How effective is emirates airline promotion mix

The paper ” How Effective is Emirates Airline Promotion Mix” is a good example of a research proposal on marketing. Competition in the aviation industry has been increasing in the recent past as airlines try to increase the number of people that fly through their airlines as a result of new entries by the entry of small airlines in the industry, which are cheaper to travel with than the large airlines. Emirates airlines, which is one of the most respected airlines in the world, has not been spared this competition either forcing it to adopt a series of promotion strategies. These promotion strategies are targeted at increasing customer loyalty of their existing clients while at the same time attracting new customers. This research will focus on the promotion mix that emirates airline has adopted to increase its competitiveness in the aviation industry. The recommendations drawn from this research will be beneficial to emirates airlines management, as it will provide them with an insight on how effective their promotion mix is in achieving its objectives. In addition, the study will conduct a comprehensive study on all the promotions that the airline is running therefore, passengers will also benefit from the information on the promotions that the airline runs. Research objectives
1. Examine Emirates airline current strategies for promotion mix
2. Examine customer opinion in Emirates current promotional strategies
3. Identifying strengthens and weakness of promotion mix
4. Recommendations

Justification of the research topic
The choice of this research topic was informed by the benefits that the findings would bring to my organization, which is emirates airline. Comparing the objectives of the promotion mix and the responses that customers give on the promotional activities of the airline will be very important, as it will help them in aligning promotions to the needs of the customers, therefore, gaining a niche in customer satisfaction over other airlines. In addition to the benefits that the research will bring to emirates airline, my interest in marketing also contributed to the choice of my research subject.

2. Methodology
A research approach to be taken
This research will be a case study on the activities and features that emirates airline has included in its promotional mix. It will involve gathering internal data from the organization and media sources, which the airline has used to advertise its promotional activities. In addition, information from passengers who use the airline will be gathered to determine how effective the promotional activities have been in achieving their purpose.

Secondary research
This research will use internal data from emirates airlines, which is available online from the company’s website. External data to be used in the research will be got from journals and newspaper articles that are related to the research topic.

Primary research
The primary research tool that will be used in this study will be a questionnaire, which will be given to the passengers to get their feedback on the promotional activities of the airline. The reasons questionnaires were preferred to other forms of data collection, especially among the clients of the airline include the following. One is that the questionnaires ensured a high response rate since they were sent to the respondents who would fill them in their free time, therefore accurate answers as opposed to interviews which consume a lot of time, therefore, most were likely to decline due to responsibilities that they have (Bulmer, De & Fielding, 2004). Secondly, questionnaires require less time and energy to administer, in addition, they also offer anonymity to the respondents, as they are not supposed to record their names (Guldenmund, 2007). The questionnaire was written in English, Arabian, Chinese, and French in order to reach as many respondents as possible.

Primary research data collection plan
Primary data collection will involve random sampling, as this will make it more valid to generalize the findings to the entire population (Fuller, 2009). The questionnaires will be administered to passengers waiting for their flights in Dubai international airport emirates terminal three, which is exclusive for passengers flying with emirates.
The sample size will have 200 respondents and will be carried out over a period of 5 days where 40 questionnaires will be administered daily at intervals of 2 hours. This will be to ensure that all passengers to all destinations and from different parts are included in the sample.

3. Project management
Project schedule
Day 1-3: a collection of secondary data
Day 4-5: analysis of secondary data and preparation of questionnaires
Day 6-11: a collection of primary data
Day 12-15: analysis of primary data
Day 16-18: synchronizing of primary and secondary data including recommendations.

Statement of assumptions
The main assumption in this study is that all people who will be included in the sample size are literate and they know how to read and write.

Code of ethics
Written formal approval from the supervisor giving the researcher permission to conduct the research will be obtained; this will ensure that the researcher will follow the guidelines in conducting such research. Since the subjects of the study are human beings, permission will be sought from the respondents before they are given the questionnaires to fill, this will ensure that they will give information out of their own free will (Ellis, 2007). To maintain their privacy and confidentiality, the respondents will not be required to reveal their identity while answering the questions (Sales, 2010)