Jessica Weiller (jweiller)/Unsplash, used with permission.
This is the second post in the series.
What if high school students could conduct systematic research on important questions the way college students and researchers do? It's possible, as Laguna Beach High School (LBHS) students demonstrate. .
In Part 1 of this series, we interviewed Jun Shen, a passionate teacher and instructional technology coordinator who runs LBHS' Authentic Exploratory Research (AER) program. AER is an independent research course inspired by Palo Alto Unified School District's Advanced Authentic Research program. The program pairs students with adult mentors (LBUSD staff, industry experts, academics, etc.) to help teens research big questions in their chosen fields. Mr. Shen's explanation of how the AER program works, combined with student input in the rest of this interview series, reveals the variety of ways students can utilize the program to pursue their personal passions. and a glimpse into how other educators can implement such programs. program.
LBHS student Ariana Mohajerian was the first to share her experience with AER and the discoveries made by AER research. Mohajerian's answers are available after each question below.
Jenny Grant Rankin: In short, what was your research about?
Ariana Mohajerian: In short, my research was about marketing a membership program to a variety of target audiences at a small, high-end, health-oriented confectionery company in Hawaii.
I analyzed how new marketing efforts could help increase overall revenue and cash flow for the business. The new strategy I implemented was to use survey data to create a consistent target market. We also created a brand kit that included all of our customer values, website color palette, and copy.
JGR: What was your most important discovery?
morning: My most important discovery was that it is important to know business psychology and be able to put yourself in the customer's shoes. In order to successfully appeal to the logic and emotions of your target market when selling, you needed to understand what their values, goals, and mindset were.
I distributed a survey to better understand the company's current customers, their values, and what draws them to purchase.
When I pitched an idea to attract customers to my company, my hypothesis turned out to be correct. 100% of people said they value environmental sustainability and farm-to-fork processes. 70% of people say they are health-conscious consumers, and 85% love the Big Island beach lifestyle. Based on the findings and these proven conclusions, I created her three new membership plans for Ronohana. Each plan is targeted to a specific user.
The first memberships were family-oriented, aimed at children and their parents. The client's values were inclusivity, appealing to health-conscious families, and living an active lifestyle in the great outdoors. The second membership is for young people. For example, college students or recent graduates who live a youthful and spontaneous lifestyle. This membership was an affordable product line because young people want to have fun on a budget. These young people love the Big Island lifestyle and love trying Lonohana's unique flavors. The third membership was aimed at more professional and formal individuals. These high-end customers value premium products and the education behind their production. This membership included an information card with each bar that explained how it was made and where the ingredients came from.
JGR: What is the biggest thing you learned from doing your research?
morning: The biggest thing I learned about conducting research is that it requires careful planning and a hypothesis about what the results will be at the outset. Understanding the psychology behind why people spend money on luxury goods is critical because it guides how you word your surveys to get the most honest responses from your customers. did. For example, a customer value I focused on was a sense of family and community involvement. Therefore, I concluded that customers are more likely to purchase membership boxes to have enough gifts for family and community gatherings. This has been proven to be true based on research.
JGR: What is the biggest thing you learned about communicating research?
AM: The biggest thing I learned about communicating research is that you need to create a simple, eye-catching poster to present at an AER symposium. When giving the presentation, I mainly focused on visuals of the project and some easy to read graphs. I brought my own marketing materials to show the audience, including brochures, business cards, and printed branding kits. By experiencing the cohesive colors of the material, I realized that I could convey my message in a fun way that wouldn't bore anyone. With all of this material in place, we also invited questions from the audience.
JGR: What do you like most about AER?
AM: My favorite part about AER is the fact that I was able to work at a real-world company with a mentor who was in my dream job in high school. AER was a very unique opportunity for me to develop my interest in marketing and the psychology behind why we buy luxury goods. Although this was a class, it didn't feel like traditional learning as I went out into the real world to enhance a company's marketing strategy. The best way to gain experience is to learn by doing. I learned more about marketing through AER projects than I did by taking an “Introduction to Marketing” class at my dual-enrollment community college.
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It is interesting to know that this program not only improved Mohajerian's research skills but also her career skills. It's a common theme in students' stories of her AER experiences.
