Research Assignment 4: Industry and ConsumerTrends
Topic
Your Name, Discussion Instructor’s Name
Spring 2022
What You Will Demonstrate:
Communications professionals need to know how to research and present information about business market trends. In this assignment, you will demonstrate that you can (1) find trend information about an industry andits consumers, (2) document how you searched for and found this information, (3) evaluate the sources you found, and (4) synthesize the information you found.
Topic:
A brand you want to research. This could be the brand of a company, a product, or a service. Do not identify a nonprofit brand.
Scenario:
A marketing team is planning a new marketing campaign for [your topic brand]. As a market researcher, you have been asked to present this team with research-based insights about the brand’s industry and consumers. Your insights will shape the marketing campaign.
What You Will Produce:
- Private research notes:In sections 1 and 2,you will document your research process and source evaluations.
- Public slide deck:In section 3, you will produce a slide deck for themarketing team that’s working on the [topic brand’s] campaign. Your slide deck will present three insights about the current trends in the brand’s industry and among its consumers.These insights will shape the marketingcampaign.
Section 1: Keep Track of the Research Process
- Read the Market Research chapter in the Be Credible textbook.
- Use bullet points or numbers to document every search you complete:
- Name the database or collection of sources you search (e.g., IBISWorld).
- Paste the search term you type into the search field.
- Under each number or bullet point, fully explain why you used this particular collection, search term, and operator.
- Briefly explain the results of each search, which results you pursued further and why.
Week 1: Market Research Reports
- Search a NAICS database (at the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or the NAICS Association), to identify the industry to which your brand belongs.
- Search IBISWorld for your industry’s report.
- Search Mintel for a consumer trends report related to this brand.
- Read both reports and take notes on the trends the industry is experiencing.
Week 2: Trade Organization
- Read the Nonprofits chapter in the Be Credible textbook.
- Identify a trade association related to the industry.
- Read the trade association’s website and take notes on the issues that are important to this association.
- Search the association’s website, Guidestar, or ProPublica’s Nonprofits Explorer for the association’s Form 990.
- Read the Form 990, using the Nonprofits chapter as a guide.
- Articulate three insights about the current trends in the industry and among consumers that should inform the brand’s marketing campaign.
Grading hints:
- Your instructor is looking to see that you are searching the databases discussed in the two chapters covered in this unit.
- Show that you use sophisticated search strategies (i.e., search operators).
- Show that you use the results of one search to inform subsequent searches.
- Your goal is NOT for all your searches to hit the jackpot. Your goal is to show that you are a thoughtful and critical searcher.
Section 2: Evaluate Sources for Use in the Slide Deck
- Re-read the Evaluate Information Vigorously chapter in the Be Credible textbook.
- Re-read the Go Lateral with Cues and Evidence chapter in the Be Credible textbook.
- Use bullet points or numbers to list all of the sources from which you could take information for your slide deck. For example, an IBISWorld industry report could be a source; a trade association’s website could be a source.
- Do NOTlist search engines or databases (e.g., Google, NAICS, Guidestar).
- Embed a link for each source on the list that’s publicly accessible (avoid pasting unreadable URLs). Include a screenshot or a photograph of each source that can’t be linked to online.
- For each source, determine if it is a primary or secondary (or tertiary) source. Provide evidence for this determination.
- Use the four-step evaluation process to determine if each source is credible enough to use in your slide deck:
- Under each source, list the cues that say something about its credibility. See the table in the FAQ chapter for possible credibility cues.
- Investigate each cue and collect external evidence about it. Summarize this evidence in the document. Your own opinion is not evidence. Evidence can include quotations, embedded links, and screenshots.
- Use the evidence from (b) to determine if the cue contributes to (+) or diminishes (-) the credibility of the source.
- Write a synthesis statement that starts with, “Overall, this source is / is not credible enough for me to use because … ,” and explains your reasoning. Re-state the key evidence from (b).
For 17-21, instead of writing in paragraphs, for each source you can (but don’t have to) use a table like this:
Source: Insert the name of the source here, and embed a link to it.
| Cue | Evidence | Contributes to (+) or diminishes (-) the source’s credibility |
| Primary/secondary | Evidence about primary/secondary | + / – |
| Cue 1 name | Evidence about cue 1 | + / – |
| Cue 2 name | Evidence about cue 2 | + / – |
| Cue 3 name | Evidence about cue 3 | + / – |
| DO NOT stop at 3 cues. Add a new row for each additional cue (right-click and press “Insert” and “Rows Below”) |
Synthesis statement: Overall, this source is / is not credible enough to use because … [synthesize the key evidence and arguments from the table]
Grading hints:
- Your instructor is looking for you to show that you question the credibility of everything. For every credibility assertion you make, ask yourself “why?”, and investigate further. Keep asking “why?”
- Do not rely on gut feelings about the credibility of sources. Your evidence needs to come from somewhere other than yourself.
- If you use the table, make sure that the information in the “Evidence” column is complete. In each row, use multiple full sentences, links, quotes, and any other information to support your thinking.
- Don’t forget the synthesis statement, and don’t skimp on the evidence you re-state in it.
Section 3: Market Research Slide Deck
- Complete this section in a slideshow application (e.g., PowerPoint, Google Slides). After revisions, you can post the slide deck publicly in your portfolio.
- As you work on the slide deck, keep in mind its audience and purpose:
- Audience: Marketing team for this assignment’s brand.
- Purpose: Present three insights about the current trends in the brand’s industry and among its consumers. These insights will shape the marketing campaign.
- In the slide deck, use only the sources that, in Section 2, you concluded were credible enough to use.
- On each slide, use a combination of bullet points and paragraphs, and visual hierarchy, to clearly and succinctly present the following information:
- On the first slide, introduce the brand, its industry (including key competitors), and trade association. This slide should contain the label “industry and consumertrends,” and your name.
- On the second slide, summarize the three insights you articulated. This is a summary slide; it shouldn’t state everything.
- On the next three slides, explain each of the insights in greater detail, one insight per slide. Include evidence from the sources you evaluated as credible.
- This slide deck should consist of exactly five slides.
On all slides:
- Keep your paragraphs short. In journalism, paragraphs usually are no more than four sentences long. There is no limit on how many paragraphs you write.
- Attribute all information to the appropriate sources. Use the phrase “according to” as much as you need to; do not worry about sounding redundant. (For a refresher, read the Attribute All Sources chapter in the Be Credible textbook.)
- If you quote a phrase or more, use quotation marks around it, and attribute the source.
- Embed links to all sources that are openly accessible on the Internet.
- Avoid copying and pasting screenshots from your sources. The images in your sources are copyrighted, and your slide deck could be published publicly in your portfolio. You don’t want someone who looks at your portfolio to think that you violated a source’s copyright. Instead, use Creative Commons images, or design your own figures.
How to Submit this Assignment
- As you complete the assignment, refer to the grading rubric on Canvas to understand how the assignment will be graded.
- Delete all instructions. The assignment you submit should include the title information, section headers, and the text you type.
- When you have finished the assignment, click on the appropriate link on Canvas and upload this document using the “Drag a file here, or choose a file to upload” function.
- Do NOT submit a Pages file because your instructor will not be able to read your assignment inCanvas. Instead, save the assignment as Word or PDF, and upload this file.
- Microsoft Word is available for free at office365.ku.edu.
- Make sure that the document uploads completely. Your Internet connection and Canvas can malfunction during the submission process. It is your responsibility that your assignment uploads successfully.
- Go back and check that your assignment is submitted. Take a screenshot to document that your assignment was fully submitted before the deadline. Save the screenshot to your computer.
BE CREDIBLE: do not fabricate or plagiarize. The consequences are not worth it.