An example to refine a crude MBA research theme: on stagflation and marketing tactic

 An example to refine a crude MBA research theme: on stagflation and marketing tactic

 

My question posted to Generative AI: I am a part-time MBA student, currently learning to do my dissertation project. My initial crude research theme is: "an evaluation of the consumer marketing tactic of shrinkflation on convenience products in Hong Kong"; in addition, I am interested in considering the following key words for my concrete research theme formation: consumer psychology, Product packaging design, pragmatism, multi-disciplinary stance. Could you produce a more concrete research theme for me based on this information?

You already have a strong and relevant starting point—what you need now is to sharpen the scope, clarify the variables, and align it with a coherent research philosophy and method.

Here are a few refined research theme options, each with a slightly different emphasis depending on how you want to position your dissertation:

Option 1: Consumer perception and behaviour focus

“Evaluating the impact of shrinkflation and packaging design on consumer perception and purchase behaviour in Hong Kong’s convenience product market: A pragmatist, multi-method approach.”

·        Focus: How consumers perceive and react

·        Key constructs: perceived value, fairness, trust, purchase intention

·        Fits well with surveys + experiments

Option 2: Consumer psychology + marketing tactics

“An investigation into the psychological effects of shrinkflation and packaging cues on consumer decision-making in Hong Kong convenience products.”

·        Focus: Cognitive biases and behavioural responses

·        Theoretical anchors: behavioural economics (e.g., anchoring, loss aversion), signalling theory

·        Stronger academic/psychological angle

Option 3: Packaging as a mediating mechanism

“The role of product packaging design in moderating consumer responses to shrinkflation: Evidence from Hong Kong’s convenience goods sector.”

·        Focus: Packaging as a mediator or moderator

·        More analytical and model-driven

·        Suitable if you want to run regression/SEM

Option 4: Ethical and managerial perspective (MBA-friendly)

“Shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: Consumer perception, ethical evaluation, and the role of packaging design in Hong Kong’s convenience product industry.”

·        Adds: business ethics + managerial implications

·        Good fit for MBA grading criteria (practical relevance)

Option 5: Explicit pragmatist, multi-disciplinary framing

“A pragmatist evaluation of shrinkflation in Hong Kong convenience products: Integrating consumer psychology and packaging design to assess marketing effectiveness.”

·        Explicitly signals research philosophy

·        Integrates disciplines (marketing + psychology + design)

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Recommended direction (based on your background)

Given your MBA focus, interest in pragmatism, and preference for practical applicability, the strongest version is likely a hybrid of Options 1 and 4:

Final suggested research theme:

“Evaluating shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: The effects of packaging design on consumer perception, trust, and purchase behaviour in Hong Kong’s convenience product market—A pragmatist, multi-disciplinary study.”

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Why this works academically

·        Clear independent variable: Shrinkflation (with/without packaging changes)

·        Mediating/moderating variable: Packaging design

·        Dependent variables: Consumer perception, trust, purchase intention

·        Context: Hong Kong convenience products (nicely bounded)

·        Philosophy: Pragmatism → justifies mixed methods (survey + experiment + maybe interviews)

·        MBA relevance: Direct implications for pricing strategy, branding, and ethics

---

Example research question (to match the theme)

You could align it with something like:

·        “How does shrinkflation, combined with packaging design changes, influence consumer trust and purchase intention in Hong Kong convenience products?”

Or more structured:

·        RQ1: How do consumers perceive shrinkflation in convenience products?

·        RQ2: How does packaging design influence detection and acceptance of shrinkflation?

·        RQ3: What is the impact on trust and purchase intention?

 

My question posted to generative AI: My choice is on option 4: "Shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: Consumer perception, ethical evaluation, and the role of packaging design in Hong Kong’s convenience product industry.” Please suggest 4 related research issues and 4 Hong Kong public-media reported issues on this research theme. Also suggest 2 relevant academic theories to use (and references in Harvard reference format). It would also be useful to suggest 4 research objectives and 4 research questions based on this concrete research theme. I intend to use 2 primary research methods (i.e. 5 semi-structured interviews with my friends and company colleagues) as well as a questionnaire survey with my friends. There should also be a secondary research method to employ in this case.

Yes — your theme is now concrete enough to build a good MBA dissertation around. Below I frame it into research issues, Hong Kong media-linked issues, theories, objectives, questions, and a suitable method structure, all aligned with your chosen topic and pragmatist stance.

Refined research theme

Shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: Consumer perception, ethical evaluation, and the role of packaging design in Hong Kong’s convenience product industry.

A slightly more dissertation-ready wording would be:

“An investigation of shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: consumer perceptions, ethical evaluations, and the influence of packaging design in Hong Kong’s convenience product market.”

Four research issues

·        Consumer awareness issue. Many consumers may not notice that product size has been reduced while the shelf price remains similar, which makes shrinkflation hard to detect at the point of purchase.

·        Consumer trust issue. Shrinkflation may be perceived as a hidden price increase, which can weaken trust in brands and retailers, especially when packaging cues do not clearly signal the change.

·        Ethical issue. The practice raises questions about transparency, fairness, and whether consumers are fully informed when they buy convenience products.

·        Packaging design issue. Packaging changes, such as altered size, shape, wording, or visual design, may either mask or reveal shrinkflation, influencing consumer interpretation and purchase response.

Hong Kong media issues

These are the main Hong Kong public-media reported issues that fit your topic very well:

·        Widespread downsizing in supermarket goods. Hong Kong’s Consumer Council reported that over 90% of the 62 surveyed supermarket products had been reduced in volume or weight, in some cases by as much as 30%.

·        Effective hidden price rises. The same report found that nearly 40% of products with available recommended retail prices had a de facto unit-price increase of over 10%, with the highest reaching 26.2%.

·        Need for clearer packaging disclosure. The Consumer Council urged retailers to state volume or weight changes clearly on packaging and at the point of sale, and to display unit prices to improve transparency.

·        Packaging clues and consumer vigilance. Hong Kong media reporting highlighted that wording such as “new formula” or “upgraded,” and changes in packaging design, may signal shrinkflation and make it harder for consumers to compare products fairly.

Two theories to use

1) Equity theory

This theory is useful because shrinkflation can be interpreted by consumers as unfair treatment when they feel they are paying the same price for less product. It fits your ethical evaluation and trust dimension well.

Harvard reference:Adams, J.S. (1965) ‘Inequity in social exchange’, in Berkowitz, L. (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. New York: Academic Press, pp. 267–299.

2) Signalling theory

This theory is useful because packaging design sends signals to consumers about product quality, value, and whether the brand is being transparent. It fits your packaging-design focus and helps explain how consumers interpret shrinkflation cues.

Harvard reference: Spence, M. (1973) ‘Job market signaling’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87(3), pp. 355–374.

Four research objectives

·        To examine how consumers in Hong Kong perceive shrinkflation in convenience products.

·        To assess consumers’ ethical evaluation of shrinkflation as a marketing strategy.

·        To explore how packaging design influences consumers’ ability to detect and interpret shrinkflation.

·        To evaluate the implications of shrinkflation for consumer trust and purchase intention in Hong Kong’s convenience product market.

Four research questions

·        How do consumers in Hong Kong perceive shrinkflation in convenience products?

·        How do consumers ethically evaluate shrinkflation as a marketing strategy?

·        How does packaging design affect consumers’ awareness of shrinkflation?

·        What is the effect of shrinkflation on consumer trust and purchase intention?

Method design

Your proposed primary methods are workable for an MBA dissertation, but the sample will be small, so the study should be positioned as exploratory rather than statistically generalisable. Five semi-structured interviews with friends and colleagues can give rich qualitative insights, and a questionnaire survey can provide a broader but still convenience-sample view of attitudes and awareness.

A suitable secondary research method would be document and media analysis. You can analyse the Consumer Council report, Hong Kong newspaper coverage, retailer packaging examples, and selected academic literature to triangulate your interview and survey findings. This is especially useful because shrinkflation is a real-world market practice and your topic benefits from comparing consumer perceptions with documented product changes.

Suggested dissertation structure

A practical structure would be:

1.    Literature review on shrinkflation, consumer behaviour, ethics, and packaging cues.

2.    Conceptual framework based on equity theory and signalling theory.

3.    Methodology using interviews, questionnaire survey, and document/media analysis.

4.    Findings and discussion focused on Hong Kong convenience products.

5.    Implications for marketers, retailers, and consumer protection.

A useful refinement for your survey is to ask about awareness, fairness, trust, purchase intention, and packaging cue recognition. For interviews, ask respondents to react to specific examples of product downsizing and packaging changes, because that will generate more concrete qualitative data.

 

You already have a strong and relevant starting point—what you need now is to sharpen the scope, clarify the variables, and align it with a coherent research philosophy and method.

Here are a few refined research theme options, each with a slightly different emphasis depending on how you want to position your dissertation:

Option 1: Consumer perception and behaviour focus

“Evaluating the impact of shrinkflation and packaging design on consumer perception and purchase behaviour in Hong Kong’s convenience product market: A pragmatist, multi-method approach.”

·        Focus: How consumers perceive and react

·        Key constructs: perceived value, fairness, trust, purchase intention

·        Fits well with surveys + experiments

Option 2: Consumer psychology + marketing tactics

“An investigation into the psychological effects of shrinkflation and packaging cues on consumer decision-making in Hong Kong convenience products.”

·        Focus: Cognitive biases and behavioural responses

·        Theoretical anchors: behavioural economics (e.g., anchoring, loss aversion), signalling theory

·        Stronger academic/psychological angle

Option 3: Packaging as a mediating mechanism

“The role of product packaging design in moderating consumer responses to shrinkflation: Evidence from Hong Kong’s convenience goods sector.”

·        Focus: Packaging as a mediator or moderator

·        More analytical and model-driven

·        Suitable if you want to run regression/SEM

Option 4: Ethical and managerial perspective (MBA-friendly)

“Shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: Consumer perception, ethical evaluation, and the role of packaging design in Hong Kong’s convenience product industry.”

·        Adds: business ethics + managerial implications

·        Good fit for MBA grading criteria (practical relevance)

Option 5: Explicit pragmatist, multi-disciplinary framing

“A pragmatist evaluation of shrinkflation in Hong Kong convenience products: Integrating consumer psychology and packaging design to assess marketing effectiveness.”

·        Explicitly signals research philosophy

·        Integrates disciplines (marketing + psychology + design)

---

Recommended direction (based on your background)

Given your MBA focus, interest in pragmatism, and preference for practical applicability, the strongest version is likely a hybrid of Options 1 and 4:

Final suggested research theme:

“Evaluating shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: The effects of packaging design on consumer perception, trust, and purchase behaviour in Hong Kong’s convenience product market—A pragmatist, multi-disciplinary study.”

---

Why this works academically

·        Clear independent variable: Shrinkflation (with/without packaging changes)

·        Mediating/moderating variable: Packaging design

·        Dependent variables: Consumer perception, trust, purchase intention

·        Context: Hong Kong convenience products (nicely bounded)

·        Philosophy: Pragmatism → justifies mixed methods (survey + experiment + maybe interviews)

·        MBA relevance: Direct implications for pricing strategy, branding, and ethics

---

Example research question (to match the theme)

You could align it with something like:

·        “How does shrinkflation, combined with packaging design changes, influence consumer trust and purchase intention in Hong Kong convenience products?”

Or more structured:

·        RQ1: How do consumers perceive shrinkflation in convenience products?

·        RQ2: How does packaging design influence detection and acceptance of shrinkflation?

·        RQ3: What is the impact on trust and purchase intention?

 

My question posted to generative AI: My choice is on option 4: "Shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: Consumer perception, ethical evaluation, and the role of packaging design in Hong Kong’s convenience product industry.” Please suggest 4 related research issues and 4 Hong Kong public-media reported issues on this research theme. Also suggest 2 relevant academic theories to use (and references in Harvard reference format). It would also be useful to suggest 4 research objectives and 4 research questions based on this concrete research theme. I intend to use 2 primary research methods (i.e. 5 semi-structured interviews with my friends and company colleagues) as well as a questionnaire survey with my friends. There should also be a secondary research method to employ in this case.

Yes — your theme is now concrete enough to build a good MBA dissertation around. Below I frame it into research issues, Hong Kong media-linked issues, theories, objectives, questions, and a suitable method structure, all aligned with your chosen topic and pragmatist stance.

Refined research theme

Shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: Consumer perception, ethical evaluation, and the role of packaging design in Hong Kong’s convenience product industry.

A slightly more dissertation-ready wording would be:

“An investigation of shrinkflation as a marketing strategy: consumer perceptions, ethical evaluations, and the influence of packaging design in Hong Kong’s convenience product market.”

Four research issues

·        Consumer awareness issue. Many consumers may not notice that product size has been reduced while the shelf price remains similar, which makes shrinkflation hard to detect at the point of purchase.

·        Consumer trust issue.  Shrinkflation may be perceived as a hidden price increase, which can weaken trust in brands and retailers, especially when packaging cues do not clearly signal the change.

·        Ethical issue. The practice raises questions about transparency, fairness, and whether consumers are fully informed when they buy convenience products.

·        Packaging design issue. Packaging changes, such as altered size, shape, wording, or visual design, may either mask or reveal shrinkflation, influencing consumer interpretation and purchase response.

Hong Kong media issues

These are the main Hong Kong public-media reported issues that fit your topic very well:

·        Widespread downsizing in supermarket goods. Hong Kong’s Consumer Council reported that over 90% of the 62 surveyed supermarket products had been reduced in volume or weight, in some cases by as much as 30%.

·        Effective hidden price rises. The same report found that nearly 40% of products with available recommended retail prices had a de facto unit-price increase of over 10%, with the highest reaching 26.2%.

·        Need for clearer packaging disclosure. The Consumer Council urged retailers to state volume or weight changes clearly on packaging and at the point of sale, and to display unit prices to improve transparency.

·        Packaging clues and consumer vigilance. Hong Kong media reporting highlighted that wording such as “new formula” or “upgraded,” and changes in packaging design, may signal shrinkflation and make it harder for consumers to compare products fairly.

Two theories to use

1) Equity theory

This theory is useful because shrinkflation can be interpreted by consumers as unfair treatment when they feel they are paying the same price for less product. It fits your ethical evaluation and trust dimension well.

Harvard reference: Adams, J.S. (1965) ‘Inequity in social exchange’, in Berkowitz, L. (ed.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. New York: Academic Press, pp. 267–299.

2) Signalling theory

This theory is useful because packaging design sends signals to consumers about product quality, value, and whether the brand is being transparent. It fits your packaging-design focus and helps explain how consumers interpret shrinkflation cues.

Harvard reference: Spence, M. (1973) ‘Job market signaling’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87(3), pp. 355–374.

Four research objectives

·        To examine how consumers in Hong Kong perceive shrinkflation in convenience products.

·        To assess consumers’ ethical evaluation of shrinkflation as a marketing strategy.

·        To explore how packaging design influences consumers’ ability to detect and interpret shrinkflation.

·        To evaluate the implications of shrinkflation for consumer trust and purchase intention in Hong Kong’s convenience product market.

Four research questions

·        How do consumers in Hong Kong perceive shrinkflation in convenience products?

·        How do consumers ethically evaluate shrinkflation as a marketing strategy?

·        How does packaging design affect consumers’ awareness of shrinkflation?

·        What is the effect of shrinkflation on consumer trust and purchase intention?

Method design

Your proposed primary methods are workable for an MBA dissertation, but the sample will be small, so the study should be positioned as exploratory rather than statistically generalisable. Five semi-structured interviews with friends and colleagues can give rich qualitative insights, and a questionnaire survey can provide a broader but still convenience-sample view of attitudes and awareness.

A suitable secondary research method would be document and media analysis. You can analyse the Consumer Council report, Hong Kong newspaper coverage, retailer packaging examples, and selected academic literature to triangulate your interview and survey findings. This is especially useful because shrinkflation is a real-world market practice and your topic benefits from comparing consumer perceptions with documented product changes.

A useful refinement for your survey is to ask about awareness, fairness, trust, purchase intention, and packaging cue recognition. For interviews, ask respondents to react to specific examples of product downsizing and packaging changes, because that will generate more concrete qualitative data.

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