Marketing Chapter 6-12
Steps in the Consumer Decision Process
1. Problem-opportunity Recognition 2. Information Search 3. Evaluation of Alternatives 4. Purchase Decision 5. Post-Purchase Evaluation
As an experienced marketer, you understand the importance of thinking critically about any proposal to add breadth or depth to your product mix. Whenever a member of your team makes such a proposal, you ask all of the following questions except:
Are we matching the breadth and depth of our competitors' product mixes?
Self-concept
a person's view of themselves
Social factors
external influences such as culture, social class, reference groups, family, and opinion leaders
Which ONE of the following is NOT a social factor influencing consumer behavior?
motives
Evoked set
the collection of alternatives a consumer considers when making a decision
Involvement
the degree of interest an individual has in the product, as well as how important that product is to them
Perception
the meaning a person attributes to incoming stimuli gathered through the five senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell
Consumer behavior
the process through which the ultimate buyer or household consumer makes purchase decisions
Culture
the values, beliefs, preferences, and tastes handed down from one generation to the next
You work for a popular restaurant chain. Now your firm wants to transition into selling prepared foods to supermarkets. How is the company's form of promotion most likely to change?
From an emphasis on advertising to an emphasis on personal selling.
Unwittingly, most consumers follow a defined process when purchasing goods and services. This process includes six steps, and the marketer must understand where the consumer is in this process in order to be successful with his or her marketing strategies. Choose the scenario that best describes the first step in the consumer buying decision process.
Michael accidentally ran over his bicycle when he backed out of his garage this morning, and he needs a bicycle for the road race he is participating in this weekend.
Four Components of Self-Concept
Real Self: Objective view of the total person. Self-image: An individual's view of themselves. Looking-Glass Self: An individual's view of how other people perceive them. Ideal Self: An individual's view of who they aspire to be.
Problem-opportunity recognition
Consumer becomes aware of a gap between an existing situation and a desired situation
Post-purchase evaluation
Consumers evaluate the purchase to determine whether it helped them achieve the desired state and how satisfied or dissatisfied they are with the product.
Which of the following is not part of the international political-legal environment that affects U.S. firms operating abroad?
Cultural norms
At which stage of the new product development process should a firm typically expect the first substantial increase in its financial outlays on the process?
Development
You are in charge of ensuring that all labels used on your food company's packages are in compliance with the law. To remind employees of this responsibility, you distribute a checklist of label requirements. Which of the following does not appear on your checklist?
Disclose country of origin.
Your professional rival, Maureen, works for one of your company's competitors. You both work for companies that specialize in condiments and salad dressings. Maureen's company's major product is a seasonal salad dressing, which happens to be in the decline stage of its product lifecycle. She asks your advice about how to extend the product's lifecycle. You do not want Maureen's company to outcompete your company in the market. Which of the following steps would you tell her to take?
Eliminate the product and introduce a completely new one
The organizational buying process is multifaceted and is demonstrated through a seven-stage process. Which of the following descriptions pertains to an activity that the purchaser would be likeliest to undertake during the last stage?
Examine the frequency of on-time delivery.
As Under Armour expands into new markets with new product offerings, it must be sure to maintain—and maximize—its brand recognition and reputation. Help Under Armour develop and implement its brand strategy. A product manager at Under Armour suggests packaging upgrades for their flagship line of compression shirts. Instead of putting the shirts on hangers or folding them on a shelf-as is the traditional method for displaying apparel ̶ they would be encased in a clear plastic box. Each side of the box would have a full color label describing the benefits of the shirt. The product manager states the box protects the shirt from being stretched or damaged, and the additional labels would help attract consumers and persuade them to buy. However, other managers in that department do not think the new packaging is a good idea and would like to look at other alternatives. What should Under Armour do?
Maintain existing packaging or look for other alternatives
Organizations want to have a reputation for producing quality products with strong brand identities to give them an advantage in the marketplace. Brand equity, the added value of a brand name, has four dimensions. Choose the example that is not identified with the appropriate brand equity dimension.
Ruben buys a Ferrari because he thinks it will set him apart from other drivers. This illustrates the dimension of esteem.
This morning your boss, a product manager, assigned you to a group of coworkers who are focused on new product development. However, by the time you got home and started to tell your roommates about it, you forgot what the group is called. You do remember that it is the most common organizational arrangement for developing new products. Choose the most likely name of the group.
The New Product Venture Team
XYZ Company defines its primary customer group based on demographic variables. To guide the development of its advertising, you were asked to write a description of the typical customer in that group. Just before submitting the assignment, you caught an error: one sentence is wrong because it references a variable that isn't demographic. Which sentence is wrong?
The XYZ consumer doesn't want to look her age.
Social surroundings
The number and intent of other people around the purchaser.
The extent to which a group will exert influence on purchasing behavior varies widely but reference group influence is strongest when two conditions are met:
The visibility of the product to others. A car or workplace outfit are highly visible purchases that are more likely to be influenced by the purchaser's reference groups. While cleaning supplies or car insurance are less visible purchases that are less likely to be influenced by reference groups. The purchaser's susceptibility to influence. Children and teens often base buying decisions on the opinion of friends or what they see in the media.
Decorators Inc. has recognized a trend in the spending habits of young professionals in the 25-35 age groups. About 80% of the members in this group rent a condominium or loft space, and they look for ways to furnish and decorate their homes on a budget. Moreover, they are extremely busy and don't have a lot of extra time. The majority of these consumers tend to purchase items that are modern, chic, and reflect the image that they are successful professionals in the business world. Decorators Inc. hired you to design a marketing campaign that will appeal to young professionals. You have studied the purchasing behaviors of young professionals and decided on the campaign design that you are going to implement. Which marketing campaign would effectively appeal to young professionals?
You design a Facebook page for Decorators Inc. that features the homes of young professionals well known among their peers for trendsetting taste.
Self-actualization needs
Education, cultural events, sports and hobbies, motivational seminars, technology, travel, investments
The situational factors that influence consumer behavior include all of the following EXCEPT: type of customer (final customer vs. business customer). buyer intent. buyer's mood. physical surroundings. social surroundings.
type of customer (final customer vs. business customer)
Situational factors
are external factors related to the particular circumstances under which a purchase is made. Consider how the purchase occasion might influence a consumer's choice of retail outlet or how much they might spend on clothing.
Business markets differ from consumer markets in several ways. Choose the correct example(s) of these differences.
Personal selling is usually emphasized more in business than consumer markets.
Subcultures
are groups with their own distinct modes of behavior
Opinion leaders
are trendsetters who purchase new products before others in a group, and then influence others in their purchases
Psychological factors
factors internal to the individual. Psychological factors include needs and motives, perceptions, attitudes, learning, and self-concept.
Making soap has been your hobby for some time, but now you are contemplating turning your hobby into a small business. You use only hypoallergenic ingredients in your small batch soaps. Now sales come by word of mouth, but you plan to promote your handmade goods and sell them on one or more online outlets to people who are sensitive to the cleaning agents used in mass market soaps. Which marketing strategy will fit your newly established business? Select the best answer.
Concentrated marketing, because you will concentrate on meeting the needs of a single market segment.
Purchase behavior
Consumers actually purchase the product
Safety needs
Health and life insurance, computer antivirus software, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, antibacterial cleaners, business protection, auto safety features
Market segmentation is used by marketers to develop the strategy they will use to present their product or service to the consumer. Select the statement below that best describes how market segmentation works.
Market segmentation groups consumers according to similarities and differences in reference to factors that influence purchase decisions.
You decide to start a dog-walking service because you notice a number of trends that suggest a high demand for this type of service. You are trying to convince your brother to partner with you in this business, but one of his comments suggests that he doesn't understand the nature of a service. Which of the following comments did your brother make?
Standardized services are easier to provide than unstandardized services.
After interviewing candidates for the job of business marketing specialist, Fred decided to eliminate one—despite her strong paper credentials. Explaining his decision to you, Fred quoted a comment that betrayed the candidate's misunderstanding of B2B market segmentation. Which comment did Fred quote?
When I segment customers demographically, I believe in concentrating on how they use my product.
Last year, you left a job in consumer marketing to take one in business marketing. The shift required you to become accustomed to all of the following changes except:
You have more potential buyers than before.
Social class
based upon an individual's occupation, education, income, wealth, and possessions
Routinized response behavior
behavior that occurs for low-involvement products that consumers purchase on a frequent basis. These items are low price and often consumed in private, so both financial risk and social risk are low.
limited problem solving
behavior that occurs for purchases that consumers make less frequently and when their knowledge or experience is limited. Financial and social risk may be relatively low, but the lack of knowledge leads consumers to spend more time gathering information about brands or products prior to making a purchase decision
Airbnb, the online home rental business, has partnered with the Hearst publishing company to create Airbnb Magazine. This is primarily an example of:
brand extension.
You are preparing a seminar for your colleagues on the topic "How Marketers Protect Brand Equity." Which of the following pairs of terms and examples should you use when you explain the symbol that distinguishes a product?
brand mark, Nike swoosh
You are a business consultant and have a contract with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to conduct training seminars for people seeking loans from the SBA to start new businesses. The SBA wants to give these prospective business owners as much information as possible so they have a greater chance of success. You are conducting a seminar on the different types of products that target business markets. Choose the type of business product that tends to have a long life and be very expensive, together with the correct example of such a product.
installation; customized computer system
Needs
is an imbalance between the consumer's actual and desired states
Factors internal to an individual influence consumer behavior
needs and motives, perceptions, attitudes, learned responses, and self-concepts
Reference groups
people or institutions whose opinions are valued and to whom a person looks for guidance in his or her own behavior, values, and conduct. Examples of reference groups include one's religious, social (e.g. fraternity, sorority, country club), leisure (e.g. golf), and occupation-related groups.
The director of marketing at your firm is very interested in developing new packages. However, he or she doesn't want a scattershot development process; he or she wants the development team to prioritize the first objective of packaging. This means he or she will instruct the team to put its emphasis on:
physical protection.
Rebecca buys low-heeled shoes for a job interview at an accounting firm because low heels have been worn by every woman accountant she's met. Rebecca's shoe choice is primarily influenced by a:
social factor.
Your company is studying new product opportunities in the business market. However, the firm has lost out in the past because of heavy price competition in the consumer market, so the CEO prefers to steer clear of the type of business product likeliest to face the same challenge. Which type of business product would you advise the CEO to avoid?
supplies
Extended problem solving
the most complex decision style and occurs for high-involvement products where financial and/or social risk is high
Information Search
Consumer conducts internal or external information search to acquire information to assist in the attainment of the desired state.
Attitudes
a person's enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations, emotions, or tendencies toward some object or idea
Which ONE of the following is NOT a psychological factor influencing consumer behavior?
family
Involvement ranges from ____________ to ___________ purchase decisions?
high-involvement; low-involvement
Learning
immediate or expected changes in consumer behavior as a result of experience
Below is a list of the five new-product adopter categories. In what order do these groups of consumers adopt new products? Category 1: Laggards Category 2: Late majority Category 3: Consumer innovators Category 4: Early majority Category 5: Early adopters
3, 5, 4, 2, 1
You work in the stock market. Stock markets allow businesses to raise additional funds for new projects, business expansions, and capital investment plans. Moreover, they enable the public trading and selling of market shares of a company. Major purchases of stock typically require input from various parts of the organization, including senior management and accounting. One of your colleagues, Amos, works in the IT department of one of the U.S.-based tech firms for which you are trading. Amos is in charge of receiving information about new technologies from commercial sources, universities, and Web-based sources, to name a few, and then working with other IT professionals to find solutions. Which of the following statements is true about the buying center described above?
Amos has a dual role as a gatekeeper and influencer.
You work for a beverage distribution company and have been asked to support the marketing research team in the preliminary phases of their process. You have been tasked with finding out which beverages are most popular at sporting events, so you visit local stadiums, talking with fans about their preferences and to concession owners about their beverage sales. You also gather samples of sports-oriented ads being run by your competitors. Your teammates ask you why you chose to employ this strategy. Which of the following themes explain your choice?
Conducting exploratory research may include talking to customers and retailers, and/or evaluation of available competitive data.
As a marketing strategist just hired by your company, you want to be respectful of your new colleagues. However, during a meeting to plan research into the firm's global opportunities, a coworker clearly errs in one of his or her comments. You feel obligated to point out his or her mistake. Which of the following statements do you point out?
Face-to-face interviewing is the least common method for conducting primary research outside the United States.
You have recently been hired to work in the marketing department of a company that manufactures and distributes baby food. During orientation, you are told that baby food is a convenience product because it is a good that families want to purchase frequently, immediately, and with minimal effort. This summary makes sense to you because you have a younger brother, and you recall that whether baby food was on sale or not, your parents bought it because they needed to feed your brother. You also remember that because convenience products are typically cheap, retailers must sell large volumes in order to make a profit. Based on the information provided in the scenario above, which of the following would you be least likely to emphasize in the marketing mix for your company's baby food products?
Hiring a personal selling staff
Your company manufactures a watch that doubles as a heart and caloric intake monitor. Company managers are excited about this innovation and have been pushing it along the product development stages quickly. You have identified the consumers that are most likely to try the new product and hopefully, ensure the product's success. You know that these early adopters will be opinion leaders for this product, and if they like the product, will tell others about the innovation. Because you understand that the rate of adoption for the product will be determined by a myriad of factors, you conduct a webinar for your marketing team on this topic. Your webinar makes all of the following points except:
If potential buyers believe the monitor watch will deliver an experience at odds with their prior experiences, their adoption rate will increase.
You are the CEO of a food manufacturer that sells only holiday candy. About 85 percent of your company's products are sold between October 15 and December 31 of each year. As the company's overhead costs increase, you need new ways to increase sales and profits. Your research confirms that if the company sold cookies or other baked sweets year round, you could better manage overhead costs and other expenses. How should your marketing managers respond to the scenario described above?
Product diversification
You have been asked to supervise a new intern, who inquires about the benefits of having combined goods and services businesses. Rather than explicitly tell him or her the answer, you explain to him or her how these types of businesses operate, so he or she can make an inference about the benefits. To illustrate the purpose of combined goods and services businesses, you tell your intern that sometimes, the combination of a primary good with additional services defines the complete product to the customer and better satisfies their needs. To further illustrate your point, you explain that local coffee shops offer coffee and breakfast as primary goods. However, they also provide free Wi-Fi to make customers more comfortable, encouraging longer stays and extra beverage or food purchases. Based on the information provided, what can your intern infer about the benefits of combined goods and services businesses?
These businesses aim to better satisfy their customers by offering goods and services that complement each other.
How many types of influences affect the consumer decision process?
3
As Under Armour expands into new markets with new product offerings, it must be sure to maintain—and maximize—its brand recognition and reputation. Help Under Armour develop and implement its brand strategy. In the United States, Under Armour is commonly associated with baseball and football. In order to penetrate deeper into the market for Major League Soccer (MLS) fans, it has developed a line of premium jerseys (considered shopping products) that feature the insignias of different MLS teams. One option is to launch a $2 million advertising campaign. Another option is to spend $1.5 million on advertising and the other $500,000 training salespeople at their retail partners about the new products. Which option should they choose?
Advertising by producer and personal selling by retailer
You have been hired as the new head of development for a dessert company and have been asked to come up with strategies to expand one of your many product lines. Since the market share for cheesecake continues to increase, you are interested in enhancing the depth of this product's mix. You are aware of changing consumer demands and tastes and want to create an innovative variation that does not deviate too much from the cheesecake line. You and your staff conduct market research and collect feedback from customers. Survey responses indicate that though customers enjoy cheesecake treats, they are becoming more health conscious. You decide to come up with a sugar-free cheesecake. As an experienced marketer, you understand that though there are several general advantages to adding depth, some general drawbacks exist as well. Which of the following drawbacks is most likely to hinder sales of the new cheesecake?
After adding the cheesecake variation, your firm may be selling too many desserts overall.
After spending time in the marketing department of a cookware company based in Ohio, you've been told to prepare for a move to a new international division. Your boss hasn't specified its location—only that it will be outside the most mature markets for many U.S. consumer products. Based on that information, you can assume the move will not take you to:
Canada
You have been working for a popular hotel chain for the last several years and want to use some of the data you have pulled from the data warehouse to answer a series of questions you hope will help you better strategize for the company's upcoming marketing campaign. You are particularly interested in evaluating customers' past behavioral patterns when it comes to rewards programs and promotions. You need an efficient way to sort through decades of information on customer profiles. Which of the following strategies would you use to acquire the information you need?
Data mining
As Multiverse continues to expand its reach in the business market, it must continue analyzing the makeup of this market in order to take advantage of new opportunities. Help Multiverse navigate these opportunities. SpaceX, a Hawthorne, California-based spacecraft company is the only private company ever to return a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit. Its ultimate goal is to enable people to live on other planets. In order to do this, SpaceX needs powerful fuels to launch its rockets and land its spacecraft. Multiverse is interested in doing business with SpaceX and wants to be ready to submit a bid when SpaceX puts out the call for proposals. It also knows from discussions with industry insiders that Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO, will be reviewing and ranking all submitted bids himself. Which of the following members of SpaceX's buying center will Multiverse be most interested in developing a relationship with?
Decider and buyer
As Under Armour expands into new markets with new product offerings, it must be sure to maintain—and maximize—its brand recognition and reputation. Help Under Armour develop and implement its brand strategy. Suppose Under Armour has created a new, super nylon that is 50% more durable and long-lasting than the synthetic fibers it has been using. Under Armour has branded it ProWear, but professional athletes have come to call it "Better Than Nike." Market research indicates that consumers think the nickname is catchy and would influence them to buy the product over those offered by Nike. Under Armour is considering whether to seek trademark protection for this name. What should Under Armour do?
Do not seek trademark protection
Over the last few years, you have seen how important social media has become in shaping people's attitudes and their purchasing behavior. You want to make sure your company takes full advantage of this new avenue for building relationships with current and potential customers. You recognize that the power of social media marketing can be magnified if marketers target the right group of users. You want to target the most influential users of social media when you market new or existing products. Which of the following groups of consumers should you target on social media if you want to generate the highest number of word-of-mouth communications about your products?
Early adopters
As Multiverse continues to expand its reach in the business market, it must continue analyzing the makeup of this market in order to take advantage of new opportunities. Help Multiverse navigate these opportunities. Multiverse has determined it can compete successfully in the computer chip manufacturing industry, as it already produces a line of chemicals that provides a protective coating against electromagnetic interference, a common concern with computer chips. Before it can expand marketing to businesses that manufacture computer chips, Multiverse must determine how computer chip manufacturers use chemicals in their production processes. In this case, which of the following segmentation strategies should Multiverse use to segment this business market?
End-use segmentation
As Multiverse continues to expand its reach in the business market, it must continue analyzing the makeup of this market in order to take advantage of new opportunities. Help Multiverse navigate these opportunities. More than 9 million gallons of crude oil have spilled from pipelines in the United States since 2010. And though this represents an overall decrease in oil spills over time, Multiverse believes it has a solution to the problem. "MegaPipe" is a new sealant it developed to sheath oil pipelines with an indestructible layer of protection against unintended cracks and breaks. The problem is that Multiverse doesn't see much business market demand for MegaPipe. Companies developing oil pipelines do not want to spend extra money for protection they might never need. It doesn't look like the business climate is quite right for MegaPipe. Changes to which of the following factors would have a significant impact on the oil industry, encouraging the purchase of MegaPipe?
Environmental factors
As Multiverse continues to expand its reach in the business market, it must continue analyzing the makeup of this market in order to take advantage of new opportunities. Help Multiverse navigate these opportunities. Multiverse is manufacturing a custom chemical for a specialized rocket manufacturer. In order to do so, Multiverse has determined that it must use a certain quantity of rare earth minerals in its production process. There are a number of firms that produce and distribute these rare earth minerals, so Multiverse puts out a request for proposals from suppliers. Which of the following is the next step that Multiverse will most likely take in the purchasing process?
Gather and analyze proposals
In your new marketing position with an international company making custom leather boots, you recognize the global environment offers a different set of challenges for you to navigate on behalf of your employer. You have been assigned to track product sales to Spain. Which of the following information should you thoroughly familiarize yourself with, to respond to Spain's political-legal environment?
Import tariffs on leather goods.
You are browsing through job listings for global marketing-related jobs on Monster.com. One job catches your attention because it lists the following major responsibilities that closely match your experience: The candidate will be involved in purchase decisions of robotic manufacturing firms in Asia. The candidate will be involved in setting up an independent division with responsibility for robotic equipment production and marketing. The candidate's major focus will be on evaluating the performance of robotic manufacturing activities and incorporating strategies for effectiveness and efficiency. The candidate should have an international customer value orientation. Which of the following terms best describes the focus of this job?
International direct investment.
You are learning about strategies that can help a friend's company extend her product's lifecycle. Your friend, Celeste, sells desserts locally and is known for her holiday cakes. Which of the following strategies is likely to be unsuccessful in extending the lifecycle of her cakes?
Introduce a line of pies
As Under Armour expands into new markets with new product offerings, it must be sure to maintain—and maximize—its brand recognition and reputation. Help Under Armour develop and implement its brand strategy. In new global markets, Under Armour wants to focus on line extension to leverage their existing brand name and market strength. In Brazil, Under Armour's apparel and shoes are already big sellers and the only categories where they currently offer products. Two new product lines are under consideration to serve the large population of martial arts practitioners there. One is a line of moisture-wicking compression shirts with extra strong stitching for durability. Another is a line of punching bags and punching mitts. Which product line should Under Armour pursue?
New line of compression shirts
The United States places first in a number of categories of global marketing and trade opportunities. For example, the United States is the world's largest exporter of services and retailing. More than $600 billion is spent annually in U.S. service exports. Twenty percent of that $600 billion—more than $120 billion—comes from travel and tourism. Which of the following customer descriptions identifies a buyer of this U.S. service export?
Parisian Cecile, driving a convertible up the West Coast from California to Washington.
As Under Armour expands into new markets with new product offerings, it must be sure to maintain—and maximize—its brand recognition and reputation. Help Under Armour develop and implement its brand strategy. Because building brand equity is so important to Under Armour, they don't participate in private branding. Suppose two new line extension opportunities have presented themselves. First, Walmart would like to offer an exclusive line of Under Armour soccer apparel that would only be sold at Walmart stores. Under Armour would not be able to sell this product line anywhere else. Second, Amazon would like to partner on a line of Amazon-branded yoga apparel to sell on their website. Amazon's sales projections exceed that of the Walmart's proposal. Which line extension opportunity best meets Under Armour's objectives?
Soccer apparel at Walmart
Benchmarking involves three steps. Which of these steps requires external analysis? Step 1: Identifying processes that need improvement. Step 2: Comparing processes to those of industry leaders. Step 3: Implementing changes for quality improvement.
Step 2
You work for a digital timepiece company which started its entry into the global market a year ago. Your predecessor assumed that the company could use the same product and preexisting marketing campaign materials in nations that shared the same language. Sales never got off the ground. You were brought on board to make strategic changes and continue the fight for customers. Which strategy are you most likely to change?
Straight extension
Alanis has to collect primary data for the floral company for which she works. The company, which is currently based in Miami, Florida, is seeking to expand to other cities within the state. Alanis is interested in gauging what motivates people to buy flowers and customers' attitudes toward online flower delivery. Which of the following primary research methods would best capture the information Alanis wants to collect?
Surveys
The executives of Majority Productions, an entertainment and public relations agency with offices in five countries, are trying to figure out why their marketing strategies in four of the five countries appear to have failed. The company is thriving in the United States, where executives built the company's first office about a decade ago. At the time, they collected primary data that were extremely helpful, leading to a 20-percent growth for the company within the first two years. Because the company's marketing strategies worked so efficiently, the executives saw no need to conduct market research before they entered the other markets. You are diagnosing Majority Productions' inability to compete in international markets. Which of the following is likely to be a major factor in the company's failure in other countries?
The executives of Majority Productions needed to bolster their knowledge about consumers in other countries.
You work for a firm that franchises high-end spas. The company wishes to identify promising new locations. Your marketing research consultant believes you can forgo the costly collection of primary data, because secondary data will provide the key information you need. You were skeptical, but his or her presentation changed your mind. His or her presentation included all of the following points except:
There are research services able to identify neighborhoods with high concentrations of people likely to spend time at spas.
You head a marketing team preparing to launch a revised global marketing campaign for a high-end jewelry and accessory company. You review the previous strategies your team has implemented: You started with selling delicate, antique-looking jewelry across all international markets, with the same theme of "Looking Your Feminine Best." Then your team experimented with some countries using the same jewelry, but with a theme of "Investing in Your Best Self." For other countries, your team used the same theme of "Investing in Your Best Self" to sell jewelry-encrusted purses. Buoyed by that success, your team plans a dramatic marketing change: An award-winning designer recrafted the profile of the jewelry to be chunky, rather than delicate. Your team came up with the slogan of "Be Visibly Lovely." Choose the international product and promotional strategy that does not illustrate a form of adaptation.
You started with selling delicate, antique-looking jewelry across all international markets, with the same theme of "Looking Your Feminine Best."
Your company is experiencing technical problems and financial losses with one of its products. Which stage of its lifecycle has the product most likely reached?
introductory
The new-product development process is often costly, risky, and requires a significant amount of time on the part of the company developing the product. Your company is developing a new product. Hoping to be successful, your product development manager follows the six-step development process. The rate of new product failure averages 80 percent; however, he or she knows that a company can reduce the chances of a new product's failure by implementing and carefully proceeding through this process. Below is a description of what occurs during each of the six steps in the development process. In what order should these activities take place? Step 1: Your company runs through a checklist of standards to be met for its products. Step 2: The product is assessed to find out its likely growth and competitiveness. Step 3: The product is ready for full-scale marketing. Step 4: Your company has an idea for a new product. Step 5: Your company converts the new product idea into a visible prototype. Step 6: This step will help determine a consumer's reaction to the new product in a real-world environment.
4, 1, 2, 5, 6, 3
You work for a marketing company that specializes in researching market shares and profits related to miscellaneous consumer products. To ensure that the data you have collected are accurate, you categorize the consumer products of interest according to the customers' buying behavior: convenience, shopping, and specialty purchases. Choose the product that would be best described as a shopping purchase.
A house
Marketers are concerned with the behaviors consumers exhibit and the decisions they make when purchasing a product or service. Likewise, they are concerned with the decision-making processes that change over time. A consumer's self-concept is also important to marketers. Choose the situation that involves self-concept theory.
A woman purchases a brightly colored dress she saw in a fashion magazine despite the fact that she normally wears conservative clothing.
Evaluation of alternatives
As a result of the information search,m consumers identify appropriate alternatives, or their evoked set, and utilize criteria to judge the options.
While totaling your quarterly receipts for your business, The Breakfast Bar, you note that a sizable amount of your revenue comes from selling packaged coffee beans to regular customers who come in every day for an extra-large cup of coffee togo. Your plan for the next quarter is to promote your selection of fresh roasted beans with a buy one, get one half off incentive to encourage these customers to purchase more and/or try something new. Which segmentation approach are you employing to bolster sales for the next quarter?
Behavioral
Based on sales reports and customer feedback, you have mapped five brands of toothpaste marketed by your company so that you can get a visual of how each rates with the public. Based on the positioning descriptions below, which brand is considered by consumers as the best overall value? Brand A: Low Price; Low Quality. Brand B: High Price; High Quality. Brand C: Moderate Price; Moderate Quality. Brand D: Moderate Price; High Quality. Brand E: High Price; Low Quality.
Brand D
Estee Foods has succeeded in the highly competitive candy market by focusing on sugar-free sweets that meet the needs of people on strict sugar-free diets, like diabetics. Estee practices which of the following strategies for reaching its target market?
Concentrated marketing.
Your large retail store sells power tools and construction supplies, and your customer base is made up primarily of home improvement contractors, subcontractors, and serious DIYers. But business has stagnated now that the housing market has seen a downturn. What can you do to boost your sales and keep your business solvent?
Consider marketing to a segment that meets the criteria for effective segmentation.
Purchase decision
Consumers narrow choice to the top option and decide where to make the purchase.
Belongingness needs
Cosmetics, food, entertainment, fashion, appliances and home furnishings, clubs and organizations, cars
A major element of a consumer's buying decision process is the level of problem solving that the consumer exhibits in the process. The level of involvement is higher for some purchases than for others. The marketer will want to tailor the marketing message according to the perceived level of involvement the consumer will have. Choose the scenario that illustrates routinized response behavior.
Customer A just stopped at the grocery store to pick up some paper towels for his kitchen.
As consumers opt to watch their favorite television shows and movies online via Web-streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu, the appeal of cable television seems to have dwindled. Some cable companies have gone out of business, and others have merged to ensure stability during these challenging economic times. According to the scenario presented above, at which of the following stages is cable television?
Decline
Esteem needs
Fashion, jewelry, gourmet foods, electronics, cosmetics, luxury cars, credit cards, investments, sports and hobbies, travel, spas
Physiological needs
Food, water, medicines, vitamins, exercise equipment and gym memberships, health care and cleaning products, sleep aids and mattresses, food for pets
You work for a fabric company that sources unique materials from around the world. In the past, you have focused solely on the business of supplying fashion designers with fabric they make into dresses. However, you've recently recognized an opportunity to expand the business by supplying stores like Jo-Ann Fabrics that sell sewing and craft goods to consumers who sew at home. If you pursue this opportunity, in which direction would your company be expanding?
From a commercial market into a reseller market.
Apple products have had an exciting lifecycle, which indicates just how large and in demand the company's product lines are. While it took the iPod five years to break the 30 million units per year mark, the iPhone reached this mark in four. The iPad reached this mark in two years. Modifications of its popular products continue to sell briskly to new buyers as well as to early Apple customers, despite ever-increasing competitive pressure. Based on the details provided in the scenario above, in which of the following stages of a product lifecycle are Apple products?
Growth
As a marketer, you have many different tools at your disposal to gather the information necessary to develop targeted marketing programs. One of those tools is psychographic segmentation. Select the type of information below that cannot be gathered using psychographic variables.
I want to know how many children under the age of 18 live in the households of my target market.
You're the marketing director for a startup firm in the snack food industry. In the past, you've sold only to small specialty stores, but now you hope to crack a major supermarket chain. As you plan your approach to this prospective new buyer, which of the following likely influences on its decision should you consider?
Interpersonal influences and organizational factors.
You turned on your tablet to read an online article about a Texas-based furniture retailer that reported its first gain in same-store sales in almost two years. The gains were realized in foldable tables and convertible sofas, areas specifically targeted for improvement and often preferred by apartment dwellers with limited space. The company attributes its success to having moved its stores from rural and suburban communities into Dallas-Ft. Worth, 1 of the 10 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. What significant geographic variable or combination of variables is likeliest to be responsible for this retailer's success?
Market density.
Physical surroundings
Store location, lighting, store size, décor, sounds, aromas, merchandise displays. Can also include factors outside the marketer's control like weather or adjacent businesses.
As the marketer for a new electronics firm that produces a limited number of products, you recognize that consumers are not all cut from the same cloth—many variables exist in needs and preferences. But your company cannot change its products to suit each individual consumer preference. Select the statement below that does not accurately tell how market segmentation can help your company sell its goods.
Market segmentation will help your company identify product changes that will meet all consumer preferences and needs.
You have entered a stage in the organizational buying process. The scenarios below indicate which stage you have entered: At this stage in the buying process, you will consider how well a particular supplier has responded to your company's needs. Because your company is so large, it uses standardized methods to judge whether a vendor has met or exceeded the company's expectations. Which of the following is an added benefit of the stage in the organizational buying process identified above?
Measurement of whether or not a vendor has reduced your employees' workloads.
Situational Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior
Physical surroundings, Social surroundings, Purchase reason, Buyer's mood and condition,
Purchase reason
Purchasing for self versus others. Necessary versus discretionary purchases.
Cassie is failing her "Marketing 101" course. She has to get at least a 97 percent on the next exam to ensure a passing grade this semester, but she is still confused about the difference between two key dimensions of brand personality: relevance and esteem. As her study partner, you want to help Cassie pass the exam. Select the description of this concept that you will urge Cassie to review.
Relevance reflects the brand's pertinence to its target; esteem is a combination of quality perception and other opinions about the brand.
There are three categories in the consumer's problem-solving behavior: routinized response behavior, limited problem solving, and extended problem solving. You are at the grocery store and realize you need to buy cheese for your mom's famous black-bean lasagna recipe. You typically purchase Kraft cheddar cheese, but you're wondering if you should buy the generic brand because it is a few dollars cheaper. If you use limited problem solving, which of the following actions would you take?
Sample the generic brand and buy it because it's on sale.
Aiden is in charge of the supplies inventory at his manufacturing company. Which of the following items is not in Aiden's inventory?
Smartphones
Buyer's mood and condition
The mood state (e.g. hungry, happy, sad, anxious) and condition (e.g. available spending money, illness) of the buyer.
The business-to-business (B2B) market can be grouped into four major categories: commercial, reseller, government, and institutional. Organizations can fall into one of the business market categories. Choose the organizations that are part of the reseller market.
Toys "R" Us purchases Barbie dolls from the toy manufacturer Mattel.
You work for a tech firm that wants to invest in some capital development projects that could potentially position the company as a multinational giant in the competitive market. One of the projects would require your company to purchase a $500 million software package. Company executives believe the investment would pay off; however, before approving such a costly purchase, they want to identify someone in the IT department who has the expertise to work with this highly specialized package. The person would play a key role within the buying center. Which role would the IT expert be likeliest to play?
User
You just moved into a new home and are in the market to purchase Internet services. Because you are in a hurry to set up your home office, you enter into a contract with the first provider whose commercial you see on television for your area, though you know there are at least three providers in the area. After the first month, you are unhappy with the service because your signal is continually low. Which of the following statements best describes what went wrong?
You failed to evaluate different alternatives.
You work for a new company in an emerging market, the 3D printer industry. With about 200 employees, your company is undoubtedly growing, and order requests have doubled within the last year. Because of the size of your company, you are not quite ready to compete with industry giants. You do, however, understand that there is a huge potential for success because a 3D printer can potentially be used for a wide range of activities, including printing products within the home, printing organs for transplant that can be used in operating rooms across the world, and printing and filling small orders for local businesses. Which of the following types of business-to-business market segmentation would you use in the scenario described above?
End-use application segmentation.
Which of the following positioning strategies is inaccurately described?
To succeed with value positioning, a company must offer the lowest price.
Two demographic variables used when segmenting consumer markets are segmenting by age and segmenting by stage in the life cycle. Which of the following situations does not illustrate segmenting by age?
Flat-pack furniture is marketed as inexpensive and easily portable.
You work for a Europe-based company that is interested in doing business internationally. As a top manager of the firm, you want to make sure that your services and goods meet international standards. When evaluating your company's ability to compete in an international market, which of the following would help you standardize the quality of your company's goods and services?
ISO 9001
Mercy Hospital needs to purchase a highly specialized drug that is patented and sold by only one pharmaceutical company. These constraints will primarily affect which step in the organizational buying process?
Step 3.
Motives
inner states that direct a person toward the goal of satisfying a need
You are about to engage in the marketing research process. It includes the following steps, listed in alphabetical order—not necessarily the order in which they should be carried out. Collecting primary or secondary data Conducting exploratory research Creating a research design Defining the problem Formulating a hypothesis Interpreting and presenting research information Indicate which two of these steps should come first and last.
First: Defining the problem. Last: Interpreting and presenting research information
As Multiverse continues to expand its reach in the business market, it must continue analyzing the makeup of this market in order to take advantage of new opportunities. Help Multiverse navigate these opportunities. Over the last 12 months, Multiverse has noticed an uptick in the number of business market customers purchasing its product called Formula 359, a citrus-based chemical solvent normally sold directly to consumers. Unlike the consumer market for this product, which is disbursed across the country, Multiverse has identified a single state that makes up 90% of its business market sales for Formula 359-California. As Multiverse develops a marketing strategy to further expand Formula 359 into the business market, which of the following characteristics would differ most from its consumer market strategy?
Geographic market concentration.
Delectable Foods develops foods for the modern family that are nutritious and go easily from refrigerator to table. Their market research studies have shown that the goal of the modern family after a long day of work or school is to sit down together to a tasty and healthy meal that doesn't take long to prepare. Delectable Foods has marketed their newest dinner line to appeal to the modern family when they're shopping for groceries. Duran is shopping at the supermarket for groceries after work. He remembers that he needs to pick up dinner for his family, and while trying to be conscious of their caloric intake, he wants to make sure he buys something that his small children will like. Which of Delectable Food's new dinner options would most likely catch Duran's attention?
Healthy chicken nuggets in fun shapes with fresh fruit.
Hiram's company fills over-the-phone catalog requests taken by its customer service center located in India. During a recent customer survey of U.S.-based consumers, the company became aware that many of its consumers had negative experiences when calling the customer service center with questions, concerns, or to place an order. The complaints have resulted because consumers have difficulty understanding customer service representatives because of language barriers. What is the best course of action for Hiram's company?
The company could create a website that allows its consumers the option to order items online.
You are the vice president of sales and marketing for a major home appliance retailer, and you just received the quarterly global sales report for the second quarter. The first figure that you notice in the report is the dramatic decline in sales in the Latin American territory. You suspect that the falloff isn't unique to your company, but instead is consistent with poor performance in Latin America across many appliance stores and manufacturers. The only way to confirm your hypothesis is with a compilation of market-wide industry data that has been published by various economic think tanks but that your firm can't afford to acquire. Choose the type of outside research specialist best suited to help you—if any.
a research aggregator
A job description posted on Monster.com reads as follows: The individual will oversee each of the Skin Care Division's lotion and lip balm lines. In particular, he or she will be expected to maximize the profitability of all brands within those lines. This description suggests the company is looking for a:
category manager
