The market scope of Solar
powered Rickshaws in
Pakistan
Proposal for Marketing Research Project
KomalAnjum
8th October, 2011
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This proposal is about the marketing research for finding the market scope of solar powered
rickshaws in Pakistan. It will be an exploratory research, in which we will use different research
methods and designs to search that whether rickshaw drivers will switch from the CNG or
petrol powered rickshaws to solar powered ones? As for hypothesis building, we think that the
answer to this question will be yes because the profits by the solar powered ones will be higher.
BACKGROUND
Pakistan has been facing the worst fuel crisis from the past few years which has heightened
lately. This, of course, has affected the economy and the country is currently in a recession. The
government rather the public is desperately looking for solutions that can help them in fulfilling
the basic necessities of modern life such as electricity, transportation etc. People are facing
many problems because of the sky-high and still rising prices of fuel i.e. Petrol, Diesel, CNG.
Unlike other industries, the transportation sector is running unparalleled with only minor
changes due to the reason that people have to move around, travel despite the crisis and
unreasonable prices. This all results in discomfort and inconvenience for the people especially
those who use public transportation. Due to the shortage of conventional fuels (of the country),
the government is planning on using other natural resources as the substitute of the prior. Out
of all other natural resources, solar energy is said to be the best substitute because of the
geographical location of the country. Pakistan is situated near the equator and the weather is
mostly sunny especially in the plains, central and southern regions. Solar energy powered
vehicles have lately been gaining a lot of popularity due to their reasonable running costs and
the field in expanding dramatically. Pakistanis especially the common public is at this point very
eager to try and support anything that eases them when it comes to transportation. The given
scenario presents a very bright and promising business opportunity and pioneers of introducing
this technology are expected and predicted to be well received.
OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH
Objective of conducting this research is to find out the market for the Solar Power rickshaws. In
the end of this research, we will try to answer the questionsthat will rickshaw drivers in
Pakistan switch from traditional (compressed natural gas/petrol) rickshaws to Solar Power
ones? Will they be willing to buy these types of modern rickshaws, as they are little expensive
than the old onesbecause it’s a new technology and would they be convinced that this is long
term investment and would pay off later?
APPROACH TO THE PROBLEM
Objective/Theoretical Framework for this particular research is based on the fact that since
solar powered rickshaws will not only benefit the environment (energy efficient and pollution
free), but will also be more profitable for the drivers, because it will reduce their expenditure
on fuel, so obviously any rational person will go for an option like it, even if the initial cost of
such rickshaw is slightly expensive than its petrol and CNG counterparts.
Research Questions will be like “whether rickshaw drivers will spend more to get these solar
powered ones?”
Hypothesis formulated from the research question is “Rickshaw drivers will go for these types
of projects, because in the long term the little increment in the initial cost can help them earn
more profits”
RESEARCH DESIGN
This will be an exploratory research, because here we are checking the market scope of a new
product, which has not been used in Pakistan yet. To check the scope of these “Solar powered
rickshaws”, we will conduct questionnaire surveys, interviews, and will ask experts in the field.
DATA COLLECTION
For data collection, we will use “Single cross-sectional design”. Most of the information will be
primary data collected from Lahore by using specially designed surveys for this particular
research.
DATA ANALYSIS
After completing the data collection, we will analyze it by using the most suitable techniques
available. These techniques depend on the type of data collected.
REPORTING
After analyzing the data collected for this research, we will compile the findings in the form of a
detailed report, which will not only include the results of this research, but will also have
complete information about the data collection and analysis. The report will also be presented
at the end.