Marketing Practice Problems

Many American consumers are purchasing hybrid automobiles even though they are more expensive than compact conventional autos. These consumers - value contributing to a greener environment - are responding to global corporate pressure for social responsibility - would prefer an SUV - are economically irrational - are style driven

value contributing to a greener environment (LOHAS)

target marketing sometimes generates controversy and concern. Issues usually involve the targeting of ______ consumers with _______ products - young; appealing - uneducated; complex - elderly; expensive - vulnerable or disadvantages; controversial or potentially harmful

vulnerable or disadvantages; controversial or potentially harmful

Manufacturers that use just-in-time manufacturing systems coordinate closely with suppliers to ensure that materials and supplies arrive just before they are needed in the manufacturing process. While just-in-time systems can offer major advantages in terms of inventory costs, they must be carefully managed. If a firm found that its just-in-time system was badly managed, leading to frequent manufacturing delays due to missing parts, this would represent a(n) __________ in a SWOT analysis. - weakness - metric - threat - opportunity - strength

weakness

Which of the following factors, listed in a situation analysis for a major U.S. auto manufacturer, is the best example of a threat? - A New York law firm has filed a $10 million class action suit against the company on behalf of car owners whose gas tanks exploded - Recent consumer studies have indicated that Chinese consumers prefer American cars - The factory that manufactures a new, popular car cannot build enough vehicles to meet the demand, while other factories have excess capacity - Due to outdated engine technology, the company's cars get lower gas mileage than those of major competitors - The company has lower manufacturing costs than its key competitors, allowing it to sell its cars at low prices

A New York law firm has filed a $10 million class action suit against the company on behalf of car owners whose gas tanks exploded

Marketers wanting to use social media to reach consumers should understand that people in the ________ group were born into a world that was already full of electronic gadgets and digital technologies such as the Internet and social networks. - Gen Y - baby boomers - Gen Z - Gen X

Gen Z

For each target market, General Imaging Corporation, a manufacturer of imaging equipment, will engage in positioning, adjusting its marketing mix variables to give customers - a perceptual map of the imaging landscape - a clear, distinctive, and desirable understanding of their products relative to competing products - lower prices than the competition offers - a more flexible supply chain strategy - more product features than the competition offers

a clear, distinctive, and desirable understanding of their products relative to competing products

The consumer buying process begins when - a consumer's performance risk is minimized - a consumer recognizes an unsatisfied need - consumers' functional needs are greater than their psychological needs - learning follows perception - a consumer enters a store

a consumer recognizes an unsatisfied need

All of the following should be determined by the marketing department of a firm except: - setting the price of the product - actually making the product - storing the product - designing the packaging for the product - advertising the product

actually making the product (this is called production)

By offering environmentally responsible products, green marketers - keep costs much lower than those of competitors - make consumers feel guilty for buying other products - all of these - undercut prices of nonenvironmentally responsible marketers - add value that other products do not have

add value that other products do not have

A computer manufacturer is attempting to increase the customer value associated with purchases of its products. Which of the following might be an easy way to achieve this increase in value? - offer free shipping - increase warranty coverage - reduce price - increase technical support for customers - any are correct, depending on the needs of the target market

any are correct, depending on the needs of the target market

Toothpastes sold in supermarkets and pharmacies promise various results, such as whiter teeth, protection against gum disease, tartar control, or fresh breath. Toothpaste marketers are using __________ segmentation. - demographic - loyalty - benefit - psychographic - geodemographic

benefit

funds available, strong brands, employee turnover are all part of a(n) economic assessment company assessment customer assessment competitive assessment company or competitive assessment all of the above

company or competitive assessment

Astute marketers recognize that the increasing disparity of income between upper- and lower-income groups - creates opportunities to provide value to each group - will disappear as ethnicity becomes a stronger cultural determinant - will create inflationary pressure - will vanish once the recession ends - is attributable to technological expertise of immigrant groups

creates opportunities to provide value to each group

Karen has identified four potential market segments for her Rent-A-Chef home meal catering service. The next step is to - categorize each market segment by consumer demographics - decide on a targeting strategy - evaluate the attractiveness of each segment - develop a positioning strategy - establish her overall objectives

develop a positioning strategy

Ben Perez is driving along a mountain road. In the distance, he sees a road crew working on a fallen tree that has blocked the highway. When Ben first sees the road crew, which of the following perceptual processes has been engaged? - exposure - interpretation - adaptation - retention

exposure (sees)

The ___________ is the most important consumer buying organization in society. Marketers are interested in the roles and influence of the husband, wife, and children on the purchase of different products and services - social class - information source - opinion leader - family

family

a consumer's social environment includes - functional and psychological needs - cognitive, affective, and behavioral environments - family, reference groups, and culture - universal, retrieval, and evoked sets - impulse, habitual, and limited problem-solving processes

family, reference groups, and culture

Marketers often create a special marketing mix for loyalty segments because these segments are - costly to acquire - too large to service with ordinary targeting - generally profitable - constantly changing - difficult to identify

generally profitable

When considering income as a demographic variable affecting marketing efforts, marketers need to recognize that - everyone is equal - income in the US has become more unevenly distributed -everyone has been equally affected by the recession - middle-income consumers are quickly becoming upper-income consumers - there is increasing purchasing power among lower-income groups

income in the US has become more unevenly distributed

relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, and relative ease of benefit communication are characteristics of - habitual buying behavior - dissonance-reducing buying behavior - influence of product on rate of adoption - alternative evaluation

influence of product on rate of adoption

Reference-group influence would be WEAKEST for determining which particular ------ a person buys - cosmetics - clothing - watch - car - laundry soap

laundry soap (stronger for products others see and relate to status of group)

The Federal Trade Commission informed Tropicana orange juice that it would have to stop advertising that one of the benefits of "heart-healthy" orange juice was to lower blood pressure. For Tropicana, this situation was a significant development in the: - internal company environment - economic environment - social environment - competitive environment - legal environment

legal environment

A consumer who uses a few simple decision rules to arrive at a purchase decision is using which of the following? - limited problem solving - graduated response behavior - routine decision making - extended problem solving

limited problem solving

Your firm is attempting to divide up the total market to determine the best segments it can serve. Which is the correct order of doing so? - market segmentation, target marketing, market positioning - target marketing, market positioning, market segmentation - market segmentation, market positioning, target marketing - market positioning, market segmentation, target marketing

market segmentation, target marketing, market positioning

A travel operator has announced luxury vacation packages. The packages include overnight stays at high-end resorts and services from the most expensive spas. Which of the following is most likely to be the target customer base for these tours? - young-married with children - middle-aged married with children - teenagers - single parents - middle-aged married without dependent children

middle-aged married without dependent children

A moderately priced jewelry store is trying to differentiate itself from other jewelry stores. The store prices products somewhat lower than the super-premium jewelry stores, but offers better products and services than the low-end jewelry stores provide. The market situation this store faces sounds most like: - price competition - oligopoly - oligopolistic competition - monopolistic competition - monopoly

monopolistic competition (oligopoly and pure comp do not have something that differentiates them from substitutes)

Chris, an aspiring local restaurateur, wanted to enter his local market. He observed that it currently was served by national chain restaurants that each offered a broad menu of a few basic dishes from many different cuisines. Chris decided to open a local independent authentic Italian restaurant with a wide range of Italian cuisines from all of Italy. Chris's strategy could best be describes as a ___ strategy. - Single target market - Multiple target market - Combined target market - Structured target market - Mixed-mode market

multiple target market

__________ refers to the unique psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to one's own environment. It is usually described in traits such as self-confidence, dominance, sociability, autonomy, defensiveness, adaptability, and aggressiveness - alternative evaluation - belief - personality - culture

personality

The government has enacted laws that promote both fair trade and competition by prohibiting the formation of monopolies or alliances that would damage a competitive marketplace, fostering fair pricing practices for all suppliers and consumers. These actions are part of the ________ environment of business - constitutional - communication - technological - social - political/regulatory

political/regulatory

Lifestyle, attributes, competitors, and quality are all dimensions marketers can use to carve out a brand's ________ in the marketplace. - sensory signature - priming - trade dress - position

position

which of the following statements about positioning is NOT true? Positioning techniques - position products on a graph based on price level and quantity demanded - typically rely on a "product space" diagram to show the relationship among various products - are sometimes called "perceptual mapping" techniques - require a firm to collect data about consumer perceptions of products - may use information about consumers "ideal" products, so that the preferences of different segments of consumers can be considered

position products on a graph based on price level and quantity demanded

LeBron James, Alex Rodriguez, and other athletes are paid huge sums of money by companies for celebrity endorsements. If endorsements by these athletes create a clear understanding among consumers of the companies' products in comparison to competing products, they can help with the firm's ________________ strategy. - segmentation - positioning - targeting - product excellence - customer excellence

positioning

Whenever Donald calls on potential pest control customers, he emphasizes the fact that, unlike the national franchise competitors, he is a local business person and has been in business over twenty years. Donald is __________ his business relative to his competition. - segmenting - positioning - packaging - targeting - customer excellence strategy

positioning

A former advertising campaign for GEICO Insurance used the slogan "So easy, even a caveman could do it" to emphasize the ease of buying insurance on GEICO's website. This campaign was part of GEICO's - customer excellence strategy - market segmentation plan - mission statement - positioning strategy - product strategy

positioning strategy

The average adult is exposed to 3,500 pieces of advertising information every single day, far more information than they can or are willing to process. Consumers who are exposed to more information than they can process are in a state of - advertising bombardment - sensory shifting - circuit overcapacity - sensory overload

sensory overload

Sanguine Services practices a marketing strategy where its limited resources are used to go after a large share of two small niches. Sanguine practices which one of these strategies? - differentiated - combined market - undifferentiated - single market

single market

Marketers know that, compared to high school graduates who are working full time, college students - will earn less over their working lifetime - are less likely to buy textbooks - have almost identical spending patterns - are more likely to drink beer and less likely to drink wine - spend their disposable income differently

spend their disposable income differently

Which of the following occurs when a customer learns that two products are different even though the packages of both products look similar? - extinction - brand equity - stimulus generalization - stimulus discrimination

stimulus discrimination

Family branding, licensing, and look-alike packaging are all strategies based on - extinction - stimulus discrimination - stimulus generalization - the spacing effect

stimulus generalization

For years, when considering new products, marketers at Celestial Seasonings asked themselves, "What would Stacy think?" Stacy was a fictional character representing 25-50-year-old, educated, upper-income women who rarely watched television but did a lot of reading. "Stacy" represented Celestial's primary - mission statement - SBU - target market segment - sustainable competitive advantage - positioning

target market segment

For products like clothes pins, which provide the same benefit for all consumers, marketers should probably use a(n) ____________ strategy - benefit segmentation - undifferentiated targeting - concentrated targeting - differentiated segmentation - lifestyle segmentation

undifferentiated targeting

The term "micro-macro dilemma" means that - the micro view of marketing is concerned with the flow of goods and services from producers to consumers - while the macro view is not - macro-marketing is just a small part of a larger micro-marketing system - marketing people cannot agree on whether marketing should be viewed as activities or as a social process - most people are both producers and consumers - what is "good" for some producers and consumers may not be good for society as a whole

what is "good" for some producers and consumers may not be good for society as a whole