Marketing chapter 8

Observing and understanding customers and shaping their product-use experience

A good design begins with ________.

Specialty product

A hickory rocking chair, handmade by an Amish woodcarver in Lancaster, Pennsylvania from locally grown wood, is an example of a ________.

Products and services bought by final consumers for personal consumption

Consumer products refer to ________.

Width

Product mix ________ refers to the number of different product lines the company carries.

Depth

Product mix ________ refers to the number of versions offered for each product in the line.

Core customer value

Product planners need to consider products and services on three levels. Each level adds more customer value. The most basic level is the ________, which addresses the question, "What is the buyer really buying?"

Capital items

________ are industrial products that aid in the buyer's production or operations, including installations and accessory equipment.

Perishability

Alex Smith rents storage space to college students who go home for the summer but do not want to haul all of their property home and back. The business is profitable during the summer months, but when the storage space is unoccupied in the off-season, Alex loses money. Which of the following characteristics of service is most likely the source of Alex's problem?

Equity

Brand ________ is the differential effect that knowing the brand name has on customer response to the product and its marketing.

Major purchases such as elevators

Installations consist of ________.

Product line filling

Ruben Delgado built his enterprise on the faithful patronage of four specialty shops and a large contract from Elmore Distributors. But after two years, the maker of novelty pens and pencils had to rethink his strategy when his contract with Elmore ended. Ruben built a company reputation on the manufacturing and distribution of a variety of wooden writing utensils with customized engravings. Specialty shops loved to display the products in their fancy, lighted showcases, but such specialty shops alone were not profitable. Ruben Delgado established a brand name, known merely as Delgado, and decided to expand on it. Ruben extended his writing utensil lines to include quills, felt-tip pens, and multiple-cartridge pens that write in different colors. He even added a line of various grades of personalized stationery and business cards. Perhaps Ruben's biggest added touch, however, was the addition of two salespeople who would work to explain the diverse array of products offered by Delgado, as well as nurture existing accounts. "We make an excellent product," Ruben Delgado stated, "and we honor a good guarantee on everything we sell. But let's face it—we face hundreds of competitors! We need Delgado representatives out there to help prospects understand what they should demand in something as simple as a writing tool." The Delgado brand was fast-becoming synonymous with top-notch customer service. Part of the purchase package brought personal visits from the Delgado representative, before the purchase and long after.

Consistency

The ________ of the product mix refers to how closely related the various product lines are in end use, production requirements, distribution channels, or some other way.

Service variability

The customers of Parry's Hair Salon have noticed that the quality of a haircut depends on who provides it as well as when, where, and how the service is provided. Which of the following characteristics of service is evident in this instance?

Retail

Which of the following exemplifies a service?

High brand equity provides a company with many competitive advantages

Which of the following is true with regard to brand equity?

Good design

________ contributes to a product's usefulness as well as to its looks.

A brand extension

________ involves the use of a successful brand name for new or modified products in a new category.

Co-branding

________ occurs when two established brand names of different companies are used on the same product.

Industrial

________ products are those products purchased for further processing or for use in conducting a business.