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Background of the study
The Bottled Water Industry has become rather expensive nowadays as humanity consumes over 89 billion litters of bottled water every year spending over $22 million on it. Water is a very important source of livelihood to mankind, whether it from tap, bottled, river, sea, rain or any other sources. Bottled water is preferred by people due to its convenience and easy storage; however, environmental issues are connected mainly with bottled water wastes. The results of the research on the topic can be beneficial to the bottled water manufacturers and environmentalists who are concerned with both profit from their work and environmental safety.
Technological development and the demand for healthy living have brought about innovation of water being bottled in a standard nutritional method for consumption: in the place of the known tap water provided by the government department of water utilities and other affiliated agencies over the years. The economic potential and financial gain has created a lot of manufacturers forming strong associations /trade unions for the bottling of water. The huge research and development on the part of the water companies has resulted in bottled water being termed to be distinct from the ordinary, also known as tap water and of high quality production. The result of this has been a massive change of attitudes of the consumers towards bottled water as 57.1% of all water sales are bottled water sales. This development has skyrocketed the price of this product bringing the question of whether bottled water is a luxury or a necessity considering the cost of government spending and individual expenses on it within the present economic climate of the United Kingdom.
According to Nick Beevors of Data monitor (2008), bottled water is growing in popularity as people choose it over other soft drinks because it does not contain calories, caffeine or artificial colors (BBC News, 13 June, 2008).
Research Question
The research question is whether bottled water is a necessity or a luxury with regards to the current economic climate in the United Kingdom (UK). The significance of the study will assist the government to have a good economic view of the actions to take in order to reduce the high bottled water expenses and restore consumer confidence in tap water (BBC News, 5 March 2009). This will also assist them to assess other impacts of bottled water on the environment. So, there is a need for research works to be conducted on the bottled water challenges in the future:
To discover how much consumer spend on bottled water in the UK
To investigate consumer preference to bottled water instead of tap water
Drawing from this, the research question is as follows: In the current economic climate in the United Kingdom (UK), is bottled water a luxury or a necessity?
Methodology
Research Methodology
Research design is the programme that guides the investigator in the process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting observations (Kotler P and Keller K L, 2008).
With regards to this research, the stratified sampling and random selection method will be used to select individuals to participate in this research project. Sampling, as defined by Dibbs et al. (2006), is the selection of representative units from a total population and random sampling is a method in which all the units in a population have an equal chance of appearing in the sample.
Method of data collection and data sources
Information for this research will be collected from both primary and secondary sources.
Primary sources
Data may be expressly collected for a specific purpose. Such data are known as primary data. The collection of facts and figures relating to the population in the census provides primary data. The main advantage of obtaining such data is that the exact information wanted is obtained. The use of structured questionnaires and personal interviews will be adopted (Kotler P and Keller K L, 2008).
Secondary sources
Secondary sources of data are extracts from published sources such as journals, books, reports. Secondary data will be used to supplement the data already obtained. In addition, online sources will also be used to augment the research work. One of its advantage is that it is easy to access and often the only source, since it has already been written. It also serves as the only way to examine large-scale trends. However, it also has its disadvantages such as lack of consistency of perspective and published statistics are sometimes erroneous (marketingteacher.com).
The secondary sources that I will consult during my research include the articles by Edwards (2007), Ferrier (2001), Fishman (2007), and others. Their consideration will be vital as they provide the theoretical framework for bottled water research and exemplify it with specific situations in their articles.
The following is a table outlining activities v dates that need to be carried out with dead-lines in mind.
Sampling
Sample Section
Research question as defined by Kotler (2008) consists of a set of questions presented to respondents . It is important that the questions should be related to the research objectives, must be clear and understandable. The sample of the research will encompass male and female population, different age groups including 18-29, 30-44, 45-59, 60 above, the familial status of respondents and their professional or educational records. This study is basically on the United Kingdom bottled water industry. The result of this study cannot be completely said to represent all the issues concerning consumer behaviour on bottled water in the UK, since it does not involved the whole population of the UK
Sampling Method
The following sampling method will be the most fitting to the subject in question:
Gender: Male/Female?
Age group e.g. 18-29, 30-44, 45-59, 60 above?
What is your occupation e.g. Student, Employed, Self-employed, Unemployed, Others?
Do you buy bottled water?
How often do you buy bottled water?
How much do you spend on bottled water?
Why do you buy bottled water?
Do you think bottled water is more acceptable than tap water?
Would you suggest bottled water to be banned?
Would you say bottled water is a necessity or luxury in this economic recession?
Ethics
Privacy policy and Political Correctness
Finally, the ethical consideration of the research proposed should be mainly focused on the issues of privacy policy, politeness, and political correctness. First of all, every respondent should be guaranteed that his/her private or personal information does not become public. Names and other personal information of the respondents will not be requested during the research and will not be revealed in case if obtained occasionally. Finally, racial, sexual, religious, and other considerations are admitted to be the personal matters of every research respondent and are not subject to any scrutiny or discrimination.
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