4, pp.27-42

Homburg, C., Workman, J.P. Jr, Krohmer, H. (1999), Marketing’s influence within the
firm, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 63 No.2, pp.1-17

Lambert, D.M., Harrington, T.C. (1990), Measuring nonresponse bias in customer

service mail surveys, Journal of Business Logistics, Vol. 11 No.2, pp.5-25

Rea, L.M., Parker, R.A. (1992), Designing and Conducting Survey Research, Jossey-
Bass, San Francisco, CA

Woodruff, R.B. (1997), Customer value: the next source for competitive advantage,
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, pp.139-53.

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