Đề cương ôn tập môn Marketing căn bản | Đại học Ngoại Thương

Tài liệu bao gồm các câu hỏi tự luận có kèm theo đáp án chi tiết. Kiến thức xuyên suốt 9 chương, giúp sinh viên tham khảo và học tập tốt môn Marketing căn bản, đạt điểm cao trong kỳ thi kết thúc môn học. 

SHORT
ANSWER
QUESTIONS
MARKETING
PRINCIPLES
Chapter
1:
Marketing
in
a
Changing
World
1.
Define
marketing
and
discuss
its
role
in
the
economy.
2.
Compare
the
five
marketing
management
philosophies.
3.
Identify
and
discuss
the
major
forces
now
changing
the
marketing
landscape
and
challenging
marketing
strategy.
4.
Define
and
describe
the
marketing
management
concept.
5.
Discuss
the
relationship
between
value,
satisfaction
and
quality.
Answer:
1.
Marketing
is
a
social
and
managerial
process
by
which
individuals
and
groups
obtain
what
they
need
and
want
through
creating
and
exchanging
products
and
values
with
others.
Economic
roles
include
meeting
needs,
wants,
and
demands;
creating
products;
creating
value
and
satisfaction;
facilitating
exchanges,
transactions,
and
mutually
beneficial
relationships;
developing
markets;
meeting
societal
needs;
increasing
consumer
choice;
and
providing
fair
profits.
2.
Production
Concept:
Consumers
favour
products
that
are
available
and
highly
affordable.
Product
Concept:
Consumers
favour
products
that
offer
the
most
value,
the
best
performance,
and
the
largest
number
of
innovative
features.
Selling
Concept:
Consumers
will
not
normally
buy
enough
products
on
their
own.
Marketing
Concept:
The
successful
company
satisfies
needs
and
wants
more
efficiently
than
its
competitors
do.
Societal
Marketing
Concep t:
The
successful
company
determines
customers'
needs
and
wants
and
society's
best
interests.
3.
A
growth
in
non-profit
marketing
seems
to
meet
new
needs.
Rapid
globalisation
has
brought
a
geographic
dispersion
of
purchasing,
manufacturing,
and
marketing
activities.
The
changing
world
economy
is
marked
by
a
decline
in
real
buying
power
and
an
increase
in
two-income
households
in
the
US.
Increased
demands
for
social
responsibility
require
more
ethical
business
practices
and
more
attention
to
the
environmental
consequences
of
business
decisions.
Extremely
rapid
change
is
a
feature
of
the
new
marketing
landscape.
4.
Marketing
management
is
the
analysis,
planning,
implementation,
and
control
of
programs
designed
to
create,
build,
and
maintain
beneficial
exchanges
with
target
buyers,
so
as
to
achieve
organisational
objectives.
Marketing
management
seeks
to
manage
demand
efficiently
and
effectively,
so
as
to
help
consumers
obtain
value
in
their
transactions
while
securing
a
profit
for
the
company.
5.
Customer
value
is
the
difference
between
the
value
the
customer
gains
from
owning
and
using
a
product
and
the
cost
the
customer
incurs
in
obtaining
the
product.
Satisfaction
depends
on
a
product's
perceived
performance
in
delivering
value
relative
to
the
buyer's
expectations.
Quality,
especially
in
the
form
of
TQM,
stems
from
a
company's
commitment
to
constant
improvement.
Satisfaction
comes
from
delighting
and
surprising
customers
with
more
quality,
thus
heightening
their
perceived
sense
of
value.
Such
practices
are
the
only
formula
for
long-term
success.
Chapter
2:
Strategic
Planning
and
the
Marketing
Process
1.
Describe
the
strategic
planning
process.
In
your
answer
identify
the
four
steps
of
strategic
planning.
2.
Describe,
and
compare
and
contrast,
the
BCG
and
GE
portfolio
matrix
models.
Also
discuss
the
limitations
of
portfolio
analysis.
3.
Describe
the
marketing
management
process
and
the
forces
that
influence
it.
4.
Identify
the
sections
of
the
marketing
plan,
taking
care
to
describe
both
the
strategic
function
and
the
contents
of
each
section.
5.
Define
the
marketing
implementation
process.
Explain
how
companies
implement,
organize,
and
control
their
marketing
efforts.
Answer:
1.
Strategic
planning
is
defined
as
the
process
of
developing
and
maintaining
a
strategic
fit
between
the
organization's
goals
and
capabilities
and
its
changing
marketing
opportunities.
The
four
steps
in
the
strategic
planning
process
are
the
following:
(1)
defining
the
company
mission;
(2)
setting
company
objectives
and
goals;
(3)
designing
the
business
portfolio;
(4)
planning
marketing
and
other
related
strategies.
2.
The
BCG
consists
of
the
following:
Stars
(high-growth,
high-share);
Cows
(low-growth,
high-share);
Question
Marks
(low-share,
high-growth);
Dogs
(low-share,
low-growth).
Strategies
include
building,
holding,
harvesting,
and
divesting.
The
GE
Planning
Grid
has
two
dimensions:
industry
attractiveness
and
business
strength.
Dimensions
are
an
index
rather
than
a
single
measure.
It
is
arguable
that
the
BCG
relies
too
much
on
market
stare
while
the
GE
Grid
relies
too
much
on
formal
planning.
3.
The
marketing
management
process
involves
helping
each
business
unit
of
a
company
reach
its
strategic
objectives
in
relation
to
creating
value
for
target
consumers
while
fulfilling
company
goals.
Factors
influencing
this
process
are
the
target
consumers
(of
central
importance),
marketing
mix
decisions,
planning,
implementation,
analysis
and
control
procedures,
and
micro-
and
macroenvironmental
forces.
4.
Marketing
plans
should
have
eight
sections.
The
executive
summary
provides
a
brief
overview
of
key
points.
The
current-marketing-situation
section
presents
relevant
background.
The
threats-and-opportunities
section
identifies
factors
affecting
the
product.
The
objectives-and-issues
section
defines
share,
profit,
and
sales
goals.
The
marketing-
strategy
section
presents
the
broad
approach.
The
action-programs
section
specifies
how
to
proceed.
The
budgets
section
gives
profit-loss
estimates.
The
controls
section
measures
plan
progress.
5.
Marketing
implementation
turns
strategies
into
plans
and
actions
specifying
who
does
what,
and
where,
when,
and
how.
Marketing
implementation
requires
an
action
program,
an
organization
structure,
decision
and
reward
systems,
human
resources
planning,
and
an
appropriate
fit
with
the
company
culture.
Controls
must
provide
objective
feedback
measures
for
all
these
areas.
Chapter
3:
The
Global
Marketing
Environment
1.
Describe
the
environmental
forces
that
affect
the
company's
ability
to
serve
its
customers.
2.
Explain
the
effect
of
changes
in
the
demographic
and
economic
environments
on
marketing
management
decisions.
3.
Identify
the
major
trends
in
a
firm's
natural
and
technological
environments.
4.
Explain
the
key
changes
that
occur
in
the
political
and
cultural
environments.
5.
What
is
the
significance
of
cultural
values
to
marketers?
Answer:
1.
Companies
are
constrained
by
micro-
and
macroenvironmental
forces.
Microenvironmental
forces
include
company
departments,
suppliers,
marketing
intermediaries,
customers,
competitors,
and
various
publics.
Macroenvironmental
forces
include
demographic,
economic,
natural,
technological,
political,
and
cultural
forces.
2.
The
following
changes
in
the
demographic
environment
affect
marketing
decisions:
the
changing
age
structure
of
the
Canadian
population,
the
changing
Canadian
family,
geographic
shifts
in
population,
the
increase
in
educational
attainment
and
white-collar
composition
of
the
workforce,
and
increasing
ethnic
and
racial
diversity.
Economic
trends
include
changes
in
income
and
income
distribution,
and
changes
in
consumer
spending
patterns.
3.
Trends
in
the
natural
environment
include
shortages
of
raw
materials,
increased
cost
of
energy,
increased
pollution,
and
government
intervention
in
natural-resource
management.
Trends
in
the
technological
environment
include
the
fast
pace
of
technological
change,
high
research-and-development
budgets,
concentration
on
minor
improvements,
and
increased
regulation
by
government
agencies.
4.
Changes
in
the
political
environment
include
introduction
of
legislation
regulating
business,
changing
government
agency
enforcement,
and
an
increased
emphasis
on
publicly
responsible
action.
Trends
in
the
cultural
environment
include
the
persistence
of
cultural
values;
shifts
in
secondary
cultural
values;
and
changes
in
people's
views
of
themselves,
of
others,
of
organisations,
of
society,
of
nature,
and
of
the
universe.
5.
Marketers
should
remain
alert
to
shifting
cultural
values
in
order
to
spot
developing
threats
or
opportunities,
and
to
help
ensure
that
their
marketing
strategies
reflect
the
relevant
culture's
values.
Cultural
values
may
be
reflected
in
the
political-legal
environment
and
in
the
competitive
environment.
Firms
that
engage
in
international
marketing
may
have
to
learn
how
to
deal
with
radically
alien
cultures.
Chapter
4:
Marketing
Research
and
Information
Systems
1.
Explain
the
importance
of
information
to
the
company.
2.
Define
the
marketing
information
system
and
discuss
its
parts.
3.
Describe
the
four
steps
in
the
marketing
research
process.
4.
Identify
the
different
kinds
of
information
a
company
might
use.
5.
Compare
the
advantages
and
disadvantages
of
various
methods
of
collecting
information.
Answer:
1.
Marketing
managers
need
timely,
reliable,
and
relevant
information
in
order
to
make
decisions
that
will
enhance
the
company's
ability
to
compete
successfully
in
the
marketplace
and
increase
customer
value
relative
to
the
competition.
Information,
although
important,
must
be
balanced
between
manager
needs
and
what
it
is
feasible
to
offer.
Too
much
information
can
overwhelm
managers
just
as
surely
as
too
little
information
can
lead
to
poor
decisions.
2.
A
marketing
information
system
(MIS)
consists
of
people,
equipment,
and
procedures
to
serve
marketing
decision
makers
by
gathering,
sorting,
analyzing,
and
distributing
needed,
timely,
and
accurate
information.
The
following
are
its
four
parts:
components
for
the
developing
of
information;
information
system
components;
marketing
managers;
and
the
marketing
environment.
The
MIS
links
all
these
elements
into
a
useable
whole.
3.
The
following
are
the
four
steps
in
the
marketing
research
process:
defining
the
problem
and
the
research
objectives;
developing
the
research
plan;
implementing
the
research
plan;
and
interpreting
and
reporting
the
findings.
4.
A
company
can
use
either
secondary
or
primary
data.
Secondary
data
comprises
information
that
already
exists,
having
been
collected
somewhere
for
some
other
purpose.
Primary
data
comprises
information
collected
for
the
specific
purpose
at
hand.
5.
Advantages:
Mail
questionnaires
facilitate
collection
of
large
amounts
of
information,
at
low
cost,
from
many
households,
without
interview
bias.
Telephone
work
is
best
for
quick
information
collection,
is
flexible,
provides
sample
control,
and
promises
good
response
rates.
Personal
interviews
reach
individuals
or
groups,
are
flexible,
and
offer
tight
focus.
Disadvantages:
Mail
is
inflexible
and
offers
low
response
rates.
Telephone
work
is
expensive
and
suffers
from
interviewer
bias.
Personal
interviews
are
expensive
and
typically
present
sampling
problems.
Chapter
5:
Consumer
Markets
and
Consumer
Buyer
Behaviour
1.
Define
the
consumer
market
and
describe
the
elements
of
a
simple
model
of
buying
behaviour
as
identified
in
your
text.
2.
List
and
describe
the
major
social
factors
that
influence
consumer
buying
behaviour.
3.
Discuss
the
four
major
psychological
factors
that
affect
the
buying
process.
4.
Identify
and
discuss
the
stages
in
the
consumer
adoption
process
for
new
products.
5.
Identify
and
discuss
the
four
types
of
behaviour
associated
with
different
types
of
buying
situations.
Answer:
1.
The
consumer
market
comprises
all
the
final
consumers
of
products
and
services.
A
simple
model
of
consumer
behaviour
uses
the
following
headings:
the
"4
P's"
(Product,
Place,
Price,
Promotion);
"Environmental
Forces";
the
"Buyer's
Black
Box"
(buyer
characteristics
and
buyer
decision
processes);
and
"Observable
Choices"
(decisions
regarding
product,
brand,
dealer,
purchase
timing,
and
purchase
amount).
2.
Social
factors
include
the
influence
of
small
groups,
of
family,
and
of
social
roles
and
status.
Groups
can
be
defined
by
membership
(whether
primary
or
secondary),
by
reference,
or
by
aspiration.
Opinion
leaders
exert
influence
within
reference
groups.
Family
of
orientation
(parents)
and
procreation
(spouse
and
children)
also
influence
buying
behaviour.
The
term
"roles"
refers
to
socially
expected
activities,
and
"status"
to
the
esteem
granted
by
society
to
the
person
performing
in
a
given
role.
3.
Psychological
factors
include
motivation,
perception,
learning,
and
beliefs
and
attitudes.
A
motive
is
a
drive
sufficiently
pressing
to
direct
a
person
to
seek
satisfaction.
Perception
is
influenced
by
selective
retention,
attention,
and
distortion.
Learning
arises
from
changes
in
behaviour
due
to
experience,
and
occurs
through
the
interplay
of
drives,
stimuli,
cues,
responses,
and
reinforcement.
Beliefs
are
enduring
descriptive
attitudes.
4.
The
following
are
the
stages
in
the
new-product-adoption
process:
awareness,
interest,
evaluation,
trial,
and
adoption.
5.
The
following
are
four
types
of
buying
behaviour:
complex
buying
behaviour,
dissonance
buying
behaviour,
variety-seeking
buying
behaviour,
and
habitual
buying
behaviour.
Chapter
6:
Business
Markets
and
Business
Buyer
Behaviour
1.
Explain
how
business
markets
differ
from
consumer
markets.
2.
Identify
the
major
factors
that
influence
business
buyer
behaviour.
3.
List
and
define
the
stages
in
the
business
buying
decision
process.
4.
Identify
and
discuss
the
three
major
types
of
buying
situations.
5.
Explain
the
unique
aspects
of
how
institutional
and
government
buyers
make
their
buying
decisions.
Answer:
1.
Main
differences
include
market
structure
and
demand,
nature
of
the
buying
unity,
and
types
of
decisions
and
decision
processes.
Business
markets
are
geographically
concentrated
and
have
derived,
inelastic,
and
fluctuating
demand.
Buying
is
more
professional
and
involves
more
people.
Decisions
are
more
professional
and
involve
more
people.
Decisions
are
more
complex
and
more
formalized;
and
in
the
decision
process,
the
buyer
and
seller
are
more
dependent
on
each
other.
2.
There
are
four
major
influences.
The
following
are
environmental
elements:
level
of
primary
demand;
economic
outlook;
cost
of
money;
supply
conditions;
technological
change;
political/regulatory
change;
and
competitive
developments.
The
following
are
organizational
elements:
authority;
status;
empathy;
and
persuasiveness.
The
following
are
individual
elements:
age;
education;
job
position;
personality;
and
attitudes
toward
risk.
3.
Stages
include
problem
recognition,
general
need
description,
product
specification,
supplier
search,
proposal
solicitation,
supplier
selection,
order
routine
specification,
and
performance
review.
4.
A
straight
rebuy
is
a
reorder
without
any
modifications.
A
modified
rebuy
involves
some
changes
in
product
specifications,
prices,
terms,
or
suppliers.
New-task
buying
occurs
when
a
company
buys
a
product
or
service
for
the
first
time.
In
such
cases,
greater
risk
or
cost
will
lead
to
a
larger
number
of
decision
participants,
and
to
a
greater
effort
in
searching
for
information.
5.
Institutional
buyers
include
schools,
hospitals,
and
prisons.
Many
institutions
have
low
budgets
and
captive
patrons.
Government
buying
may
be
coordinated
by
a
special
agency
and
the
buying
process
may
be
scrutinized
by
various
publics.
Governments
may
be
influenced
by
non-economic
decision
criteria.
Government
buying
practices
have
various
potential
drawbacks,
including
the
following:
they
can
be
complex;
they
can
entail
inordinate
paperwork,
bureaucracy,
and
regulation;
and
prices
can
be
unattractively
low.
Chapter
7:
Market
Segmentation,
Targeting,
and
Positioning
for
Competitive
Advantage
1.
Define
market
segmentation,
market
targeting,
and
market
positioning.
2.
List
and
discuss
the
major
basis
for
segmenting
consumer
and
business
markets.
3.
Explain
how
companies
identify
attractive
market
segments
and
choose
a
market-
coverage
strategy.
4.
Identify
and
discuss
the
four
characteristics
of
effective
market
segmentation.
5.
Explain
how
companies
can
position
their
products
for
maximum
competitive
advantage
in
the
marketplace.
Answer:
1.
Market
segmentation
is
the
process
of
dividing
a
market
into
distinct
groups
of
buyers
with
different
needs,
characteristics,
or
behaviour
who
might
require
separate
products
or
marketing
mixes.
Market
targeting
involves
evaluating
each
segment's
attractiveness
and
deciding
which
segments
to
enter.
Market
positioning
is
the
setting
of
the
competitive
position
and
the
creation
of
a
detailed
marketing
mix.
2.
The
major
bases
for
segmenting
consumer
markets
are
geographic,
demographic,
psychographic,
and
behavioural.
The
major
bases
for
segmenting
business
markets
are
demographics,
operating
variables,
purchasing
approaches,
situational
factors,
and
personal
characteristics.
3.
Segment
attractiveness
depends
upon
desirable
segment
size
and
growth,
current
and
potential
competitors,
threat
of
substitutes,
power
of
buyers,
and
the
power
of
suppliers.
Market
coverage
can
include
undifferentiated,
differentiated,
and
concentrated
strategies.
4.
Market
segments
must
have
measurability
(in
terms
of
size,
purchasing
power,
and
clear
profiles),
accessibility
(can
be
effectively
reached
and
served),
substantiality
(are
sufficiently
large
or
profitable),
and
actionability
(can
design
programs
for
attracting
customers
effectively).
5.
Competitive
advantage
(Porter)
offers
consumers
a
superior
value
for
the
price.
Differentiation
is
the
key
to
competitive
advantage.
A
product's
position
is
the
view
customers
have
of
its
value.
Positions
can
be
differentiated
by
product
attributes,
services,
personnel,
or
image
characteristics.
Chapter
8:
Product
and
Services
Strategies
1.
Define
PRODUCT
and
the
major
classifications
of
consumer
and
industrial
products.
2.
Describe
the
roles
of
product
packaging
and
labelling.
3.
Identify
and
discuss
brand
equity.
4.
Define
services
and
describe
four
characteristics
that
affect
the
marketing
of
a
service.
5.
Define
and
explain
how
persons
are
marketed.
Answer:
1.
A
product
is
anything
that
can
be
offered
to
a
market
for
attention,
acquisition,
use,
or
consumption,
and
that
might
satisfy
a
want
or
need.
Products
can
be
classified
as
durable
goods,
non-durable
goods,
and
services.
Consumer
classifications
include
the
following:
convenience,
shopping,
specialty,
and
unsought.
The
following
are
industrial
classifications:
materials
and
parts,
capital
items,
and
supplies
and
services.
2.
Packaging
refers
to
the
design
and
production
of
a
container
or
wrapper
for
goods.
The
packaging
concept
states
what
the
package
should
be
or
do
for
the
product.
Packages
in
all
cases
protect
the
product,
and
ideally
serve
the
further
function
of
promoting
and
distinguishing
it.
Labelling
in
all
cases
identifies
the
product,
and
in
many
cases
also
grades,
describes,
and
promotes
it.
3.
Powerful
brands
have
equity.
Brand
equity
combines
high
brand
awareness
with
brand
preference
and
loyalty,
creating
value
in
and
of
itself.
The
credibility
of
brand
equity
becomes
a
marketable
product
commodity
in
its
own
right.
Over
time,
brand
equity
can
be
an
enduring
asset
of
a
company,
as
it
reliably
provides
continuing
customer
equity.
4.
A
service
is
any
activity
or
benefit
that
one
party
can
offer
to
another,
provided
that
this
activity
or
benefit
is
essentially
intangible
and
does
not
result
in
the
ownership
of
anything.
The
four
characteristics
of
services
are
intangibility,
inseparability,
variability,
and
perishability.
5.
Person
marketing
consists
of
activities
undertaken
to
create,
maintain,
or
change
attitudes
or
behaviour
toward
particular
people.
The
objective
of
person
marketing
is
to
create
a
celebrity
whose
name
generates
attention,
interest,
and
action.
Key
aspects
of
celebrity
are
durability
life-cycle
patterns
("standard,"
"overnight,"
"comeback,"
and
"meteor")
and
scope
(the
geographic
range
achieved).
Chapter
9:
New
Product
Development
and
Life
Cycle
Strategies
1.
List
and
define
the
steps
in
new
product
development.
2.
Explain
how
companies
find
and
develop
new
product
ideas.
3.
Identify
and
describe
the
stages
of
the
product
life
cycle.
4.
Explain
how
marketing
strategy
changes
during
a
product's
life
cycle.
5.
Distinguish
between
sequential
product
development
and
simultaneous
product
development
processes.
Answer:
1.
Steps
include
idea
generation,
idea
screening,
concept
development
and
testing,
marketing
strategy
development,
business
analysis,
product
development,
test
marketing,
and
commercialization.
Go/no-go
decisions
become
more
specific
at
each
successive
level.
2.
Major
sources
of
new
product
ideas
include
internal
sources
(such
as
sales-force
and
other
employees);
customers;
competitors;
distributors
and
suppliers;
and
trends,
including
broad
societal
trends,
originating
in
the
general
public.
3.
Stages
in
the
product
life
cycle:
development,
introduction,
growth,
maturity,
and
decline.
4.
As
products
are
prepared
for
launch,
marketers
must
choose
initial
positioning
carefully.
Strategists,
especially
market
pioneers,
must
choose
between
short-term
and
long-term
profits.
During
introduction,
strategy
focuses
on
awareness
and
acceptance
of
basic
product.
Growth
attracts
competitors
and
more
features.
In
maturity,
strategy
looks
to
modifying
the
market,
product,
or
mix.
Decline
forces
a
decision
on
continuing
or
discontinuing
a
weak
product.
5.
In
sequential
product
development,
each
functional
area
of
the
company
works
on
the
new
product
and
passes
its
completed
work
on
to
the
next
division.
In
simultaneous
product
development,
each
functional
area
provides
ongoing
(or
"real-time"
or
"online")
feedback
that
is
incorporated
into
the
design,
production,
and
marketing-planning
stage.
Simultaneous
design,
although
organizationally
more
complicated,
reduces
total
development
and
improves
quality.
| 1/7

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SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS MARKETING PRINCIPLES
Chapter 1: Marketing in a Changing World
1. Define marketing and discuss its role in the economy.
2. Compare the five marketing management philosophies.
3. Identify and discuss the major forces now changing the marketing landscape and
challenging marketing strategy.
4. Define and describe the marketing management concept.
5. Discuss the relationship between value, satisfaction and quality. Answer:
1. Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain
what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and values with
others. Economic roles include meeting needs, wants, and demands; creating products;
creating value and satisfaction; facilitating exchanges, transactions, and mutually beneficial
relationships; developing markets; meeting societal needs; increasing consumer choice; and providing fair profits.
2. Production Concept: Consumers favour products that are available and highly affordable.
Product Concept: Consumers favour products that offer the most value, the best
performance, and the largest number of innovative features.
Selling Concept: Consumers will not normally buy enough products on their own.
Marketing Concept: The successful company satisfies needs and wants more efficiently than its competitors do.
Societal Marketing Concept: The successful company determines customers' needs and
wants and society's best interests.
3. A growth in non-profit marketing seems to meet new needs. Rapid globalisation has
brought a geographic dispersion of purchasing, manufacturing, and marketing activities.
The changing world economy is marked by a decline in real buying power and an increase
in two-income households in the US. Increased demands for social responsibility require
more ethical business practices and more attention to the environmental consequences of
business decisions. Extremely rapid change is a feature of the new marketing landscape.
4. Marketing management is the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of
programs designed to create, build, and maintain beneficial exchanges with target buyers,
so as to achieve organisational objectives. Marketing management seeks to manage
demand efficiently and effectively, so as to help consumers obtain value in their
transactions while securing a profit for the company.
5. Customer value is the difference between the value the customer gains from owning and
using a product and the cost the customer incurs in obtaining the product. Satisfaction
depends on a product's perceived performance in delivering value relative to the buyer's
expectations. Quality, especially in the form of TQM, stems from a company's commitment
to constant improvement. Satisfaction comes from delighting and surprising customers with
more quality, thus heightening their perceived sense of value. Such practices are the only
formula for long-term success.
Chapter 2: Strategic Planning and the Marketing Process
1. Describe the strategic planning process. In your answer identify the four steps of strategic planning.
2. Describe, and compare and contrast, the BCG and GE portfolio matrix models. Also
discuss the limitations of portfolio analysis.
3. Describe the marketing management process and the forces that influence it.
4. Identify the sections of the marketing plan, taking care to describe both the strategic
function and the contents of each section.
5. Define the marketing implementation process. Explain how companies implement,
organize, and control their marketing efforts. Answer:
1. Strategic planning is defined as the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit
between the organization's goals and capabilities and its changing marketing opportunities.
The four steps in the strategic planning process are the following: (1) defining the company
mission; (2) setting company objectives and goals; (3) designing the business portfolio; (4)
planning marketing and other related strategies.
2. The BCG consists of the following: Stars (high-growth, high-share); Cows (low-growth,
high-share); Question Marks (low-share, high-growth); Dogs (low-share, low-growth).
Strategies include building, holding, harvesting, and divesting. The GE Planning Grid has
two dimensions: industry attractiveness and business strength. Dimensions are an index
rather than a single measure. It is arguable that the BCG relies too much on market stare
while the GE Grid relies too much on formal planning.
3. The marketing management process involves helping each business unit of a company
reach its strategic objectives in relation to creating value for target consumers while
fulfilling company goals. Factors influencing this process are the target consumers (of
central importance), marketing mix decisions, planning, implementation, analysis and
control procedures, and micro- and macroenvironmental forces.
4. Marketing plans should have eight sections. The executive summary provides a brief
overview of key points. The current-marketing-situation section presents relevant
background. The threats-and-opportunities section identifies factors affecting the product.
The objectives-and-issues section defines share, profit, and sales goals. The marketing-
strategy section presents the broad approach. The action-programs section specifies how to
proceed. The budgets section gives profit-loss estimates. The controls section measures plan progress.
5. Marketing implementation turns strategies into plans and actions specifying who does
what, and where, when, and how. Marketing implementation requires an action program, an
organization structure, decision and reward systems, human resources planning, and an
appropriate fit with the company culture. Controls must provide objective feedback measures for all these areas.
Chapter 3: The Global Marketing Environment
1. Describe the environmental forces that affect the company's ability to serve its customers.
2. Explain the effect of changes in the demographic and economic environments on
marketing management decisions.
3. Identify the major trends in a firm's natural and technological environments.
4. Explain the key changes that occur in the political and cultural environments.
5. What is the significance of cultural values to marketers? Answer:
1. Companies are constrained by micro- and macroenvironmental forces. Microenvironmental forces include company departments, suppliers, marketing
intermediaries, customers, competitors, and various publics. Macroenvironmental
forces include demographic, economic, natural, technological,
political, and cultural forces.
2. The following changes in the demographic environment affect marketing decisions: the
changing age structure of the Canadian population, the changing Canadian family,
geographic shifts in population, the increase in educational attainment and white-collar
composition of the workforce, and increasing ethnic and racial diversity. Economic trends
include changes in income and income distribution, and changes in consumer spending patterns.
3. Trends in the natural environment include shortages of raw materials, increased cost of
energy, increased pollution, and government intervention in natural-resource management.
Trends in the technological environment include the fast pace of technological change, high
research-and-development budgets, concentration on minor improvements, and increased
regulation by government agencies.
4. Changes in the political environment include introduction of legislation regulating
business, changing government agency enforcement, and an increased emphasis on
publicly responsible action. Trends in the cultural environment include the persistence of
cultural values; shifts in secondary cultural values; and changes in people's views of
themselves, of others, of organisations, of society, of nature, and of the universe.
5. Marketers should remain alert to shifting cultural values in order to spot developing
threats or opportunities, and to help ensure that their marketing strategies reflect the
relevant culture's values. Cultural values may be reflected in the political-legal environment
and in the competitive environment. Firms that engage in international marketing may
have to learn how to deal with radically alien cultures.
Chapter 4: Marketing Research and Information Systems
1. Explain the importance of information to the company.
2. Define the marketing information system and discuss its parts.
3. Describe the four steps in the marketing research process.
4. Identify the different kinds of information a company might use.
5. Compare the advantages and disadvantages
of various methods of collecting information. Answer:
1. Marketing managers need timely, reliable, and relevant information in order to make
decisions that will enhance the company's ability to compete successfully in the
marketplace and increase customer value relative to the competition. Information, although
important, must be balanced between manager needs and what it is feasible to offer. Too
much information can overwhelm managers just as surely as too little information can lead to poor decisions.
2. A marketing information system (MIS) consists of people, equipment, and procedures to
serve marketing decision makers by gathering, sorting, analyzing, and distributing needed,
timely, and accurate information. The following are its four parts: components for the
developing of information; information system components; marketing managers; and the
marketing environment. The MIS links all these elements into a useable whole.
3. The following are the four steps in the marketing research process: defining the problem
and the research objectives; developing the research plan; implementing the research plan;
and interpreting and reporting the findings.
4. A company can use either secondary or primary data. Secondary data comprises
information that already exists, having been collected somewhere for some other purpose.
Primary data comprises information collected for the specific purpose at hand.
5. Advantages: Mail questionnaires facilitate collection of large amounts of information, at
low cost, from many households, without interview bias. Telephone work is best for quick
information collection, is flexible, provides sample control, and promises good response
rates. Personal interviews reach individuals or groups, are flexible, and offer tight focus.
Disadvantages: Mail is inflexible and offers low response rates. Telephone work is expensive
and suffers from interviewer bias. Personal interviews are expensive and typically present sampling problems.
Chapter 5: Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behaviour
1. Define the consumer market and describe the elements of a simple model of buying
behaviour as identified in your text.
2. List and describe the major social factors that influence consumer buying behaviour.
3. Discuss the four major psychological factors that affect the buying process.
4. Identify and discuss the stages in the consumer adoption process for new products.
5. Identify and discuss the four types of behaviour associated with different types of buying situations. Answer:
1. The consumer market comprises all the final consumers of products and services. A
simple model of consumer behaviour uses the following headings: the "4 P's" (Product,
Place, Price, Promotion); "Environmental Forces"; the "Buyer's Black Box" (buyer
characteristics and buyer decision processes); and "Observable Choices" (decisions
regarding product, brand, dealer, purchase timing, and purchase amount).
2. Social factors include the influence of small groups, of family, and of social roles and
status. Groups can be defined by membership (whether primary or secondary), by
reference, or by aspiration. Opinion leaders exert influence within reference groups.
Family of orientation (parents) and procreation (spouse and children) also influence buying
behaviour. The term "roles" refers to socially expected activities, and "status" to the esteem
granted by society to the person performing in a given role.
3. Psychological factors include motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes.
A motive is a drive sufficiently pressing to direct a person to seek satisfaction. Perception is
influenced by selective retention, attention, and distortion. Learning arises from changes in
behaviour due to experience, and occurs through the interplay of drives, stimuli, cues,
responses, and reinforcement. Beliefs are enduring descriptive attitudes.
4. The following are the stages in the new-product-adoption process: awareness, interest,
evaluation, trial, and adoption.
5. The following are four types of buying behaviour: complex buying behaviour, dissonance
buying behaviour, variety-seeking buying behaviour, and habitual buying behaviour.
Chapter 6: Business Markets and Business Buyer Behaviour
1. Explain how business markets differ from consumer markets.
2. Identify the major factors that influence business buyer behaviour.
3. List and define the stages in the business buying decision process.
4. Identify and discuss the three major types of buying situations.
5. Explain the unique aspects of how institutional and government buyers make their buying decisions. Answer:
1. Main differences include market structure and demand, nature of the buying unity, and
types of decisions and decision processes. Business markets are geographically
concentrated and have derived, inelastic, and fluctuating demand. Buying is more
professional and involves more people. Decisions are more professional and involve more
people. Decisions are more complex and more formalized; and in the decision process, the
buyer and seller are more dependent on each other.
2. There are four major influences. The following are environmental elements: level of
primary demand; economic outlook; cost of money; supply conditions; technological
change; political/regulatory change; and competitive developments. The following are
organizational elements: authority; status; empathy; and persuasiveness. The following are
individual elements: age; education; job position; personality; and attitudes toward risk.
3. Stages include problem recognition, general need description, product specification,
supplier search, proposal solicitation, supplier selection, order routine specification, and performance review.
4. A straight rebuy is a reorder without any modifications. A modified rebuy involves some
changes in product specifications, prices, terms, or suppliers. New-task buying occurs when
a company buys a product or service for the first time. In such cases, greater risk or cost
will lead to a larger number of decision participants, and to a greater effort in searching for information.
5. Institutional buyers include schools, hospitals, and prisons. Many institutions have low
budgets and captive patrons. Government buying may be coordinated by a special agency
and the buying process may be scrutinized by various publics. Governments may be
influenced by non-economic decision criteria. Government buying practices have various
potential drawbacks, including the following: they can be complex; they can entail
inordinate paperwork, bureaucracy, and regulation; and prices can be unattractively low.
Chapter 7: Market Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning for Competitive Advantage
1. Define market segmentation, market targeting, and market positioning.
2. List and discuss the major basis for segmenting consumer and business markets.
3. Explain how companies identify attractive market segments and choose a market- coverage strategy.
4. Identify and discuss the four characteristics of effective market segmentation.
5. Explain how companies can position their products for maximum competitive advantage in the marketplace. Answer:
1. Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers
with different needs, characteristics, or behaviour who might require separate products or
marketing mixes. Market targeting involves evaluating each segment's attractiveness and
deciding which segments to enter. Market positioning is the setting of the competitive
position and the creation of a detailed marketing mix.
2. The major bases for segmenting consumer markets are geographic, demographic,
psychographic, and behavioural. The major bases for segmenting business markets are
demographics, operating variables, purchasing approaches, situational factors, and personal characteristics.
3. Segment attractiveness depends upon desirable segment size and growth, current and
potential competitors, threat of substitutes, power of buyers, and the power of suppliers.
Market coverage can include undifferentiated, differentiated, and concentrated strategies.
4. Market segments must have measurability (in terms of size, purchasing power, and clear
profiles), accessibility (can be effectively reached and served), substantiality (are
sufficiently large or profitable), and actionability (can design programs for attracting customers effectively).
5. Competitive advantage (Porter) offers consumers a superior value for the price.
Differentiation is the key to competitive advantage. A product's position is the view
customers have of its value. Positions can be differentiated by product attributes, services,
personnel, or image characteristics.
Chapter 8: Product and Services Strategies
1. Define PRODUCT and the major classifications of consumer and industrial products.
2. Describe the roles of product packaging and labelling.
3. Identify and discuss brand equity.
4. Define services and describe four characteristics that affect the marketing of a service.
5. Define and explain how persons are marketed. Answer:
1. A product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or
consumption, and that might satisfy a want or need. Products can be classified as durable
goods, non-durable goods, and services. Consumer classifications include the following:
convenience, shopping, specialty, and unsought. The following are industrial classifications:
materials and parts, capital items, and supplies and services.
2. Packaging refers to the design and production of a container or wrapper for goods. The
packaging concept states what the package should be or do for the product. Packages in all
cases protect the product, and ideally serve the further function of promoting and
distinguishing it. Labelling in all cases identifies the product, and in many cases also
grades, describes, and promotes it.
3. Powerful brands have equity. Brand equity combines high brand awareness with brand
preference and loyalty, creating value in and of itself. The credibility of brand equity
becomes a marketable product commodity in its own right. Over time, brand equity can be
an enduring asset of a company, as it reliably provides continuing customer equity.
4. A service is any activity or benefit that one party can offer to another, provided that this
activity or benefit is essentially intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything.
The four characteristics of services are intangibility, inseparability, variability, and perishability.
5. Person marketing consists of activities undertaken to create, maintain, or change
attitudes or behaviour toward particular people. The objective of person marketing is to
create a celebrity whose name generates attention, interest, and action. Key aspects of
celebrity are durability life-cycle patterns ("standard," "overnight," "comeback," and
"meteor") and scope (the geographic range achieved).
Chapter 9: New Product Development and Life Cycle Strategies
1. List and define the steps in new product development.
2. Explain how companies find and develop new product ideas.
3. Identify and describe the stages of the product life cycle.
4. Explain how marketing strategy changes during a product's life cycle.
5. Distinguish between sequential product development and simultaneous product development processes. Answer:
1. Steps include idea generation, idea screening, concept development and testing,
marketing strategy development, business analysis, product development, test marketing,
and commercialization. Go/no-go decisions become more specific at each successive level.
2. Major sources of new product ideas include internal sources (such as sales-force and
other employees); customers; competitors; distributors and suppliers; and trends, including
broad societal trends, originating in the general public.
3. Stages in the product life cycle: development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.
4. As products are prepared for launch, marketers must choose initial positioning carefully.
Strategists, especially market pioneers, must choose between short-term and long-term
profits. During introduction, strategy focuses on awareness and acceptance of basic
product. Growth attracts competitors and more features. In maturity, strategy looks to
modifying the market, product, or mix. Decline forces a decision on continuing or discontinuing a weak product.
5. In sequential product development, each functional area of the company works on the
new product and passes its completed work on to the next division. In simultaneous
product development, each functional area provides ongoing (or "real-time" or "online")
feedback that is incorporated into the design, production, and marketing-planning stage.
Simultaneous design, although organizationally more complicated, reduces total
development and improves quality.