Research Problem and Research

Literature Review

A review provides an overview of relevant topics and insights for research, offering a foothold for in-depth literature study.

Concepts in the problem statement guide the literature research. For example, with a problem statement about brand image, the research would start with the concepts of: imago, brand values, brand preference, and purchasing behavior.

Central Question, Sub-questions, Hypotheses

Market research should provide valuable insights for better decisions; the researcher must bring focus by specifying the angle of the problem statement. A rule of thumb for defining research is: make the research broad enough to yield relevant information and narrow enough to be feasible in time and money.

The central question defines the research, highlighting the chosen angle after literature research. The problem statement describes the issue to be examined, while the central question is the question to be answered.

Conceptual Model

A literature review often concludes with a conceptual model that identifies central research topics and relationships between concepts, reflecting the researcher's perspective.

A conceptual model should be supported by literature research, with sources serving as evidence.

For example, research on brand image can lead to a conceptual model with the following structure:

Brand image, described with brand values -> Involvement -> Brand preference -> Purchase intention

In quantitative studies, a conceptual model is important for formulating sub-questions and hypotheses in a structured way. In qualitative research, creating a conceptual model is often more complex due to ambiguous variable relationships and a larger number of variables.