Tom is the owner of a pizza restaurant that caters to college students. Through informal conversations with his customers, he thinks that a casual dining restaurant with moderately-priced menus specifically targeting college students would do quite well in the local market. Though his informal conversations with students have revealed an overall sense of dissatisfaction with existing local restaurants, he has not been able to isolate specific areas of concern.
Thinking back to a marketing research course he took in school, Tom has decided that focus group research would be an appropriate method to gather information that might be useful in deciding whether to pursue further development of his idea (developing a formal business plan, store policies, etc.)
Please answer the following questions:
1. What is the decision problem and resulting research problem in this situation?
2. Whom should Tom select as participants in the focus group?
3. Where should the focus group session be conducted?
4. Who should be the moderator of the focus group?
5. Develop a discussion outline (i.e. a list of questions) for the focus group.