Jeep’s Brand Identity Market Research Report: A Study Into The Jeep Brand’s Performance with Millenials & Generation Z Against Ford & Land Rover
This is a study into ways the Jeep Brand can optimize its competitive advantages with consumers within the Generation Z and Millennial generation against the Ford Bronco and Land Rover Defender.
Executive Summary
The general purpose of this report was to analyze how the Jeep brand was performing with the consumers included in the Millennial generation and Generation Z compared to the Ford Bronco and Land Rover Defender. One problem facing the Jeep brand is determining if its car’s characteristics will maintain a competitive advantage against its main market competitor: the Ford Bronco. Opportunities for the Jeep Brand to gain a competitive advantage are to make a more comfortable cabin for passengers and to incorporate more technological innovations into the cars. These will solve the problems of access with consumers while driving and make it clear to consumers that they are a priority.
This report concludes that the male segment of the Millennial generation and Generation Z demographic were more inclined to answer the survey, the Millennial Generation was more concerned about the Jeep Brand’s current performance, and a majority of the respondents favored the Ford Bronco. Recommendations for the Jeep Brand are to solidify its positioning with Millenials and to focus on the Jeep’s performance on/off-road.
Research Objectives
Conduct a survey on off-road enthusiasts of 100 men on one day and 100 women on another day with a mix of Gen Z and millennials. Provide them each with a sheet of possible technological innovations available to add to the next Jeep Wrangler model and ask them to score each one with a score of 1 for do not add to 10, this innovation needs to be in the next model. Determine which aspects of the Ford Bronco and Land Rover Defender ranked highly on the surveys and which car characteristics of the Jeep brand were low ranking with respondents.
Methods
The data collection method used in the “Jeep Brand Identity Market Research Report: A Study Into Key Demographic Segments” was the mixed-mode survey method. The mixed-mode surveys will include self-administered surveys via the mail and computer-administered surveys via the Internet. These key demographics include: male, female, Millennial, and Generation Z. After those respondents have provided their responses to the survey, their responses will be data for Jeep. The sample size was 99 participants.
The online panel sampling technique was used to discover the sample size. It will provide Jeep with an accurate interpretation of their target population and increase the reach to administer the surveys. This report’s questionnaire includes age range by years the respondents were born, gender, and car brand preferences as the categorical questions. Then, the close-ended questions will have the car's on/off-road performance, engine quality, and how comfortable the car ride is for the respondent.
Close-ended questions will use the Likert scale with a score of very poor, poor, (neutral), good, and very good. Then the rights of the respondents were presented to respondents and will only collect the data from respondents that gave the Jeep Brand permission. Types of analyses used for the data sets are the ANOVA test, descriptive analysis, t-test, and multiple variable regression analysis.
Data Collection Method
The data collection method used for the entire questionnaire will be the mixed-mode survey because this method combines the best of any data collection method that the marketing researcher chooses to use for the survey. This mixed-mode survey will include two types of surveys. Self-administered surveys such as traditional mail surveys and computer-administered surveys such as online surveys with “the mixed-mode approach will result in higher response rates, lower costs, and better representation of the respondents” (Burns, 2012). Using a mixed-mode survey as a data collection method is vital because it will help the company collect more data from respondents to solve their research objectives.
Questionnaire Design
- What is your gender? {Male or Female}
- Which car brand do you prefer to purchase a vehicle? {Jeep, Ford, Land Rover}
- What is your birth year in the range? {1997–2012, 1981–1996}
- How comfortable is your trip when your vehicle is on the road or off-road? {very poor, poor, good, very good}
- How is your car’s engine quality? {Very poor, poor, neutral, good, very good}
- How is your car’s on/off-road performance? {very poor, poor, neutral, good, very good}
The categorical questions such as gender, age range, and car brand preference will be used by researchers because these will help narrow the sample into the Millennial or Gen Z target demographic. These will allow the researchers to determine which parts play an important role based on their respondents’ gender. The close-ended questions will rate the car’s performance on or off the road, the engine’s quality, and how comfortable a car ride is on-road or off-road with the Likert scale. These will allow the researchers to determine what the Jeep Wrangler does better than its competitors’ models.
Survey’s Protocol
The Jeep survey will be on both online and mobile platforms to make it more accessible for their target market to respond. Then the priority protocol that will be administered is that the rights of the respondents will be the number one priority. Since they are the ones that will be providing the company with data from their responses, it will be vital for them to be protected and informed on the topics in the survey.
Respondents will sign a paragraph of consent before being administered the Jeep survey, and the marketing research team will make sure to use proper procedures to maintain confidentiality. Since the survey will be online, the security of the data provided by the respondents will need to be reassured by the company.
Multiple factors that will be reassurance for the respondents are “the survey software being used, the types of information being collected, how the information will be stored, and how any identifying information will be de-linked from the survey data” (Online Survey/Survey Research Guidance). Participants will have the option to either withdraw or keep their data, and they have learned about the Jeep survey’s purpose because the company should respect the respondents.
Sample Size
According to the sample size calculator, the sample size would have to be at least 385 because it will provide the researcher with a 95% confidence level with only a 5% margin of error that the collected data is as accurate as possible.
Analysis
The variables used in the spreadsheet for the descriptive analysis are gender, age range according to the birth year range of the respondent, car brand preference, the car’s performance on/off the road, quality of the car’s engine, and the level of comfort while on or off the road. According to the descriptive analysis, the gender variable noticed that more men were more interested in the survey than women because the mean of that variable was more in favor of the male gender. A similar conclusion can be made for the particular target demographics of Generation Z and Millennials because there seemed to be more interest from the Millennial generation about how the Jeep brand could be more competitive with their competitors.
Then, the data revealed that the car brand most preferred by the respondents was Ford and that a majority had a neutral position towards the on/off-road performance capabilities. Quality of the car engine also received a majority neutral position with respondents. However, the level of comfort experienced while driving a car capable of being on or off the road received a poor rating.
Sample Generalizations
Some generalizations from the data are that 54% of the sample population was from the Generation Z demographic and 37% of the sample population stated that their preferred brand to buy a car is Jeep. These statistics are vital because it shows that people who responded to the survey were from the younger generation, which provides the Jeep brand with the opportunity to generate long-term loyalty with this particular segment of their target demographic.
Jeep will have to look into how to increase its brand’s awareness because the Ford brand slightly beat them, with 41% of the population preferring their line of cars. It also shows that 21% of the sample population said they were a part of the Millennial generation and wanted their cars to be a Ford. Also, it showed that the Jeep brand ranked the lowest out of the available three car brands, with only 11% of Millennials selecting it as their preferred car brand. These statistics are significant because it shows that the Jeep brand needs to identify the weak points within its products that are causing it to fall short with this target market segment.
However, it shows that 26% of Generation Z chose their preferred car brand as a Jeep, and only 20% of the Generation Z variable selected their preferred car brand as Ford. Hypothesis testing was used in this data collection process by checking the null hypothesis that the Jeep brand was the favorite car brand among the Millennial generation. For the Jeep brand to achieve its research objectives, the company has to focus on marketing to the Millennial generation because they are leaning more toward Ford cars.
Findings
One group within the sample that was selected to be analyzed by an inferential analysis is the age range by the birth year of the respondents and the preferred brand for their car when given a choice between Ford, Jeep, and Land Rover. The other group chosen to be analyzed by an inferential analysis is the preferred car brand of the respondents and the on/off-road performance of the car.
For group number one, the ANOVA test between two groups was applied and revealed that the Millenials favored the Ford car brand over the Jeep and Land Rover Brands. However, the Generation Z group enjoyed the Jeep car brand. This discovery is significant because it forces the Jeep brand to rethink what car components are the most important to the Millennial generation and apply them to their new line of cars.
Then for group two, between the preferred car brand of the respondents and the on/off-road performance of the cars, found that the respondents that favored the Ford brand were more likely to hold a neutral position on the car’s capabilities on or off the paved roads. This finding is significant for the improvement of the Jeep brand because it shows that even though more respondents favored the Ford brand, the target demographic can care less about how well the car can perform on or off the road.
Hypothesis testing will be used in the data to test if the assumptions of the two groups are truthful with the assistance of an alternative hypothesis test because “it is a type of statistical analysis in which one puts their assumptions about a population parameter to the test” (Simplilearn, 2021). It will help the advancement towards the accomplishment of the research objectives by seeing which groups are viable to use to improve the Jeep brand and which ones can not be used by Jeep from the survey.
With the gender of the respondents acting as the independent variable and the opinions on how their car engine current quality is the acting dependent variable, they revealed that the male gender was the respondents that were more concerned with the quality of their car’s engine. The respondents that associated themselves with the female gender took a neutral to a very poor stance on the quality of their engine. Also, the male respondents were more likely to provide a response that was between a neutral position and very good.
Hypothesis testing was used in the data collection by stating the female gender was more likely to provide a position that would not go above the neutral position. These discoveries will help the Jeep brand accomplish its research objectives because it will provide information on which gender will need to market to when developing innovations towards the quality of cars within the Jeep brand.
Limitations
Some aspects of the research that constrained the findings and conclusion are if the respondents provided quality responses to the survey’s questions and that the sample size of the population was significantly lower than the projected sample size for a 95% confidence level with a 5%margin of error. Due to the randomly generated research and the numbers assigned to each possible response in the survey, there is a chance for repeat data entries in the report. Also, since there was no efficient time to develop a survey for a third-party distributor to administer to respondents, Excel was the substitute used to give the illusion of a randomly selected survey.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the male segment of both the Millennial and Generation Z demographic is the gender that is more concerned with the performance of a car brand such as Jeep than the female gender. Also, since the Millennial generation is more inclined to crave instant satisfaction they have answered to prefer the Jeep Brand over other car brands such as the Ford Bronco or Land Rover Defender. The Land Rover Defender is not as competitive with the Jeep Brand as the Ford Bronco because the respondents gravitated to either the Ford Bronco or the Jeep Brand. Many respondents did not have a positive or negative comment about the quality of a car engine. Also, the respondents did not have a positive or negative comment about the car’s performance on or off the road. However, the survey revealed that the respondents favored the Ford Bronco, with the Jeep Brand being a close second, and the Land Rover Defender was the least appealing to the respondents.
Recommendations
Some recommendations for the Jeep Brand to be more appealing to the Millennial and Generation Z demographic are to target the female gender of both of the Jeep Brand’s target demographic segments and to place focus on the comfort of the consumer while driving within the Jeep Brand’s cars. The Jeep Brand should focus on the female gender within the two demographics because the other car brands within their market have not been marketing towards this gender. Therefore, it shows that the Jeep Brand needs to develop brand loyalty with the females within the Generation Z and Millennial demographic and take advantage of the other competitors' lack of awareness with their consumers.
Also, consumer comfort is often sacrificed or overlooked when developing a car with the capabilities of the Ford Bronco, but this can provide the Jeep Brand with an opportunity. Including features that support the ease and comfort of the driver gives them the chance to retain customers and entice consumers of the Ford Bronco to switch to the Jeep Brand because they are placing the consumers as a priority.
References
Boost Survey Response Rates Among Millennials and Gen Z. (2021, December 08). Retrieved from https://www.rybbon.net/blog/increasing-survey-response-rates-among-millennials-gen-z/
Burns, A. C., & Bush, R. F. (2012). Basic marketing research using Microsoft® Excel data analysis. Prentice Hall.
Government of Canada, S. C. (2021, September 02). 3.4 Processing 3.4.3 Editing. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/edu/power-pouvoir/ch3/editing-edition/5214781-eng.htm
Online Survey/Survey Research Guidance. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.umass.edu/research/guidance/survey-guideline
Simplilearn. (2021, November 08). What is Hypothesis Testing in Statistics? Types and Examples: Simplilearn. Retrieved from https://www.simplilearn.com/tutorials/statistics-tutorial/hypothesis-testing-in-statistics
Yoro, M. (n.d.). The Pros and Cons of Online Research Panels. Retrieved from https://www.d8aspring.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-online-research-panels
