UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA
College of Economic and Management Sciences
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
MNM3702: Marketing Research
Assignment 1 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
Case Study: Action First Funerals — Research
Design, Secondary Data & In-Depth Interview
MNM3702
Module Code:
Marketing Research
Module Name:
Assignment 1 (Semester 1)
Assignment:
28 March 2026
Due Date:
Action First Funerals
Case Study:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for MNM3702 — UNISA 2026
,UNISA | MNM3702 Marketing Research Assignment 1 — Semester 1, 2026
Contents
Question 1 4
1 Question 1a: Management Decision and Research Problems 4
1a: Management Decision and Research Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1 Critical Management Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Management Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Marketing Research Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Question 1b: Research Objectives and Research Questions 6
1b: Research Objectives and Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3 Question 1c: Research Design 7
1c: Research Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.1 Chosen Research Design: Exploratory Research Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4 Question 1d: Target Population 9
1d: Target Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.1 Target Population Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Question 2 10
5 Question 2: Secondary Data Sources 11
2: Secondary Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1 Source 1: Statistics South Africa — General Household Survey . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1.1 Type of Data Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1.2 How It Helps Achieve the Research Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1.3 Limitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2 Source 2: Financial Sector Conduct Authority — Financial Services Consumer Re-
port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2.1 Type of Data Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2.2 How It Helps Achieve the Research Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2.3 Limitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Page 2 of 22
, UNISA | MNM3702 Marketing Research Assignment 1 — Semester 1, 2026
Question 3 14
6 Question 3: In-Depth Interview 15
3: In-Depth Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7 Interview Guide 17
Interview Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8 Summary of Interview Responses 18
Summary of Interview Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8.0.1 Response to Q1: How the Participant Came to Hold a Funeral Plan . . . 18
8.0.2 Response to Q2: Factors Considered When Choosing a Plan . . . . . . . . 18
8.0.3 Response to Q3: Perceptions of Affordability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8.0.4 Response to Q4: Awareness of Other Providers, Including Action First Fu-
nerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
8.0.5 Response to Q5: Community Attitudes Toward Funeral Plans . . . . . . . 19
8.0.6 Response to Q6: Desired Changes to Funeral Plan Services . . . . . . . . 19
9 Signed Consent Form 21
Signed Consent Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Reference List 22
Page 3 of 22
College of Economic and Management Sciences
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
MNM3702: Marketing Research
Assignment 1 — Semester 1, 2026
⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄ ⋄⋄
Case Study: Action First Funerals — Research
Design, Secondary Data & In-Depth Interview
MNM3702
Module Code:
Marketing Research
Module Name:
Assignment 1 (Semester 1)
Assignment:
28 March 2026
Due Date:
Action First Funerals
Case Study:
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for MNM3702 — UNISA 2026
,UNISA | MNM3702 Marketing Research Assignment 1 — Semester 1, 2026
Contents
Question 1 4
1 Question 1a: Management Decision and Research Problems 4
1a: Management Decision and Research Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1 Critical Management Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Management Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Marketing Research Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2 Question 1b: Research Objectives and Research Questions 6
1b: Research Objectives and Research Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3 Question 1c: Research Design 7
1c: Research Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.1 Chosen Research Design: Exploratory Research Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2 Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4 Question 1d: Target Population 9
1d: Target Population . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.1 Target Population Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Question 2 10
5 Question 2: Secondary Data Sources 11
2: Secondary Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1 Source 1: Statistics South Africa — General Household Survey . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1.1 Type of Data Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1.2 How It Helps Achieve the Research Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.1.3 Limitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2 Source 2: Financial Sector Conduct Authority — Financial Services Consumer Re-
port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2.1 Type of Data Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2.2 How It Helps Achieve the Research Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
5.2.3 Limitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Page 2 of 22
, UNISA | MNM3702 Marketing Research Assignment 1 — Semester 1, 2026
Question 3 14
6 Question 3: In-Depth Interview 15
3: In-Depth Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
7 Interview Guide 17
Interview Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8 Summary of Interview Responses 18
Summary of Interview Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8.0.1 Response to Q1: How the Participant Came to Hold a Funeral Plan . . . 18
8.0.2 Response to Q2: Factors Considered When Choosing a Plan . . . . . . . . 18
8.0.3 Response to Q3: Perceptions of Affordability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
8.0.4 Response to Q4: Awareness of Other Providers, Including Action First Fu-
nerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
8.0.5 Response to Q5: Community Attitudes Toward Funeral Plans . . . . . . . 19
8.0.6 Response to Q6: Desired Changes to Funeral Plan Services . . . . . . . . 19
9 Signed Consent Form 21
Signed Consent Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Reference List 22
Page 3 of 22
