THE GRADUATE PROJECT IN MARKETING _b (Repaired) (1)

How To Position and Differentiate in the Market?

GRADUATE PROJECT

COURSE BMKT 695

HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE AND POSITION IN THE SERVICE MARKET?

Submitted to the Lebanese International University

The School of Business

In Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

(Master in Marketing)

By

HADIL BOU OMAR

ID No.50830348

Tripoli, Lebanon

Supervised by Advisor

Dr. Sam El Nemer

Spring 2013-2014

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DEDICATIONS

I would like to dedicate this work to Almighty God for the blessings and strength.

To my husband, son and family for their support.

Without your counsel I could not have completed this process.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First I would like to take the greatest pleasure in conveying deep thanks to those who helped

make the completion of this work possible. To Dr. Sam El Nemer for his guidance, thorough

instructions, and kind support over my graduate project, his constructive criticism was very

much appreciated. My honest cannot thank him enough.

There are people who have been instrumental to me and whose contribution I truly

appreciate. I would like to thank my family for their love and support during my study period.

I owe special thanks for my instructors, friends, and every close person who encouraged me

to make this project possible.

I'm also grateful for the love and support of my husband, and most importantly I thank the

Almighty God for the life and good health he gave me throughout the writing of this thesis.

Last but not least I owe special thanks for that who has always given me overwhelming

encouragement. My gratitude to you goes beyond what words express.

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ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the theoretical framework of positioning and differentiation

strategies; (how a company can create a unique and distinctive image for a brand relative to

competition and how brand should be perceived as different from competitors by consumers.)

The project also attempt to investigate and relates the topics on the level of market

differentiation, focusing on (price/quality differentiation), and how a company can gain a

competitive advantage over competitors.

I used both quantitative and qualitative research approaches in my study and relied mainly on

primary data.

I made use of STP model and other studies to explain that phenomenon, and applied the T-

Test to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. Further we qualitatively analyzed aspects of

the data hinging on explanatory aspects of our research.

The results among other things revealed that other laser clinics service quality (especially

responsiveness and empathy), technologies and innovation, promotional strategies and

advertising campaigns plus low prices are important instigators of customer satisfaction and

loyalty, which in return the company position is being affected.

Finally the findings of this study agreed to a large extent with the theoretical principles and

empirical results espoused in the literature review. The analyses of the results have confirmed

all the stated hypotheses

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TABLE OF CONTENT

PART I: THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 8

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCING THE GRADUATE PROJECT 91. INTRODUCTION 9

2. OVERVIEW OF THE SECTOR/DOMAIN/ORGANIZATIONS 15

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW1. MAIN TOPIC (Positioning) 192. SUBTOPIC 1 (Differentiating strategies) 313. SUBTOPIC 2 (Model of positioning) 40

PART II: THE PRACTICAL FRAMEWORK 43

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 441. DATA COLLECTION METHOD 442. STUDY LIMITATIONS 62

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND RESULTS 701. DATA ANALYSIS METHOD 702. FACT FINDING RESULTS 106

PART III: GRADUATE PROJECT CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION 111

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS 1121. CONCLUSIONS 1122. RECOMMENDATIONS 114

APPENDIXES 115REFERENCES 121

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.37: Cross tabulation………………………………………………...89

Table 4.38: Cross tabulation ……………………………………………….94

Table 4.39: Group statistics H1..…………………………………………….100

Table 4.40: Independent sample test H1……………………………………..100

Table 4.41: Group statistics H2……….……………………………………...101

Table 4.42: Independent sample test H2……….……………………………..102

Table 4.43: Group statistics H3…………………….………………………....103

Table 4.44: Independent sample test H3……………….…………………...…103

Table 4.45: Group statistics H4…………………………….……………….....104

Table 4.46: Independent sample test H4………………….………………...….105

Table 4.47: Hypotheses testing summary…………………………….……..…110

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Positioning Model…………………………………….………………..9

Figure 1.2: Differentiation………………………………….………………………10

Figure 1.3: The project hypotheses…………………………………………………14

Figure 2.1: The four categories of service…………………………….…………….19

Figure 2.2: Brand positioning…………………………...………………………….20

Figure 2.3: Effective positioning strategies…………………………………………23

Figure 2.4: Principles of positioning………………………………………………..24

Figure 2.5: A perceptual map……………………………………………………….26

Figure 2.6: Position map……………………………………………………………30

Figure 2.7: Market differentiation strategies……………..…………………………34

Figure 2.8: Price/quality differentiation.....................................................................35

Figure 2.9: Brand differentiation analysis…………………..………………………36

Figure 2.10: Service differentiation tools…………………………………………....37

Figure 2.11: The STP model…………………………………………………….…..40

Figure 2.12: Positioning and differentiating model…………………………….…...41

Figure 3.1: Reliability and validity..…………………………………………….…..48

Figure 3.2: Research paradigm….…………………………………………………..63

Figure 3.3: Positivism &intepretivisim……………………………...……………...64

Figure 3.4: Ontology……………..…………………………………………………64

Figure 3.5: Epistemology………………..………………………………………….66

Figure 4.1: Bar chart…………………………………………..……………….……93

Figure 4.2: Bar chart…………………………………………………………..….....98

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PART I

THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCING THE GRADUATE PROJECT

In this chapter there will be an introduction for the reader to the structure of the thesis,

background of the study, definition of the problem, purpose of the study, and definition of key

concepts of the conceptual framework.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction of the project:

This project will investigate the theoretical framework of positioning and

differentiation strategies; (how a company can create a unique and distinctive

image for a brand relative to competition, and how brand should be perceived as

different from competitors by consumers.)

The project also attempt to investigate and relates the topics on the level of

market differentiation, focusing on (price/quality differentiation), and how a

company can gain a competitive advantage over competitors.

Figure 1.1: Positioning Model

Source: Donnelly, J. H. (2002).

1.2 Introduction of the company:

Silkor a (laser medical center) operating in Lebanon and Middle East. Silkor is

an industry pioneer and a leading chain of laser hair removal; it addresses customer

needs with the most advanced, proven, non-invasive medical and aesthetic

technology. Silkor enhances the personal well-being, confidence and self-esteem of

its customers in a safe and professional environment.

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1.3 Research problem.

Positioning is about how you differentiate your business in the mind of your

Prospects. (Kotler, 1995)

Differentiating a business is a competitive business strategy; where firm attempt to

gain competitive advantage by increasing the perceived value of their

products/services relative to the perceived value of other firms.

The challenges begin by finding ways to differentiate:

Create value for buyers.

Not being easily copied or matched by rivals.

Service markets face several problems in positioning, because service is intangible

image, so a specific image should be linked with a specific brand name.

It is more difficult to perceive service quality, because services are intangible and

variable and they are simultaneously produced and consumed.

Consumers usually rely on extrinsic cues to evaluate a service quality, because

quality services vary from day to day, from persons to persons and from customer to

customer.

The framework for researching service quality stems from the premise that a

consumer evaluation of quality is a function of the magnitude and direction of gap

between expectation and perception.

High prices of a service could also be a problem for differentiating a business,

because how consumer perceives a price, has a strong influence on both purchase

intention and satisfaction

Figure 1.2: Differentiation model.

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Source: Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2008).

So the main problems of this research would be:

Service differentiation is hard since service is intangible and may vary from

person to other.

Positioning a service is more difficult than positioning a product because of

the need to communicate vague and intangible benefits.

Even companies who cultivate long-term relationships and provide extra

service cannot count on customer loyalty, since customer count on best

services with affordable prices.

The influence of competition on customers can form a discipline of new

decision behaviors.

Services perceived prices may affect customer perception and satisfaction.

The use of price/quality differentiation fosters a calculative behavior, where

customers continually look for the best deal, which lead to customer churn

and increased acquisition cost.

Competitions cutting into the service market share affect consumer choices

and perceptions.

1.4 Objectives of the graduate project:

Given the explanatory nature of some aspects of this projects objectives,

I will provide you with detailed information, a focused qualitative research

(Theoretical framework) Would be used to explore and understand the concept of

differentiation and Positioning strategies, so the overall objective is to "understand

the essence of positioning and differentiating a service".

This has been broken into sub- objectives, which reflects the research questions.

The most important part of research is to define the research question. By defining

the research question I will be able to specify and quote the research objectives,

hypothesis to be tested, information needs, and the appropriate research design. This

study attempts to answer the following:

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Research questions:

Research Question 1: What are the main competitive factors that affect consumer choices in

the Laser Beauty Industry?

Research Question 2: What should Silkor do to differentiate itself from competition?

Research Question 3: How can Silkor maintain market leadership in customer’s minds over

the long run?

These research questions use concept statements and appeal ratings to assess qualities of

positioning distance, or differentiation power.

The main research question is divided in to several sub-research questions that correspond.

How does competition cut into the company market share affect the company

position?

How does differentiation help the company achieve a competitive advantage?

How does meaningful and believable position build customers loyalty?

How does understanding customer needs and perceiving competition, lead to

effective positioning?

How do errors and mistakes affect positioning of a company?

Why positioning a service is much harder than positioning a product?

How can price/quality differentiation affect a company position?

Why it is essential for a firm to stay in touch with the market and reposition

itself before it suffers in terms of image and revenue?

How positive influencing growth and capturing new customers promote

loyalty to a brand?

Why ineffective differentiation can leave the business buried in the middle or

at the bottom of the pack?

What are the primary market differentiation strategies that help the firm

overcome the competition?

How does the relationship between communicating and monitoring position

anticipate competitor's moves?

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The following research questions are answered with the qualitative study done through the

literature review.

The research will be carried out to refine the objectives and provide detail for the next stage

that gives a useful indication about the company (Silkor), by conducting a quantitative

research (practical framework). I propose to carry out a questionnaire conducted on Silkor

customer as an effective way for contacting relevant respondents.

The overarching goal of this thesis is to determine and explain the concept of differentiating

and positioning a company service, and the ways by which a firm can stay ahead of the

competition.

For the purpose there will be more focus on understanding, how customers perceive a

company position, and how he differentiates it from competitor position.

The following research objectives are to explain in detail what the study is expected to

achieve:

To understand the essence of competitive positioning.

To discover strategies used in effective positioning.

To determine position techniques that companies use to stay ahead with

competitors.

To identify the positioning errors made by firms.

To allow in-depth exploration of Mechanisms related to how well the

company products and Services are perceived by Customers, and how the firm

can achieve a competitive advantage over the Competition.

To list the ways a company can reach and win a market.

To uncover the method used to reposition a business.

To identify why position a service is harder than positioning manufacturing

products.

To list the primary market differentiation strategies.

To understand the nature and terminology of differentiation.

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1.5 Research Hypothesis

Null hypotheses:

(H01): Competitive price and customer loyalty are independent.

(H02): Competitive promotional strategies and advertising campaign are independent with

customer loyalty.

(H03): Competitive high quality services and customer's loyalty and satisfaction are

independent.

(H04): Competitive new technologies and innovation, and customers choices and decisions

are independent.

Alternative Hypotheses:

HA1: When Silkor direct competitors reduce their price, customers will be drawn away from

Silkor.

HA2: When Silkor direct competitors launch promotional strategies and advertising

campaigns, customers will be drawn away from Silkor.

HA3: High quality services relates positively in affecting Silkor customers loyalty and

satisfaction.

HA4: Laser medical centers new technologies and innovations are affecting customer's

perceived choices and decisions.

Figure 1.3: The project hypotheses.

H1: competitive technologies

H2: competitors low prices

H3 : competitors promotions

H4 : competitors high quality

services

Affecting customer choices and decisions

Silkor position is affected

Silkor must differentiate itself from competition

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2. OVERVIEW OF THE SECTOR/DOMAIN/ORGANIZATIONS

Silkor (Laser medical center)

2.1. Company Profile and History

Established in Beirut Lebanon in 1997, Silkor is an industry pioneer and the Middle

East and North Africa (MENA) region's leading chain of laser hair removal, laser medico-

aesthetic and skin care services. The company specializes in treatments that promote

smoother, more radiant skin, for both men and women.

Treatments are performed by highly skilled dermatologists and medical practitioners and take

place in a relaxed comforting atmosphere.

Silkor addresses customer needs with the most advanced, proven, non-invasive medical and

aesthetic technology. Silkor enhances the personal wellbeing, confidence and self-esteem of

its customers in a safe and professional environment

The name Silkor is a play on words combining the English "Silk" with the French

"Corps"(body). This encapsulates the Silkor mission - to provide the smoothest and least

intrusive luxury laser medico-aesthetic and skin care treatments.

In June 2009, a peaceful Lebanese general election took place, bringing back a pro-western

government. Lebanon's economy was booming, it was during that time that brother and sister,

Oscar and Lara Tarakjian, reflected on the remarkable 12 years history of Silkor, their

successful hair removal company based in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon with branches

around the Middle East. Although Silkor had established itself as the brand leader in the

region, the duo felt that they had many challenges ahead of them. One main challenge was

related to growth. They wondered how they are going to leverage their strong brand while

expanding geographically and extending their product line. They also wondered how they

would expand without diluting their quality competitive advantage or the entrepreneurial

spirit which characterized Silkor’s culture. (Silkor.com, 2014)

2.2. Main Products & Services

Laser Treatments

Medical Services

Skin Care Therapy

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2.3. Vision & Mission

Vision: To establish Silkor as the trusted regional leader in high quality, technology-driven,

personalized laser medical and skin treatment.

Mission and Statement of Purpose: Silkor enhances the personal well-being, confidence

and self-esteem of its customers in a safe and professional environment.

Values: It is Silkor’s people who make Silkor what it is and who believe that putting the

company values into practice creates long-term benefits for all stakeholders. Silkor values

include:

• Customer service excellence

• Teamwork in a Silkor family environment

• Entrepreneurial spirit and a passion to win

• Constant innovation in high-end services

• Excellence in operational execution

Slogan: "Baby skin forever"(Silkor.com, 2014)

2.4-Innovation:

Scientific and technological innovations in laser medico-aesthetic treatments are advancing at

the speed of light.

With a dedicated medical advisory team charged with exploring new Technologies, Silkor

continuously evaluates new therapies, equipment and procedures to ensure Best results ‘and

value for its clients.

Thanks to Silkor's size and reputation and its relationships with manufacturers and researchers,

its team is in a position to evaluate new laser medico-aesthetic technologies even before they

come on the market. This puts Silkor in a prime position to stay ahead of the field and provide

the best service and satisfaction for its customers. (Silkor.com, 2014)

2.5-Ambiance:

Silkor centers are the company's trademark. Each occupying approximately 600 square meters,

with an average of 17 treatment rooms and clinics, they are situated in prime locations and are

Characterized by a unique architecture and subtle design features.

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The soothing graduated colors utilized throughout the facility, along with its peaceful Zen

ambiance, create an oasis of calm for customers arriving at the centers. Management's attention

to detail, its response to customer needs, the successful integration of technical efficiency,

Medical safety and customer comfort make the Silkor experience safe and exhilarating.

(Silkor.com, 2014)

2.6-Innovation:

Scientific and technological innovations in laser medico-aesthetic treatments are advancing at

the Speed of light.

With a dedicated medical advisory team charged with exploring new Technologies, Silkor

continuously evaluates new therapies, equipment and procedures to ensure Best results’ and

value for its clients. Thanks to Silkor's size and reputation and its relationships with

manufacturers and researchers, its team is in a position to evaluate new laser medico-aesthetic

technologies even before they come on the market. This puts Silkor in a prime position to stay

ahead of the field and provide the best service and satisfaction for its customers. (Silkor.com,

2014)

2.7-The overall market:

In 1997 the laser hair removal market size was 2$ million. In 2009 the market was

estimated to be 54 $ million and growing at 15 % per year. Between the mid 90's and 2009

the Lebanese hair removal has grown. Growth than slowed and the market become saturated ,

because the competitors has proliferated and in 2009 , many procedures were available ,

anyone could rent a hair removal machine even in their own home which increase the

ineffective treatments , making facility track record , staff and customer service more critical.

In the other hand location has become more important for customers, as the number of

facilities has mushroomed. Customers were not willing to travel to other are of the town.

In order to differentiate Silkor were open from 9 am to 8 pm. Peak hours were in the evening

not many other facilities stayed opened late as Silkor.

In Lebanon, it has been very difficult for leading hair removal industry players to grow their

businesses successfully by opening in multiple locations. According to Oscar Tarakjian:

"Very few operators have been able to successfully expand beyond the first facility.

Most operators in Lebanon who open a second facility typically hand it over to a daughter or

niece, and end up failing shortly after opening. Even very good single unit operators can’t

manage multiple units because they don’t have trained personnel to provide consistent

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service, systems in place to control the operations and minimize ‘leakage’ in this cash

business, [unlike the U.S., in Lebanon and the Gulf most customers paid by cash] or the

financial or marketing abilities to compete with existing brands like Silkor". (Silkor.com,

2014)

2.8-Marketing strategy:

From the Silkor early days, billboards and advertising and PR on TV have played a major

role in increasing sales.

billboards remained were an important role in Silkor advertising strategy , Lara explained

"Billboards are there to give comfort to , and reinforce buying decisions of existing

customers, as well as to dissuade new entrants and competitors from head to head

competition".

Lara emphasized the importance of personal references: “Everyone knows us and has seen

our ads, so it’s not like they do a web search and come to us. The Lebanese tend to ask at

least 10 friends and relatives when they want to try something new. In the UAE, it’s different:

people rely more heavily on the web. Since so many people there are foreigners, the web is

their ‘friend and relative.’ (Silkor.com, 2014)

2.9-Pricing:

Silkor prices are the highest in the Lebanese market, although they have not risen

Prices since they started in 1997. The average price per session of laser hair removal

Treatment in Lebanon is $200. The average number of sessions per person is three to five.

Hair removal treatment prices for different body parts are shown below:

• Facial hair $700 to $1,000

• Underarms $500

• Bikini line $750

• Back hair $2,500

• Full legs $4,000

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter an introduction of relevant theories for the purpose of the study will take

Place.

Introduction of Chapter

Markets have become highly competitive and turbulent and are constantly changing,

Market conditions move from being simple to complex, from stable to dynamic, and

From tame to hostile (Neu and Brown, 2005). In response to changing market

Conditions, service markets have become more differentiated and innovative.

In order to fill this research, we should first understand the concept and the meaning of

service, from that point Kotler and Keller define service as "An act or performance one party

can offer to another that essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of

anything.”(Kotler and Keller 2012, pp.356).

Furthermore Kotler explains that service is“…any activity or benefit that one party can offer

to another which is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its

production may or May not be tied to a physical product.” (Kotler, 1996).

Lovelock and Wirtz give a detailed description that, “Services are economic activities

Offered from one party to another, it employs times based-performance to bring desired

results to recipients for which purchasers have responsibilities. In exchange For money, time,

and effort, services customers expect value from access to goods, Labor, professional skills,

facilities, network and systems. (Lovelock& Wirtz 2010 pp.15)

Figure 2.1: The four categories of services.

Source: Lovelock& Wirtz 2010 P.19

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Kotler and Keller have also introduced 4 characteristics for services:

1-Intangibility: services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before they are bought.

2-Inseparability: services are typically produced and consumed simultaneously.

3-Variability: services are highly variable because its quality depends on who provides them,

when and where, and to whom.

4-Perishability: services cannot be stored.

(Kotler& Keller 2011)

With few exceptions, the general approach for studying a service is totally different From

product market, and due to the Rapid changes in the market conditions, company are trying to

position themselves in a way that differentiate them from competition, and allow the firm to

achieve long-Term Growth, customer loyalty, satisfaction and innovativeness.

So what is positioning? And how can we define it? Kotler say that positioning is the Act of

designing a company offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the Minds of the

target market. (Kotler1997)

Figure 2.2: Brand positioning.

Source: Kotler &Keller 2011, p.280.

G

F

E D

CB

Brand APrice

Quality

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Levitt introduced that Positioning is the result of differentiation decisions. It is the act of

designing the Company's offering and identity (that will create a planned image) so that they

occupy a meaningful and distinct competitive position in the target Customer's minds. (Levitt

1980, p.130).

The Ad agency Innis maggiore define Positioning as the process by which a brand (a

Product or service) is marketed with the goal of owning a meaningful and differentiated idea

in the mind of the target market. Innis maggiore Ad agency (2014)

Arnott also said that positioning is the deliberate, proactive, iterative process of

Defining, measuring, modifying and monitoring consumer perceptions of a marketable

object…"(Arnott 1993).

Another definition for Positioning” or “position” refers to a company’s or products Perceived

or desired status in a chosen market space, whether consciously chosen, Crafted, and created,

or not. (Hale marketing communication (2008)).

As a result the main objective of positioning is to allow in-depth exploration of mechanisms

related to how well the company products and Services are perceived by customers, and how

the firm can achieve a competitive advantage over the competition.

Recently, the competition cutting into the firm marketplace is affecting the company

position, so according to the basic principles of marketing, in order for the company to

achieve an effective position, the position should be:

Meaningful to consumers.

Credible/believable.

Unique to your brand.

Durable over time.

Hitesh Bhasin (2012) suggested that Products and services are created to solve Customer

“problems” (to satisfy needs and Wants) and provide benefits.

So for effective positioning, a service must meet the benefit the customer will receive, create

the expectation, and it offers a solution to the customer’s problem. If at All possible, the

solution should be different from and better than the competition solution, especially if the

competitors are already offering a similar solution.

Positioning should be a single-minded concept, an umbrella from which everything in the

organization flows.

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Effective Positioning also affects policies and procedures, employee attitudes, Customer

relations, complaint handling, and the myriad of other details that combine to make a

different experience. Services companies compete on more than just image, differentiation

and benefits offered, there must be a consistency among the various Offerings and it is the

positioning statement that guides this consistency. There are two tests of effective

positioning:

First, the position must be believable in the customers mind.

Second, the service must deliver that promise on a consistent basis.

Hitesh Bhasin also suggested that even when the principles of positioning are understood,

there are a variety of Impediments to their successful implementation. At times, effective

positioning is undermined by the poor selection of benefits to feature in advertising.

In other Instances, advertising are compromised by the failure to sustain a brand position. .

Once a position is developed, most of the activity is directed toward sustaining it in a

contemporary way. (Hitesh Bhasin, 2012).

From lovelock and Wirtz point of view when competition increases in the service market, it is

more important for the service Companies to differentiate in a ways that are meaningful for

customers. In order for a firm to grow, it has to take share from its competitors, or to expand

into new markets. (Lovelock& Wirtz 2010 p.61)

In developing an effective positioning strategy a position must link both market analysis and

competitive analysis to internal corporate analysis?

The market analysis focus on the overall level of demand and geographic location of

Demand, and look into the size of different market segments, plus it understand customer

needs and how they perceive competition.

The competitor analysis understands competitor’s strength and weaknesses and anticipates

responses to the positioning strategies.

The internal corporate analysis identify the organization resources, goals and values,

Plus it selects limited number of target segments to serve. (Lovelock&Wirtz 2010 p.70).

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Figure 2.3: Effective positioning strategies.

Source: Lovelock& Wirtz 2010, p.71.

Furthermore Kotler and Keller said that positioning requires that marketers define and

communicate similarities and differences between their brand and its competitors:

1. Determine a frame of reference by identifying the target market and relevant

competition.

2. Identify the optimal points of parity and points of difference brand associations given

that frame of reference

3. Create a brand mantra to summarize the positioning and essence of the brand

(Kotler& Keller 2011, p 280)

In the Principles of positioning strategies, Jack trout suggested that after segmenting the

market, and understanding the attributes of services level, the next step is determining the

best position of a service in the market. The competitive positioning strategy is based on

establishing a distinctive place in the market.

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The essence of positioning fall into four major principles:

1- A company must establish a position in the mind of target customer.

2- The position must be singular, and provide one simple and consistent message.

3- The position must set a company apart from competition.

4- A company cannot be all things to all people; it must focus its effort.

Understanding the principles of positioning is the key of developing an effective competitive

image. (Jack trout, cited in Lovelock&Wirtz 2010, p 68.)

Figure 2.4: Principles of positioning.

Source: Lovelock& Wirtz, 2010, p.69.

We can see from this figure that the principles of positioning fall under the changes that can

make the company better than competitors, how the services/products are differentiated from

competition, and how the firm stands in the mind of customers.

The position must be well perceived by customers, and must satisfy their needs, but for many

years' companies have done a lot of mistakes and errors to achieve these objectives.

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Positioning errors, according to Philip Kotler fall into four categories:

1. under positioning: Market only has a vague idea of the product.

2. Over positioning: Only a narrow group of customers identify with the product.

3. Confused positioning: Buyers have a confused image of the product as it claims too many

benefits or it changes the claim too often.

4. Doubtful positioning: Buyers find it difficult to believe the brand’s claims in view of the

product’s features, price, or manufacturer. (Kotler, 1997).

Kotler also introduced six strategies for positioning, by which a company can categorize its

position.

1. Attribute positioning: The message highlights one or two of the attributes.

2. Benefit positioning: The message highlights one or two of the benefits to the customer.

3. Use/application positioning: Claim best for some application.

4. User positioning: Claim the best for a group of users. (Children, women, working

women…)

5. Competitor positioning: Claim that the service/product is better than a competitor.

6. Quality/Price positioning: Claim best value for price. (Kotler, 1997).

The main objective of this research is to examine the fifth categories of positioning, the

competitor positioning, claiming that services and products are better than competitors,

furthermore to identify the quality and price positioning where the company can claim the

best value for price.

Hitesh Bhasin proposed that companies today apply various positioning techniques in market

so that they are Always Ahead in competition.

Some of the techniques used for positioning are, first the perceptual mapping a technique to

represent what people think about products or services.

It is a spatial representation of the perceptions about the brands on the parts of different

individuals.

If you perceive the brands to be similar then you are getting them closer in the perceptual

space, and if you perceive them to be dissimilar then you are putting them apart. In short,

that represents both brands and people.

When the environment is turbulent it changes fast and calls for frequent changes in

positioning.

At times a company can lose its position due to change in technology, consumer attitudes,

and competitive activity both in the economy and amongst creative executives.

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That is the reason why a company should be in Touch with the market place, and Reposition

itself before it suffers in terms of image and revenue. (Bhasin, 2013) Perceptual maps are

normally used for two purposes:

To identify unknown dimensions that affect customer behavior

To comparatively evaluate competing brands when dimensions are unknown

. (Hitesh Bhasin, 2013).

Figure 2.5: Perceptual map.

Source: ICS, 2012.

The second techniques used is Positioning to specific segments; which involves Sacrifice a

few segments of the market. We cannot afford to give ‘all things to all people.’ Positioning is

to decide who our Competitors are. Then there is a need to develop a Core strategy that runs

as a common Thread through all pieces of planning.

Core strategy basically tells us why customers buy our product and how we shall compete

with others. Different segments need Different core strategies. Core strategy is broader than

USP because it considers both External and internal factors. (Hitesh Bhasin, 2013)

26


After these two techniques the company has to communicate, Communication helps the

marketer to builds up an image of the business.

Image build up is influenced by the effectiveness of the Communication than by the

communication budget. Most of the organization creates Value through this offer.

When discussing about the total marketing budget it is spent on advertising, sales

promotion, sales management and distribution acts basically to enhance the value created by

the offer, and accordingly they delivers the same value to the customer. These are in fact

marketing support activities. By this they are trying to market the offer in an attractive

manner to their marketing intermediaries and customer.

All of us know that a products/service has attributes and features. But these must be related

to Perceived benefits preferences and selection. (Bhasin, 2013)

Philip Kotler said also in the communication process that once the company has developed a

clear positioning Strategy, the company must choose various signs and cues that buyers use

to confirm that the product delivers the Promise made by the company. (Kotler, 1997).

Positioning is not a simple matter, at time a company can lose its position due to the

competitive activity, so in the process of positioning a firm should first identify its

competitor's .This Step is not as simple as it seems to be. Basically there are two types of

competitors:

-Primary competitors belonging to the same product class

-Secondary competitors, those belonging to other category.

Second a firm must determine how the Competitors are Perceived and Evaluated, when the

competitors' services are used by the customers. An appropriate set of Service attributes

should be chosen. (Bhasin, 2013)

The third process for positioning is determining the competitor’s positions by determining

how different brands (including own brand) are positioned with respect to the relevant

attributes selected under the previous step.

At this point it should be clear about what is the image that the customer has about the various brands?

How they are positioned in respect to each other?

Which competitors are perceived as similar and which as different? (Hitesh Bhasin,2013)

Fourth, a company should Analyzing the Customer's habits and behavior in a particular

market Segment.

27


The following questions need attention while understanding the customer and the market:

How is market segmented? What role does the service play in the customer's life style? What really motivates the customers? And what habits and behavior patterns are relevant?

The segmentation question is critical. There are various approaches to segmentation but

out of all benefit segmentation is relevant here, which focuses upon the benefits or attributes

that a segment believes to be important. In order to specify that benefit segments, it is useful

to highlight the role of ‘ideal object’ as a tool. (Hitesh Bhasin, 2013)

The above four steps provide a useful backgrounds and are necessary to be conducted

before taking any decision about positioning.

After these four exercises, the following guidelines can be offered to reach a positioning

decision:

An economic analysis should guide the decision.

Positioning usually implies a segmentation commitment.

If the advertising is working, the advertiser should stick to it.

Do not try to be something, you are not.

In making a decision on position strategy, symbols or set of symbols must be

considered. (Hitesh Bhasin,2013)

Finally, an image objective, like an advertising objective should be measurable. It is

necessary to monitor the position overtime, for that a variety of techniques that can be

employed it can be on the basis of some test and interviews which will help to monitor any

kind of change in the image.

Thus, the first four steps in the positioning process provide a useful background.

The fifth one only is taken to make the position decision. The final step is to evaluate and

measure and follow up. (Bhasin 2013).

While every company’s situation is unique, we know from long experience that there are

common criteria for a company’s success in reaching and winning a market.

Positioning strategy, by its very nature, involves your value relative to your competition.

What do you do or offer that’s better (or not as competitive) as others who offer similar

28


products and services? When these differences are identified, supported with proof points,

and properly merchandised your prospects will have an accurate and compelling basis to

compare your company to others.

However, there is always more to understanding your offerings that defining them in light of

competitive offers.

Companies can easily make the mistake of “over positioning” their products and services.

As there are three dimensions to establishing value propositions – what it is you do, why it’s

relevant and how it’s different–How to position and differentiate companies, marketers and

sales teams can spend too much attention on differentiations before assuring the first two

dimensions are understood. Your customers are typically most interested in getting their

problems solved. If it’s not clear how you’re going to do that, comparing yourself to your

competition (even subtly) won’t matter.

Now in comparing yourself to your competition, you have to map the development and the

movement of the competition overtime.

A useful technique to do that, is through the position map, an effective tool to visualize

competitive positioning and map the development overtime.

It is also a useful way to represent consumer perception of alternative products, the

information about a product/service can be obtained from market data, derived from ratings

by representative consumers. (Lovelock & Wirtz 2010, p.73)

On a ‘positioning map’, products and services are mapped together which allows them to be

compared and contrasted in relation to Each other.

This is the main strength of this tool. Marketers decide upon a competitive position, which

enables them to distinguish their own products from the offerings of their competition.

The marketer would draw out the map and decide upon a label for each axis. They could be

price (variable one) and quality (variable two), or Comfort (variable one) and price (variable

two). The individual products are then mapped out next to each other any gaps could be

regarded as possible areas for new products. (marketing91, 2013)

Figure 2.6: Position map

29


Source: Ling's cars, 2007.

As discussed earlier, the existing research looks closely, about how a service company can

position itself against the competition.

With times a company can lose its position due to change in technology, consumer attitudes,


That is the reason why a company should be in Touch with the market place, and reposition

itself before it suffers in terms of image and revenue.

In repositioning firm may have to make change in existing position, such as:

Revising service characteristics.

Redefining target market segments.

Abandoning certain products.

Withdrawing from certain market segments.

In improving negative brand perceptions, the company should redesign the core product.

Repositioning introduces new dimensions into positioning equation that other firms cannot

immediately match. (Lovelock & Wirtz 2010 p.75).

Repositioning is the process of creating a new or modified brand, company, or product

position. (Kotler 2009).

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The rationale behind the present study is the challenges that a firm could face in trying to

position themselves against the competition, in the other hand more difficulties are facing

Service Company, because positioning a service is much harder than positioning a product,

and as discussed earlier service characteristics are totally different from the manufacturing

products.

For many years the dichotomy between service and physical goods still remains.

The growing acceptance is that there are several overlaps between services and products

(Levitt, 1981), has over the years prompted concern about the issue of varying positioning

strategies for services (Rathmell, 1974; Arnott& Easingwood, 1994).

It is important to know that although the concept of positioning is equally pertinent to both

products and services (Cowell, 1989), the latter possess characteristics such as intangibility,

inseparability, perishability, heterogeneity (Bateson, 1995) and non-Standardization (Berry,

1983) which make positioning of services more difficult and challenging than positioning

physical goods (Ennew et al., 1993).

This assertion is evidence in the work of Assael (1985) who states that:

“…Positioning a service is more difficult than positioning a product because of the need to

communicate vague and intangible benefits.”

The above is supported by de Chematony and dall'Olmo Riley (1997), who claims that

Service brands are particularly different, in that they rely on employee’s actions and attitudes.

Given that employee’s actions and attitudes are stochastic, and that service characteristics are

different from those of physical goods (Bitner, 1997), it can be inferred that it is more

challenging to embark on positioning strategies in services.

The foregoing is evidence in an earlier work by Lamb and Cravens (1990), who claimed that:

…services marketing differ from goods marketing because services pose different

Marketing problems and opportunities from those faced by goods marketers…

"As positioning means different things to different people, the various terminologies

Are still “several sides of the same coin?” (Arnot 1994).

Most scholars agree that it is more difficult to position services.

31


They also support the idea of “tangibilizing different aspects of a company service to achieve

positioning.

Services require different positioning strategies and tactics from physical goods.

These different positioning strategies for services are based upon 3 qualities.

• Search

• Experience

• Credence

Search Qualities are known as:

Features that consumers can identify before purchasing a product, like:

• Color

• Style

• Price

• Smell

Experience qualities are known as:

Features that can only be understood after purchase or during consumption, like:

• Taste

• Wear ability

• Satisfaction

Credence qualities are known as:

Features that the consumer may find difficult to evaluate even after purchase or consumption.

• Open heart operation

• Brain surgery

• Appendix operation.

It is stated that marketers find difficulties trying to interpret services since they can be

positioned on a variety of dimensions.

Such as:

• Needs they satisfy?

• Benefits delivered

• Specific features

• Time of use

• Who uses it?I

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“Services are relatively intangible, produced and consumed simultaneously, and often less

standardized than goods. These unique characteristics of services will therefore present

special challenges for services positioning.” Berry (1980)

To try to overcome these special challenges that services provide; it has shown that services

advertisements often contain more:

• Emotional appeal

• Personalized headlines

• Symbolic representation

"Service marketers must have a good understanding of their special competitive situation to

achieve long-term competitive advantage…” Fisher (1991)

When talking about positioning, we know that it is the result of differentiation decision,

the present study interpret also the concept of differentiation strategy, as both of the terms are

relevant and cannot be separated, when we want to position our services or products, we

should differentiate it from the competitors.

From Philip Kotler point of view, differentiation means the act of designing a set of

meaningful differences to distinguish the company's offering from competitor’s offerings.

(Philip Kotler 1997).

Differentiation and positioning considerations are also relevant to each element of the

marketing mix as well as to on ground and online marketplaces. The companies should be

working toward a competitive advantage “the ability to perform in one or more ways that

competitor cannot or will not match. (Kotler and Lane, 2009)

Every brand faces the challenge of positively influencing growth, by capturing new

customers and doing it in a way to promote loyalty to a brand.

Every company seek to differentiate, the struggle for differentiation may take several

forms. (Mclnnes, 2011).

Effective differentiation can put a business (or a brand) in the top position among the

competition, but an ineffective differentiation strategy can leave a business buried in the

middle or at the bottom of the pack. (Gordon, 2005).

A successful differentiation strategy cannot be imitated by competitors, but it can bring you

great success with consumers. (Herman, 2008).

33


Companies can differentiate their services and products in many different ways:

Quality, service, price, distribution, perceived customer value, durability, convenience,

Warranty, financing, range of products/services offered, accessibility, production method,

reliability, familiarity, product ingredients, and company image are all differentiation

possibilities, but in general there are 5 primary market differentiation strategies:

Figure 2.7: Market differentiation strategies.

Source: Mclnnes, 2011.

1-Technology differentiation:

A new technology may provide sufficient value for differentiation. (Mclnnes, 2011)

2-Price/ quality differentiation:

The use of this method may foster a calculative behavior where customers continually shop

for the next best deal.

This in turn leads to customer churn and increased acquisition cost. (Mclnnes, 2011)

Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value are considered pivotal determinants of

shopping behavior and product choice.

34


Quality can be defined broadly as superiority or excellence. By extension, perceived quality

can be defined as the consumer's judgment about a product overall excellence or superiority.

(Kotler 1997).

From the consumer's perspective, price is what is given up or sacrificed to obtain a product or

service.

The use of price as an indicator of quality depends on:

(a) Availability of other cues to quality.

(b) Price variation within a class of products.

(c) Product quality variation within a category of products.

(d) Level of price awareness of consumers.

(e) Consumers' ability to detect quality variation in a group of product.

Price is usually an indicator of quality; consumers tend to check the price of a product or

service before purchasing them, this usually determines the quality price of a product. (Kotler

1997)

Price can also be an indicator of quality, a brand might be selling several products or services

for different target markets, and consumers differentiate markets by the quality pricing of the

product.

Figure 2.8: Price/ Quality differentiation

Source: Kotler, 1997.3-product differentiation:

This method often leads to market confusion which can paralyze customer spending.

Also, too many new things can freeze spending as consumer fear buying something that may

be quickly obsolete. (Mclnnes, 2011)

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4-Customer service differentiation:

This method is more costly for the brand in that it requires the infrastructural support and

continual advertising or messaging to remind potential customers to the service offer.

(Mclnnes, 2011)

5-User experience differentiation:

Differentiation based on an emotional bond with the customer is both very powerful and

difficult.

The brand that is able to build emotional or social connections will have fiercely loyal

customers with low churn. (Mclnnes, 2011).

Figure 2.9: Brand differentiation analysis.

Source: Breindel, 2012.

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Many marketers advocate promoting only one benefit in the market (market offering may

have many differentiators in Product, service, personnel, channel, and image).

Kotler (1997) mentions that double benefit promotion may be necessary, if some more firms

Claim to be best on the same attribute.

Figure 2.10: Service differentiation tools.

Source: Kotler, 1997.

37


Service differentiation is the extent to which a company focuses on service as its core

offering and the extent to which customers regard the organization as a service provider

(Jacob and Ulaga, 2008; Neu and Brown, 2005; Oliva and Kallenberg, 2003).

Service differentiation translates into different ways to achieve competitive advantages

through services.

Potential strategic avenues for service differentiation capture customer support services,

business consulting, integrated services, or operational service. Business consulting becomes

especially salient when strategic consultancy advice is necessary to analyze the customer’s

business and identify problems in the customer’s organization on the basis of experience

(Davies, 2004; Davies et al., 2007; Gebauer, 2008).

Following this service differentiation becomes a strategy type and emerging business logic

in manufacturing companies.

Service differentiation either has a direct effect or a moderator effect.

As a direct effect, service differentiation represents competitor orientation, which is part of

the market orientation and is possible to conceptualize as a direct effect on business

performance.

Competitor orientation involves gathering intelligence on competitors; for example,

Who the competitors are, what technologies they offer, and whether they represent an

Attractive alternative from the perspective of the target customers (Han et al., 1998).

The current understanding of service differentiation is not limited to gathering intelligence on

competitors’ service offerings.

The view of service differentiation is as a strategy type and different business logic that

manufacturing firms apply. (Davies, 2004; Fang et al., 2008; Gebauer, 2008; Oliva and

Kallenberg, 2003).

Matsuno and Mentzer (2000) Suggest conceptualizing different strategy types or business

logics as moderators.

They argue that implementing a particular strategy or business logic is essentially a process

of organizational adaptation to the market environment, in which market orientation plays a

fundamental role.

They hypothesize that “the relationship between market orientation and economic

performance is moderated by the type of strategy employed” (Matsuno and Mentzer, 2000, p.

3).

38


Their prospector strategy type, for example (companies that almost continually search for

market opportunities and regularly experiment with potential responses to emerging

environmental trends), strengthens the positive association among market orientation, market

share, sales growth, and percentage of new product sales (Matsuno and Mentzer, 2000).

Transferring their proposition to the present context means that service differentiation is a

planned pattern of adaptations with a particular set of business performance goals.

Strategy typology literature (Hambrick, 1984) suggests three relevant arguments for the

moderator effects of service differentiation. Firstly, a manufacturing company chooses its

service differentiation on the basis of its understanding of the business environment.

Secondly, a chosen service differentiation directs a company’s attention to certain

performance dimensions (service revenue or profit).

Thirdly, a company exceeds its existing performance levels by employing various activities

that enhance and/or reduce customer centricity and innovativeness (Matsuno and Mentzer,

2000; Miles and Snow, 1978).

The rationale behind the present study’s general hypothesized moderator effect is that

service differentiation is likely to identify and share certain relevant information regarding

the complexity of customer needs, to make decisions that are conducive to customer

centricity and innovativeness, to change the composition of business performance (revenues

attributable to the products or services). These points are important because prior empirical

studies do not provide an indication of whether the complexity of customer needs, customer

centricity, innovativeness and business performance relationships are invariant across service

differentiation.

As is the case with product differentiation, the present study interprets service differentiations

as strategy types or business logics (Gebauer, 2008; Kim and Lim, 1988 ;) rather than as an

antecedent embedded in the market orientation such as customer centricity and

innovativeness.

39


At the end of the theoretical part a model is being used to explain this phenomenon, the

model for positioning and differentiating is listed below:

The basic model of positioning and differentiating in market:

At the end of this theoretical framework, a model is adopted which provide a theoretical

foundation for the study, it consist of a clear explanation about positioning and differentiating

in the market.

In marketing, "differentiation" and "positioning" are terms that mean making your product or

service stand out and appear unique compared to competitor's products.

Differentiation is often used when describing the individual product and positioning is used

when describing the brand, but both expressions essentially denote rising above competition

by highlighting the distinctive features of your product or brand.

Marketing and advertising theorists have come up with many models that work as strategic

tools when you are positioning a brand.

Figure 2.11:The STP model

Source: Annmarie Hanlon, 2013.

40


The foundation of positioning theory is made of one of the most important postulates of the

science of marketing, it states that "people are extremely diverse and that a product/service

cannot be liked equally by everyone"

Referring to that postulate it is simple to define the essence of STP model: to present the

product to those consumers, who want it and are able to acquire it. The first two steps of the

STP model serve to find and define the desired consumer, and positioning serves for placing

the product in the desirable position in the minds of target consumers.

Figure 2.12: Positioning and differentiating model:

Brand integrityBrand integrity

nb

Brand identityBrand image

Brand identity Brand image

Source: Marketing study guide, 2013.

Positioning (being strategy).

- Believable and meaningful in customer minds.

- Deliver promise on consistent basis.

- Durable over time.

- Different from competition.

- Value proposition.

- Focus effort.

Differentiation (core tactics)

- Unique product features.

- Unique product performance.

- Exceptional services.

- New technologies.- Quality of inputs.- Exceptional skill or

experience.- Detailed

information.

Brand (Value indicator)

41


This model leads to prediction of the actual relation between positioning and differentiating

in a market it would be used as guide to explain the essence of positioning and differentiation

strategy that would help the reader to understand more the concept of this Project.

*Conclusion of the chapter:

At the end positioning is the act of designing a company offering and image to occupy a

distinctive place in the minds of the target market.

The literature review theoretically main approach is studying a service positioning and

differentiating, more than this and due to the Rapid changes in the market conditions,

company are trying to position themselves in a way that differentiate them from competition,

and allow the firm to achieve long-Term Growth, customer loyalty, satisfaction and

innovativeness.

It is the act of designing the Company's offering and identity (that will create a planned

image) so that they occupy a meaningful and distinct competitive position in the target

customer's minds.

As a result the main objective of positioning is to allow in-depth exploration of mechanisms

related to how well the company products and Services are perceived by customers, and how

the firm can achieve a competitive advantage over the competition.

So for effective positioning, a service must meet the benefit the customer will receive, create

the expectation, and it offers a solution to the customer’s problem. If at all possible, the

solution should be different from and better than the competition solution, especially if the

competitors are already offering a similar solution.

Differentiation means the act of designing a set of meaningful differences to distinguish the

company's offering from competitors Offerings.

Finally, the changes in the business logic of manufacturing companies from pure Goods

providers to service providers may occur through an emphasis on service differentiation.

42


PART II

THE PRACTICAL FRAMEWORK

43


CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The Third chapter introduces the research methodology applied in this project. It provides

a Description of the project's research design, data collection method, sampling procedure,

Questionnaire design, measurement techniques, reliability and validity assessment, and

Limitations faced.

Introduction:

The term methodology refers to the structured sets of procedures and instruments by which

research is conducted. It is a framework within which facts are registered, documented and

interpreted in a research. The two basic methodological approaches to which different studies

might naturally lend themselves are the qualitative and quantitative methods. Whilst

qualitative is more descriptive, quantitative research more often draws inferences based on

statistical procedures and often makes use of graphs and figures in its analysis (Ghauri and

Grönhaug, 2005).

In recent years, it has become common to use triangulation or both qualitative and

quantitative methods in a single research (Ghauri and Grönhaug, 2005). In this study, the

authors made use of both methods. However the quantitative approach features more. On the

other hand, the qualitative approach is needed more in the explanatory aspects of the

observed relationships in this study. Thus for example, we were interested to know why

dissatisfied customers switch or why they do not defect to other banks. This aspect of the

study was qualitatively analyzed.

1-DATA COLLECTION METHOD:

A-Research Method:

The study was conducted by using multi- method research techniques which Involves a

mixed method the quantitative data, and qualitative data.

The qualitative Research approach defined as "primarily exploratory research used to

gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides

Insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential

Quantitative research".

44


Qualitative Research is also used to uncover trends in thought and opinions, and dive deeper

into the problem. Qualitative data collection methods vary using unstructured or semi-

structured techniques". (Susan E.Wyse, 2011)

The qualitative research in this project, focused on the concept of positioning and

differentiating strategies, furthermore it explained how a company can gain a competitive

advantages over rivals, and how it can maintain the first position in customer mind over the

long run.

Qualitative research is a multi-method in focus, involving an

interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that

qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting

to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings

people bring to them (Newman & Benz 1998).

The quantitative research approach, employ the survey research Method for data

Collection.

The quantitative business research approach is defined as “business research that addresses

research objectives through empirical assessment that involve numerical measurement and

analysis "In this approach, data will be examined in order to identify the relationships

between multiple variables. Quantitative research design is an excellent way of finalizing

results testing a hypothesis, and similar results will be revealed even if multiple individuals

performed the same procedure.

It is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be

transformed into useable statistics. It is used also to quantify attitudes ,

Opinions, Behaviors, and other defined variables, and generalize results from larger sample

population. Quantitative Research uses measurable data to formula facts and uncover patterns

in research. (Susan E.Wyse, 2011).

Quantitative approach is one in which the investigator primarily uses post positivist claims

For developing knowledge (i.e. cause and effect thinking, reduction to specific variables and

Hypotheses and questions use of instrument and observation, and the test of theories),

Employs strategies of inquiry such as experiments and surveys and collects data on

predetermined instruments that yield statistical data (Creswell 2003).

45


Quantitative research is frequently referred to as hypothesis-testing research.

Characteristically, studies begin with statements of theory from which research hypotheses

are derived. Then an21experimental design is established in which the variables in question

(The dependent variables) are measured while controlling for the effects of selected

independent variables. Subject included in the study are selected at random is desirable to

reduce error and to cancel bias. The sample of subject is drawn to reflect the population

(Newman & Benz 1998).

The t-test was used also to test previously developed hypotheses. It is a statistical

examination of two population means. A two-sample t-test examines whether to samples are

different and is commonly used when the variances of two normal distributions are unknown

and when an experiment uses a small sample size. (Investopedia, 2013).

The test statistic in the t-test is known as the t-statistic. The t-test looks at the t-Statistic, t-

distribution and degrees of freedom to determine a p value (probability) that can be used to

determine whether the population means differ. The t-test is one of a number of hypothesis

tests.

B-Data collection tools:

This research includes both primary and secondary data, and the questionnaire was used as

the research method.

The primary data were collected mainly through structured Questionnaire. The

questions were designed in an easily understandable manner that the respondent

may not have any difficulty in answering them.

The questionnaire was conducted on Silkor customers, and the respondents were

chosen randomly of different ages, social and financial level.

Secondary data are defined as “Data that have been previously collected for some

Purpose other than the one at hand”. (Shawn Grimsley, 2010).

The secondary data were obtained through Websites, books, online magazines.

The main advantage of this type of Data is their availability, in addition to being faster and

less expensive than the primary data collection.

46


First of all a pilot-test was performed on 20-30 customers who were not part of the study later

on .

Pilot-testing was undertaken in order to assure readability and comprehension of the research

instrument. The second step was the approval of the questionnaire by the thesis adviser, and

then the potential respondents were located and qualified. Furthermore, the analyses of the

gathered data using several statistical methods were performed.

The t-test was used in the project for independent samples in order to test the research

Hypothesis, which will lead the researcher to answer the research question.

SPSS is a computer program used for statistical analysis. SPSS is among the most widely

used programs for statistical analysis in social science. It is used by market researchers,

health researchers, survey companies, government, education researchers, marketing

organizations and others.

The researcher used from the Descriptive statistics found in the basic software: the cross

tabulations and the Frequencies .

SPSS places constraints on internal file; structure, data types, data processing and

matching files, which together considerably simplify programming. SPSS datasets have a 2-

dimensional table structure where the rows typically represent cases (Such as individuals or

questions) and the columns represent measurements (such as age, gender or yearly family

income) only 2 data types are defined: numeric and text

All data processing occurs sequentially case-by-case through the file. Files can be matched

one-to-one and one-to-many, but not many-to-many.

The researcher implemented for each row in the variable view a question brought from the

questionnaire, the names of the questions start from Q1 and ending by Q26, the type adopted

for the questions was numeric, the width adopted was 8, there were No decimals, the label

reflected the question asked in each row, for each question There are many values, the

alignment were right, the measure were nominal and the role was input.

47


The data collected from the questionnaire was coded as seen in the values of each question

(raw) (refer to table ......). Then the researcher implemented the data resembled by codes or

numbers into the data view in the SPSS dataset and the program analyzed the input to

generate frequencies and cross tabulations (Analyzedescriptive

statisticsFrequencies/Crosstabs).

The researcher has done a one sample t-test for all the variables to insure the validity of the

input and the hypothesis.

C-Questionnaire:

The questionnaire was developed based on the literature review part. Its major Purpose was

to study the positioning and differentiating strategies, of how a company can differentiate and

gain competitive advantages over rivals. Several statements were proposed for each of the

studied variables.

The questionnaire involves 26 questions, the most are close ended questions, and this type of

questions provides a set of response from which an answer must be chosen.

This part considers the issue of good questionnaire design. The focus is on reliability and

validity, since these are the two criteria most widely used to determine whether or not an

instrument is usable. The ability of a questionnaire to fulfill its intended purpose of providing

useful feedback and information relating to its intended application is also considered.

Figure 3.1: Reliability and validity.

Source: (DOCSTOC, 2012).

48


* Questionnaire Reliability:

Reliability is the degree to which measures obtained with an instrument are consistent

measures of what the instrument is intended to measure. (James A. Pershing, 2005).Having

decided on a set of dimensions, it is then necessary to ensure that they form a reliable scale

when administered to a particular population. The most commonly used measure of reliability

is Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (e.g. Raykov and Shrout 2002).

This gives measure of the accuracy or consistency with which a set of items measures a

single construct (Miller 1995). When instruments are described in journal articles, figures for

Cronbach’s alpha are normally given. Computing these is straightforward. SPSS for example

has a procedure called ‘reliability’ (Norusis 2002).

In my questionnaire Reliability would refers to the followings:

First, the researchers would get Similar results if they repeated the questionnaire soon

afterwards with the same respondents. And the “repeatability” of the questionnaire

would be high. This is called Test-retest reliability.

The other aspect of reliability would be related to the consistency among the question,

because all the question relates to Silkor and differentiation, all the answers would be

fairly consistent.

So Reliability means the consistency or repeatability of the measure. This is especially

important if the measure is to be used on an on-going basis to detect Change. There forms of

reliability, in Silkor questionnaire include:

Test-retest reliability where repeating the test/questionnaire under the same Condition

produces the same results.

Reliability within a scale which means that all the questions designed to measures a

particular trait is indeed measuring the same trait.

To ensure the reliability of the questionnaire, a pilot test was carried out, on a few Numbers

of respondents, to ensure that the content is clear and easily answered by the respondents.

Reliability refers to random error in measurement.

Reliability indicates the Accuracy or precision of the measuring instrument (Norland, 1990),

so the pilot test was seeking to answer the question; does the questionnaire consistently

Measure whatever it measures?

49


1-Test-retest reliability:

Reliability is established using a pilot test by collecting data from 20-30 respondents not

included in the sample. Data collected from pilot test were analyzed and repeated after 1

week of conducting the first questionnaire with respondents and the results were the same

which can prove the (test-retest Reliability).

So the degree of stability exhibited when Silkor questionnaire is repeated under identical

conditions was high.

The test-retest reliability was proven within a short period because some variables like

happiness, satisfaction, loyalty and decisions, are likely to change within time.

2-Alternate- form reliability:

To eliminate the error that can arise from the test-retest reliability where some customers

become familiar with the questionnaire, and some of them have answered the questions

based on their memory of the latest answers. The Alternate-form reliability was used,

where I reworded some questions.

For example Question number 9:

9-How interested would you be to use other laser clinics treatments, if service prices are within your budget?

Definitely use 1

Probably use 2

Might or might not use 3

Probably not use 4

Definetly not use 5

I have reworded the question into the following:

9-If other laser clinics prices were low, would be intrested to try their services?

Definitely use 1

Probably use 2


Probably not use 4

Definetly not use 5

Other way used to eliminate the errors, of the questionnaire reliability is by reordering the

questions number, this way we can ensure that the responses are similar but not identical,

50


and can forces the respondents to read the Responses alternative carefully, which can

reduces the practice effects.

For example:

Version A: 10-If another laser clinic of same service appears in the market with lower prices, will you prefer to stop going to Silkor?

No, not at all 1

C'ant say 2

Yes,of course 3

I may consider 4

Version B:10-If another laser clinic of same service appears in the market with lower prices, will you prefer to stop going to Silkor?

Definetly no 1

not sure 2

Definetly yes 3

I may consider 4

By having a large enough number of samples, I have split it in half and administer one

Item to each half and then compare the two halves.( Split-Halves method).

3-Internal consistency reliability:

In the internal consistency reliability I have used the Cronbach's coefficient alpha.

• Cronbach’s coefficient alpha is used to:

– Measures internal consistency reliability among a group of items combined to

form a single scale

– It is a reflection of how well the different items complement each other In

their measurement of different aspects of the same variable or quality

– Interpret like a correlation coefficient (0.70 is good). (Litwin, Mark 1995).

51


Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alphaa N of Items

.83 36

The value is positive due to a positive average covariance among

Items. This matches the reliability model assumptions. ( 0.83>0.70)

*Questionnaire Validity:

Validity means that we are measuring what we want to measure. There are a number of

types of validity including:

Face Validity: whether at face value, the questions appear to be measuring the

construct. This is largely a "common-sense" assessment, but also relies on knowledge

of the way people respond to survey questions and common pitfalls in questionnaire

design.

Content Validity: whether all important aspects of the construct are covered. Clear

definitions of the construct and its components come in useful here.

Criterion Validity/Predictive Validity: whether scores on the questionnaire

successfully predict a specific criterion.

Concurrent Validity: whether results of a new questionnaire are consistent with

results of established measures. (Data analysis Australia, 2014).

1-Face validity:

-Cursory review of survey items by untrained judges. To determine the face validity of the

questionnaire, I have shown the questionnaire format to my friends, to see if the form looks

fine, and if the questions are phrased In an appropriate way.

52


2-Content validity:

-Subjective measure of how appropriate the items seem to a set of reviewers who have some

knowledge of the subject matter.

To determine the content validity of the questionnaire, I have sent a copy of it to my thesis

adviser, Dr.Sam El Nemer, who gave me an organized review of the surveys contents to

ensure that it contains everything it should and doesn’t include anything that it shouldn’t.

3-Criterion Validity:

-Measure of how well one instrument stacks up against another instrument or predictor.

To determine how well my questionnaire is compared with other measures, I have determined

if the questionnaire is:

concurrent: assess the instrument against a “gold standard”, one way to assess this is

to give the customers two questionnaires a "gold standard «Questionnaire that's

already been validated and the new one, then I could compare the findings.

Predictive: assess the ability of the instrument to forecast future events, behavior,

attitudes, or outcomes.

For example:


Definitely use 1

Probably use 2

Might or might no use 3

Probably not use 4

Definetly not use 5

10-If another laser clinic of same service appears in the market with lower prices, will you prefer to stop going to Silkor?

No, not at all 1

C'ant say 2

Yes,of course 3

I may consider 4

53


22-How likely would you?

Definetly Probably Might or Probably Definetly

might not not not

Recommend Silkor to other 1 2 3 4 5

Re use Silkor services 1 2 3 4 5

The preceding questions can easily predict customer attitude, behaviors and outcomes in the

future.

4-Construct validity:

• Most valuable and most difficult measure of validity.

• Basically, it is a measure of how meaningful the scale or instrument is when it is in

practical use.

• Convergent: Implies that several different methods for obtaining the same information

about a given trait or concept produce similar results

• Divergent: The ability of a measure to estimate the underlying truth in a given area

must be shown not to correlate too closely with similar but distinct concepts or traits

(Litwin, Mark, 1995).

-The ability of a measure to assess correctly a particular cause and effect relationship

between the measure and some other factor.

So at final step, in establishing validity, the following questions are addressed:

1. Is the questionnaire valid? In other words, is the questionnaire measuring what It

intended to measure?

-Answer: The questionnaire is valid because it addresses the main topic of the research

(differentiating and positioning).

2. Does it represent the content?

-Answer: The questionnaire represent the content of the study, by addressing the

Different means, and variables, which can help in answering the research question.

54


3. Is it appropriate for the sample/population?

-Answer: The questionnaire is appropriate for the respondents, and it is easy to

understand and answer.

4. Is the questionnaire comprehensive enough to collect all the information needed to

address the purpose and goals of the study?

-Answer: the purpose and the goal of the study are to determine the ways a company can

position and differentiate itself from competition. The questionnaire is divided into

several sections that determine the competitive factors that differentiate a beauty clinic

from other and how those factors are affecting customer choices, perception and

satisfaction.

5. Does the instrument look like a questionnaire?

-Answer: appendix B

Addressing these questions coupled with carrying out a readability test enhances questionnaire validity.

*Content Analysis:

The questionnaire consisted of seven parts. Informal interviews with respondents were

undertaken and used as an approach, when there was need to clarify the responses

indicated in the questionnaire.

The number of question used is 26, including demographical data.

The questions are close ended questions, this type of questions provide a set of

response from which an answer must be chosen.

55


1- Section one:

The first part included a general overview, of where the respondents are following

Their laser treatments, and how satisfied are they with their chosen company.

?htiw tnemtaert resal ruoy wollof uoy taht ynapmoc eht elcriC ,esaelp-1

rokliS 1

cinilC fieS ytuaeB 2

noisiv resaL 3

sprocamreD 4

CIMH 5

+A resaL 6

___________________)yficeps( rehtO 7

?ynapmoc nesohc ruoy htiw won uoy era deifsitas woH-2

lla ta toN 1

ylthgilS 2

yletaredoM 3

tib a etiuQ 4

yllatoT tsomlA 5

2- Section two:The second part, was conducted on Silkor customers, by getting to know, how did

They know about the company.

This part relates mainly of determining how Silkor is positioned in their minds, and

The level of awareness they have about the company, which reflects the main topic

Of the study that discuss the positioning strategies.

3-How did you know about Silkor?

Through advertising 1

Through friends and relatives 2

Through internet 3

Other Meduim 4

56


3- Section three:

The third part of the questionnaire consist of customers levels of satisfactions with

Silkor services, and treatments, by determining the main factors (quality, ambiance ,

Customer services, innovation, technologies…) that affect their levels of satisfaction,

And how the treatments results meet their expectations and perceptions, this part

Mainly provide an overview of how a company can gain a "distinctive image in

Their customer minds by meeting their expectations and perceptions." It also relates

To the main topic of the study (positioning) this is defined as "the act of designing

The company's offering and identity (that will create a planned image) so that they occupy a

meaningful and distinct competitive position in the target customer's minds. This part would

also lead to answering the following research question «How could Silkor maintain a unique

position in customer’s minds in the long run"?

?secivres rokliS esu uoy nehW srotcaf gniwollof eht ot evig uoy od ecnatropmi hcum woH -4

IV I N IL NNtnatropmi yreV =1 ecirP 1 2 3 4 5

tnatropmI=2 noitavonnI 1 2 3 4 5

lamroN=3 remotsuC ecivres 1 2 3 4 5

tnatropmi tsaeL=4 ytilauQ 1 2 3 4 5

enoN=5 snoitomorP 1 2 3 4 5

?rokliS htiw noitcafsitas llarevO fo level ruoy etar uoy dluow woH-5

deifsitas ylemertxE 1

deifsitas egarevA 2

deifsitaS 3

deifsitassiD 4

deifsitassid ylemertxE 5

?srotcaF gniwollof eht htiw uoy era deifsitas woH -6

IV NU N S NUV AN

deifsitas yreV =1 ytilauq llarevo 1 2 3 4 5 6

deifsitasnU=2 ecivres remotsuc 1 2 3 4 5 %6

lartueN=3 ecirP 1 2 3 4 5 6

deifsitaS=4 hcet&noitavonnI 1 2 3 4 5 6

deifsitasnU yrev=5 snoitomorP 1 2 3 4 5 6

elbacilppa toN=6 gnisitrevdA 1 2 3 4 5 6

?tnemtaert hcae fo stluser llarevo eht etar uoy dluow woH-7

stluser eulav wol yreV 1

stluser eulav elddiM 2

stluser eulav hgih yreV 3

57


4- Section four:

The fourth part consist of determining how Silkor prices affects customers decisions Of

staying at the company, due to the very high treatment prices comparing to other Laser clinics

in the industry many customers were thinking of leaving Silkor, this will Reflect the need to

differentiate in order to keep a high level of market share, and not losing customers. This part

also would help in answering the research question «what should Silkor do to differentiate

itself from competition?

H2: When laser medical centers reduce their prices, customers will be drawn away from

Silkor.

8-According to your expectations , how would you rate Silkor Prices?

Fair 1

high 2

Very high 3

low 4


Definitely use 1

Probably use 2


Probably not use 4

Definetly not use 5


No, not at all 1

C'ant say 2

Yes,of course 3

I may consider 4

5- Section five:

The Fifth part focuses on the promotions and advertising at Silkor, and the level of

attractiveness of these factors comparing to other beauty clinics. Which lead to determining

how Silkor could differentiate in terms of these variables?

H3: Competitive laser clinics promotional strategies and advertising are causing Silkor some

customer's loss.

58


11-Which promotion offers attract you at Silkor?

Discounts 1

Extra services 2

Free products 3

Other ( specify) 4

12-Rate your overall experience due to promotion and discounts at Silkor?

Good 1

Average 2

Poor 3

13-Which media of advertisement influence your decisions?

TV 1

Brochure 2

Billboards 3

Radio 4

Internet 5

14-Does the advertisement of Silkor attract you?

Yes 1

No 2

15-Does the advertisement of other laser clinics attract you?

Yes 1

No 2

16-Rate the attractiveness of advertisement of other laser clinincs?

Very attractive 1

Attractive 2

Not at all attractive 3

6- Section six:The next part focuses mainly on the competitors, and how they are affecting Silkor

customer's decisions and choices, this would relates mainly to the Subtopic of this research

study "Differentiating from competitors", furthermore in answering the following research

question "What are the main competitive factors that affect consumer choices in the Laser

Beauty Industry?"

59


H1: laser medical centers competitive new technologies and innovation are affecting

consumer perceived value, choices and decisions

H4: Competitors High quality services relates positively to affecting Silkor customer's

Loyalty and satisfaction. So this questionnaire contained statements regarding many

variables "Prices, Innovation, technologies, promotions, advertising and competition…"

Each variable was measured by several statements. Some statements in the questionnaire was

negatively worded. A Likert-like scale was presented to respondents to collect these beliefs.

The respondents were asked to respond to each statement and a continuous scale was used as

a tool of analysis, where: 5 = strongly Agree; 4 = Agree; 3 = neutral; 2 = Disagree; and.1=

Strongly Disagree.

17-What would you say about the following statements?

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree Silkor prices are higher than other clinics 5 4 3 2 1Other laser clinics have more technologies and innovative services 5 4 3 2 1

18-Do you have any friends, who are following laser treatments at other clinics?

Yes 1

No 2

19-Did they recommend you of trying those clinics services?

Yes 1

No 2

20-Based on what you hear from friends, would you say that Silkor services are?

Much Somewhat About the Somewhat Much Don't

Better Better same worse worse Know

1 2 3 4 5 6



might not not not



60


7- Section seven:

Finally the last section included the demographic part such as gender, age, education and

income. This kind of data is considered significant and contributes to a difference of

establishing whether or not they existed differences in the perceptions of the respondents,

when grouped according to their demographic characteristics.

SCIHPARGOMED

:redneG )22elameF 1

elaM 2

:egA )3212 – 71 1

52 – 22 2+ 62 3

(42sutatS latiraM )13elgniS 1

degagnE 2deirraM 3

decroviD 4dewodiW 5

emocnI ylhtnoM dlohesuoH )52999 ≤ 1

9991 – 0001 29992 – 0002 39993 – 0003 4

9994 – 0004 59995 – 0005 69996 – 0006 79997 – 0007 89998 – 0008 99999 – 0009 01

00001≥ 11

: rojaM ytisrevinU )62

61


D-Participants:

The findings reported here are based on a sample of 100 participants. Although 30

individuals were recruited for the study; in the pilot test first, 15 individuals were excluded

from the sample due to invalid or incomplete data. The characteristics of the individuals in

the total sample of 100 respondents are reported below. The sample were dominantly female

(100%) educated, from different ages and religions, who wants to take care of their beauty at

affordable prices, and effective results.

2-STUDY LIMITATIONS:

As a matter of fact, this project has some potential limitations related to generalization of

the results.

First the research was conducted, only in one region of the country, Tripoli

(North Lebanon), and it could take place in other more populated cities like Beirut.

Second, some problems were faced, due to the unstable safety situation in the city,

where most of the time, there are some clashes in the area, and people were afraid to

go to their treatments.

Third, in a rapidly changing environment, analysis of one day or one segment can

change very quickly. The environmental changes are vital to be considered in order to

assimilate the findings.

Fourth, unawareness of respondents to the topic studied, where I had to give examples

and explanations of some English words in order to make it more meaningful to their

response.

In the other hand, some respondents, were not cooperative at all, some of them were

Rude, and explained that they have no time to fill the questionnaire, even though that

between every treatments and other, people have to wait in the rest area their turns, so

there was a plenty of time to give responses.

Furthermore, many interviews with the respondents was corrupted, when they hear

their turn for the treatments, and some of them were leaving without continuing their

answers, so there were a lack of data between each questionnaire and other.

Finally, there has been an absence of cooperation from Silkor itself, when they claimed that the manager was not in her office many times.

62


3-RESEARCH PHILOSOPHY:

Research paradigm:

"A philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which

theories, law and generalization and experiments performed in support of them are

formulated» (Meriam Webster dictionary, 2007).

Figure 3.2: Research paradigm.

Source: Canada Open University, 2005.

1-Ontology: Ways of constructing reality "How things really are" and" how things really

works" (Denzim and Lincoln, 1998).

2-Epistemology: Different forms of knowledge of that reality, what nature of relationship

exists between the inquirer and the inquired? How do we know?

3-Methodology: What tools do we use to know that reality? So Ontology is the nature of

reality (Hudson and Ozanne 1988) and the epistemology can be defined as the relationship

between the researcher and the reality (Carson et al. 2001) or how this reality can be known.

Ontology

MethodologyEpistemology

63


Figure 3.3: Positivism and intepretivisim

Ontology Positivist Interpretivist

Nature of ‘being’/ nature of the world

Reality

Have direct access to real world

Single external reality

No direct access to real world

No single external reality

Epistemology

‘Grounds’ of knowledge/ relationship between reality and research

Possible to obtain hard, secure objective knowledge

Research focus on generalization and abstraction

Thought governed by hypotheses and stated theories

Understood through ‘perceived’ knowledge

Research focuses on the specific and concrete

Seeking to understand specific context

Source : Carson et al. 2001, p. 6

Figure 3.4 : Ontologie model.

Ontology:

Source: Roberto, 2012.

64


The term ontology concerns what is said to exist in some world, that which potentially can

be talked about. Wand and Weber (1993:220) refer to ontology as «A branch of philosophy

concerned with articulating the nature and structure of the world."

By ontology is sometimes also meant a set of terms and their associated definitions intended

to describe the world in question (e.g., Uschold, 1995:1).

The ontological question:

What is the form and nature of reality and, therefore, what is there that can be known

about it?

Positivism- Quantitative Research:

There is an objective reality and we can understand it through the laws by which it is

governed.

So the ontological philosophy in my research in the positivist school is to have a direct access

to real world, in other world in the quantitative research approach. A questionnaire was

conducted on the chosen company respondent, in order to

Have an access and contact to the company customers, and to construct the reality of the

company position in their minds.

Interpretivist-Qualitative Research:

World of knowledge created by social and contextual understanding. In other world, no direct

access to the real world.

So the ontological philosophy in the Interpretivist school is known through the research

conducted in the literature review and theoretical part, where the knowledge is determined,

through books, magazines, and websites.

So ontology is based on the ways of constructing reality, which mean «how things really

are?" the reality here is that Silkor is facing a huge competition in the business which in many

ways is affecting its position in the market, therefore Silkor should differentiate itself from

other beauty clinics, to maintain customer loyalty, and not losing its market share.

65


Epistemology:

"The nature of human knowledge and understanding that can possibly be acquired through

different types of inquiry and alternative methods of investigation." (e.g., Uschold, 1995).

‘Grounds’ of knowledge/ relationship between reality and research, the reality in ontology is

determined by the need to differentiate in the market due to the huge number of competition,

in order to determine and identify this reality, a research was made both in the qualitative

approach through the research, and was proven through the quantitative research by using a

structured questionnaire.

The epistemological question

What is the nature of the relationship between the knower or would-be knower and what can

be known?

Figure 3.5: Epistemology.

Source: Roane state community college, July 3, 2010.

So Epistemology is the grounds of knowledge, and the relationship between realities and

research.

Positivism-quantitative research:

Employs a scientific discourse derived from the epistemologies of positivism and realism.

(Anderson, 2004).

66


So it's possibly hard to obtain and secured by objective knowledge, in the practical

framework part, where the main research method used is the questionnaire an objectivity

need to be applied, while conducting the questionnaire with the respondents, in order not to

distract there thought beliefs and choices to maintain a correct form of knowledge where the

information obtained is purely objective and secured.

In this part the research would focus mainly on generalization and abstraction, so while

conducting the questionnaire I had to be general and objective, in order to determine the true

meaning of knowledge (The truth).

The thought are governed here by the hypotheses and stated theories, where the questions are

purely formulated to test the hypothesis within the practical part.

Interpretivist-Qualitative Research:

The main question here is "how do we come to understand a unique worldview?"

(Terry Anderson, 2004).

In the Interpretivist research, epistemology is understood through perceived knowledge,

so how we perceive and expect things to be can lead us to the true meaning of knowledge,

which reflects our (Belief).

The research here focuses on the specific and concrete knowledge, this is determined

through the data quantified through the structured questionnaire.

Our main concern would be on understanding a specific context, in order to understand

this context; I have conducted the questionnaire to get to know if the knowledge is real

and reflects our beliefs.

So at the end epistemology is the different form of knowledge of that reality, what nature

of Relationship exists between the inquirer and the inquired? How do we know? (Hudson

and Ozanne 1988)

The different form of knowledge of that reality is determined first through the research

made in the literature review part, by reading different books, and searching different

websites, other of knowledge is through the questionnaire conducted on the chosen

company customers, and that’s is the way of how do we know the reality?

67


At the end we can conclude from all the research conducted, that the philosophy is

based upon the positivist school, since first it is derived from realism, the reality in the

quantitate research, come from the structured questionnaire where data are collected and

examined to determine and to prove the main purpose of the study, the positioning and

differentiating in the market, and while conducting the questionnaire a purely objectivity

was maintained within the respondents in order not to distract there thought and decisions

In order to maintain a correct form of knowledge where the information obtained purely

objective and secured.

To determine the true meaning of knowledge (the truth) the research would focus on

abstraction and generalization, which at the end of the study would reflect our (Beliefs),

since thoughts are governed by hypothesis and stated theories.

So the philosophy in my research in the positive school is based on having access to the

real world in order to construct the reality of the study.

* Conclusion of the chapter:

The study was conducted by using multi- method research techniques which Involves a

mixed method the quantitative data, and qualitative data.

The qualitative research in this project, focused on the concept of positioning and

differentiating strategies, furthermore it explained how a company can gain a competitive

advantages over rivals, and how it can maintain the first position in customer mind over the

long run.

Quantitative research is frequently referred to as hypothesis-testing research.

The t-test was used also to test previously developed hypotheses.

This research includes both primary and secondary data, and the questionnaire was used as

the research method .

The researcher used from the Descriptive statistics found in the basic software: the cross

tabulations and the Frequencies.

The researcher has done a one sample t-test for all the variables to insure the validity of the

input and the hypothesis.

68


The questionnaire was developed based on the literature review part. Its major purpose was to

study the positioning and differentiating strategies, of how a company can differentiate and

gain competitive advantages over rivals.

The questionnaire reliability and validity was proven.

At the end we can conclude from all the research conducted, that the philosophy is based

upon the positivist school, since first it is derived from realism, the reality in the quantitate

research, come from the structured questionnaire where data are collected and examined to

determine and to prove the main purpose of the study, the positioning and differentiating in

the market.

69


CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND RESULTS

1. DATA ANALYSIS METHOD

The results obtained in this study are presented and analyzed in this chapter. It starts with

a Brief presentation of background information of the participants of the survey. We then

follow with analysis of main hypothesis tested in the study and end the Chapter by discussing

the findings in relation to the theories presented in chapter 3.

This chapter also aims to investigate the main information discussed in the literature

Review, which is the positioning and differentiation strategies, in the literature review

Part, we have seen that the markets have become highly competitive and turbulent and

Are constantly changing, and in order for the firm to survive it has to differentiate its

products and services.

The STP model and other studies were proposed to explain this phenomenon.

Certain independent variables were examined to determine how customers are affected by

competition.

The t-test analysis was used in order to investigate how well the independent

Variables predict the position in the market, and which variable is the

Best effector on the dependent variables.

The t-test was used to test the main hypotheses of this study, Further I qualitatively analyzed

aspects of the data hinging on explanatory aspects of our research.

The findings of this study agree to a large extent with the theoretical principles and

Empirical results espoused in the literature review.

This chapter presents the data analysis and discussion of the research findings. In the

Beginning of the chapter there are basic statistical facts about Silkor, and the data

Analysis in SPSS software is described and the findings are discussed. Finally, the

Findings are being described and discussed into details. In this chapter, SPSS is used to

calculate simple statistics, used during the research.The results tabulation is presented below

to analyze the data conducted in the questionnaire.

Results tabulation starts first with the demographics data. The purpose of the demographic

analysis in this research project is to describe the characteristics of the sample under study

such as the number of respondents, proportion of males and females in the sample range of

age, income, education level and etc.

70


Below is a distribution of demographic variables is presented. Bar charts with normal curve

and frequencies with values of valid percentages are provided.

The demographics data are than followed by the question about Silkor, which aim to

investigate the main concept discussed in the literature review, the positioning and

differentiating strategies, the results tabulation show that Silkor is really facing a problem

with its position in the market, and should differentiate from other laser clinics in the

industry.

A-DEMOGRAPHICS:

Table 4.1:

ycneuqerF tnecreP tnecreP dilaV CumulativePercent

elameF 59 59 59 59

ela M 5 5 5 001

latoT 001 001 001

redneG

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Gender N = 100

Almost all the respondents are female (95%), there is only 5 male customers who was having

some facial hair problems, and wanted to remove it permanently.

Table 4.2:


+26 55 55 55 55

52-22 43 43 43 98

12-71 11 11 11 001

latoT 001 001 001

egA

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Age N = 100

Most of the respondents are above the age of 26 (55 respondents), 34 are between the age of

22-25 and the rest are between 17-21.

Table 4.3:

71



deirraM 74 74 74 74

elgniS 64 64 64 39

decroviD 5 5 5 89

dewodiW 2 2 2 001

latoT 001 001 001

dilaV

sutats latiraM

Source: The data collected was for this study, Marital status N = 100

47 respondents are married, 46 are single, 5 are divorced and 2 are widowed.

Table 4.4:


Universitylevel

15 15 15 15

Secondarylevel

22 22 22 37

detacudenU 71 71 71 09

level yramirP 01 01 01 001

latoT 001 001 001

level lanoitacudE

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Educational level N = 100

The majority of the respondents have a university educational level (51)

Table 4.5:


$ 1000-2000 59 59 59 59

less than$ 1000

71 71 71 67

$ 2000-3000 13 13 13 89

more than3000$

11 11 11 001

latoT 001 001 001

emocnI ylhtnoM

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Monthly income N = 100

*SILKOR TABLES:

72


Table 4.6:

ycneuqerF tnecreP ValidPercent

CumulativePercent

rokliS 56 56 56 56

Beauty Seifclinic

02 02 02 58

noisiv resaL 4 4 4 98

CIMH 4 4 4 39

+Laser A 4 4 4 97

sprocamreD 3 3 3 001

latoT 001 001 001

?Circle the company that you follow your laser treatment with

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Laser treatments N = 100

As we can see in table 4.1, most of the chosen respondents are from Silkor (65), since the

main Objective is to determine Silkor positioning in the market. And there are 35

Respondents from other companies .

Table 4.7:


CumulativePercent

Almosttotally

23 23 23 23

yletaredo M 22 22 22 45

lla ta toN 12 12 12 57

ylthgilS 51 51 51 09

tib a etiuQ 01 01 01 001

latoT 001 001 001

ynapmoc nesohc ruoy htiw won uoy era deifsitas woH ?

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Satisfaction N = 100

32 respondents are almost totally satisfied with their clinics, most of them are not a customer

of Silkor, 22 are moderately satisfied, and 21 are not at all satisfied…

Table 4.8:

73



Throughadvertising

53 53 8.35 8.35

Throughinternet

12 12 3.23 2.68

Through friends andrelatives

9 9 8.31 001

latoT 56 56 001

gnissiM metsyS 53 53

001 001

rokliS tuoba wonk uoy did woH ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Awareness N = 100

Most of Silkor customers have learned about the company through advertising (35)

21 respondents through the internet, and the others through friends and relatives (9).

We can see that only 9 have known about the company through friends, which would reflect

that there is a little number of people who are recommending Silkor to other.

Table 4.9:


CumulativePercent

Throughadvertising

53 53 8.35 8.35

Throughinternet

12 12 3.23 2.68

Through friends andrelatives

9 9 8.31 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

rokliS tuoba wonk uoy did woH ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Price importance N = 100

Price is a very important element, to most of the customers (41).

74


Table 4.10:

How much importance do you give to innovation when use Silkor services?

Frequency PercentValid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid

Very important

29 29 44.6 44.6

Important 26 26 40 84.6

Normal 7 7 10.8 95.4

None 2 2 3.1 98.5

Least important

1 1 1.5 100

Total 65 65 100

Missing System 35 35

Total 100 100

Source: The data collected was for this study, Innovation importance N = 100

29 respondents consider that innovation is a very important factor to them, 26 consider it to

be important, 7 said that it is Normal, and the others consider it to be least important.

Table 4.11:


tnatropmI 72 72 5.14 5.14

lamroN 22 22 8.33 4.57

Veryimportant

01 01 4.51 8.09

Leastimportant

6 6 2.9 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001latoT

secivres rokliS esu nehw ecivres remotsuc ot evig uoy od ecnatropmi hcum woH ?

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Customer service importance N = 100

Most of the respondent considers Customer service to important (27).

Table 4.12:

75



VeryImportant

63 63 4.55 4.55

tnatropmI 72 72 5.14 9.69

lamroN 1 1 5.1 5.89

enoN 1 1 5.1 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

secivres rokliS esu nehw ytilauq ot evig uoy od ecnatropmi hcum woH ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Quality importance N = 100

36 customers consider the quality to be very important elements, 27 consider it to be

Important, 1 respondents said that it is normal, and no one consider it to be least important.

Table 4.13:


tnatropmI 83 83 5.85 5.85

Veryimportant

91 91 2.92 7.78

lamroN 6 6 2.9 9.69

enoN 2 2 1.3 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

dilaV

latoT

secivres rokliS esu nehw snoitomorp ot evig uoy od ecnatropmi hcum woH ?

Source: The data collected was for this study, Promotion importance N = 100

38 respondents consider promotions to be important, and 19 to be very important.

Table 4.14:

76



deifsitassiD 81 81 7.72 7.72

Averagesatisfied

51 51 1.32 8.05

deifsitaS 51 51 1.32 8.37

ExtremelyDissatisfied

9 9 8.31 7.78

ExtremelySatisfied

8 8 3.21 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

rokliS htiw noitcafsitas llarevO fo level ruoy etar uoy dluow woH ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Overall satisfaction N = 100

Most of Silkor customers (18) said that they are dissatisfied with Silkor, 15 are Average

dissatisfied, 15 are satisfied, 9 are extremely dissatisfied, and 8 are extremely satisfied. So

from 65 respondents most are dissatisfied to average satisfied with Silkor services .

Table 4.15:


deifsitasnU 81 81 7.72 7.72

lartueN 51 51 1.32 8.05

deifsitaS 41 41 5.12 3.27

deifsitas yreV 01 01 4.51 7.78

Veryunsatisfied

8 8 3.21 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

( Quality)How satisfied are you with the following Factors ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Quality satisfaction N = 100

Most of the respondents are unsatisfied with Silkor quality (18), since they claims that the

results of the treatments is not good, the hair is growing again .

77


Table 4.16:


lartueN 02 02 8.03 8.03

deifsitaS 81 81 7.72 5.85


Veryunsatisfied

01 01 4.51 2.98

deifsitas yreV 7 7 8.01 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001latoT

( customer service)How satisfied are you with the following Factors ?

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, customer service satisfaction N = 100

Most of Silkor customers are neutrally satisfied with customer service (20).

Table 4.17:


deifsitasnU 93 93 06 06

Veryunsatisfied

41 41 5.12 5.18

lartueN 6 6 2.9 8.09

deifsitaS 5 5 7.7 5.89


latoT 56 56 001


001 001

( price)How satisfied are you with the following Factors ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Price satisfaction, N= 100

We can see from the figure above that there are a huge number of Silkor customers are

unsatisfied with the company services prices (39), and 14 customers are very unsatisfied, and

only 5 customers are satisfied, 1 only is very satisfied.

78


Table 4.18:


lartueN 22 22 8.33 8.33

deifsitaS 22 22 8.33 7.76


Veryunsatisfied

3 3 6.4 9.69


latoT 56 56 001


001 001

dilaV

latoT

( Innovation)How satisfied are you with the following Factors ?

Source: The data collected was for this study, Innovation satisfaction N = 100

22 respondents are neutrally satisfied, to satisfied with Silkor innovation.

Table 4.19:


lartueN 62 62 04 04

deifsitaS 02 02 8.03 8.07

deifsitasnU 31 31 02 8.09

deifsitas yreV 3 3 6.4 4.59

Veryunsatisfied

3 3 6.4 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

( promotions &advertising)How satisfied are you with the following Factors ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Promotion and advertising N = 100

26 respondents are neutrally satisfied with Silkor promotion and advertising, 20 are

Satisfied, 13 are unsatisfied, 3 are very satisfied, and 3 are very unsatisfied.

79


Table 4.20:


Middle valueresults

52 52 5.83 5.83

Very lowvalue results

42 42 9.63 4.57

Very highvalue results

61 61 6.42 001

latoT 56 56 001

gnissi M metsyS 53 53

001 001

tnemtaert hcae fo stluser llarevo eht etar uoy dluow woH ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, treatments results N = 100

According to 25 customers Silkor treatments have middle value results, and 24 Customers

said that they are very low value results

Table 4.21:


esu yletinifeD 03 03 2.64 2.64

esu ylbaborP 71 71 2.62 3.27

Probably notuse

8 8 3.21 6.48

Might ormight not use

7 7 8.01 4.59

Definitelynot use

3 3 6.4 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001latoT

How interested would you be to use other laser clinics treatments ,if service prices are?within your budget

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, price competition N = 100

We can clearly see that most of the customers are willing to use other clinics treatments if the

services prices are within their budget (30), other 17 respondent will probably use these

services, 7 customers are not sure, 8 said that they probably not use them, and only 3 said that

they definitely not use these services, because they are satisfied with the services prices.

80


Table 4.22:


seY ,esruoc fo 43 43 3.25 3.25

I mayconsider

14 14 21.5 73.8

C 'yas tna 9 9 8.31 7.78

oN ,lla ta ton 8 8 3.21 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

If another laser clinic of same service appears in the market with lower prices ,will you?prefer to stop going to S ilkor

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Price N = 100

As the question before most of the customer will stop going to Silkor and use other clinics

services if other clinics prices are lower (34 respondents).

Table 4.23:


hgiH 43 43 3.25 3.25

hgih yreV 02 02 8.03 1.38

riaF 01 01 4.51 5.89

woL 1 1 5.1 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001latoT

ecneirepxe ruoy ot gnidroccA ,secirP rokliS etar uoy dluow woh ?

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Rate price N = 100

Almost all customers agreed those Silkor prices are High (34) to very high (20).

81


Table 4.24:


secivres artxE 72 72 5.14 5.14

stnuocsiD 12 12 3.23 8.37

stcudorp eerF 71 71 2.62 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

rokliS ta uoy tcartta sreffo noitomorp hcihW ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Promotion offers N = 100

The extra services are the most promotion offer that attract customer at Silkor (27), for

example most of them said that when they do a hair removal treatments, they get 1 facial

treatment for free. 21 customers they are attracted by the discounts since Silkor price policy

suggest if paying by cash the overall treatment price amounts they can get the final treatments

for free, other than the seasonal discounts which happens at the occasions. 17 respondents are

attracted by the free product since they can get extra cream for their skin and face, with their

treatments, or only paying the half product price.

Table 4.25:


rooP 23 23 2.94 2.94

dooG 91 91 2.92 5.87

egarevA 41 41 5.12 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

dilaV

latoT

rokliS ta stnuocsid dna noitomorp ot eud ecneirepxe llarevo ruoy etaR ?

Source: The data collected was for this study, Promotions and discounts N = 100

Many of Silkor customers have had a poor experience, due to promotions and discounts (32),

19 customers said that they had a good experience, and 14 said that they had an average one.

82


Table 4.26:


VT 62 62 04 04

tenretnI 12 12 3.23 3.27

sdraoblliB 51 51 1.32 4.59

seruhcorB 2 2 1.3 5.89

oidaR 1 1 5.1 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

snoisiced ruoy ecneulfni tnemesitrevda fo aidem hcihW ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Media of advertisement N = 100

TV is the most influencing media to many customers (26), followed by the Internet (21).

Table 4.27:


oN 93 93 06 06

seY 62 62 04 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

uoy tcartta rokliS fo tnemesitrevda eht seoD ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Silkor Advertisement N = 100

To most of the respondents Silkor advertisements isn’t attractive (39), and for 26 customers

are attractive.

Table 4.28:


seY 93 93 06 06

oN 62 62 04 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001latoT

uoy tcartta scinilc resal rehto fo tnemesitrevda eht seoD ?

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, other clinics advertisement N = 100

According to 39 customers of Silkor, other laser clinics advertisements are more attractive.

83


Table 4.29:


Veryattractive

47 47 47 47

evitcarttA 72 72 72 47

Not at allattractive

62 62 62 001

latoT 001 001 001

scinilc resal rehto fo tnemesitrevda fo ssenevitcartta eht etaR ?

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Advertisement attractiveness N = 100

Most of the respondents said that other laser clinics advertisements are very attractive (47),

the other said that they are attractive (27), and only 26 agreed that they are not attractive at

all.

Table 4.30:


eergA 35 35 35 35

eerga ylgnortS 53 53 53 88

eergasiD 7 7 7 59

lartueN 3 3 3 89

Stronglydisagree

2 2 2 001

latoT 001 001 001

What would you say about the following statement ?) S ilkor prices are higher than other(clinics

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, High prices N = 100

From the figure above we can clearly conclude that almost all the respondents have agreed

that Silkor prices are higher than other clinics.

84


Table 4.31:


eergA 04 04 04 04

eerga ylgnortS 52 52 52 56

lartueN 61 61 61 18

eergasiD 61 61 61 79

Stronglydisagree

3 3 3 001

latoT 001 001 001

What would you say about the following statement ?) Other laser clinics have more(technologies and innovation than S ilkor

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Technologies and innovation N = 100

Also most of the respondents agreed that other laser clinics have more technologies and

innovation than Silkor.

Table 4.32:


seY 14 14 1.36 1.36

oN 42 42 9.63 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

sdneirf yna evah uoy oD ,scinilc rehto ta stnemtaert resal gniwollof era ohw ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Friends N = 100

41 customers of Silkor have friends who are following laser treatments at other clinics and 24

customers don’t have .

85


Table 4.33:


seY 13 13 6.57 6.57

oN 01 01 4.42 001

latoT 14 14 001


001 001

secivres scinilc esoht gniyrt fo uoy dnemmocer yeht diD ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, service recommendations N = 100

31 customers from 41 who have friends at other clinics have been recommended to try the

other clinics services.

Table 4.34:


esrow hcuM 31 31 9.14 9.14

retteb hcuM 9 9 92 17

Somewhatworse

5 5 1.61 1.78

Somewhatbetter

3 3 7.9 8.69

emas tuobA 1 1 2.3 001

latoT 13 13 001


001 001latoT

sdneirf morf raeh uoy tahw no desaB ,era secivres rokliS taht yas uoy dluow ?

dilaV

Source: The data collected was for this study, Innovation importance N = 100

According to the majority of the respondents, Silkor services are worse than other clinics

services.

86


Table 4.35:


ton ylbaborP 51 51 1.32 1.32

ylbaborP 31 31 02 1.34

ton yletinifeD 31 31 02 1.36

yletinifeD 21 21 5.81 5.18

Might ormight not

21 21 5.81 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

rehto ot rokliS dnemmocer uoy dluow ylekil woH ?

dilaV

latoT

Source: The data collected was for this study, Recommendations N = 100

Many of customers are not willing to recommend Silkor to others, due to many reasons; some

have claimed that price is the reason, other due to promotion, advertising, quality and

innovation.

Table 4.36:


ton ylbaborP 71 71 2.62 2.62

yletinifeD 51 51 1.32 2.94

ylbaborP 21 21 5.81 7.76

Might ormight not

21 21 5.81 2.68

ton yletinifeD 9 9 8.31 001

latoT 56 56 001


001 001

dilaV

latoT

secivres rokliS esuer uoy dluow ylekil woH ?

Source: The data collected was for this study, Reuse services N = 100

17 customers are probably not willing to use Silkor services again, 15 are willing to stay at

Silkor, 12 are not sure, and 9 are definitely leaving the company. After analyzing the results,

a cross tabulation is being used in order to show differences in demographics.

87


Summary of the results:

As we can see clearly from the tables above, most of the chosen respondents are females

young, married, and have a high level of education, and with average income between 1000-

2000$.

Most of the respondents have known about Silkor through advertising, and they consider the

price, innovation and quality to be very important factor that affect their choices concerning

the treatments.

They also consider the promotion to be important.

When asking Silkor customers about their overall satisfaction with the company, most said

that they are dissatisfied, and they rank the following factors to be:

- Quality: Dissatisfied.

- Customer service: Neutral.

- Price: Dissatisfied.

- Innovation: Neutral.

- Promotions and advertising: Neutral.

They ranked the overall results of each treatment to have a middle value results. Most of

them declared that they consider Silkor services to have a very high prices, and they

would think of leaving the company if found any other clinics with lower prices. Extra

service is the most attractive promotion offer to customers, and the TV is the most

influence factors in the media. Even though the advertisement of Silkor 'Do not attract

customers, so at the end most of them will probably not recommend Silkor customers to

others, and they will probably not also reuse their services.

88


B-Cross tabulation:

Cross tabulation is a statistical process that summarizes categorical data to create a

contingency table. They are heavily used in survey research, business intelligence,

Engineering and scientific research.

Cross tabulation is one of the most frequently used methods of analysis for questionnaire

data. It enables us to examine the relationship between categorical variables in greater detail

than simple frequencies for individual variables.

In this chapter we will see how SPSS analyze the data associated with cross-Tabulation.

The cross-tab begins with the demographic data (the monthly income).

Table 4.37:Monthly Income cross tab with * According to your experience, how would you rate Silkor Prices? Cross tabulation.

According to your experience, how would you rate Silkor Prices?

TotalFair High Very high Low

Monthly Income 800 Count 0 0 1 0 1

% within Monthly Income

.0% .0% 100.0% .0% 100.0%

% within According to your experience, how would you rate Silkor Prices?

.0% .0% 5.0% .0% 1.5%

% of Total .0% .0% 1.5% .0% 1.5%

900 Count 0 1 0 0 1


.0% 100.0% .0% .0% 100.0%


.0% 2.9% .0% .0% 1.5%

% of Total .0% 1.5% .0% .0% 1.5%

1000 Count 0 7 11 0 18


.0% 38.9% 61.1% .0% 100.0%


.0% 20.6% 55.0% .0% 27.7%

% of Total .0% 10.8% 16.9% .0% 27.7%

1200 Count 0 5 2 0 7


.0% 71.4% 28.6% .0% 100.0%

89



.0% 14.7% 10.0% .0% 10.8%

% of Total .0% 7.7% 3.1% .0% 10.8%

1300 Count 0 0 3 0 3


.0% .0% 100.0% .0% 100.0%


.0% .0% 15.0% .0% 4.6%

% of Total .0% .0% 4.6% .0% 4.6%

1400 Count 0 1 1 0 2


.0% 50.0% 50.0% .0% 100.0%


.0% 2.9% 5.0% .0% 3.1%

% of Total .0% 1.5% 1.5% .0% 3.1%

1500 Count 0 7 1 0 8


.0% 87.5% 12.5% .0% 100.0%


.0% 20.6% 5.0% .0% 12.3%

% of Total .0% 10.8% 1.5% .0% 12.3%

1600 Count 0 2 0 0 2


.0% 100.0% .0% .0% 100.0%

% within According to your experience , how would you rate Silkor Prices?

.0% 5.9% .0% .0% 3.1%

% of Total .0% 3.1% .0% .0% 3.1%

1800 Count 0 1 1 0 2


.0% 50.0% 50.0% .0% 100.0%


.0% 2.9% 5.0% .0% 3.1%

% of Total .0% 1.5% 1.5% .0% 3.1%

2000 Count 0 8 0 0 8


.0% 100.0% .0% .0% 100.0%


.0% 23.5% .0% .0% 12.3%

% of Total .0% 12.3% .0% .0% 12.3%

2200 Count 0 1 0 0 1


.0% 100.0% .0% .0% 100.0%

90



.0% 2.9% .0% .0% 1.5%

% of Total .0% 1.5% .0% .0% 1.5%

2500 Count 0 1 0 0 1


.0% 100.0% .0% .0% 100.0%


.0% 2.9% .0% .0% 1.5%

% of Total .0% 1.5% .0% .0% 1.5%

3000 Count 4 0 0 0 4


100.0% .0% .0% .0% 100.0%


40.0% .0% .0% .0% 6.2%

% of Total 6.2% .0% .0% .0% 6.2%

3500 Count 1 0 0 0 1


100.0% .0% .0% .0% 100.0%


10.0% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

% of Total 1.5% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

3600 Count 2 0 0 0 2


100.0% .0% .0% .0% 100.0%


20.0% .0% .0% .0% 3.1%

% of Total 3.1% .0% .0% .0% 3.1%

3800 Count 1 0 0 0 1


100.0% .0% .0% .0% 100.0%


10.0% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

% of Total 1.5% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

4100 Count 1 0 0 0 1


100.0% .0% .0% .0% 100.0%


10.0% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

% of Total 1.5% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

4500 Count 1 0 0 0 1


100.0% .0% .0% .0% 100.0%

91



10.0% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

% of Total 1.5% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

5000 Count 0 0 0 1 1


.0% .0% .0% 100.0% 100.0%


.0% .0% .0% 100.0% 1.5%

% of Total .0% .0% .0% 1.5% 1.5%

Total Count10 34 20 1 65


15.4% 52.3% 30.8% 1.5% 100.0%


100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

% of Total 15.4% 52.3% 30.8% 1.5% 100.0%

Source: The data collected from SPSS (cross tabulation) N=100

92


Figure 4.1: bar chart for cross tabulation source SPSS.

This bar chart shows exactly that most commonly the customers who have an average income

(1000-2000) said that:

Silkor prices are high to very high, and a small number of people who have a monthly income

between (2000-4500) Said that the prices are fair, and very few who have an income above

4500 said that it is low.

Which make sense, because who have a high income, even if the services prices? are high, it

would be fair for them.

93

How To Position and Differentiate in the Market? 94Table 4.38: Table Monthly Income cross tab with * How satisfied are you with the following Factors? ( price) Cross tabulation.

How satisfied are you with the following Factors? ( price)

TotalVery satisfied Unsatisfied Neutral SatisfiedVery unsatisfied

Monthly Income

800 Count 0 0 0 0 1 1

%within Monthly Income

.0% .0% .0% .0% 100.0% 100.0%

%within How satisfied are you with the following Factors? ( price)

.0% .0% .0% .0% 7.1% 1.5%

%of Total .0% .0% .0% .0% 1.5% 1.5%

900 Count 0 1 0 0 0 1


.0% 100.0% .0% .0% .0% 100.0%


.0% 2.6% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

%of Total .0% 1.5% .0% .0% .0% 1.5%

1000 Count 0 13 0 0 5 18


.0% 72.2% .0% .0% 27.8% 100.0%


.0% 33.3% .0% .0% 35.7% 27.7%

%of Total .0% 20.0% .0% .0% 7.7% 27.7%

1200 Count 0 6 0 0 1 7


.0% 85.7% .0% .0% 14.3% 100.0%


.0% 15.4% .0% .0% 7.1% 10.8%

%of Total .0% 9.2% .0% .0% 1.5% 10.8%

1300 Count 0 1 0 0 2 3


.0% 33.3% .0% .0% 66.7% 100.0%

%within How satisfied are you with the

.0% 2.6% .0% .0% 14.3% 4.6%


Source: the data collected from SPSS (Cross tabulation) N=100

Figure 4.2: Bar chart for cross tabulation, source: SPSS.

We see that the respondents who have a monthly income between (800-2500) are unsatisfied

to very unsatisfied with Silkor prices, the monthly income between (2500-4500) agreed that

they are neutral or satisfied and the customers who are paid above 4500 are very satisfied.as

results this makes sense, since Silkor prices are the highest in the Lebanese market, although

they have not changed prices since they started in 1997.

The average price per session of laser hair removal treatment in Lebanon is $200. The

average number of sessions per person is three to five.

95


Hair Removal treatment prices for different body parts are shown below:

•Facial hair $700 to $1,000

•Underarms $500

•Bikini line $750

•Back hair $2,500

•Full legs $4,000

The average price per session in the Arabian Gulf is $350.

C-Hypotheses Testing:

The aim of every research is to test the hypotheses proposed for the study, this section

test’s and analyses the main hypotheses of the study. The hypotheses were tested Using

correlation analysis.

The t-test was designed to test previously developed hypotheses. It is a statistical

examination of two population means. A two-sample t-test examines whether two samples

are different and is commonly used when the variances of two normal distributions are

unknown and when an experiment uses a small sample size. (Investopedia, 2013).

The test statistic in the t-test is known as the t-statistic. The t-test looks at the t-Statistic, t-

distribution and degrees of freedom to determine a p value (probability) that can be used to

determine whether the population means differ. The t-test is one of a number of hypothesis

tests. In order to test and draw conclusions on the above, the following relevant formulations

were made:

Null hypotheses:

(H01): Competitive price and customer loyalty are independent.

(H02): Competitive promotional strategies and advertising campaign are independent with

customer loyalty.

(H03): Competitive high quality services and customer's loyalty and satisfaction are

independent.

(H04): Competitive new technologies and innovation, and customers choices and decisions

are independent.

Alternative Hypotheses:

96


HA1: When Silkor direct competitors reduce their price, customers will be drawn away from

Silkor.

Table 4.39:

Group Statistics

Monthly Income N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

If another laser clinic of

same service appears in the

market with lower prices, will

you prefer to stop going to

Silkor?

1000-2000 $ 31 3.16 .688 .124

more than 3000$

11 1.27 .467 .141

Source: Hypotheses testing, SPSS, N=100

Table 4.40:

rewoL reppU

lauqE secnairavdemussa

612.1 772.0 14.8 04 0988.1 522.0 534.1 243.2

lauqE secnairav

ton demussa

180.01 941.62 0988.1 781.0 405.1 472.2

rehtona fI resal

fo cinilc emas

ecivres sraeppa

eht ni tekram

htiw rewol

,secirp uoy lliw

ot referp pots

ot gniog?rokliS

tseT selpmaS tnednepednI rof tseT s'eneveL

secnairaV fo ytilauqEsnaeM fo ytilauqE rof tset-t

F .giS t fd-2) .giS

(deliat

naeMnereffiD

ec

.dtS rorrE

nereffiDec

ecnedifnoC %59 eht fo lavretnI

ecnereffiD

Source: Hypotheses testing, independent sample Test, SPSS, N=100

Two variables:

- The categorical, independent variable: Customers.

- The continuous, dependent variable: Competitive prices.

To test the hypothesis, and reject the null hypothesis, an independent sample t-test was

conducted to determine if Silkor customers would leave the company, when findings other

laser clinics with the same services at the lower price.

97


By checking the information about the groups SPSS gives the mean and standard deviation

for each group, it also gives the number of people in each group (N).

By taking a look to the independent sample test table, we can see that the sig.

Value is P>0.05 so we should use the first line in the table, which refers to the equal variance

assumed.

After that in assessing the differences between the groups, we look at the t-test for equality of

means; there is the T value (t), the degrees of freedom (df), and the Significant value (sig.(2-

tailed)).

The sig. (2 tailed) is P<0.05 which is (0.000), this shows us that the Silkor customers do want

to leave the company if they find other laser clinics at lower prices, and then we will reject

the null hypothesis, which propose that the customers will not leave Silkor. So we would

reject the null with 40 degrees of Freedom, and 8.410 t observed, and A P value with less

than 0.001.

HA2: When Silkor direct competitors launch promotional strategies and advertising

campaigns, customers will be drawn away from Silkor.

Table 4.41:

Group Statistics

Age N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Does the advertisement of

other laser clinics attract

you?

22-25 23 1.57 .507 .106

26+36 1.28 .454 .076

Rate your overall experience

due to promotion and

discounts at Silkor?

22-25 23 1.91 .900 .188

26+36 2.50 .775 .129


Table 4.42:

98


Lower Upper

Equal variances assumed

4.28 0.043 2.266 57 0.027 0.287 0.127 0.033 0.541

Equal variances not assumed

2.211 43.218 0.032 0.287 0.13 0.025 0.55


1.556 0.217 2.664 57 0.01 -0.587 0.22 -1.028 -0.146


2.577 41.852 0.014 -0.587 0.228 -1.047 -0.127

Does the advertisement of other laser clinics attract you?

Rate your overall experience due to promotion and discounts at Silkor?

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means

F Sig. t dfSig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference

Source: Hypotheses testing, independent sample test, SPSS, N=100

- The categorical, independent variable: customers.

- The continuous, dependent variable: competitive promotional strategies and

advertising campaigns.

The Sig. (2 tailed) which represents the P value is P<0.05 (0.027), for the question 1 and it is

also P<0.05 for question 2 (0.010).So Silkor customers are drawn away from the company,

when Silkor direct Competitors launch Promotional strategies and advertising campaigns.

We can reject the null hypothesis which suggest that the customers will not draw away, with

57 degrees of freedom, and 2.266 t observed, and a P value of .027 for Q 1, and 57 degree of

freedom, 2.664 t observed and 0.010 P value for Q2.

HA3: High quality services relates positively in affecting Silkor customers loyalty and

satisfaction.

Table 4.43:

99


Group Statistics

Marital

status N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

How would you rate the

overall results of each

treatment?

Single 30 2.00 .788 .144

Married28 1.86 .756 .143

How satisfied are you with

the following Factors?

( Quality)

Single 30 3.00 1.232 .225

Married28 2.93 1.359 .257

How likely would you reuse

Silkor services?

Single 30 2.80 1.349 .246

Married 27 2.74 1.403 .270


Table 44:

Lower Upper


0.01 0.921 0.704 56 0.015 0.143 0.203 -0.264 0.55


0.705 55.953 0.014 0.143 0.203 -0.263 0.549


0.198 0.658 0.21 56 0.034 0.071 0.34 -0.61 0.753


0.209 54.467 0.035 0.071 0.341 -0.613 0.756


0.178 0.675 0.162 55 0.002 0.059 0.365 -0.672 0.79


0.162 53.848 0.002 0.059 0.366 -0.674 0.792

How likely would you reuse Silkor services?

Mean Difference

Std. Error Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the

Difference

How would you rate the overall results of each treatment?

How satisfied are you with the following Factors? ( Quality)

F Sig. t dfSig. (2-tailed)

Independent Samples Test

Levene's Test for Equality of Variances

t-test for Equality of Means



- The continuous, dependent variable: high quality services.

The sig. (2-tailed) is .015 which is P<0.05, for Q1, P<0.05 for Q2 (0.034), and also P<0.05

(0.002) for Q3.

100


So the high quality services of other laser clinics do affect Silkor customers' loyalty and

satisfaction. We than reject the null hypothesis which suggests that Competitor's high Quality

services do not affect the customers' loyalty.

We can reject the null, with 56 degrees of freedom and 0.704 t observed, and .015 P value for

Q 1, and also 56 degrees of freedom, .210 T observed, and .034 P value for Q2.

For Q3 we can reject the null with .002 P value, 55 degrees of freedom and .162 t Observed.

HA4: laser medical centers new technologies and innovations are affecting customer's

perceived choices and decisions.

Table 4.45:

Group Statistics

Marital

status N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

What would you say about

the following statement?

( Other laser clinics have

more technologies and

innovation than Silkor)

Single 46 2.39 .930 .137

Married

47 2.32 1.218 .178

Did they recommend you of

trying those clinics services?

Single 21 1.29 .463 .101

Married 16 1.25 .447 .112

Based on what you hear

from friends, would you say

that Silkor services are?

Single 15 2.00 1.604 .414

Married12 1.83 1.030 .297


Table 4.46:

101


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lauqE secnairav

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lauqE secnairav

tondemussa

732.0 599.23 410.0 630.0 151.0 172.0- 243.0


462.1 272.0 213.0 52 830.0 761.0 535.0 539.0- 862.1

lauqE secnairav

tondemussa

723.0 820.42 740.0 761.0 15.0 588.0- 912.1

dluow tahW yas uoy

eht tuoba gniwollof

?tnemetats rehtO )

scinilc resal erom evaheigolonhcet

dna s noitavonni(rokliS naht

yeht diD dnemmocer gniyrt fo uoy

esoht scinilc

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no desaB uoy tahw

morf raeh ,sdneirf

uoy dluow taht yas

rokliS secivres

?era

tseT selpmaS tnednepednI

fo ytilauqE rof tseT s'eneveLsecnairaV

snaeM fo ytilauqE rof tset-t

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(deliat naeM

ecnereffiD rorrE .dtSecnereffiD

ecnedifnoC %59 eht fo lavretnI

ecnereffiD



- The continuous, dependent variable: New technologies and innovation.

In the equal variance assumed, the sig. (2-tailed) is equal to .049 which is P<0.05 for Q 1, For

Q 2 (.015) and for Q3 (.038).

So laser medical centers new technologies and innovation do affect customer’s perceived

choices and decisions.

We reject the null hypothesis with 91 degrees of freedom, .321 t observed and .049 P value

for Q1, and we can reject it with 35 degrees of freedom, .236 t observed and .015 P value For

Q2.

Also for Q3 we reject the null with 25 degrees of freedom, .312 t observed and .038 P value.

102


2. FACT FINDING RESULTS:

*Summary of findings:

.000

.027.027

.015. . 015

.049

0.49.

Explanation of the finding

The findings of this study agree to a large extent with the theoretical principles and

empirical results espoused in the literature review. The analyses of the results have confirmed

all the stated hypotheses .

The above hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling technique. The results of

findings indicated positive relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

The competitive new technologies and innovation, low prices, advertising campaigns and

promotions, plus the high quality services, are affecting customers choices and decisions

which in return Silkor position in the market is being affected in the market, this in return

Silkor is facing a problem and should differentiate itself from other clinics to survive.

H1: Silkor must differentiate itself from competition

Competitive technologies and inn H2:

Competitors low prices

H3: Competitors promotions

Affecting customer choices and decisions

H4: Competitors High quality services

Silkor position is affected

Silkor must differentiate itself from competitio

103


RQ1: What are the main competitive factors that affect consumer choices in the Laser

Beauty industry?

After the study that have been conducted, plus the questionnaire and the data analysis that

has been examined, and by referring to the research question, the main competitive factors

that are affecting consumer choices in the market are being indicated as the following

dependent variable (price, quality, new technologies and innovation, promotion and

advertising campaigns.)

Let's begin with the price, because the price is the essential element here, the price set on for

a product or service has a very significant effect on how the consumer behaves. If consumers

believe that the charging price is lower than competitors it could cause a major spike in sales.

If the customer has the choice to get the same product from a competitor at a lower price

customer can be lost permanently. In fact, charging a higher price compared with other

similar products and services sometimes entices consumers to buy because some buyers

equate a high price with a superior-Quality product.

Due to the potentially unexpected effects of price on consumers it is important to set the right

price from the start. Making a change to the price of a product or service is very risky.

So what Silkor can do?

1-Do price research in advance of releasing the offering to make sure that the price is

accepted by customers, while providing company with a profit that meets or exceeds its

goals.

2- Checking on the prices set by competitors.

3- Determine the costs and the average industry mark-up percentage (the amount above cost that you charge to make a profit).

Quality is next; Research has indicated that service quality has been increasingly recognized

as a critical factor in the success of any business. Defining service quality and its components

in a form that is actionable in the workplace endeavor that any business company cannot take

lightly. Moreover, many scholars agree that service quality can be decomposed into two

major dimensions.

104


The first is referred to “outcome quality” and the second as “technical quality”. However, the

first dimension is concerned with what the service delivers and on the other hand; the second

dimension is concerned with how the service is delivered: the process that the customer went

through to get to the outcome of the service.

Both the service management and the marketing literature suggest that there is strong

theoretical underpinning among customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability.

So when customer perceives that there is a competitor in the markets, who are offering

similar services at a higher quality definitely its loyalty, would be affected. The same case is

with the new technologies, advertising campaign and promotional Strategies.

RQ2: What Silkor should do to differentiate and position itself from competition?

OFFER BETTER SERVICE

One of the best ways (if the not the very best way) to separate yourself from the competition

is through absolutely outstanding customer service. This is the one aspect of a business that

customers will rave about if it’s great, and never forgive if it’s terrible.

The customer experience goes hand in hand with service, but can also include much, much

more. From music and ambience to activities and rewards, the customer experience

encompasses the entire process of doing business with your company. A memorable and

exciting experience all but guarantees repeat business.

After you woo your prospects with an amazing experience, and forge relationships through

superb customer service, it can put customers at ease with an awesome guarantee. More than

This Silkor should focus on 5 major dimensions (Price, added value, convenience, Trust and

conscience.)

105


RQ 3: How can Silkor maintain market leadership in customer’s minds over the long

Run?

Silkor brand is becoming more sophisticated, and as the Silkor should understand the laser

hair removal industry in deep, an increasing care should be given to portraying the company

in a crucial position at the intersection of three industry service providers: medical clinics,

spas, and beauty institutes. Silkor should aim to be “a skin center and medispa, all in one” as

opposed to focusing solely on either the medical or the cosmetic benefits of their offerings.

This positioning should help Silkor to extend their brand over a broad range of services

domestically and internationally.

Within Lebanon, Silkor should focus on four categories of competitors: clinics that

performed a variety of medical and cosmetic procedures (Silkor was in this category);

medical clinics that were operated only by dermatologists or within hospitals; beauty

institutes and spas which provided less expensive but also less permanent hair removal

procedures, as well as other cosmetic offerings; and small “mom and pop” operators, who

sometimes rented machines for a day at a time to perform a handful of procedures on demand

(see Exhibit 8 for an overview of Silkor’s competitors by product line ).

There were 11 main competitor clinics in Lebanon: EPICARE, Dermacorp, Medicorp,

HMIC, Laser vision (2 facilities), Le Rodin (2 facilities), Dermamed (2 facilities), Laser A

Plus, Dermapro, and Cosmo soft. Silkor had captured approximately 40 percent of the market

share of the clinics segment and about 15 percent of the overall laser hair-removal market. So

at the end four hypotheses has been tested in this study, the findings revealed that competitive

price, innovation, high quality of services promotional strategies and advertising campaigns

are all affecting Silkor customers' choices and decisions which in return the company position

is being affected in the laser beauty industry and Silkor should take major steps in

differentiating itself from the competition to survive in the laser beauty industry.

So at the end the purpose of the thesis was to study the positioning and differentiating

strategies in the market, and how a firm can get over rivals, and stand against others.

More than this the ways for effective positioning, Silkor is facing many problems In the

market due to the high intensity of completion in the laser beauty industry, many of its

customers were not satisfied of their services, prices, technology and the quality of the

treatments.

106


So in order to succeed and survive Silkor must differentiate from the competition, and find

new ways to get over them.

Table 4.47: Hypotheses testing summary

RejectedAcceptedHypothesesXWhen Silkor direct competitors reduce their

prices, customers will be drawn away from Silkor.

XWhen Silkor’s direct competitors launch promotional strategies and advertising campaigns, customers are drawn away from Silkor.

X Laser medical centers new technologies and innovation are affecting consumer perceived value, choices and decisions.

X High quality services relates positively in affecting Silkor customer's loyalty and satisfaction.

107


PART III

GRADUATE PROJECT CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

108


CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATION

The final chapter discusses the summary of theoretical and practical part. The chapter also

derives conclusions from the findings. Further, the suggestions for future research, and the

study implications are presented.

1. CONCLUSION

The purpose of this project was to examine the concept of positioning and differentiating

strategies in the market.

The literature review theoretically main approach is studying a service positioning and

differentiating, more than this and due to the Rapid changes in the market conditions,

company are trying to position themselves in a way that differentiate them from competition,

and allow the firm to achieve long-Term growth, customer loyalty, satisfaction and

innovativeness.

Practically and as we can see from the research conducted above, when competition increases

in the service Market, it is more important for the service Companies to differentiate in a

ways that are meaningful for customers. In order for a firm to grow, it has to take share from

its competitors, or to expand into new markets.

At times a company can lose its position due to change in technology, consumer attitudes,


That is the reason why a company should be in Touch with the market place, and reposition

itself before it suffers in terms of image and revenue.

The STP model and other studies were proposed to explain this phenomenon.

The data were gathered by a self-administered questionnaire. A total of 100 questionnaires

were collected.

Certain independent variables were examined to determine how customers re affected by

competition.

The t-test analysis was used in order to investigate how well the independent variables predict

Silkor position in the market, and which variable is the best effector on the dependent

variables.

109


We took 2 angels to find out why Silkor is losing its position, first is Silkor customer’s point

of view concerning the company and its services, and the second is other laser clinics

customers' point of view.

Model was provided; the results of the analysis performed in the project revealed that

competitor’s low prices, new technologies and innovation high quality of services, and the

promotional and advertising campaigns are affecting Silkor customer's loyalty.Which in

return the company position is being affected.

The t-test analysis shows that there is a positive relationship between the dependent and

independent variables, which in return all the null hypotheses were rejected and the

alternative hypotheses were accepted.

The findings of this study agree to a large extent with the theoretical principles and empirical

results espoused in the literature review. The analyses of the results have confirmed all the

stated hypotheses.

So finally the research question was answered, and suggested how Silkor could maintain the

first position in the market and not losing its customers, all of that could be achieved by

designing the company's offering and identity (that will create a planned image) so that they

occupy a meaningful and distinct competitive position in the target customer's minds.

At the end, I think that Positioning in the market is the primary reasons for a company

success, more than this differencing from competitors is another way to survive and staying

the first in the marketplace.

110


2. RECOMMENDATIONS

-Silkor should set up lower prices that the customers can afford.

-Offer better services for customers by outstanding the customer services.

-Focus on the ambiance and music which will put the customers in a good mood before any

treatments session, which could be very painful, and the customers will need something to

relax their thought.

-Focus more on the advertising campaign, and offer customers more promotion like free

services and free products.

-Find the best laser equipment to increase the service quality. Offer the best guarantee, with

an amazing experience, and forge relationships through superb customer service; it can put

customers at ease with an awesome guarantee.

-Silkor should focus on 5 major dimensions (Price, added value, convenience, Trust and

conscience.)

-Silkor should understand the laser hair removal industry in deep; an increasing care should

be given to portraying the company in a crucial position at the Intersection of laser industry.

111


APPENDIXES

112


APPENDIX A

QUESTIONNAIRE

Silkor Questionnaire For office

use

Please circle the right number.

1-please, Circle the company that you follow your laser treatment with?

Silkor 1

Beauty Seif Clinic 2 1Laser vision 3

Dermacorps 4

HMIC 5

Laser A+ 6

Other )specify(___________________ 7

2-How satisfied are you now with your chosen company?

Not at all 1

Slightly 2 2 Moderately 3

Quite a bit 4

Almost Totally 5

3-How did you know about Silkor?

Through advertising 1

Through friends and relatives 2

Through internet 3 3 Other Meduim 4

4- How much importance do you give to the following factors When you use Silkor services?

VI I N LI NN1= Very important Price 1 2 3 4 5 42=Important Innovation 1 2 3 4 5 53=Normal Customer service 1 2 3 4 5 64=Least important Quality 1 2 3 4 5 75=None Promotions 1 2 3 4 5 8

5-How would you rate your level of Overall satisfaction with Silkor?

Extremely satisfied 1

Average satisfied 2

Satisfied 3 9Dissatisfied 4

Extremely dissatisfied 5

113


6- How satisfied are you with the following Factors?

VI UN N S VUN NA

1= Very satisfied overall quality 1 2 3 4 5 6 102=Unsatisfied customer service 1 2 3 4 5 6% 113=Neutral Price 1 2 3 4 5 6 124=Satisfied Innovation&tech 1 2 3 4 5 6 135=very Unsatisfied Promotions 1 2 3 4 5 6 146=Not applicable Advertising 1 2 3 4 5 6 15

7-How would you rate the overall results of each treatment?

Very low value results 1

Middle value results 2 16Very high value results 3

8-According to your expectations , how would you rate Silkor Prices?

Fair 1

high 2 17Very high 3

low 4


Definitely use 1

Probably use 2

Might or might not use 3 18Probably not use 4

Definetly not use 5


No, not at all 1

C'ant say 2 19Yes,of course 3

I may consider 4

114


11-Which promotion offers attract you at Silkor?

Discounts 1

Extra services 2

Free products 3 20Other ( specify) 4

12-Rate your overall experience due to promotion and discounts at Silkor?

Good 1

Average 2 21Poor 3

13-Which media of advertisement influence your decisions?

TV 1

Brochure 2 22Billboards 3

Radio 4

Internet 5

14-Does the advertisement of Silkor attract you?

23Yes 1

No 2

15-Does the advertisement of other laser clinics attract you?

Yes 1 24No 2

115


16-Rate the attractiveness of advertisement of other laser clinincs?

Very attractive 1

Attractive 2

Not at all attractive 3

17-What would you say about the following statements?

Strongly Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly

Agree Disagree Silkor prices are higher than other clinics 5 4 3 2 1Other laser clinics have more technologies and innovative services 5 4 3 2 1

18-Do you have any friends, who are following laser treatments at other clinics?

Yes 1

No 2

19-Did they recommend you of trying those clinics services?

Yes 1

No 2

20-Based on what you hear from friends, would you say that Silkor services are?

Much Somewhat About the Somewhat Much Don't

Better Better same worse worse Know

1 2 3 4 5 6



might not not not



116

How To Position and Differentiate in the Market? 117


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118


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Documents

THE GRADUATE PROJECT IN MARKETING _b (Repaired) (1)