Abstract:

The paper describes the central role which research has played in the development and evaluation of a possible new product structure for British Airways services between the UK and Europe. The airline was carrying out a major review of its marketing strategy on European routes. One of the main aims was to improve the competitive position of scheduled services, ensuring that the product range and pricing structure matched the needs of the market. The initial research indicated that a simple two product strategy: Expressair and Poundsaver, would reflect the basic travel needs of the market. Research was then carried out to test the acceptability of these new concepts, and to indicate the amount and type of traffic which they might attract. The paper outlines the problems (and some solutions) in the design, execution and interpretation of this research.