CHAPTER 13. Marketing: Helping Buyers Buy

What are the steps in conducting marketing research?

(1) Define the problem or opportunity and determine the present situation, (2) collect data, (3) analyze the data, and (4) choose the best solution.

What are some of the more important environmental trends in marketing?

The most important global and technological change is probably the growth of the Internet and mobile marketing. Another is the growth of consumer databases, with which companies can develop products and services that closely match consumers' needs. Marketers must monitor social trends like population growth and shifts to maintain their close relationship with customers. They must also monitor the dynamic competitive and economic environments.

market segmentation

The process of dividing the total market into groups whose members have similar characteristics.

niche marketing

The process of finding small but profitable market segments and designing or finding products for them.

environmental scanning

The process of identifying the factors that can affect marketing success.

customer relationship management (CRM)

The process of learning as much as possible about customers and doing everything you can over time to satisfy them—or even exceed their expectations—with goods and services.

test marketing

The process of testing products among potential users.

What are the three parts of the marketing concept?

The three parts of the marketing concept are (1) a customer orientation, (2) a service orientation, and (3) a profit orientation (that is, marketing goods and services that will earn a profit and enable the firm to survive and expand).

focus group

A small group of people who meet under the direction of a discussion leader to communicate their opinions about an organization, its products, or other given issues.

marketing concept

A three-part business philosophy: (1) a customer orientation, (2) a service orientation, and (3) a profit orientation.

brand name

A word, letter, or group of words or letters that differentiates one seller's goods and services from those of competitors.

What kinds of organizations are involved in marketing?

All kinds of organizations use marketing, including for-profit and nonprofit organizations like states, charities, churches, politicians, and schools.

business-to-business (B2B) market

All the individuals and organizations that want goods and services to use in producing other goods and services or to sell, rent, or supply goods to others.

consumer market

All the individuals or households that want goods and services for personal consumption or use.

promotion

All the techniques sellers use to inform people about and motivate them to buy their products or services.

product

Any physical good, service, or idea that satisfies a want or need plus anything that would enhance the product in the eyes of consumers, such as the brand name.

What makes the business-to-business market different from the consumer market?

Customers in the B2B market are relatively few and large. B2B markets tend to be geographically concentrated, and industrial buyers generally are more rational than ultimate consumers in their selection of goods and services. B2B sales tend to be direct, and there is much more emphasis on personal selling than in consumer markets.

primary data

Data that you gather yourself (not from secondary sources such as books and magazines).

one-to-one marketing

Developing a unique mix of goods and services for each individual customer.

mass marketing

Developing products and promotions to please large groups of people.

demographic segmentation

Dividing the market by age, income, and education level.

geographic segmentation

Dividing the market by cities, counties, states, or regions.

benefit segmentation

Dividing the market by determining which benefits of the product to talk about.

volume (or usage) segmentation

Dividing the market by usage (volume of use).

psycho-graphic segmentation

Dividing the market using the group's values, attitudes, and interests.

How has marketing changed over time?

During the production era, marketing was largely a distribution function. Emphasis was on producing as many goods as possible and getting them to markets. By the early 1920s, during the selling era, the emphasis turned to selling and advertising to persuade customers to buy the existing goods produced by mass production. After World War II, the tremendous demand for goods and services led to the marketing concept era, when businesses recognized the need to be responsive to customers' needs. During the 1990s, marketing entered the customer relationship era, focusing on enhancing customer satisfaction and stimulating long-term customer loyalty. Today marketers are using mobile/on-demand marketing to engage customers.

What is environmental scanning?

Environmental scanning is the process of identifying factors that can affect marketing success. Marketers pay attention to all the environmental factors that create opportunities and threats.

What are some of the factors that influence the consumer decision-making process?

Factors that influence the consumer decision-making process include learning, reference group, culture, subculture, and cognitive dissonance.

What are some of the ways marketers segment the consumer market?

Geographic segmentation means dividing the market into different regions. Segmentation by age, income, and education level is demographic segmentation. We study a group's values, attitudes, and interests using psychographic segmentation. Determining which benefits customers prefer and using them to promote a product is benefit segmentation. Separating the market by usage is called volume segmentation. The best segmentation strategy is to use all the variables to come up with a consumer profile for a target market that's sizable, reachable, and profitable.

target marketing

Marketing directed toward those groups (market segments) an organization decides it can serve profitably.

What is 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.

relationship marketing

Marketing strategy with the goal of keeping individual customers over time by offering them products that exactly meet their requirements.

What is the difference between mass marketing and relationship marketing?

Mass marketing means developing products and promotions to please large groups of people. Relationship marketing tends to lead away from mass production and toward custom-made goods and services. Its goal is to keep individual customers over time by offering them products or services that meet their needs.

marketing

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.

marketing research

The analysis of markets to determine opportunities and challenges, and to find the information needed to make good decisions.

How do marketers implement the four Ps?

The idea behind the four Ps is to design a product people want, price it competitively, place it where consumers can find it easily, and promote it so consumers know it exists.

marketing mix

The ingredients that go into a marketing program: product, price, place, and promotion.