Chapter 4 - MKG 300

A generic market

- has customers with broadly similar needs. - often includes sellers who offer diverse ways of satisfying a need. - often involves sellers who compete in different product-markets. - often includes consumers who will satisfy the same need in quite different ways. A generic market is a market with broadly similar needs offering various, often diverse, ways of satisfying those needs. In generic markets, different product types may compete with each other. For example, to cool off during a hot summer night, customers in the generic market might buy air conditioners, ice cream, or pool memberships.

Segmenting and combining are two alternate approaches to developing market-oriented strategies. Which of the following statements concerning these approaches is true?

A combiner looks at various submarkets for similarities rather than differences. Combiners try to increase the size of their target market(s) by combining two or more segments and pleasing a relatively large group of people fairly well. They look at various submarkets for similarities rather than differences. Segmenters try to appeal to specific market segments using unique marketing mixes for each segment. They look for differences and aim to satisfy a few people very well.

Which of the following statements about clustering techniques for segmenting is true?

A variation of the clustering approach relies on customer relationship management. A variation of the clustering approach relies on customer relationship management (CRM), where the seller fine-tunes the marketing effort with information from a detailed customer database.

Which of the following is a characteristic of a product-market?

It is a market in which sellers offer very similar methods of satisfying customer needs. In contrast to a generic market, a product-market is a market where customers have very similar needs and sellers offer various close substitute ways of satisfying those needs. For instance, in the desk lamp market, all customers are seeking desk lamps and the products offered by sellers are variations on the basic concept of a desk lamp.

Which of the following statements about segmenting is accurate?

It tries to aggregate individuals who have similar needs and characteristics. Segmenting is the process of clustering people with similar needs into a "market segment." A market segment is a relatively homogeneous group of customers who will respond to a marketing mix in a similar way.

Which of the following statements is true of generic markets?

The generic market includes only three of four aspects of the product-market definition—customer needs, customer types, and geographic area. It does not include product type. The complete product-market definition includes a four-part description: product type (type of good and type of service), customer (user) needs, customer types, and geographic area. A generic market description doesn't include any product-type terms.

Which of the following statements is true of using a combined target market approach to developing market-oriented strategies?

This approach is especially attractive for firms with limited resources. A combined target market approach may help achieve some economies of scale. It may also require less investment than developing different marketing mixes for different segments, making it especially attractive for firms with limited resources.

What is a buyer persona?

a detailed description of a typical, but fictional, customer Buyer personas are detailed descriptions of fictional people that are meant to represent typical customers within a segment.

Positioning analysis as it is usually practiced is not well-suited to identifying

basic shifts in the market. Positioning analyses are usually product-oriented, focused on specific product features and brands that are close competitors in a given product-market. As such, they may overlook basic shifts that affect an entire market. For instance, a position analysis comparing different beer brands would not capture a shift among consumers toward soft drinks.

Which of the following techniques enables marketers to develop "segments of one" where each customer is targeted with their own marketing mix?

customer relationship management Customer relationship management uses detailed information about customers to fine-tune the marketing mix that different groups of customers receive. Many CRM systems use artificial intelligence to treat individual consumers as "segments of one."

In a customer survey conducted by Radwheel Motors, it was found that customers purchased the company's cars primarily because Radwheel cars were a status symbol in the survey population. By which type of marketing dimension were Radwheel's purchasers motivated?

determining dimension In this context, customers' purchases were encouraged by a determining dimension. Determining dimensions are those that actually affect the customer's purchase of a specific product or brand in a product-market.

Which of the following types of segmenting dimensions are most helpful in understanding how customers in a target market decide exactly which brands of product to buy?

determining dimensions Determining dimensions are those that actually affect the customer's purchase of a specific product or brand in a product-market.

It is sometimes hard to understand and define generic markets because

different product types may compete with each other. It is sometimes hard to understand and define generic markets because even broadly different product types may compete with each other in such markets.

A complete product-market definition includes product type, customer needs, customer types, and

geographic area A complete product-market definition includes product type, customer needs, customer types, and geographic area.

Having segmented its broad product-market, Martinez Corp. has decided to treat its two chosen submarkets as separate target markets, with each requiring different marketing mixes. Which of the following approaches to developing market-oriented strategies is Martinez Corp. applying in this scenario?

multiple target market approach The multiple target market approach involves segmenting the market and choosing two or more segments, and then treating each as a separate target market needing a different marketing mix.

The first step in the market segmentation process involves

naming broad product-markets Market segmentation is a two-step process. The first step involves naming broad product-markets. Once broad product-markets are identified, step two involves segmenting these broad product-markets in order to select target markets and develop suitable marketing mixes.

Which of the following represents a broad product-market within the generic market of outdoor adventures?

people who buy fly fishing equipment for fishing trips People who buy fly fishing equipment constitute a broad product-market within the generic market of outdoor adventurers. It is a narrower submarket of the generic market of outdoor adventurers. "Loyal customers of Able brand fly fishing reels" constitutes the narrowest market segment in the list and represents a single homogeneous target market, not a broad product-market.

A _____ analysis helps managers understand how customers see their market.

positioning A positioning analysis helps managers understand how customers see their market. It is a visual aid to understanding a product-market.

Workathome Inc. offers to help people establish and manage their own online businesses, a service for which it charges a fee. Out of several possible market segments, the firm has chosen to target people with a limited understanding of the Internet and poor financial literacy. This is an example of using

potentially unethical segmenting. Targeting customers who are a disadvantage when dealing with the firm and who are unlikely to see the negative effects of their own choices is often considered to be an unethical use of segmenting.

The balancing point that determines just how unique a marketing mix a firm can afford to develop for a particular market segment is

profit Profit is the balancing point that determines just how unique a marketing mix a firm can afford to develop for a particular market segment.

The purpose of a positioning statement is to

provide focus for a marketing mix by concisely stating its most important features. A positioning statement concisely identifies the most important features of a marketing mix, thereby helping everyone working on that marketing mix to focus on what is most important.

When creating a marketing strategy and engaging in market segmentation, the ______ dimensions are the dimensions that define which potential customers are included in a segment.

qualifying Regardless of whether customers are final consumers or organizations, segmenting a broad product-market usually requires using several different dimensions at the same time. Qualifying dimensions are those used to define which customers are included in a product-market.

When the target customers of a specific brand are not viewing it in the desired way, the brand ideally needs to be

repositioned When research shows the marketing manager that target customers are not viewing the brand in the desired way, it needs to be repositioned. Changing customers' perceptions of a brand is not easy; it requires changes to the marketing mix.

When segmenting a broad product-market, it is especially important that marketers create segments

that are operational The most important criteria for a good market segment is that it be operational, meaning that the firm is capable of applying it to identify customers and adjusting the marketing mix.

Target marketers who are "combiners"

use one marketing mix to appeal to multiple submarkets, even though the submarkets have some distinct differences. Target marketers known as "combiners" try to increase the size of their target market by treating two or more different segments into single market and offering it a single marketing mix. "Combiners" believe that one marketing mix will work well enough with these multiple submarkets, even though the different segments within the target market have real differences. While this approach makes efficient use of resources, combiners do not get to "fine-tune" their marketing mixes to meet the needs of their submarkets as effectively as they might desire.