M: Marketing, 6e (Grewal)
1) Amazon is able to achieve operational excellence because it not only has the technology to
coordinate personal buyers, it also has an effective HR hiring program that selects and trains the
best employees.
2) To build a sustainable competitive advantage, companies should focus on a single strategy.
3) It is not always necessary to go through all the steps in the marketing planning process.
4) A mission statement describes the specific actions a firm will take to achieve its goals.
5) Establishing a sustainable competitive advantage is the key to long-term financial
performance.
6) Firms use segmentation, targeting, and promotion to choose the consumer groups they wish to
pursue with its marketing efforts.
7) Firms analyze internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats during
the implementation phase of the marketing plan.
8) Firms are typically more successful when they focus on opportunities that build on their
strengths relative to those of their competition.
9) Duke’s is a surfer-themed restaurant chain in Hawaii. Most of its customers are tourists. In a
SWOT analysis for Duke’s, the possibility that the recession might cut back on tourism in Hawaii
would be considered a weakness.
10) Value-based marketing requires that firms charge a price that customers perceive as giving
them a good value for the product they receive.
11) Geraldo manages the electrical turbine engine division of General Electric Corporation. He
makes most decisions independently, without consulting headquarters. Geraldo manages a
strategic business unit.
12) The strategic planning process always proceeds sequentially.
13) Isaac is looking for ways to offer new goods and services to his existing customers. He is
pursuing a market development strategy.
14) SanDisk’s MP3 player product line (called the Sansa) has a low relative market share. The
MP3 player market is expected to decline over the next few years. In Boston Consulting Group
(BCG) portfolio analysis, the Sansa would be considered a dog.
15) The step during which marketers segment the market, target those market segments, and
position products is known as the control phase.
16) Relative market share is an example of a marketing metric.
17) Product penetration is one of the four major growth strategies.
18) If a firm wants to develop a sustainable competitive advantage, it should
A) begin an aggressive campaign to buy up competitors.
B) copy the innovative features of other firms that are attractive to customers.
C) examine its operations and customer relations to identify significant things competitors cannot
easily copy.
D) increase its marketing budget so that it outspends its competitors.
E) arrange to meet with competitors to discuss how to avoid direct competition.
19) Which of the following is not one of the four overarching strategies to create and deliver
value and to develop sustainable competitive advantages?
A) locational excellence
B) customer excellence
C) operational excellence
D) product excellence
E) planning excellence
20) When Ramona, the keynote speaker at a major business leaders’ conference, arrived in the
middle of the night at the Ritz-Carlton, she was exhausted and her suit was wrinkled from her
10-hour plane trip. The night clerk found someone to dry clean Ramona’s suit and have it ready
for her morning presentation. She has been a loyal Ritz-Carlton customer ever since. In this
example, Ritz-Carlton demonstrated the macro strategy of
A) customer excellence.
B) operational excellence.
C) product excellence.
D) promotional excellence.
E) global excellence.
21) Amazon’s latest attempt to shore up and enhance its competitive barriers by introducing a
home service marketplace that may help it achieve a lasting, powerful advantage is an example
of ________ excellence.
A) operational
B) locational
C) customer
D) product
E) service
22) Some banks offer special accounts designed to attract junior high school students. These kids
save in such small amounts that the accounts cost banks more to maintain than they are worth;
however, bankers know that consumers are creatures of habit and hope that the young people
they serve now will become adult customers. These banks recognize
A) that operational excellence is an important macro strategy.
B) the lifetime value of customers.
C) that product excellence leads to loyal customers.
D) the importance of making decisions based on short-term results.
E) that as long as customers bring in some revenue, costs do not matter.
23) Nordstrom, an upscale department store, has a well-known reputation for going the extra
mile to serve its customers. This reputation for excellent customer service will most likely result
in
A) product design excellence.
B) mission statement satisfaction.
C) sustainable price decreases.
D) a sustainable competitive advantage.
E) producer excellence.
24) Firms achieve ________ through efficient procedures and excellent supply chain
management.
A) customer excellence
B) locational excellence
C) customer loyalty
D) value-based pricing
E) operational excellence
25) Marketers want their firms to develop excellent supply chain management and strong
supplier relations so they can
A) persuade stores to refuse to carry competitors’ products.
B) use their power within the supply chain to force weaker firms to accept less favorable pricing.
C) control prices and lock in margins.
D) create a sustainable competitive advantage.
E) justify charging higher prices than competitors do.
26) For many years, Southwest Airlines distinguished itself as the low-cost airline. Now, many
other low-cost competitors have entered the market. Similarly, Southwest was one of the first
airlines to offer online ticketing. Now, all airlines have online ticketing. These examples suggest
that
A) no single strategy is likely to be sufficient to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
B) a situation analysis does not accurately predict a firm’s strengths.
C) customer excellence cannot be achieved.
D) product excellence is the only true source of a sustainable competitive advantage.
E) innovation is pointless because competitors will develop copycat offerings.
27) Customers around the world know Pepsi and consider it a primary “go-to” brand if they want
a refreshing drink. This positioning reflects Pepsi’s careful implementation of
A) locational excellence strategy.
B) operational excellence strategy.
C) targeting strategy and the marketing mix.
D) strategic business unit control.
E) supply chain management.
28) Carla has been directed by her regional marketing manager to cut prices on seasonal items,
place an ad in the local paper, and tell distributors to reduce deliveries for the next month. Which
step of the strategic marketing planning process is Carla engaged in?
A) evaluate performance
B) define the business mission
C) perform situation analysis
D) implement marketing mix and resources
E) identify and evaluate opportunities
29) When conducting a SWOT analysis, in what phase of the strategic marketing process is an
organization presently engaged?
A) planning
B) implementation
C) control
D) segmentation
E) metrics
30) The automobile manufacturing industry closely watches annual consumer satisfaction
surveys. For years, Japanese car companies consistently had the highest levels of customer
satisfaction, creating a(n) ________ for these companies.
A) strategic marketing plan
B) clear mission statement
C) operational advantage
D) sustainable competitive advantage
E) diversification strategy
31) Which of the following is least likely to provide a sustainable competitive advantage?
A) lowering prices
B) having a well-known brand name
C) achieving high levels of customer satisfaction
D) using patented technology
E) creating an efficient supply chain
32) Even when large discount retailers enter a market, a few small, local retailers survive and
prosper. These small retailers have probably developed a(n) ________ that allows them to
survive.
A) advertising campaign
B) pricing structure
C) sustainable competitive advantage
D) set of performance metrics
E) SWOT analysis
33) As part of her company’s SWOT analysis, Valerie is assessing the company’s internal
environment, including
A) its competition.
B) the economy.
C) its strengths and weaknesses.
D) demographics.
E) any opportunities and threats.
34) Samantha is charged with assessing her company’s external environment as part of a SWOT
analysis. Samantha will study her company’s
A) strengths and weaknesses.
B) sales history and profit margins.
C) pension and retirement plans.
D) product specifications.
E) opportunities and threats.
35) 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.
A) weakness
B) opportunity
C) threat
D) strength
E) metric
36) For U.S. businesses with strong export capabilities, expansion of U.S. trade agreements with
other countries creates
A) weaknesses.
B) opportunities.
C) strengths.
D) threats.
E) strategic plans.
37) In 2006, Ford Motor Company announced it would severely cut back its automobile
production. For parts companies supplying Ford its parts, this represented a(n)
A) weakness.
B) opportunity.
C) strength.
D) threat.
E) strategic plan.
38) Lionel is asked to conduct an STP analysis for his firm. The first step he should perform in
this analysis is to
A) develop a business mission statement.
B) choose the best target markets.
C) reposition existing segments.
D) divide the marketplace into subgroups.
E) conduct a SWOT analysis.
39) The recent whole foods trend has led to the opening of a new organic foods market in town.
In reaction, the long-standing neighborhood grocery decided to stock and sell a line of organic
food products. In doing this, the grocery was most likely trying to
A) gain government subsidies.
B) attract a different market segment.
C) reduce its costs.
D) save the environment.
E) offset cost-based pricing pressure.
40) For years, when considering new products, marketers at Celestial Seasonings asked
themselves, “What would Stacy think?” Stacy was a fictional character representing 25– to 50-
year-old educated, upper-income women who rarely watched television but did a lot of reading.
“Stacy” represented Celestial’s primary
A) internal strength.
B) positioning strategy.
C) strategic business unit.
D) target market segment.
E) sustainable competitive advantage.
41) After identifying various market segments that her company could pursue, Lisa evaluated
each segment’s attractiveness based on size, income, and accessibility. Lisa was involved in
A) target marketing.
B) situation analysis.
C) diversification.
D) positioning.
E) market penetration estimation.
42) LeBron James, Stephen Curry, 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.
A) product excellence
B) targeting
C) positioning
D) segmentation
E) customer excellence
43) ________ involves the process of defining the marketing mix variables so that target
customers have a clear, distinctive, desirable understanding of what a product does or represents
in comparison with competing products.
A) Targeting
B) Market segmentation
C) A situational analysis
D) Positioning
E) A SWOT analysis
44) Starbucks is known for understanding its customers. As such, it has developed multiple
varieties of products that match the needs and wants of its different market segments. By offering
everything from espresso drinks to teas to pastries, Starbucks is engaging in a(n) ________
strategy.
A) value-based promotions
B) market segmentation
C) positioning
D) operational excellence
E) target marketing
45) When positioning products relative to competitors’ offerings, firms typically are most
successful when they focus on opportunities
A) that build on their strengths relative to those of their competition.
B) for diversification.
C) in international markets.
D) where value-based pricing can be ignored.
E) where customer excellence can be substituted for product excellence.
46) Many small businesses whose competitors are national franchises advertise “we are locally
owned” or “we have been here since 1951.” This is part of these firms‘
A) business mission.
B) market segmentation strategy.
C) positioning strategy.
D) customer excellence strategy.
E) target market.