Karls Macarons Marketing Research

Prepared by:
Jimmy Cao
Joshua Caldwell
Shu Yi Lu
Yu Koon, J.K.
 Table of Content
Executive Summary

Introduction

Background of Karls Macarons

Research Objectives

Research Design

Findings

Statistical Analysis

Main Takeaways

Observation

Summary

Limitations of Study

Conclusion and Recommendations

Appendix A

Referenced Cross Tabulation Survey Results

Full Results from Online Survey

Survey Questions

Demographic Questions

Appendix B

Survey Sample

Observation Questions Sample

Focus Group Questions Sample

Focus Group Observation

Executive Summary
Background of Karls Macaroons

Karls Macaroons is a company that excels in baking macaroons for a reasonable price.

The business is based in Dallas, TX and their macaroons are home baked from scratch and ready

to be delivered throughout the Dallas Fort Worth area. Karls Macaroons founder is a University

of Texas at Dallas student named Karl Ngantcha-Mbagna. Karl has had a passion for baking

since the age of 8 and his passion inspired him to create his business in July of 2017. Like most

millennials his company mainly operates online. The mission statement for Karls Macarons is

to keep you satisfied with my baking no matter what you ask me for, so I hope you enjoy your

visit around the web store. Karls ultimate pleasure comes from providing people with the joy

of his baking, but in order to keep that dream alive Karl must also earn a profit.

After dissecting Karls business, we learned there are 10 flavors on the menu. One of his

best sellers is Cookies n Cream. He receives approximately 1 to 2 of his Cookies n Cream order

every week, an obvious favorite of UTD students. The quantity of his macaroons comes in 5, 10,

15 and 25 with Prices ranging from $8.00 to $28.00. It takes him 60-90 minutes to make 5

batches of macarons (4 per batch). When asked about his target market, Karl paused for a

moment before expressing that he can see potential in expanding the market outside of UTD.

Also, Karl advertises his macarons mostly on twitter and facebook to gain customers. In

addition, Karls social media sites and website display excellence in art-design and simplicity of

displaying the macarons.

Due to Karls lack of experience and unspecified business essentials, there will be many

opportunities for amateur mistakes and accidental successes. Therefore, having the opportunity
to do market research for Karls Macarons is a gracious occasion for everyone involved. The

research problems and objectives are the first steps in implementing a successful research

marketing project. The research component and objective will be explained thoroughly in the

following paragraphs.

Research Objectives

There are multiple purposes for conducting the research for Karls macarons, he is

unfamiliar on the market of his goods. Karl is new to business, and he is faced with uncertainty

as to how the market will respond to his dessert. He cannot predict the appetite UTD students

and faculty members will have for his specialty dessert. Our goal is to clearly outline simple

objectives that can eliminate some of the flaws in his business. For the research we would gather

data to record factual information showing our sample date. We will analyze the information and

provide Karl with our expert recommendations based on our findings. First, we are trying to

identify the range of pricing that is acceptable for macarons. Once we determine the market

demands for price we will shift focusing to identify which characteristics will make his product

more appealing. Most importantly we will test Karls hypothesis of whether or not college

students are his most responsive target market for Macarons.

Method
Research Design

We have conducted a focus group and survey (descriptive). We are using primary

methods of research in this study, and we have surveyed 101 people in total. We ordered $45

worth of macarons for sampling as a way to attract people to take our survey. As results, we

surveyed 80 people at the University of Texas at Dallas and 21 people at the Richardson area.

We spent a total of 3 days to complete the survey. For our survey, we only used in-person

collection methods and have them fill out the survey on our electronic devices to acquire our

data. Our survey helped us determine the reasonable price range, the gender , the best age group

for his business and the preferable flavor for macarons. We are able to come up with the solution

and most effective way for him to expand his business with the data we collected.

We designated at least two specific questions based on each of the problem. For example,

in order to know what is the acceptable price range for macaroon, we first asked them if it is

reasonable to pay $1.60 for a macaroon. For our second question, we listed out a couple price

range and asked what would them consider as a reasonable price for a dozen macarons.

Statistical Analysis

We surveyed 101 people at the University of Texas at Dallas and the Richardson area.

Among the 101 respondents, 45 (44.55%) are age 15 - 25, 38 (37.62%) are age 26 - 35, 12

(11.88%) are age 36 - 45, and 6 (5.94%) of them are age 46 and up. Theres 44 Asian (43.14%),

14 (13.73%) Black / African American, 25 (24.51%) Caucasian, 9 (8.82%) Hispanic, and 10

(9.80%) Others. 59 (58.42%) males and 42 (41.58%) females are participating the survey.

Regarding to the annual household income, 24 (24.00%) respondents are 0 -25k, 21 (21.00%) are

respondents 26k- 50k, 36 (36.00%) respondents are 51k - 100k, and 19 (19.00%) respondents are

101k and up.

According to the survey result, 37 (36.63%) respondents did not have macaroons in past

year, 50 (49.50%) respondents had macaroons between 1 - 5 times, and only 14 (13.86%) people

had it more than 6 times. We expected the similar result since donuts and cookies are for more

popular than macaroons, it surely need to raise the awareness. In a scale from 1 to 5 which 1

means low and 5 means high, surprisingly theres 83 (82.18%) respondents have a scale of at

least 3, meaning they like macaroons.

Regarding to the customer purchasing dessert behavior, a majority of 77 (76.24%)

respondent said they never bought dessert online, comparing 24 (23.76%) have bought before.

That makes sense because online dessert business still need time to develop.

When we asked questions regarding the price, 18 (17.82%) respondents said they pay

$1.00 or less for a typical dessert at home, 32 (31.68%) respondents pay from $1.01 to $3.00, 30

(29.70%) of them pay from $5.01 to $7.00), and only 8 (7.92%) pay more than $7 for dessert. In

order to know if Karls macaroons price is acceptable to his UTD students, we then ask

respondents that if they think its reasonable to pay $1.60 for a macaroons, turns out 62 (61.39%)
respondents are fine with the price and only 39 (38.61%) are not okay with it. The price

acceptability looks more optimistic than 40% which we have anticipated before the survey.

We then asked how often would they purchase the reasonably priced macaroons, only 7

(6.93%) would purchase macaroons once a week, while 57 (56.44%) would purchase it 3 - 4

times a year or only for special occasions. It looks like respondents still dont allocate macaroons

as a typical dessert such as cookies, donut, or cheesecake but a social gift.

On the social awareness level, while we asked under which occasions would they

consider ordering macaroons, 29 (18.95%) said they would just purchase anytime they want,

while the majority 75.11% of them would purchase macaroons under birthday, wedding, special

event, holidays, or other occasional treat. Macaroons surely needs time to categorize itself as a

typical dessert. When we asked respondents how likely would they recommend macaroons to

their friends, only 10 (9.9%) of them are unlikely or very unlikely to recommend to their friends,

comparing 24 (23.76%) of them said somewhat likely and 67 (66.33%) said they would likely or

very likely to recommend to their friends.

We went deeper to ask them about their preferences when they are purchasing a dessert,

regarding Freshness, Brand, Appearance, Low-in-Calories, and Price. At a scale from 1 being

not important, 3 being somewhat important, and 5 being very important, Brand and

Low-in-Calories are well-balanced. In the Brand section, 32 (31.68%) respondents do not care

the brand-effect and only 41 (40.59%) care the brand name. On the Low-in-Calories section,
43(42.57%) respondents do not take the calories as a critical factor when they purchase the

dessert. Freshness, Appearance, and Price preference shows the direct proportionality, 57

(56.44%), 47 (46.53%), and 41 (40.59%) respondents rate Freshness, Appearance, and Price

preference are very important when they are purchasing a dessert. That surprised Karl because he

thought Low-in-Calories, and Brand are the factors he must prioritize on but turns out Price, and

Freshness are the most important factors for his business.

Surprisingly 39 (38.61%) and 45 (44.55%) respondents prefer dark and soft pastel

colors, which is significantly different than Karl expected. When we asked respondents which

favors they would like to try, 43 (42.57%) respondents selected chocolate and other 28 (27.72%)

respondents would like to try chocolate-related favors such as mint chocolate, white chocolate,

coconut chocolate, banana chocolate, or mocha favors. Thats a huge opportunity for Karl

because the store currently doesnt offer any chocolate favor.

Main Takeaways

1. Age from 15 - 35 are more acceptable to pay from $1.01 to $5.00 for their dessert.

After we surveyed 101 people, we use the cross tabulation analysis on age and

respondents behavior of having dessert (P1). We cross-analyzed the age and how much

does respondent pay for a typical dessert they eat at home, turn out we got a statistically

significant of 0.04 p-value at 95% confidence level, which means the research tell us the

age and how much they pay are associated and have a correlation between these two

variables. By that we know that age 15 - 35 are more acceptable to pay $1.01 to $5.00 for

their dessert. We also found out that the p-value is not statistically significant at 95%
 confidence when we cross-analyzed age and online purchasing behavior, meaning that we

cant tell if theres any specific age group is more likely to purchase online.

2. If customers accept the macaroons price, they are likely to share macaroons to their

friends or families. According to the cross tabulation analysis (P3), at 95% confidence

level, the hypothesis test is statistically significant, it indicates that if the customers think

the macaroon is reasonably priced, they are likely to give macaroons to friends or

families as a gift or share macaroons with them.

3. Theres no correlation between gender and macaroons awareness or online

purchasing behavior. Karl believed female customers are more likely to have

macaroons than male customers and female customers are more likely to purchase dessert

online than male customers. According to Gender vs Macaroons Awareness & Gender vs

Online Purchasing Behavior, theres no correlation between these variables, meaning the

survey cant prove Karl is right about his view.

4. Freshness, appearance, and price are the important factors when purchasing a

macaroon. Through our research findings the results showed that people would prefer to

have a higher quality of Freshness, Appearance, and Price. Low-in-Calories and Brand

were a lower on the list of priorities. The data indicated that people preferred soft pastel

and dark colors rather than bright colors.

 5. Higher annual income customers dont mean they will spend more money on

dessert. Karl believed that customers are likely to spend more money on dessert if they

are higher annual income family. According to the cross tabulation analysis (P9)

indicates that the annual household income and how much do the respondents pay for

dessert are not associated, meaning these two variables are independent. We cant tell if

the higher annual income customers would spend more on dessert or not.

Observation Report

Below is the Q&A we interviewed him:

1. How long youve been doing the business?

2 months

2. How many people work at your company?

1 people

3. Whats your customer base?

UTD customers

4. How many order you received weekly?

1-2 orders on average but can get to 4-5 more orders

5. How long does it take you to make dozens of macarons?

An hour for 5 batches

6. How many social media sites you have to advertise KarlsMacs.com?

Twitter and Facebook

7. From 1 to 5, how well do you maintain the relationship with your customers?
 5

8. From 1 to 5, how well do you think your customers are satisfied?

The name of the business is Karls Macarons. It is an online macarons store, everything is

made from home. Name of the business was inspired by the owners first name, Karl

Ngantcha-Mbagna. He is a college student who has been baking since the age of 8. He started

baking macarons in February of 2017. His mission is to keep customers happy with his

macarons, and other baking goods. The goal for Karl is to open up a standalone store as side

business while he is doctor.

After observing his business, there are 10 flavors on the menu. One of his best sellers is Cookies

n Cream. He gets around 1 to 2 order every week, most of his customers are UTD students. The

quantity of his macaroons comes in 5, 10, 15 and 25. With Price ranging between $8.00 to

$28.00. It takes him 60-90 minutes to make 3 batches of macarons. When we asked him about

his target market, he said that he can see potential in expanding the market outside of UTD. Also,

Karl advertises his macarons mostly on twitter and facebook to gain customers. In addition,

karls social media sites and website excel in art-design and simplicity of displaying the

macaroons. Lastly, we have decided to focus on identifying his target market as the research

objective going forward.

Summary

Limitation of study

Despite all the preparations we did before the survey, we ran into some limitation to our

study. One of them is the sample size of the survey , Professor Rajaratnam mentioned in class

that the ideal sample size should be 384 but according to our sample size, we only have 101

respondents, According to the Professor, if our sample size is too small, it will be difficult to find

significant relationships from the data, as statistical tests normally require a larger sample size to

ensure a representative distribution of the population and to be considered representative of

groups of people to whom results will be generalized or transferred.

Another limitation of study we ran into is that our survey is designed for people that have

tried macaron. In our survey results show that 13 respondents who have never try a macaron

before therefore we have errors in our data. When people think of dessert, they often associate it

with cookies, this might make respondent bias when we ask the questions relating to price.

Conclusion and Suggestion

In conclusion, the research data from our surveys, and focus group were used to form

trends that we analyzed and interpret to make educated suggestions. With the limitations in mind

we took the research and cross referenced the data, and made our recommendations to Karl listed
below. There were surprising findings in our data, and with the data we found that there are

many opportunities that Karl can implement into his business.

1. Price, Freshness, and Appearance should be Karls macaroons main features

2.Karl should come up more dark color and soft pastel color macaroons

3.Karl should definitely launch chocolate related favors.

4. Age 15 - 35 are the age group more acceptable with $1.60 and likely to purchase dessert

online than other age group, Karl should advertise or promote his business to UTD students and

facilities.

Karls Macarons is a business that is far from dominating the dessert market but can

carve out a profitable niche in the hearts of college students across the state. In addition to the

observations addressed above we believe that an actionable marketing plan will help add

sustainable success to this local start-up.

Karl should take an initiative to market more directly to college age males. The

significant aspect of this marketing is that it should be positioned as a potential gift, most of the

males in our sample test exclaimed that this is a favorite gifting option for an occasion. Well

timed marketing during the holiday season as well as Valentine's day will surely encourage more

transactions for Karls Macarons.

Another concern that arises from the survey was the price of the macarons. Karl is

currently 25% more expensive than the consensus price of $1.60. Customers also confessed to us

that the main appeal of macarons came from their color, freshness and price. Carefully
transitioning to cheaper ingredients while maintaining the same taste and level of freshness can

be an effective way to increase revenue, decrease expenses and ultimately earn a profit.

Furthermore, the biggest area of value we would like to add is a rough outline of a

marketing strategy. Being that Karl has determined a unique demographic and population as a

target market he must now focus on what his customer have in common rather than their

differences. Since they are all students at UTD, it makes sense that Karls Macarons would

invest its time and resources in increasing its popularity throughout campus. Perfecting a

business model at this school would give Karl a foundation to expand his business to other

University of Texas locations or other Universities in the DFW area. Ideas such as developing an

intern program where fellow students earn experience delivering macarons to other students

would give Karls Macarons exposure to students looking for manageable work opportunities

and creates an atmosphere of convenience that will inspire more acceptance among millennials

and staff members.

By aligning himself with school functions and organizations that inspire and support

entrepreneurship, Karl can find smart and effective ways to advertise and sell his goods at UTD

functions and become a more notable figure on campus, breaking through obscurity will increase

Karls sales by roughly 7% over the next 6 months and eventually create a business model that

can be replicated and scalable to meet the demands of college students across the state.
Full Result from Online Survey

Default Report
Karls Macarons Online Survey
November 22nd 2017, 3:00 pm MST

Q1 - How often have you had macaroons in the past year?

# Answer % Count

1 0 36.63% 37

2 1 - 5 times 49.50% 50

3 6 - 10 times 11.88% 12

4 More than 10 times 1.98% 2

Total 100% 101

 Q2 - Have you ever tried a macaron before?

# Answer % Count

1 Yes 87.13% 88

2 No 12.87% 13

Total 100% 101

Q3 - On the following scale, how much do you like macarons? (5 is high)

# Answer % Count

1 1 (Low) 7.92% 8

2 2 9.90% 10

3 3 27.72% 28

4 4 32.67% 33

5 5 (High) 21.78% 22

Total 100% 101

 Q4 - How much do you pay for a typical dessert that you eat at home?

# Answer % Count

1 $1.00 or less 17.82% 18

2 $1.01 to $3.00 31.68% 32

3 $3.01 to $5.00 29.70% 30

4 $5.01 to $7.00 12.87% 13

5 $7.01 and up 7.92% 8

Total 100% 101

 Q5 - Do you think it is reasonable to pay $1.60 for a macaroon?

# Answer % Count

1 Yes 61.39% 62

2 No 38.61% 39

Total 100% 101

 Q6 - Would you consider macaroons as a gift?

# Answer % Count

1 Yes 84.16% 85

2 No 15.84% 16

Total 100% 101

 Q7 - When purchasing a dessert, how important are the following
attributes?From 1 being not important to 5 very important.

# Question 1 (Not 2 3 (Somewhat 4 5 (Very T

important) important) importan o
t) t
a
l

1 Freshness 0.99% 1 0.99% 1 19.80% 20 21.78 22 56.44% 57 1

% 0
1

2 Brand 14.85% 15 16.83% 17 27.72% 28 16.83 17 23.76% 24 1

% 0
1

3 Appearance 1.98% 2 3.96% 4 16.83% 17 30.69 31 46.53% 47 1

% 0
1

4 Low in 28.71% 29 13.86% 14 26.73% 27 8.91 9 21.78% 22 1

calories % 0
1

5 Price 5.94% 6 2.97% 3 24.75% 25 25.74 26 40.59% 41 1

% 0
1
 Q8 - How often would you purchase reasonably priced macaroons?

# Answer % Count

1 Once a week 6.93% 7

2 1 - 2 times a month 24.75% 25

3 3 - 4 times a year 18.81% 19

4 Only for special occasions 37.62% 38

5 Never 11.88% 12

Total 100% 101

 Q9 - For which of the following occasions would you consider ordering
macarons? (select all that apply)

# Answer % Count

1 Anytime 18.95% 29

2 Birthday / Wedding / Special Event 20.92% 32

3 Holidays 22.88% 35

4 Occasional treat 31.37% 48

5 Would not order 5.88% 9

Total 100% 153

 Q10 - Which flavors do you wish to try? List Flavors

(Chocolate 43/101)

A. B. C.

almond cashew chocolate

Earl Grey Salted Caramel Blackberry Strawberry

Hazelnut Mint Mimosa

chocolate cheesecake snickerdoodle

Vanilla Banana Lemon

Coconut Red Velvet Cake Batter

Key Lime Pistachio Salted Caramel

Vanilla Chocolate Lemon

vanilla cream fruit loops

cake chocolate pistachio

orange lime lemon

chocolate raspberry milky chocolate

grape vanilla strawberry

banana cheesecake orange

Lemon Lime Key lime

Cookies and Cream Lemon Lime Pie

Orange Strawberry Chocolate

Vanilla Green Tea Coffee

Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake Lavender

Snickers Lavender Cheesecake

Green Tea Strawberry Coffee

Salted Caramel Chocolate Vanilla

Kiwi Almond Green Tea

Caramel Almond Peanut

Salted Caramel Vanilla Pistachio

Orange Vanilla Chocolate

Vanilla Chocolate Lemon

Weed Grass Flower

Vanilla Lemon Almond

Rose Orange Vanilla

Hazelnut Chocolate Vanilla

Taro Caramel Pumpkin

Lavender Salted caramel Apricot

Chocolate Pistachio Strawberry

Apricot Lavender Vanilla

 Mango Vanilla Yam

Vanilla Cookie and Cream Chocolate

Pumpkin Mango Orange

Chocolate Strawberry Lemon

Pumpkin Blueberry Caramel

Chocolate Cherry Orange

Matcha Coffee Green tea

Strawberry Coconut Vanilla

Vanilla Coffee Caramel

Coffee Mango Vanilla

Chocolate Green Tea Matcha Vanilla

Chocolate Raspberry Red velvet

Chocolate Vanilla Peanut butter

CREAM CREAM CREAM

0 0 0

chocolate coconut vanilla

Rose Lavender Matcha

Mint Strawberry Chocolate

Lemon Violet Chocolate

Chocolate Coffee Red Velvet

 strawberry chocolate chip chocolate

0 0 0

apple banana orange

strawberry green tea creme brulee

Vanilla Mango Burbon

Chocolate Chip Mint Chocolate Chocolate

Chocolate Vanilla Strawberry

Cookies&Cream Coconut&Chocolate Banana&Chocolate

Vanilla Matcha Banana

Chocolate coconut White chocolate Homemade vanilla

chocolate vanilla starwberry

Chocolate Vanilla Peanut butter

Oreo Cookies n creme Strawberry

Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate

Vanilla Chocolate Strawberry

mind-chocolate Mango Oreo

Vanilla Strawberry Nutella

vanilla chlateoco strawberry

Oreos Vanilla Strawberry

oreo cheesecake strawberry

 chocolate cheesecake peanut butter

Chocolate Vanilla Strawberry

Fudge Cookies and cream Vanilla

Oreo Chocolate Strawberry

banana pudding ham & cheese coffee

Cookies and cream Dark Bright

Lemon Strawberry Cream

coffee mint chips chocolate

Banana Chocolate Strawberry

vanilla strawberry chocolate

Vanilla Coffee Cookie Dough

Lavender Greentea Coffee

chocolate coconut mango

Cookies and cream Vanilla Strawberry

Vanilla Chocolate Strawberry

Chocolate Vanilla Coconut

chocolate vanilla blueberry

0 0 0

grape strawberry blueberry

cookies chocolate oreo

Raspberry Lemon Fruity pebbles

Coke GreenTea Lemon

Strawberry Lemon-Lime Red Velvet

S'mores Lemon Red Velvet

Cheesecake Green tea coco

Coffee Strawberry Sesame

 Q11 - The average cost for a dozen macarons online and in a bakery can
range from $10 to $40 per dozen due in large part to the cost of the
ingredients, time, flavor and effort required to make macarons. What would
you consider as a reasonable price for a dozen macarons?

# Answer % Count

1 Over $16 15.84% 16

2 $13 - $16 29.70% 30

3 $9 - $12 35.64% 36

4 $5 - $8 16.83% 17

5 Below $5 1.98% 2

Total 100% 101

Q13 - How likely would you be to recommend these macarons to a friend?

# Answer % Count

1 Very unlikely 3.96% 4

2 Unlikely 5.94% 6

3 Somewhat likely 23.76% 24

4 Likely 45.54% 46

5 Very likely 20.79% 21

Total 100% 101

 Q14 - Which of the following colors of macarons do you prefer?

# Answer % Count

1 Bright 16.83% 17

2 Dark 38.61% 39

3 Soft Pastel 44.55% 45

Total 100% 101

 Q15 - Have you ever bought desserts online?

# Answer % Count

1 Yes 23.76% 24

2 No 76.24% 77

Total 100% 101

Q16 - Would you like to subscribe to Karls macaron? If yes please put your
email in the comment thanks. Simply skip the question if you choose no.

# Answer % Count

1 Yes 80.21% 81

2 No 19.79% 20

Total 100% 101

 Q18 - Your Age?

# Answer % Count

1 15 - 25 44.55% 45

2 26 - 35 37.62% 38

3 36 - 45 11.88% 12

4 46 and up 5.94% 6

Total 100% 101

 Q19 - Your Ethnicity?

# Answer % Count

1 Asian 43.14% 44

2 Black / African American 13.73% 14

3 Caucasian 24.51% 25

4 Hispanic 8.82% 9

5 Other 9.80% 10

Total 100% 102

 Q20 - Your Gender?

# Answer % Count

1 Male 58.42% 59

2 Female 41.58% 42

Total 100% 101

 Q21 - Your annual household income?

# Answer % Count

1 0 - 25k 24.00% 24

2 26k - 50k 21.00% 21

3 51k - 100k 36.00% 36

4 101k and up 19.00% 19

Total 100% 100

 Q22 - Your zip code

75081

75082

75081

75042

75082

75215

75082

75080

75080

75080

75042

75098

75098

75042

75081

75081

75082

75094
75215

75215

75215

75215

75082

75023

75080

75082

75089

75089

75094

75082

75081

75023

75081

75081

75082

75082

75081

75080
75023

75080

75075

75035

75023

75070

75081

75080

75080

75080

75025

75044

75001

75081

75025

75287

75035

75180

75081

75094
75080

75287

75007

75075

75082

75013

76040

75080

77642

75022

75094

75074

75080

75025

75038

75035

75025

75067

75025

76065
75056

75080

76201

75243

75088

75252

75081

75098

75075

75080

75094

75080

75080

75070

78750

75080

75080

75077

75006

75025
Appendix B:

Observation Question Samples:

1. How long youve been doing the business?

2. How many people work at your company?

3. Whats your customer base?

4. How many order you received weekly?

5. How long does it take you to make dozens of macarons?

6. How many social media sites you have to advertise KarlsMacs.com?

7. From 1 to 5, how well do you maintain the relationship with your customers?

8. From 1 to 5, how well do you think your customers are satisfied?

Focus Group Sample Questions:

Focus group Observation questions

Demographics

- Where do you currently live?

o Zip code

o City

o State

Age, Gender, and Ethnicity

- What age are you?

- Are you a male or female?

- What is your ethnicity?

Focus group discussion questions?

- Do you like macaroons?

- Do you visually like KarlsMacs.com?

- How often do you eat Macaroons?

- Which flavors do you wish to try?

Focus Group Observation:

Settings of Focus group

- UTD multipurpose room orange

- 12:30 pm 1:30 pm

- Saturday Nov. 11th Saturday

- 6 people were present = Each person wanted their name to be confidential, and the

focus group was free of charge.

Person 1. Zip code 75081, City: Richardson TX, Age 59- male

Do you like macaroons?

o Person 1, have never tried macarons before, but have heard that they are delicious

desserts. They said, usually they just stick to cupcakes or cheese cakes when deciding what

dessert to purchase.

Do you visually like KarlsMacs.com?

o They said the website is very colorful and the design puts all of the focus on the

macarons. In which, makes the macaroons look even more delicious.

How often do you eat Macaroons?

o He eats macarons around 4 times a month from a bakery in Plano. But think it is really

cool that there is an online business for macaroon deliveries.

What is your ethnicity?

o Black/African American

Which flavors do you wish to try from KarlsMacs.com?

o Cookies n Cream

o Red velvet Macarons

Person 2. Zip code 75081, City: Richardson TX, Age 54- female

Do you like macaroons?

o Person 2, they usually eat macarons for special occasions like holidays, social events, and

usually give them to relatives as a gift. They asked if there are healthy macarons like sugar

free. They believe that would be different and a step ahead of the competition.

Do you visually like KarlsMacs.com?

o Person 2, loves how simple the website is to operate, and thinks the macarons photos are

well thought out really display how tasty they look. They do wish there were more options

for the macaroon flavors but are impressed with the flavors that are presented.

How often do you eat Macaroons?

o she eats macarons twice a month or less on average.

What is your ethnicity?

o Black/African American

Which flavors do you wish to try?

o Express to the Milky Way

o Cookies n Cream

Person 3. Zip code 75201, City: Plano TX, Age 30 male

Do you like macaroons?

o Person 3, have eaten macaroons a lot more in the past couple years and really enjoy

trying new bakeries that create macaroons.

Do you visually like KarlsMacs.com?

o They love the design of the website and believes the simplicity of the website is its strong

point.

How often do you eat Macaroons?

o They eat macarons every other week. Somedays they buy them or make macarons

themselves on the weekends.

What is your ethnicity?

o Asian

Which flavors do you wish to try?

o Custom macaroons

o Strawberry vanilla

o Pink Champagne

Person 4. Zip code 75093, City: Plano TX, Age 20 male

Do you like macaroons?

o Person 4 enjoys macarons but it depends on the bakery they purchase them from. They

have tried karlsMacs before and believe KarlsMacs have the best Cookies n Cream

macarons than its competitors.

Do you visually like KarlsMacs.com?

o They like that it is simple but could use something more to really be unique and different

from the other bakery websites. Although they do really enjoy how the macarons are

photod.

How often do you eat Macaroons?

o 4 to 5 times a year

What is your ethnicity?

o Hispanic

Which flavors do you wish to try?

o Lemonade Macaron

o Salted Caramel

o Cookies n Cream

Person 5. Zip code 75001, City: Dallas TX, Age 21- female

Do you like macaroons?

o They said macarons are there favorite desert, but usually just eat them on special

occasions because they can become a little expensive. They also wondered why macarons

are expensive. I explained they are difficult to make and take a little bit of more time than

other deserts.

Do you visually like KarlsMacs.com?

o They thought the website was simple and they wish to see more info on the ingredients of

each macaroon and calorie count. However, the macarons looked delicious to them on the
website. They said Could I order some now in which I replied after the meeting is over

that would be best.

How often do you eat Macaroons?

o 3 times a month this includes special occasions

What is your ethnicity?

o Caucasian

Which flavors do you wish to try?

o Pink Champagne

o Vanilla Macarons

o Strawberry Vanilla Macaron

Person 6.: Zip code 75033, City: Frisco TX, Age 26- male

Do you like macaroons?

o They have tried macaroons once a couple years ago and enjoyed the texture but thought

the Macaron was a bit too sweet. In so, they are willing to try them much more knowing

that not all macarons are extremely sweet.

Do you visually like KarlsMacs.com?

o They explained their background in web development and said the website is very simple

which is always a great thing. But the prices category is a little confusing and threw them

off when it showed $8.00 - $28.00. other than that they loved how the macarons looked

in the photos.

How often do you eat Macaroons?

o 2 to 3 times a month

What is your ethnicity?

o Caucasian

Which flavors do you wish to try?

o Star Light

o Salted Caramel

o Pink Champagne

Closing Statements

After the questions ended, I asked if there were any questions or concerns the

participants want to bring up. None of the participants had any questions or concerns to

tell me. They did enjoy the discussion and I thanked them for participating in the focus

group.

Once the focus group was completed, there were a couple of findings that helped

gain more knowledge in figuring out Karls macaroons target market. By using open ended

response questions from different participants we were able to understand how people feel

about Karls macaroons. The participants were open to trying Karls macaroons mostly

during special occasions . In addition, they also explained the strengths of the company and

what could be improved upon. In conclusion, the focus group gave us face to face data and

honest opinions from a diverse group of participants.