Marketing Ch. 3

Marketers must pay attention to changes in sociocultural forces in order to send effective marketing messages to their target market. Sociocultural forces occur incrementally, making it easy to miss the shift until it is fully integrated. These can include a change in population characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, and marital and parental status. The degree to which these changes take place determines the amount of diversity present in a particular market, which, in turn results in different consumer buying behaviors. Cultural values affect the way people think about and make purchases, and largely result from one's family. Consumerism is a movement to protect consumers' rights, whose values can be heard from individuals, organizations, or groups. Which of the following statements provides a correct example of consumerism?

A snack and beverage company is reacting to consumer complaints about high sugar content in their products.

You are the head of the corporate acquisitions team at a major biotech company in Atlanta, Georgia. Your team has identified a couple of attractive acquisition targets that you would like to recommend to the Board of Directors for consideration. However, before you make a recommendation, you want to make sure that none of the acquisitions will raise any regulatory issues. In order to evaluate all potential regulatory issues, which one of the following analytical actions should you have your team complete prior to making any recommendations?

A thorough analysis of the provisions of the Celler-Kefauver Act, the Clayton Act, and the Sherman Antitrust Act

Marketers must continually acquire information about trends, events, and societal dynamics occurring in the marketing environment outside of the firm in order to identify and interpret potential positive and negative forces that may impact the firm's marketing strategies. The following statements provide examples of trends related to environmental forces. Which of these examples is correct?

Advances in biotechnology, cosmetic surgery, and cancer drugs are related to technological forces.

Which ONE of the following does NOT influence marketing activities?

All of the answer options influence marketing activities

Which ONE of the following Economic Factors does NOT influence the marketing environment?

All of the answer options influence the marketing environment

Which of the following is NOT one of the four ways that a company can practice social responsibility?

By producing "green" products and using recyclable materials

You work for an automobile manufacturing company whose sales have been low as a result of the economic downturn. Company executives are strategizing as to how to stimulate sales. Which of the following steps should they take to improve business?

Decrease prices and offer more promotions

Your company just attended a symposium on sustainability; and as company president, you are interested in raising the level of social responsibility in all that the company does, whether manufacturing goods, marketing, or offering services that improve the lives of individuals in the communities you serve. Which of the following steps can your company take to ensure that its practices are socially responsible?

Eliminate the use of paper-based circulars and rely solely on Web-based and social marketing strategies to promote products.

The pyramid of corporate social responsibility states that there are four dimensions of social responsibility: economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. The socially responsible marketer accepts different responsibilities for each of these dimensions in terms of how she carries out her marketing activities. You have been asked to make a presentation to management that will highlight your company's ethical responsibilities. Which of the following topics do you plan to discuss?

It is important to recognize that corporate integrity and behavior go beyond mere compliance with laws and regulations.

As Progressive Insurance continues to monitor its external environment, they must make decisions based on trends and changes they identify. Please help Progressive navigate changes to their external environment. As the baby boom generation reaches retirement age, their driving habits are likely to change. Once retired, they will no longer be driving to work every day and the number of miles they drive will probably decrease when compared to younger drivers. In addition, most retirees find themselves on a fixed income and actively seek discounts to help them spend less. Progressive executives are looking at offering a product targeted specifically toward retired drivers. Which Option?

Option #1: Pay-As-You-Drive (PAYD) pricing model. Much like pay-as-you-go or prepaid cell phones, you only pay for the miles you drive. Progressive would offer motorists a per-mile rate and a device to plug into their on-board diagnostic port in the car. The device would monitor the number of miles driven and drivers then receive a monthly bill based on that amount.

As Progressive Insurance continues to monitor its external environment, they must make decisions based on trends and changes they identify. Please help Progressive navigate changes to their external environment. Over the last six months, Progressive has noticed a decline in applications for new policies. The latest industry reports indicate similar declines among other home and auto insurers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the unemployment rate has steadily increased over the last three quarters due to an economic recession. In response to changing economic conditions, Progressive has come up with two different insurance plans to better meet customers' needs. Which Option?

Option #1: Progressive Value. This is full coverage auto insurance, but excludes items like rental car reimbursement and roadside assistance. This basic level insurance includes comprehensive, collision, and liability coverage, but at lower limits than most insurance plans. This plan appeals to cost-conscious buyers looking for a basic auto insurance policy.

As Progressive Insurance continues to monitor its external environment, they must make decisions based on trends and changes they identify. Please help Progressive navigate changes to their external environment. Progressive has seen a recent increase in claims in a high crime area of St. Louis, Missouri. A majority of the claims were car break-ins that occurred while policy holders were at work. What is troubling about many of the claims is that none of the policy holders had indicated working in the high crime area when they applied for auto coverage through Progressive. As a result, the policy holders received lower rates than they would have if they had indicated working in this area. In a move to offset the cost of claims, Progressive would like to increase insurance premiums not only for the policy holders who have made recent claims in the high crime area, but also for customers who may work in the area but have failed to indicate this on their insurance application. Progressive executives would like to determine an accurate and efficient way to determine which policy holders' premiums to raise. Which Option?

Option #1: Survey policy holders, asking for updated policy information including home address, work address, and contact phone numbers. Depending on customers' responses, Progressive could then raise the insurance premiums of customers working in the high crime area.

As Progressive Insurance continues to monitor its external environment, they must make decisions based on trends and changes they identify. Please help Progressive navigate changes to their external environment. Progressive has long been involved with socially responsible efforts, such as donating to charities and implementing energy conservation measures within their offices. However, Progressive has recently received criticism. While their recent profits were about $1.3 billion, some believe its social responsibility efforts are weak compared to those of competitors. As a result, Progressive's CEO is debating between two social responsibility campaigns. Which Option?

Option #2: The U.S. Department of transportation reports that nearly four in 10 veterans live in rural areas where transportation options are limited. In addition, these veterans have to travel great distances to receive medical care and reach employment service offices. Progressive would like to donate cars to 500 deserving veterans each year. This $10 million annual contribution would allow veterans and their families reliable transportation to meet their basic needs.

Marketers must continually assess changes in the competition and make changes in their own competitive strategy because the competitive environment often determines success or failure of a product. Which of the steps below can a marketer for a large retail discount store (e.g., Target, Walmart, Sears) implement as part of the store's competitive strategy as children are headed back to school? Choose the step that you think will be most profitable.

Run Early Bird Special discounts on end-of-summer weekends for local school supply lists, toiletries, and clothing.

Venmo is a mobile application that enables people to send and receive money for free as long as they have a bank account, supported debit card, or a Venmo balance to fund payments. Venmo also allows the use of credit cards for a fee. To ensure security, the company uses bank-grade security systems and data encryption to prevent unauthorized transactions or access to personal information. Venmo operates as a mobile wallet, and though it provides services comparable to Western Union and PayPal, it can be managed through smartphones, thus appealing to a wide audience of retailers and others who depend on efficient money exchange. In an analysis of Venmo for your marketing class, you argue that it exemplifies how technological change creates marketing opportunities. What is the core of your argument?

Technological change often enables companies to greatly improve customer service

Marketing ethics and social responsibility are important to the success of marketing strategies. Marketing ethics defines the principles and standards that define acceptable conduct in marketing. Which of the following decisions is not related to marketing ethics?

The Director of Marketing wants to withdraw a product because it is no longer profitable or competitive.

Marketers that do not pay attention to changes in the social-cultural environment may risk:

appearing out of touch and lose customers

The four major types of federal government regulation that affect marketing practices include all of the following EXCEPT:

dictating state business laws and regulations

Which of the following is NOT one of the components of the marketing environment?

ethic environment

The dimensions of social responsibility include all the following EXCEPT:

personal

Indirect competition includes goods or services which are:

substitutes

A company which seeks to sell a new product, like typewriters to college students, influences which component of the marketing environment?

technological environment