Market Research Implementation Plan: Research Tools To stay true to its mission, Starbucks must implement a market research plan that provides a clearer perspective on details of its main customer for the correct introduction of the new "Coffee of the Month" program. Implementing this plan requires Marketing Team A to analyze the appropriate marketing research tools to use for this project, including a comparison of the selected tools. Qualitative surveys, demographic research, customer panel research, and secondary data mining are the market research tools that Starbucks is considering to study its new research project. Additionally, Marketing Team A will analyze the most and least applicable research tools to use before moving towards submitting the “Coffee of the Month” program proposal. Research Tools The first marketing research tool that Starbucks could use is qualitative market research. The main objective of qualitative market research is to evaluate consumer attitude and predict their attitude towards the implemented marketing strategy. Qualitative market research is conducted through surveys sent over the Internet, mailed, telephone, in person, or wiretapped. Qualitative market research is “an exploratory and developmental market research method” (Power Decisions Group, 2012, Qualitative Market Research). Qualitative market research is best used to quantify, measure, estimate and segment markets. Generally this type of research is inexpensive for the company. Furthermore, qualitative research has a quick implementation and turnaround time. Subsequent customer research panels can be helpful. These panels are made up of several people who have… half the paper… they will provide information about the customer's wants and needs, especially their thoughts on the new program and the lowest price. As for data mining, the results are available quickly and at low cost; this feedback will provide Starbucks with quick information regarding the purchases made most frequently by its customers. Through marketing team A's research data, Starbucks will gain a better understanding of its core customers' wants and needs, as well as their past purchasing habits; With this information, Starbucks can take one step closer to revealing its new “Coffee of the Month” program. Works Cited2010 census data. (2010). Retrieved from http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/Aaker, D. A., Kumar, V., & Day, G. S. (2007). Market Research (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Power decision-making group. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.powerdecisions.com