Assignment: Huella Online – Survey Research Design

Huella Hong Kong is an online travel agent that is headquartered in Malaysia and mainly serves customers from Hong Kong and Macau, with other Huella sites targeting travelers from the remaining nine Asian markets where Huella has operations. Huella Hong Kong has been experiencing low market share and lower-than-expected revenue growth since the launch of its Hong Kong in 2000. Indeed its performance has not been on par with the other markets. The general risk-averseness of Hong Kong consumers towards online travel purchases and low awareness of the Huella brand appear to be the key hindrances towards online travel purchases in general and towards Huella’s products and services in particular. The situation is ironic because of the high internet usage penetration rate in Hong Kong and the techno-savvy nature of its population, particularly that of young people.

Given the situation in the case and what has already been learned about the market via prior qualitative research, you are being asked to design a quantitative survey to support Huella Hong Kong’s senior management. As part of this effort, you should be considering:
What is the marketing management problem currently facing Huella Hong Kong and what types of information would they need to properly address it?
Who are the various consumer segments that exist in this market?
What is the “state of play” for Huella and other online travel agencies in their ability to address consumer needs?
How should Huella define the marketing challenge and setting their near term objectives in light of that?