BA5207 –MARKETING MANAGEMENT

PART-A QUESTION BANK

1. Define Marketing.
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating,
communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers,
clients, partners, and society at large.

2. What are the factors affecting marketing environment (both micro and macro)?
Micro factors: Suppliers, Competitors, Market intermediaries, Public and Customers.
Macro factor: Demographic forces, Technological forces, Economic forces, Political
and legal forces, Physical forces and Social and Cultural forces.

3. Mention the factors involved in Michael E Porter model for competitive analysis.
 Rivalry inside the industry.
 Threat of new entrants.
 Threat of substitutes.
 Bargaining power of Buyer.
 Bargaining power of Supplier.

4. Suggest any four strategies for services marketing.

 Strategies for dealing with Intangibility of service.
 Strategies for dealing with Heterogeneity of service.
 Strategies for dealing with Inseparability of service.
 Strategies for dealing with Inventory of service.

5. Mention the pricing strategies for the introduction stage of PLC.

Market Penetration: Entrepreneurs may set a relatively low price. The objective is
to secure a large share of the market by deliberately setting the low prices.
Market Skimming: Entrepreneurs may set a high price. The objective is to make
profits over a short period.

6. State the decisions involved in channel management.

 Selecting channel members.
 Managing and motivating channel members.
 Evaluating channel members.

7. What are the different types of buying behavior?

 Complex buying behavior/Extensive problem solving/New task: Ex: A
house, a first car.
 Dissonance-Reducing buying behavior/Limited problem Solving/Modified
buy: Ex: a second car, clothing.
  Habitual buying behavior/Routinized response behavior/Straight
Rebuy/Brand Loyalty: Ex: Newspapers, Groceries.
 Variety-Seeking buying behavior/Brand Switching: Ex: Shirts (Color plus,
Peter England).

8. State the bases of Customer Relationship Management.

 Customer acquisition.
 Customer interaction management.
 Customer retention.

9. Highlight some of the online marketing trends.

 E-Mail marketing.
 Blogs marketing.
 Buzz marketing.
 Article marketing.
 Viral marketing.
 Rich media marketing.

10. What are practical applications of Marketing Research?

 Consumer research.
 Market research.
 Product research.
 Advertising and Promotion research.
 Retail research.

11. List any two differences between consumer market and industrial market
characteristics.

Basis of difference Industrial market Consumer market

Market structure Geographically Geographically diversified
concentrated markets. Few markets. Mass markets.
buyers. Demand is derived. Demand is direct.
Promotion Personal selling is Advertising and Sales
preferred. promotion are more
popular.

12. Illustrate the product hierarchy with an example.

 Core benefit: Ex: A hotel guest is buying rest and sleep.
 Basic product: Ex: Bed, Towels, Wash room.
 Expected Product: Ex: Clean bed, Fresh towels.
 Augmented product: Ex: Remote control television, Fresh flowers, Rapid
check in.
 Potential product: Ex: Suite rooms.
13. What are the benefits of segmentation?
 Better position to spot marketing opportunities.
 Allocation of marketing budget.
 Fighting competition effectively.
 Benefits to the consumers.
 High market shares.
 Better utilization of marketing resources.

14. What are the steps in consumer decision making?

 Problem recognition.
 Pre-purchase information search.
 Evaluation of alternatives.
 Purchase decision.
 Post-purchase behavior.

15. Define the concept of repositioning.

Repositioning refers to the major change in positioning for the brand/product. Firms
may consider repositioning a product due to declining performance or due to major
shifts in the environment. Repositioning happens when you change the image of a
brand to hold a new place in consumers’ minds relative to its competitors in the
marketplace where it exists. For example, Hyundai repositioned its brand to make its
low price image mean more than “cheap price = cheap car.” With the introduction of
creative marketing, Hyundai launched 10-year, 100,000 mile warranties, and a 1-year
buy-back program for consumers who fell victim to the recessionary environment.
Suddenly, low price didn’t mean “cheap.” Instead, it meant “more value
for your money.”

16. What are the elements of promotion mix?

Promotion mix refers to all the decisions related to promotion of sales of products and
services.
Tools or elements of promotion: Advertising, Sales promotion, Personal selling and
Public relation.

17. What do you understand by marketing process?

 In the first four steps companies work to understand consumers, create customer value
and build strong customer relationships. In the final step, companies reap the rewards
of creating superior customer value.

18. When is price skimming a good option?

Price skimming method is the firm’s desire to skim the market, by selling at a
premium price. This method delivers results in the following situations:
 When the target market associates quality of the product with its price.
 When the customer is aware and is willing to buy the product at a higher price.
 When the product is perceived as enhancing the customer’s status in society.
 When competition is non-existent.
 When the product represents significant technological breakthroughs.

19. List out the unique characteristics of services.

 Intangibility.
 Inseparability.
 Variability.
 Perishability.

20. What is consumerism?

The theory that a country that consumes goods and services in large quantities will be
better off economically. Consumerism for example, is an industrial society that is
advanced; a large amount of goods is bought and sold. Sometimes referred to as a
policy that promotes greed, consumerism is also coined as a movement towards
consumer protection that promotes improvement in safety standards and truthful
packaging and advertisement. Consumerism seeks to enforce laws against unfair
practices implement product guarantees.

21. Write the objectives of marketing.

 Creating new customers.
 Satisfying the needs of customers.
 Enhancing the profitability of the business.
 Determining the marketing mix.
  Building and retaining long-term relationship with customers.

22. What are the marketing concepts?

 The Production concept.
 The Product concept.
 The Selling concept.
 The Marketing concept.
 The Holistic marketing concept.

23. Give the process of implementation of Marketing Strategy.

 24. What do you mean by product marketing?

The overall process of conveying a good or service to customers. Product marketing

includes defining the scope of the product line, identifying potential markets for a
product, determining optimal pricing for the market, encouraging potential customers to
purchase the product, and finding the best distribution methods for delivering the product
to customers or to sales locations.

25. What is Product Positioning?

A marketing strategy that aims to make a brand occupy a distinct position, relative to
competing brands, in the mind of the customer. Companies apply this strategy either by
emphasizing the distinguishing features of their brand (what it is, what it does and how,
etc.) or they may try to create a suitable image (inexpensive or premium, utilitarian or
luxurious, entry-level or high-end, etc.) through advertising. Once a brand is positioned, it
is very difficult to reposition it without destroying its credibility.

Ex: No battery is stronger longer- Duracell Batteries. Positioned by product class and
product attribute.

26. What do you mean by Consumer Behavior?

Consumer Behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the
processes they use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products, services,
 experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that these processes have on the
consumer and society. It attempts to understand the decision-making processes of
buyers, both individually and in groups such as how emotions affect buying
behaviour.
27. What do you mean by Customer Retention?
Customer retention is the process of keeping customers in the customer inventory for
an unending period by meeting the needs and exceeding the expectations of those
customers. It is the approach of converting a casual customer into a committed and
loyal customer.
28. Define Advertisement.
Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services
by an identified sponsor.
29. What is Marketing Ethics?
Marketing ethics is an area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles
behind the operation and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics
include ethics of advertising and promotion.
30. What is Pop-up Advertisement in Online marketing?
Pop-up ads or pop-ups are often forms of online advertising on the World Wide Web
intended to attract web traffic or capture email addresses. Pop-ups are generally new
web browser windows to display advertisements. The pop-up window contains an
advertisement.
31. Define Market Research.
The process of assessing the viability of a new product or service through techniques
such as surveys, product testing and focus groups. Market research allows a company
to discover who their target market is and what these consumers think about a product
or service before it becomes available to the public. Market research may be
conducted by the company itself or by a third-party company that specializes in
market research.
32. What is impulse buying?
An impulse purchase or impulse buying is an unplanned decision to buy a product or
service, made just before a purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is
referred to as an impulse purchaser or impulse buyer. Research findings suggest that
emotions and feelings play a decisive role in purchasing, triggered by seeing the
product or upon exposure to a well-crafted promotional message.
33. What is a customer ‘touch point’? Why is it important?
Customer touch points are your brand’s points of customer contact, from start to
finish. For example, customers may find your business online or in an ad, see ratings
and reviews, visit your website, shop at your retail store, or contact your customer
service. Seems like a long list, but these are just a few of your touch points.
Touch points drive the quality of our customer experiences, and serve as the basis for
the resulting relationship. This is why it is so important to understand your
organization's touch points. By delivering Valued Touch points, you improve
customer experiences. Better customer experiences lead to better results for both
 customer and company along customer journeys, which results in improved sales and
greater customer loyalty and advocacy.
34. How can companies increase customer loyalty?
1. Thank customers for doing business with you. In writing. The value of the product
or service will determine what is appropriate. High cost service deals warrant a hand
written note; even smaller cost transaction companies can send pre-printed
appreciation notes to customers on a scheduled basis.
2. Stay in contact with existing and past clients on a consistent basis. By not
forgetting them, they won’t forget you. Phone calls, notecards or postcards,
newsletters, and email are only some ideas. Consider also opportunities for personal
contact, a good idea in our high-tech, low-touch world.
3. Give the customer more than they expect. Anticipate a need and fill it. Answer a
question before they ask it. Delivering more than they expect is one of the most
powerful ways to gain customer loyalty.
4. Listen. Take time to truly listen to what your customers say, and if they don’t
volunteer information—ask for it.
5. Pay attention to the obvious. Mind your manners. Use please and thank you. Be on
time for meetings. Promptly return phone calls and e-mail messages.
6. Make realistic promises—and be consistent. It is far better to promise something in
a week and deliver in three days than the other way around.
7. Share information. Send pertinent articles or information that may be valuable or
simply interesting to a client. Always look for ways to help customers learn.
8. Give referrals to clients. Send business back to a client whenever possible, and let
them know you are doing it.
9. Explain how things work. If you sell a product, show how to use it. If you sell a
service, explain what the customer can do to maximize its value.
10. Have fun! Really enjoy your customers, develop relationships, and look upon
them as your extended family. On occasion, treat a customer to something fun to
show your appreciation. Use your imagination.

35. What is meant by non-price competition?

Non-price competition is a marketing strategy "in which one firm tries to distinguish
its product or service from competing products on the basis of attributes like design
and workmanship". The firm can also distinguish its product offering through quality
of service, extensive distribution, customer focus, or any sustainable competitive
advantage other than price.
36. Marketing is business. Comment.
Marketing plays a central role in overall business strategy. Peter Drucker’s wise
observation, “The purpose of a company is to create customers.” And he added, “A
business has two — and only two — basic functions: marketing and innovation.
Marketing and innovation produce results: all the rest are costs.” Every company has
to decide what markets and customer segments to serve and how to understand their
needs, wants, perceptions and preferences so that the company is favored over its
competitors.
37. What is Marketing Myopia?
Marketing myopia is a term used in marketing as well as the title of an important
marketing paper written by Theodore Levitt. This paper was first published in 1960 in
the Harvard Business Review, a journal of which he was an editor. Marketing Myopia
suggests that businesses will do better in the end if they concentrate on meeting
customers’ needs rather than on selling products.
 A classic example is seen by Ford Motor Company’s development of the Edsel. The
Ford Edsel was a late 1950s passenger car built under the marketing strategy that it
was going to revolutionize the automotive industry. The car was designed with the
intent of being a large, stylish vehicle that would meet the driving needs for thousands
of U.S. consumers and families. Although the Edsel was released with much fanfare
and publicity from marketing agencies and media outlets, it was an almost immediate
failure in the consumer market. While reviews at the time cited the vehicle’s poor
workmanship and styling, business experts have attributed the failure to the
company's inability to understand consumer desires.
38. List out four important functions of marketing manager.
 Conducting the marketing research.
 Identifying new business opportunities.
 Customer relationship management.
 Management of the marketing mix.

39. What is called as interactive marketing?

Trading situation where the buyers specify the nature and application of products they
wish to buy and sellers try to match these requests almost instantly or in a very short
time. A large part of trading over the internet is through interactive marketing.
Ex: Amazon.com. They collect and digest past visitor behavior, allowing them to shoe
meaningful information in the present. Amazon offers “suggested reading” selections
based off of previous book searches or purchases.
40. Define Marketing Strategy.
Marketing Strategy is the basic approach that the business unit will use to attain its
goals and which comprises of elaborate decisions (strategies) on largest markets,
market positioning and mix and making expenditure allocation.
41. What is known as Under Positioning in Marketing?
A firm that has under positioned a product has failed to communicate a clear
positioning to the end consumer. This means that the product positioning is vague or
that the firm has tried to communicate too much about the product ( and the
consumers are confused about what the product stands for). In either case the
positioning is quite weak.
For example, the Flip video camera was discontinued because they did not establish a
good positioning strategy against mobile video cameras that were easier to use.
Consumers were not willing to buy an extra device when they already had one on
their mobile phone.
42. What do you understand by zero channels?
No intermediary. Producer sells directly to consumer. Fast and economical.
Manufacturer has full control over the distribution cost. Ex: Direct mails,
Telemarketing, Door to door sales, Manufacturer’s own store.
Ex: Dell Online store, HP Online store, Samsung Online store, Eureka Forbes Door to
door sales.
43. How will the purchase dissonance consumer react?
This situation occurs when a consumer uses each step in the purchase process but
does not spend a great deal of time on each of them. It requires less time than
extended decision-making since the person typically has some experience with both
‘what’ and ‘where’ of the purchase. Ex: A second car, clothing, a vacation and gifts.

44. Mention two objectives of marketing.

 Creating new customers.
  Satisfying the needs of customers.
 Enhancing the profitability of the business.
 Determining the marketing mix.
 Building and retaining long-term relationship with customers.
45. What is meant by micro environment?
Micro environment refers to the company’s immediate environment (i.e.) those
environmental factors that are in its proximity. Micro environment factors are
suppliers, customers, competitors, public and market intermediaries.

46. What do you mean by market opportunity analysis?

The market opportunity analysis endeavors to estimate size and sales potential of a
specific market segment of interest to marketer while also assessing key competitors
in the specific market segment.
47. Mention the tools in the service marketing mix.
Product, price, place, promotion, process, people and physical evidence.
48. What is meant by market segmentation?
Market segmentation is sub-dividing a market into distinct and homogeneous sub-
groups of customers, where any group can conceivably be selected as a target market
to be met with distinct marketing mix.
Ex: For Kids, Procter and Gamble sells Crest Spin brushes featuring favorite children
characters.
49. Mention any two bases for classification of product.
 Based on the nature: Goods, Service, Ideas, Experience, Events
 Based on Consumers Intentions:
 Consumer product: Convenience products, Shopping products, Specialty
product
 Industrial product: Raw material, Capital equipment, Component Parts.
 Based on Social benefit: Pleasing products, Deficient products, Desirable
products.
50. What do you mean by culture?
The set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviors learned by a member of
society from family and other important institutions.
Sub Culture: A group of people with shared value systems based on common life
experiences and situations.
51. What do you mean by consumer demographics?
A consumer demographic is a group of consumers that share a collection of market
relevant attributes. Consumer demographics include age, family size, family life
cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, etc.
52. What are the attributes of Marketing Information System?
Inter related components, Processing, Timeliness, Accuracy, Consistency,
Accessibility and future oriented.
53. What do you mean by Cause Related Marketing?
Cause related marketing is the public association of a for-profit company with a non-
profit organization, intended to promote the company’s product or service and to raise
money for the non-profit. An example is Proctor & Gamble’s Shiksha campaign
which has been contributing to the cause of child education since 2004.
54. What is Marketing Interface?
Companies which believe in the marketing concept believe in integrating the needs
and wants of the target customers with all the functional areas like production,
finance, human resources management and R&D. Marketing performs the role of
integration. This is known as marketing interface. Such a strategy will create a
synergy within the company which will contribute to business success.
55. What is Services Marketing?
Services marketing is marketing based on relationship and value. It is a managerial
process of managing the services.
56. Define strategy.
The term ‘Strategy’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Strategos’, which means
‘generalship’.
57. What do you mean by targeting?
A target market is a group of customers towards which a business has decided to
aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise.
For example, a television show may be given a particular time slot because market
research shows that people ages 13 to 18 watch television during that time and that is
the target market the show is going for.
58. Define Marketing Mix.
Marketing mix is the term used to describe the combination of the four inputs which
constitute the core of a company’s marketing system- the product, the price structure,
the promotional activities and the distribution system.
59. What is a product?
A product is a bundle of physical services and symbolic particulars expected to yield
satisfaction or benefits to the buyer.
60. What is customer acquisition?
Customer acquisition is to identify the processes and procedures used to locate,
qualify and ultimately secure the business of new customers. The acquisition process
comprises of the five stages as enquiry, interaction, exchange, co-ordination and
adoption.
61. What are the major markets which are available to marketers?
 Consumer markets.
 Business markets.
 Global markets.
 Nonprofit markets.

62. What is internal marketing?

Management philosophy of promoting the firm and its policies to employees as if they
are the (internal) customers of the firm.
For example, Apple has a unique organizational culture that emphasizes innovation,
creativity, and expertise. In order to promote this culture, they are highly selective
when they recruit employees and extremely thorough when they train them. Apple
realizes that the best way to promote the image of their brand is for every employee,
 particularly the ones who work with customers, to accurately represent that image.
Anyone who has been to an Apple store knows that the employees are experts in the
products they sell and are willing to answer an endless number of questions. They are
smart, accessible, and knowledgeable, positively reflecting the company as a whole.
63. How are services different from products?

64. What are the factors that influence consumer behavior?

65. List the steps in New Product Development.

66. When can companies practice geographic segmentation?

The most common form of market segmentation, wherein companies segment the
market by attacking a restricted geographic area. For Example, corporations may
choose to market their brands in certain countries, but not in others. Regional
differences in consumer preferences exist, and this often provides a basis for
geographic specialization.
67. What is focus group research?
A marketing research technique for qualitative data that involves a small group of
people (6-10) that share a common set characteristics (demographics, attitudes, etc.,)
and participate in a discussion of predetermined topics led by a moderator.
68. What are the ways of doing post advertising research?
Post-testing /Tracking studies provide either periodic or continuous in-market
research monitoring a brand’s performance, including brand awareness, brand
preference, product usage and attitudes. Some post-testing approaches simply track
changes over time.
69. How can globalization affect domestic market?
 Increases competition.
 Increases price war between competitors.
 Customer demands quality products from domestic markets.
70. What do you understand by SWOT Analysis?
A SWOT analysis (alternatively SWOT matrix) is a structured planning method
used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats involved in a
project or in a business venture. A SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product,
place, industry or person.
71. Why is Strategic Planning done in marketing?
The primary benefit of a strategic marketing plan is that it puts a written guide in
place for a business to follow to reach its goals and objectives. The second major
advantage of strategic marketing planning is that is allows the business to create and
utilize consistent messaging internally and externally. Consistent messaging in
marketing creates efficient companies because employees and customers understand
what the company offers and how the company offers it. They work toward a
common goal. Efficient companies typically see an increase in revenues and market
share, while it sees a decrease in expenses. Ultimately, it all leads to an increase in
company profitability.
72. What are the factors considered for Market Segmentation?
The four basic market segmentation strategies are based on
 Behavioral.
 Demographic.
 Psychographic.
 Geographical.
73. What are the limitations of demographics in assessing buyer behavior?
One potential limitation of demographics in explaining consumer behavior is based on
the claim that while demographic factors may have been very relevant in the past
(even up until World war II), they are now obsolete because of the narrowing
differences in income, education, and occupational status. A second and more basic
argument against using demographics is that they have generally failed to explain and
predict consumption behavior.
74. What is the realistic goal of Relationship Marketing?
Relationship marketing is a customer relationship management strategy designed to
encourage strong, lasting customer connections to a brand. The goal is to generate
repeat sales, encourage word-of-mouth promotion and gather customer information.
75. What is the purpose of forecasting sales?
Sales are recorded on a company's income statement, which summarizes the
company's financial performance over a given period with respect to profits and
 losses. Business owners and investors perform sales forecasts for a wide variety of
purposes, and use a wide variety of methods to do so. Projecting future sales involves
a mix of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Historical trends are identified and
reconciled with subjective data regarding market trends, and also with variables
identified as correlating with sales growth.
76. What is meant by media selection?
Media selection is the process of choosing the most cost-effective media for
advertising, to achieve the required coverage and number of exposures in a target
audience.
77. Differentiate marketing from selling.

Basis of Difference Selling Marketing

Emphasis Emphasis on product Emphasis on consumer
needs and wants
Orientation Management is sales- Management is profit-
volume oriented oriented
Price determination Cost determines price Consumers determine
price, price determines
cost
Need priority Stresses needs of a seller View business as a
consumer satisfying
process
Philosophy Views business as a goods Views business as a
producing process consumer satisfying
process

78. What is environmental scanning?

Careful monitoring of an organization's internal and external environments for
detecting early signs of opportunities and threats that may influence its current and
future plans. In comparison, surveillance is confined to a specific objective or a
narrow sector.

79. What are buying motives?

The combination of facts and the emotional state of a person that generates a feeling
within them that they need to purchase an item, as well as the factors that influence
their eventual choice of a particular product. The marketing team of a business will
often strategically take into account key buying motives within a target consumer
group in order to enhance sales of their product.
80. Define Customer Relationship Management.
CRM is a competitive strategy and process of acquiring, reacting and partnering with
selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer.
81. What is Retail Research?
Retail research means studying customers' psychology about products pertaining to
their daily necessities, asking for comments from them about a particular product and
 revert the same back to the manufacturer for changes/improvement to regain market
share. Since retailers have direct contact with the ultimate customers, retail research is
of utmost importance to upgrade/improve the product to enhance selling possibility.
82. How can marketing support the production department?
 Manufacturing may be concerned with keeping productivity targets. But it is
the duty of the marketer to absorb the production through efficient
distribution.
 Mutual acceptable solutions need to be arrived at because both departments
will have different objectives.
 Production department’s objective is to minimize the cost by increasing the
output.
 But marketing department has to push such products in the market by
incurring additional cost.
 Need for co-operation is a must and effective scientific planning system could
resolve these conflicts within the firm.
83. List out any two challenges for global marketers.
 Market differences.
 Management Myopia.
 Organizational Culture.
 National Controls and Barriers.
84. What is Consumer Marketing?
Consumer marketing is defined as creating and selling products, goods and services to
individual buyers, as opposed to trying to appeal to businesses. Commercials trying to
sell toys or books or movies to the average individual are examples of consumer
marketing.
85. List the methods of Sales Promotion.
Coupons, Rebates, Premiums, Contests and Sweepstakes, Point-of-Purchase
promotions.

86. What is Channel Management?

The process by which a producer or supplier directs marketing activity by involving
and motivating parties comprising its channel of distribution.

87. How can customer satisfaction be measured?

Comment card, Customer Questionnaire, Focus group, Toll free telephone numbers,
Visits to customer’s place of business etc.

88. What are the elements of a Marketing Information System?

 Internal Marketing Information system.
 Marketing Intelligence System.
 Marketing Research System.
 Analysis and Processing of Information.
 89. What is meant by Product Planning?
Product Planning is the ongoing process of identifying and articulating market
requirements that define a product's feature set. Product planning serves as the basis
for decisions about price, distribution and promotion.

90. What are the objectives of Advertising?

Four main Objectives of advertising are:

i. Trial: The trial objective is the one which involves convincing the customers to buy
the new product introduced in the market. Here, the advertisers use flashy and
attractive ads to make customers take a look on the products and purchase for trials.
ii. Continuity: this objective is concerned about keeping the existing customers to stick
on to the product. The advertisers here generally keep on bringing something new in
the product and the advertisement so that the existing customers keep buying their
products.
iii. Brand switch: this objective is basically for those companies who want to attract the
customers of the competitors. Here, the advertisers try to convince the customers to
switch from the existing brand they are using to their product.
iv. Switching back: this objective is for the companies who want their previous
customers back, who have switched to their competitors. The advertisers use different
ways to attract the customers back like discount sale, new advertise, some reworking
done on packaging, etc.

91. What are Credence attributes?

A type of good with qualities that cannot be observed by the consumer after
purchase, making it difficult to assess its utility. Typical examples of credence goods
include expert services such as medical procedures, automobile repairs and dietary
supplements.

92. What is Brand Equity?

Brand equity is an intangible asset that depends on associations made by the
consumer.

93. What are Social Classes?

A social class is a large group of people who occupy a similar position in an economic
system. There are several different dimensions of social class, including: Income, Wealth,
Power, Occupation, Education, Race and Ethnicity.

94. Who is a decider in Organizational Buying?

For routine purchases, the purchase executive may be the decider. But for high value
and technically complex products, senior executives are the deciders. People who
decide on product requirements/specifications and the suppliers are deciders.

95. What is Social Marketing?

Social marketing is an approach used to develop activities aimed at changing or
maintaining people's behavior for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole.
 Kotler and Andreasen define social marketing as "differing from other areas of
marketing only with respect to the objectives of the marketer and his or her
organization. Social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors not to benefit the
marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society." This technique
has been used extensively in international health programs, especially for
contraceptives and oral rehydration therapy (ORT), and is being used with more
frequency in the United States for such diverse topics as drug abuse, heart disease and
organ donation.

96. Why is Niching Profitable?

Firms which have a small market share can earn fast profits through niching. The
market nicher knows his target customers really well and establishes a comfort zone
for them so that they keep coming to him for their purchases. As a result, he follows
exclusive pricing strategies for his products which his customers are willing to pay at
all costs, and that’s how he lands up earning a high profit margin within a short span
of time.
Branded jewellery like Tanishq by selling gold jewellery of exclusive designs has
gained considerable name and fame in the niche market under the gold segment.

97. How do we measure promotional results?

Manufactures can evaluate the promotional results using sales data, consumer
surveys, and experiments. Sales data helps analyze the types of people who took
advantage of the promotion, what they bought before the promotion and how they
behaved later toward the brand and other brands. Consumer surveys can uncover how
many consumers recall the promotion, what they thought of it, how many took
advantage of it, and how the promotion affected subsequent brand-choice behavior.
Experiments may have such attributes as incentive vale, duration and distribution
media. Ex: Coupons can be sent to half the households in a consumer panel. Scanner
data can track whether the coupons led more people to but the product and when.

98. What is push and pull strategy?

Push strategy: A push promotional strategy involves taking the product directly to the
customer via whatever means, ensuring the customer is aware of your brand at the point of
purchase. "Taking the product to the customer". Ex: Trade show promotions to encourage
retailer demand. Direct selling to customers in showrooms or face to face.

Pull Strategy: A pull strategy involves motivating customers to seek out your brand in an
active process. "Getting the customer to come to you". Ex: Advertising and mass media
promotion, Word of mouth referrals, Customer relationship management and Sales
promotions and discounts.
99. Differentiate between Fashion and Fad with an example.

Basis Of Fashion Fad

Difference
Meaning Fashion is something which A fad, however, is a
is always present. It keeps special type of fashion
changing, it keeps in a particular span of
transforming, it keeps time. It might stay only
adapting itself to the for a very short period
changing society, changing of time, but everybody
times, and changing wants to follow it.
industries
Example Fashion, in general, is Fads are linked to
basically linked to clothes many things like a
and accessories and shoes or particular behaviour,
footwear a particular fashion
of clothing, music,
dance moves, food.

100. Illustrate with example why industrial demand is called derived demand.
The demand for business goods is ultimately derived from the demand for consumer
goods. Consider the process of producing and selling a simple pair of shoes. Hide
dealers must sell hides to tanners, who sell leather to shoe manufacturers, who sell
shoes to wholesalers, who sell shoes to retailers, who finally sell them to consumers.
Each party in the supply chain also buys many other goods and services to support its
operations.
101. Write a critical note on the policy of resale price maintenance.
Resale price maintenance a price in which the manufacturer and distributor or retail
mutually agree that the re-seller of the product will sell it at or above the minimum
resale price or at or below maximum resale price. Maximum resale price is the price
 ceiling and minimum resale price is price floor. A re-seller of the product (retailer or
distributor) cannot sell the product above price ceiling or below the price floor.
102. How the internet is influencing the consumer behavior?
o Consumers are more likely to seek opinions of others through social media
and product-rating sites when making choices that have a great deal of
personal impact (e.g., healthcare options or major electronics purchases).
o Consumers can also benefit from a much wider selection of products to choose
from since they are not bound to a certain selection of merchandise options as
is the case with traditional channels.
103. Differentiate between marketing research and marketing information
systems.

Basis Of Difference Marketing Research Marketing Information

Meaning Marketing Research (MR)
is a systematic process of
collecting and analyzing
information to solve a
specific marketing
problem.
Purpose The main purpose of
Marketing Research (MR)
is to solve a specific
marketing problem.
Scope The scope of Marketing
Research (MR) is narrow.
It is one small part of MIS.
It solves a specific present
marketing problem.
Systems
MIS means to collect,
analyze and supply
relevant marketing
information to the
marketing managers. The
marketing managers use
this information for taking
effective marketing
decisions. It is a permanent
and continuous process.
The main purpose of MIS
is to provide relevant
information to marketing
managers and enable them
to make effective
marketing decisions.
The scope of MIS is wide.
Marketing Research (MR)
is one of its component. It
is not only used to solve
problems but also helps to
prevent problems in the
future.

104. What is meant by advertising media? Suggest suitable media for

advertising electric bulbs.
Advertising media refers to the various media channels through which advertising is
done. Advertising media is used for showcasing promotional content which
communicated in various forms such as text, speech, images, videos using TV, radio,
online, outdoor etc. Ex: Lladro print ads act like a pop-up book, allowing people to
create their own lamp shape by mounting the paper in a corner.

105. Define Value Creation.

Value creation is any process that creates outputs that are more valuable than its
inputs. This is the basis of efficiency and productivity.
106. What is Customer Equity?
The customer equity of a firm is defined as the present value of the total revenues that
the customer base of the firm will generate in its lifetime. A company with higher
equity is valued higher than the one with lower equity.

107. Define Strategic Alliance.

A strategic alliance (also see strategic partnership) is an agreement between two or
more parties to pursue a set of agreed upon objectives needed while remaining
independent organizations. A strategic alliance will usually fall short of a legal
partnership entity, agency, or corporate affiliate relationship. Typically, two
companies form a strategic alliance when each possesses one or more business assets
or have expertise that will help the other by enhancing their businesses.

108. What do you mean by customer empowerment?

In marketing, empowerment is providing consumers with options, tools and resources
to facilitate decision-making, allowing consumers to tailor a product or brand
experience to suit their own specific needs and desires. The best example of customer
empowerment are reality shows. Sites like Ebay, quickr or any other classified sites
which allow consumers to sell directly to other consumers. Companies are conducting
polls on websites to get to know what features do customers want. These features are
then incorporated in new product variants.

109. What is the role of Customer Relationship Manager?

Custom relationship manager is a specialized post offered to maintain and deliver the
highest possible customer service. The strategy involved to execute the task is to offer
sufficient staffing that can handle potential issues and incoming calls. The CRM
manager is responsible to manage incoming calls or traffic when the traffic is at its
peak. To make sure that the team members work efficiently.

110. What is Vertical Marketing System?

A distribution channel structure in which producers, wholesalers, and retailers act as a
unified system. One channel member owns the others, has contracts with them, or has
so much power that they all cooperate.
 Ex: Amway is an American cosmetic company, which manufactures its own product
range and sell these products only through its authorized Amway stores. Here the
ownership of production and distribution is with the company itself.

111. Who is an Opinion Leader?

An opinion leader is a well-known individual or organization that has the ability to
influence public opinion on the subject matter for which the opinion leader is known.
Opinion leaders can be politicians, business leaders, community leaders, journalists,
educators, celebrities, and sports stars.

112. Define Value Proposition.

Value proposition refers to a business or marketing statement that a company uses to
summarize why a consumer should buy a product or use a service. This statement
convinces a potential consumer that one particular product or service will add more
value or better solve a problem than other similar offerings will. Companies use this
statement to target customers who will benefit most from using the company's
products, and this helps maintain an economic moat.

113. What is Economic Moat?

Economic moat is a competitive advantage that one company has over other
companies in the same industry; this term was coined by Warren Buffett. The wider
the moat, the larger and more sustainable the competitive advantage of a firm. By
having a well-known brand name, pricing power and a large portion of market
demand, a company with wide economic moat possesses characteristics that act as
barriers against other companies.
114. Write a short note on competitor analysis.
Competitor analysis in marketing is an assessment of the strengths and weakness of
current and potential competitors.

115. What is a psychographic segment?

It is the science of using psychology and demographics to better understand
consumers. In psychographic segmentation, buyers are divided into different groups
on the basis of psychological/personality traits, lifestyle, or values. People within the
same demographic group can exhibit very different psychographic profiles. One of the
most popular commercially available classification systems based on psychographic
measurements is Strategic Business Insight’s (SBI) VALS framework. It classifies
U.S. adults into eight primary groups.

116. What is customer life time value?

In marketing, customer lifetime value (CLV or often CLTV), lifetime customer value
(LCV), or life-time value (LTV) is a prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire
future relationship with a customer. Customer lifetime value can also be defined as
the monetary value of a customer relationship, based on the present value of the
projected future cash flows from the customer relationship.

117. What is sales promotion?

Sales promotion is the process of persuading a potential customer to buy the product.
Sales promotion is designed to be used as a short-term tactic to boost sales – it is
rarely suitable as a method of building long-term customer loyalty.

118. What is meant by industrial marketing?

The business market consists of all the organizations that acquire goods and services
used in the production of other products or services that are sold, rented, or supplied
to others. The major industries making up the business market are agriculture,
forestry, and fisheries; mining; manufacturing; construction; transportation;
communication; public utilities; banking, finance, and insurance; distribution; and
services.
Ex: Consider the process of producing and selling a simple pair of shoes. Hide dealers
must sell hides to tanners, who sell leather to shoe manufacturers, who sell shoes to
wholesalers, who sell shoes to retailers, who finally sell them to consumers. Each
party in the supply chain also buys many other goods and services to support its
operations.

119. What is Meta Market? Give one example.

A meta market is a cluster of complementary products and services closely related in
the minds of consumers, but spread across a diverse set of industries.
Ex: The automobile meta market consists of automobile manufacturers, new and used
car dealers, financing companies, insurance companies, mechanics, spare parts
 dealers, service shops, auto magazines, classified auto ads in newspapers, and auto
sites on the Internet.

120. Draw Ansoffs product-market expansion grid and list out three intensive
growth strategies.

 Market penetration
 Market development
 Product development
 Diversification

121. List out the steps in consumer buying process.

122. What are the strategies can be used in decline stage of PLC?

123. What is Channel Conflict? Write down the causes of channel conflict in
channel management.

Channel conflict is generated when one channel member’s actions prevent another
channel from achieving its goal.
 Causes of channel conflict:
 Goal incompatibility.
The manufacturer may want to achieve rapid market penetration through a low-price
policy. Dealers, in contrast, may prefer to work with high margins and pursue short-
run profitability.

 Unclear roles and rights.

HP may sell personal computers to large accounts through its own sales force, but its
licensed dealers may also be trying to sell to large accounts. Territory bound- aries
and credit for sales often produce conflict.

 Differences in perception.
The manufacturer may be optimistic about the short-term eco-nomic outlook and want
dealers to carry higher inventory. Dealers may be pessimistic. In the beverage
category, it is not uncommon for disputes to arise between manufacturers and their
distributors about the optimal advertising strategy.

 Intermediaries’ dependence on the manufacturer.

The fortunes of exclusive dealers, such as auto dealers, are profoundly affected by the
manufacturer’s product and pricing decisions. This situation creates a high potential
for conflict.

124. What is Win-Back Strategy?

Customer win back” is becoming a common marketing practice in many businesses. The
process is aimed at winning back disgruntled customers and then retaining them.
Businesses restore the relationship with old customers through a combination of diligent
investigations and follow-up, promotion and targeted improvements specifically
addressing customer concerns.

125. Mention the Emerging trends in Retailing.

 Artificial Intelligence
 Innovative media content
 Voice Search

 Ultra – Personalization

126. What are the types of needs?

Needs are the basic human requirements such as for air, food, water, clothing, and
shelter.

Five types of needs:

 Stated needs (The customer wants an inexpensive car.)
 Real needs (The customer wants a car whose operating cost, not initial price is low.)
 Unstated needs (The customer expects good service from the dealer.)
 Delight needs (The customer would like the dealer to include an onboard GPS naviga-
tion system.)
 Secret needs (The customer wants friends to see him or her as a savvy consumer).

127. Define an SBU.

Strategic Business Unit (SBU) implies an independently managed division of a
large company, having its own vision, mission and objectives, whose planning is
done separately from other businesses of the company. The vision, mission and
objectives of the division are both distinct from the parent enterprise and elemental to
the long-term performance of the enterprise.

128. What are the characteristics of SBUs?

 It is a single business, or a collection of related businesses, that can be planned
separately from the rest of the company.
 It has its own set of competitors.
 It has a manager responsible for strategic planning and profit performance,
who controls most of the factors affecting profit.

129. What are the strategies can be used in maturity stage of PLC?

130. List out the six price setting methods.

 131. Expand STP and define Positioning.
STP is often abbreviated as STP- Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.
Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a
distinctive place in the target market’s mind.

132. Write an outline of one-to-one Marketing framework.

One-to-one marketing (sometimes expressed as 1:1 marketing) is a customer
relationship management (CRM) strategy emphasizing personalized interactions with
customers. The personalization of interactions is thought to foster greater customer
loyalty and better return on marketing investment. The concept of one-to-one
marketing as a CRM approach was advanced by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers in
their 1994 book, The One to One Future.

133. What is MIS?

MIS is an organized set of procedures, information handling routines and reporting
techniques designed to provide the information required for making marketing
decision.

134. How do we measure advertisement effectiveness?

According to Philip Kotler and Armstrong, the Gurus Of Marketing, there are two most
popular areas which need to be measured for knowing the effectiveness of advertisement and
they are:

 Communication Effect
 Sales Effect

Communication Effect Research consists of three types of researches:

1. Direct Rating Method - here, customers are directly asked to rate the advertisement
and then these rating are calculated.
2. Portfolio Tests - here, the customers see the ads and listen carefully to the ads and all
the contents of the ads and then they are asked to recall the ad and the contents. Then
the calculations are done with help of this data.
3. Laboratory tests - here, the apparatus to measure the heart rates, blood pressure,
perspiration, etc are used on the customer after he watches the ad, to know the
physiological reactions of the body.

Sales Effect Research totally depends on the sales of the company. The sales keep varying
from time to time. There are some factors affecting sales like product availability, the price of
the product, contents of the product, and sometimes the competitors.

135. What is Marketing Intelligence System?

A marketing intelligence system is a set of procedures and sources used by managers
to obtain their everyday information about relevant developments in the marketing
environment. This scanning of the economic and business environment can be
undertaken in a variety of ways.
136. What is generic competition?
It is the competition among different products that solve the same purpose. Ex.
competition between tape and glue would be generic competition as both are solving
the same purpose/ have the same benefit/utility.

137. What is the Five Ms of Advertising?

138. Define Value Pricing.

Value-based price (also value optimized pricing) is a pricing strategy which sets
prices primarily, but not exclusively, according to the perceived or estimated value of
a product or service to the customer rather than according to the cost of the product or
historical prices.
Value-based pricing is a methodology of setting prices primarily based on a
consumer's perceived value of the product or service in question.
For example, Starbucks raised prices to maximize profits from price insensitive
customers who depend on their gourmet coffee while losing customers who wanted
cheaper prices to McDonald's.
139. What are the roles played by the members of Buying Center?
All the individuals and units that participate in the business buying-decision process
are known as buying Center.
Initiators, Users, Influencers, Deciders, Approvers, Buyers and Gatekeepers are the
roles played by the members of Buying Center.

140. How would you retain a customer post purchase?

 Improve the customer support.

 Start a customer loyalty program.
 Send engaging emails to customers.
 Offer a discount or a credit to return.

141. What are the successive sets involved in consumer decision making?

142. What aspects of the technological environment needs to be monitored by

marketers?
Marketers should monitor the following technology trends:
 The accelerating pace of change,
 Unlimited opportunities for innovation,
 Varying R&D budgets,
  Increased regulation of technological change.

143. Which are the threats to the five forces (Porter) that determine
attractiveness of a market?
 Threat of intense segment rivalry
 Threat of new entrants
 Threat of substitute products
 Threat of buyers’ growing bargaining power
 Threat of suppliers’ growing bargaining power

144. What is Loss Leader Pricing?

Loss leader pricing is an aggressive pricing strategy in which a store sells selected goods
below cost in order to attract customers who will, according to the loss leader philosophy,
make up for the losses on highlighted products with additional purchases of profitable
goods. Ex: Video Game Consoles are Unexpected Loss Leaders.

145. Explain the concept of customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction is a measure of how products and services supplied by a
company meet or surpass customer expectation. One commonly used measure of
customer satisfaction is the ‘gap model’.

The gap model is defined by the following equation:

Customer satisfaction=Delivery-Expectations.

Delivery refers to the customer’s perception of the actual delivery of the product or
service.
Expectations refer to the customer’s expectations about that product or service.
Thus customer satisfaction is the difference or “gap”, between what the consumer
expected and what he or she received.

146. Why is customer retention important?

 Increase customer lifetime value.

 Drive repeat purchases.
 Build a network of loyal customers.

147. How the organization chart is a customer driven organization?

148. What is a Marketing Plan?
A marketing plan is a comprehensive document or blueprint that outlines the
advertising and marketing efforts for the coming year. It describes business activities
involved in accomplishing specific marketing objectives within a set time frame.

149. What is meant by Marketing Environment?

A company’s marketing environment consists of factors and forces that affect the
company’s ability to develop and maintain successful transactions and relationships
with its target customers.

150. What are Prospects (opportunities) of Marketing in India?

 Market needs and effort.
 Technology.
 Cost.
 Quality.
 Communications and transportation.
 Leverage.
 Deregulation and privatization.
 Regional economic agreements.