Background

According to Statista (2023), the mobile penetration rate in Singapore has remained high at 168.3%, or 1.68 mobile subscriptions per person. In another independent poll conducted in 2018 by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, it was reported that more than 90% of Singaporean adults were using a smartphone, exceeding that of other Asia Pacific countries such as Japan and South Korea. Even though it has a small population of 5.9 million people, Singapore is the third wealthiest countries in the world based on GDP per adult. Singaporeans are obsessed with owning the latest models of mobile phone, especially among the young working adults. It is hardly surprising that Singapore has been designated, by the major mobile phone vendors, as among the first batch of countries to launch their latest smartphone models in the recent years.

Apple has always been the most sought-after brand in Singapore, followed closely by Samsung which has managed to narrow its gap with Apple in the recent years. Competitions for market share remain very intensive, especially among the smaller players such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo. With the mobile phone vendors trying to outdo each other by launching at least a few new models each year, these vendors are finding it tough to maintain profitability in this important yet tight market.

The management of one of the mobile phone vendors strongly believes that it is still possible to thrive in the Singapore market. It believes the key to its future success will depend on how
well the company could build and sustain strong brand loyalty among its users. However, the management does not have a clear idea of the factors (or constructs) that drive brand loyalty
in the mobile phone market.

Task

Assuming you are the research consultant contacted by this mobile phone vendor to design a business research study to meet the needs of the management.

You are to create a 4000-word business research proposal for a business research study to find out the factors (or constructs) that will impact brand loyalty of mobile phone users in Singapore.

In the research proposal, you are to include the following contents:

1) Introduction (a brief description of the research client business and the purpose and objectives of the business research project)

2) Problem definition (formulation of the research aims, research question, investigative questions, and research objectives)

3) Literature review for four factors (or constructs) you have identified as critical drivers of brand loyalty in the mobile phone industry

4) Proposed research design (to include research philosophy, research methodology, research strategy, data collection methods, and sampling techniques) plus justifications

4) Research ethics

5) Proposed data analysis plan (to include a framework to analyse and interpret research data, plus critically appraising the recommended data analysis techniques)

6) Plan for presentation and discussion of research findings

7) List of references (in APA referencing style)

Learning Outcomes Assessed:

1. Critically examine current knowledge in a specified area as a means of establishing the status and limitations of current knowledge in that area, to create a literature review.

2. Develop a business research question and justify its relevance to practice and its significance as a potential contribution to existing knowledge, to create a series of research questions.

3. Select and justify a research methodology to meet specified research aims and objectives; create a methodological approach to investigate the research questions.

4. Critically appraise data analysis techniques; create a framework to analyse and interpret research data.