Summary
The present work deals with a market investigation for the canned meat products produced by the Villa Clara Meat Company, so it is necessary to characterize and diagnose the current demand for this type of product, which would allow to redirect the demand for these products to It is not limited to the use of prices as the only tool for this purpose, for this it is proposed to design a procedure that serves as a guide for the development of the research, it will allow the constant search for information for the characterization and forecast of the demand of the selected products which would result in greater benefits from the point of view of profitability, as well as market expansion. It can also serve as a thermometer to evaluate the behavior of demand in other meat companies in the country,the evolution of other products can even be a valuable tool in the hands of the marketers belonging to the Cárnica Union.
Once the procedure was designed, the investigation was carried out through the development of each of its steps. The Information Collection Methods used were group dynamics and an in-depth interview with experts, as well as an instrument to obtain the information, the questionnaire to current clients was used, the sampling was non-probabilistic since the Total Universe was chosen of Clients to avoid sample type errors.
Statistical processing was carried out at the UCLV Center for Computer Studies, with the help of the SPSS package for Windows, (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), version 13.0. Statistical techniques such as descriptive data analysis, the median as a measure of the general trend of opinions, contingency tables, were used for the comparison of groups with respect to ordinal variables, the Mann-Whitney test was used, in the case of dichotomous variables, the Multivariate Analysis of Variance was performed using Hotelling's T. Finally, the validity and reliability of the instrument used is verified.
Once the results of the empirical study are obtained, responding to the initially proposed objectives, and contrasting the starting hypotheses, the conclusions are established and the recommendations resulting from the investigation are provided.
Introduction
Marketing is a whole conception in modern business management, which is based on the strategic projection of the same, in order to maintain a place in the market, it constitutes a methodology for understanding the relationships of the entity with its environment and the analysis and assessment of the essential information for the direction of the activity of an Organization in its work for the achievement of the objectives for which it exists.
Cuba is a socialist country that has used marketing to some extent in its foreign trade, but not in a generalized way, since for more than 40 years it enjoyed a trade agreed with the former Soviet Union and other socialist countries. It is only from the 90s of last century, with the fall of the socialist camp, that the use of marketing begins to be a necessity to enter and seduce foreign markets. At the same time, a change is manifested in the Cuban market as the state-owned monopoly is modified by the entry of foreign capital and self-employment, which establish guidelines for business behavior that the rest of the economy is required to assume.
It is considered that the practice of Marketing in the national economy could allow training Cuban entrepreneurs to discover human needs and dissatisfactions through market information systems, useful to take advantage of market information as feedback to plan production, prices and distribution in a more rational way, both internally and externally.
Marketing allows knowing how to measure and predict the attractiveness of each market, in addition, it also provides some techniques to reduce or redirect the demand for certain products and not limit itself to the use of prices as the only tool for this purpose. For these reasons, it is feasible to carry out an investigation that allows the Villa Clara Meat Company to seek information about the behavior of the demand for its products. For this, it is proposed to design a procedure that allows the diagnosis and characterization of the demand for a selected group of products, within the canned meat products that are marketed through Oro Rojo for the market that buys in CUC.
The scientific problem of this research is determined by the lack of a reliable and valid instrument, which allows the constant search for information to identify and characterize the current demand for canned meat products produced by the Villa Clara Meat Company, which would result in greater benefits from the point of view of profitability, as well as market expansion. In addition, this research can serve as a thermometer to evaluate the behavior of demand in other meat companies in the country, the evolution of other products, it can even be a valuable tool in the hands of the marketers belonging to the Meat Union.
In this way, the general objectives of the work are: To diagnose and characterize the demand for canned meat products of the Villa Clara Meat Company, marketed in CUC, in the province of Villa Clara.
From:
- Develop the theoretical framework of research related to the main market research techniques and the deepening of the study of demand, as key factors to support the methodological framework. Characterize the entity under study and the products to which the research is circumscribed. Establish the methodological framework of the investigation, which allows the design of the procedure for the diagnosis and characterization of the demand. Develop the proposed procedure as the main instrument to characterize and diagnose the demand for canned meat products for the market that buys in CUC in the territory of Villa Clara.
To comply with these objectives, the following hypothesis is contrasted:
The Characteristics of the current demand for canned meat products of La Empresa Cárnica Villa Clara for the market in CUC, turn out to be sufficiently attractive business opportunities, from the point of view of business objectives and their future growth perspective.
As an essential step to carry out this research, it was intended to carry out an exhaustive bibliographic search that would cover the topics retained in said work and that would allow the content of the same to be correctly approached from the conceptual and methodological point of view. A market research is developed, in order to describe the behavior of the demand for canned meat products for the market that buys in CUC in Villa Clara, the support of the proposed procedure was the application of a questionnaire through personal surveys, taking as a reference the total universe of clients defined and distributed in four segments (Tourism, Store, Other Associated with Tourism and Others not associated with Tourism). The data obtained are processed with the statistical package SPSS version 13.0.
According to the methodology used, the body of the research report is divided into three chapters, with the following contents in each of them:
- First chapter: This addresses theoretical aspects about Marketing, Market Research and Demand, which constitutes the conceptual basis of the topics included in later chapters. This chapter begins with the definition and importance of Marketing, especially at the national level, then all issues related to the market research system are defined and demand is chosen as one of the alternatives to study through research. market, since demand constitutes the central angle of this work, specifying its characteristics, both from a qualitative and quantitative point of view and in the methods and forms to estimate it.Chapter Two: Part of a characterization of the Entity under study and the System to which it belongs,In addition, the characteristics of its product portfolio are detailed, particularizing those selected for the investigation and later the proposed procedure is defined, and each of the steps that lead to it is briefly analyzed. This procedure constitutes the methodological framework of the research. Third Chapter: This last chapter basically contains the development of market research, starting from the development of the procedure proposed in Chapter II for the case of the study of the demand for the selected products, in The description of the procedure sets out the objectives and the hypothesis and the tool used in the collection of information is designed: the questionnaire and the number of these to be applied is determined. Subsequently, the data obtained is processed,the results are analyzed and interpreted and the validity and reliability of the instrument used is verified; finally a response is given to the proposed objectives; The hypotheses are contrasted and the pertinent conclusions and recommendations are proposed.
The research met the objectives set, and it is recommended to organize the marketing activity for canned meat products, since these constitute around 70% of the Company's income in CUC, and to achieve the definition of policies and strategies aimed at satisfying in an advantageous way to the end customer, whether national or foreign in relation to the competition, which will help make more accurate decisions.
Development
To measure demand, it is essential to know that demand is part of the Marketing Management process and what is inextricably linked to it is its information system (SIM) with its integral part of Market Research, which allows companies to flow of information related to size, characteristics, evolution, market trends, and for marketing decisions.
Marketing, Market Research and Demand.
According to Kotler (1995): marketing is "a social and managerial process through which different groups and individuals obtain what they need and want, creating, offering and exchanging products with value for others".
For the management process that gives rise to the exchange to be truly effective, a Market Information System is needed that, as its name indicates, informs what are the needs and desires of consumers and their possible changes, how to satisfy them better than the competition and with an efficient distribution in its different forms. All this shows that the information constitutes the prelude to making marketing decisions.
According to Green, Tull and Albaum (1988), market research is: "the systematic and objective search and analysis of relevant information for the identification and solution of any problem in the field of marketing".
Any company that wants to know the market and the reactions that can foreseeably be given to its marketing plans, must begin by studying the behavior of consumers as elementary units of the decision. After examining these tools, you will be in a position to predict the size, growth, and profit potential of the various opportunities offered by the market.
Demand: They are the wishes of a specific product, based on a certain purchasing power. Desires become demand when there is purchasing power (Kotler, 1995). Demand is an express formulation of a desire that is conditioned by the individual's available resources (Santesmases, 1993). Companies must measure not only how many people want their products but how many people can potentially buy them (Kotler, 1995).
Canned Meat Products at the Villa Clara Meat Company. Procedure for studying the demand for these products.
Characterization of the Villa Clara Meat Company.
The Cárnica Villa Clara Company's corporate purpose is:
- Carry out the slaughter of larger and smaller livestock. Produce and market, wholesale and in national currency and currency, meats and their derivatives of different types and qualities, fresh meat, canned meats and other canned meats, fat, obtaining and processing of edible and inedible by-products, such as leather, antlers and feet, bile, hair, sebum and others.
Product portfolio.
The Villa Clara Meat Company produces meat, sausages, and other meat products from the processing of cattle and pigs.
Generic Products:
- Beef 1/4 Boneless Beef Beef Liver Viscera and other uses of beef Striped Pork Meat Sectioned Pork Preserves Smoked Sausages Other Preserved Meats Croquettes Dough
Canned meat products are products that are made from meat and non-meat raw materials with a treatment with salts and preservatives, which are destined for the market in CUC and are produced at the Alamo Plant, designed for the production of Smoked Products. as well as Sausages for tourism and other CUC catchment sectors. The products made there are characterized by their quality, presentation, as well as by the peculiarity of having a smoke inherited from the pork-meat tradition of the town of Camajuaní, where this establishment is located. Alamo Plant, the name it acquired in 1997, has quite modern equipment, with mixers, sealers and vacuum cutters.which allows greater stability and guarantee of their productions that represent more than 70% of the income in CUC of the Villa Clara Meat Company.
After a meticulous analysis of the behavior of canned sales starting in 2003 for the development of the research, two smoked products have been selected such as (Loin and Leg) as these products have maintained a stable production over the years that were chosen for the study (2003-2007). Within the group of sausages, 4 thick sausages were chosen that coincidentally show representative MP values such as (Special Ham, Visking Ham, Cooked Ham, Cooked Mortadella) despite the fact that the Special Ham was not produced during the first half of the year 2007 due to problems with the new formulation, it was considered within the analysis due to its importance and for being one of the most significant products within the other years,and within the fine sausages the salami was chosen, which within its group is the most widely accepted.
Procedures for the diagnosis and characterization of the demand for Canned Meat Products of the Villa Clara Meat Company.
A procedure for conducting market studies allows a better understanding of market problems, as well as making the researcher's work feasible with a logical and coherent sequence. The value of the results depends on the expertise and seriousness with which each research project is designed and implemented.
The proposed procedure consists of seven steps, Proposal of a Problem Situation, Research Design, Sample Design and Calculation, Research Cost Estimation, Data Collection, Data Analysis and Processing and Final Report, below is These steps are detailed in a flow chart, which will be explained in detail later. (See Fig1. Procedure Diagram).
Source: self made.
Once the procedure for carrying out the Investigation was designed, it was applied, and after the development of each of its steps, the following results were reached:
Data Analysis and Processing.
Once the data had been edited and coded according to the requirements of the statistical systems, the statistical processing was carried out.
It is significant to clarify that as the sample of respondents was constituted of 55 companies, of which 17 belong to the Tourism sector, Shops or other Associated Sectors and 38 that belong to Non-Associated Segments. For the purposes of comparison, 2 segments were finally distinguished, joining, on the one hand, those of the associated companies, and on the other, those of the non-associated companies.
To facilitate understanding, the statistical processing was organized into the following phases, also according to the structure of the survey:
- Analysis of the purchase volume of both types of products: smoked and sausages and preference levels within each type Analysis of based on which options the customer buys each product Perception of the intrinsic and external attributes of the products, as well as the importance of these attributes and the Quality-Price Ratio Other general aspects: Image of Oro Rojo, if it has other preferred suppliers and demand that is expected for the next 3 years.
Presentation of the main results. Analysis and interpretation.
General characterization of the surveyed clients.
Table 1 contains a detailed list of the clients surveyed in this study. There are 55 companies, 8 Tourism, 6 Stores and 3 Other Associates, so that the Subtotal of associated companies is 17. To this are added 38 non-associated companies. For the purposes of making comparisons, associated companies were grouped into a single segment and contrasted with the non-associated segment.
Analysis of the purchase volume of both types of products: smoked and sausages and preference levels within each type.
Within the group of smoked, coincidentally, Smoked Loin is the most widely acquired and equally preferred and there are significant differences when the two segments included in the analysis are compared, which may be influenced by the budget of the companies that make up the first segment for these destinations, to serve their customers, which allows them a greater purchase of these products. The same occurs in the analysis of sausages, where the moderately significant measurements appear for the case of Visking Ham and Cooked acquired to a greater extent by the first segment and Mortadella for the segment of the non-associated since they buy it for self-consumption with the budget for food reinforcement and lower prices can be acquired.
Analysis based on which options the customer buys each product.
Quality is the attribute that generally characterizes all products, which determines their demand, followed by Diversity of Use and Degree of Use to a lesser extent, in addition the differences in the comparison of the segments are not statistically significant, with the exception of the criterion of diversity of use for Smoked Loin and Cooked Mortadella, which may be conditioned by the various variants of use and consumption of these products for each company that makes up the analyzed segments. It is also important to take into account that as the Lomo is more demanded by the Associates than by the Non-Associates, there are more evaluation criteria, for any of the attributes valued for the Loin, the same happens in the case of the Mortadella for the Non-Associates. Associates.In other words, these results are closely related to the previous ones where the significant differences between the segments coincide for the same products.
Perception of the intrinsic and external attributes of the products as well as the importance of these attributes and the Quality-Price Ratio.
In the assessment of the intrinsic attributes of the products, the results were generally very favorable for all the products and there were no large significant differences between the segments, in the case of the external attributes, these were perceived as good and were valued as the most important. the price, the formality of delivery, and the transportation service. In the comparative analysis, there are differences between the segments in terms of transportation service, formality in delivery and relationship with the client, favored in this case the segment (Tourism, Store and Other Associates), since these segments are prioritized by their corporate purpose and because of what they mean in terms of attracting CUC not only for the Meat Union System, but also at the country level,In addition, the transportation service is legally established by our Union only for these sectors.
The quality-price ratio is generally perceived as good and there are no significant differences between the segments.
Other general aspects: Image of Oro Rojo, if you have other preferred suppliers and demand that is expected for the next 3 years.
Regarding the image of the Oro Rojo marketer, a positive criterion prevailed, only 3.6% belonging to the non-associates considered it bad and 27.3% regular. Regarding the position of the competition, it could be seen that only 8 companies only trade with Red Gold, so the rest buy from other companies, that the company that occupies the first position in the order of preference is Red Gold, followed by ITH, with a very close position.
Regarding the behavior of demand within three years, the majority criterion was that of a tendency to increase by 10 and 20%.
We can conclude that the procedure designed in the methodological framework constituted the common thread for the research and through it it was possible to implement a valid and reliable instrument (the questionnaire) to obtain the main results in relation to the characteristics of the demand of the canned meat products that allowed us to test the independence hypothesis and obtain the following conclusions and recommendations.
Conclusions
- Any company that wants to know the market and the reactions that can foreseeably be given to its marketing plans, must begin by studying the behavior of consumers as elementary units of the decision. A procedure for conducting market studies allows a better understanding of market problems, as well as making the researcher's work feasible with a logical and coherent sequence. The designed procedure allowed the development of a study of the demand for canned meat products produced by the Villa Clara Meat Company for the market that it buys in CUC through the Oro Rojo Villa Clara marketer. The Characteristics of the current demand for Canned Meat products of La Empresa Cárnica Villa Clara for the market in CUC,They were attractive enough since it offers new market opportunities that satisfy business interests and objectives and could allow establishing future growth strategies for this business. Smoked products are more in demand by the segments associated with tourism, with the Loin standing out. Almost all the purchase measures for sausage products are far superior to those endorsed in smoked products, with the Mortadella Cocida standing out. Quality is the attribute that generally characterizes all products, and that conditions demand for them. The intrinsic attributes are valued for most of the products as very good and are also considered very important and the external attributes were valued as good and as the most important the price,the formality in the delivery and the transportation service. The quality-price ratio is generally perceived as good and there are no significant differences between the segments. Regarding the image of the Oro Rojo marketer, a positive criterion prevailed, although a not very significant percentage among the non-associates perceive it as bad. In relation to the competition, it was possible to show that the majority of clients buy from other companies, despite this, Oro Rojo maintains the first place in the order of preference, followed by ITH, which maintains a very close position. Regarding the behavior of demand within three years, the majority criterion was that of a tendency to increase by 10 and 20%. The instrument used for the empirical research turned out to be valid and reliable.
recommendations
As a result of the research, a set of recommendations emerged with the intention that the Villa Clara Meat Company implements them, to achieve better management in the commercialization of its products.
- Create an awareness at the Organizational Level regarding the importance of the implementation of market studies. Mechanisms must be created that allow systematic studies to be maintained to periodically report changes that occur in the market and prepare to face them. That the Villa Clara Meat Company contribute to the consolidation of the Oro Rojo Villa Clara Marketing Company, with a view to increasing efforts in the management of the sales of its products. To seriously analyze the results of the Research in order to establish the strategies to effectively satisfy the end customers. Give continuity to this investigative work, with the aim of deepening and expanding the results obtained.Carry out studies to quantify the probable future trends in demand for the products that are marketed through Oro Rojo. Carry out a new market segmentation that meets the needs of the Villa Clara Meat Company. Maintain stability in Product Assortments. Put into practice the proposed procedure for other market studies that are needed.
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