Marketing Management, 15e (Kotler)
Chapter 13 Setting Product Strategy
1) A ________ is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including
physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations,
information, and ideas.
A) function
B) product
C) benefit
D) process
E) structure
2) A customer judges a product offering by three basic elements: product features and quality,
services mix and quality, and ________.
A) performance
B) utility
C) tangibility
D) price
E) availability
3) The five product levels constitute a ________. At each level more customer value is added.
A) product line
B) business model
C) customer value-hierarchy
D) value grid
E) demand chain
4) When companies search for new ways to satisfy customers and distinguish their offering from
others, they look at the ________ product, which encompasses all the possible augmentations
and transformations of the product.
A) consumption
B) expected
C) potential
D) augmented
E) basic
5) The way the user performs the tasks of getting and using products and related services is the
user’s total ________.
A) consumption system
B) consumable system
C) consistent use system
D) augmented system
E) potential system
6) Marketers must see themselves as benefit providers. For example, when a shopper purchases
new shoes, he or she expects the shoes to cover his or her feet and allow him or her to walk
unobstructed. This is an example of what level in the consumer-value hierarchy?
A) pure tangible good
B) basic product
C) augmented product
D) potential product
E) generic product
7) How a consumer shops for organic foods and how he or she uses and disposes of the product
is part of the consumers’ ________ that is important for marketers to consider.
A) value proposition
B) consumption system
C) value system
D) quality perception
E) value chain
8) The sellers of ________ goods carry a wide assortment to satisfy individual tastes. They must
have well-trained salespeople to inform and advise customers.
A) unsought
B) specialty
C) convenience
D) heterogeneous shopping
E) generic
9) Marketers have traditionally classified products on the basis of three characteristics:
________, tangibility, and use.
A) availability
B) affordability
C) aesthetics
D) durability
E) necessity
10) Which of the following are tangible goods that normally survive many uses?
A) generic goods
B) durable goods
C) core benefits
D) convenience goods
E) unsought goods
11) Because ________ are purchased frequently, marketers should make them available in many
locations, charge only a small markup, and advertise heavily to induce trial and build preference.
A) nondurable goods
B) durable goods
C) services
D) unsought goods
E) specialty goods
12) What types of goods are purchased frequently, immediately, and with minimum effort by the
consumers?
A) specialty goods
B) shopping goods
C) unsought goods
D) durable goods
E) convenience goods
13) It was sunny when Jenny went to class, but by the time class was over it was raining heavily,
so Jenny stopped by the student store to buy an umbrella before she walked back to her dorm. In
this case, the umbrella is an example of a(n) ________ good.
A) impulse
B) specialty
C) homogeneous shopping
D) emergency
E) heterogeneous shopping
14) What goods are similar in quality but different enough in price to justify shopping
comparisons?
A) emergency goods
B) homogeneous shopping goods
C) heterogeneous shopping goods
D) specialty goods
E) convenience goods
15) Products such as insurance, cemetery plots, and smoke detectors are examples of ________
goods that are products that the consumer does not know about or does not normally think of
buying.
A) specialty
B) unsought
C) heterogeneous shopping
D) homogeneous shopping
E) convenience
16) Capital items are long-lasting goods that facilitate developing or managing the finished
product. They include two groups: installations and ________.
A) natural products
B) component materials
C) operating supplies
D) equipment
E) processed materials
17) ________ are major purchases and are usually bought directly from the producer with the
typical sale preceded by long negotiation periods.
A) Raw materials
B) Materials and parts
C) Processed materials
D) Capital goods
E) Installations
18) Marketing planning begins with formulating an offering to meet target customers’ needs or
wants.
19) A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need.
20) In planning its market offering, the marketer needs to address five product levels, each of
which reduces customer value.
21) The customer-value hierarchy consists of the basic product, core benefit, expected product,
augmented product, and the consumption system.
22) Marketers have traditionally classified products on the basis of characteristics such as
durability, tangibility, and use.
23) Durable products normally require less personal selling and service and less seller guarantees
than nondurable goods.
24) Because they are intangible, durable goods normally require more quality control, supplier
credibility, and adaptability than either services or nondurable goods.
25) Carlos always buys bread and milk when he goes grocery shopping. In this case, bread and
milk are examples of impulse goods.
26) A Maserati sports car is considered a convenience good because interested buyers will travel
far to buy one.
27) The homogeneity of natural materials limits the amount of demand-creation activity that
producers undertake.
28) Capital items are long-lasting goods that facilitate developing or managing the finished
products.
29) Supplies can be classified as two kinds: heterogeneous supplies and homogeneous supplies.
30) In planning its market offering, the marketer must address the five product levels of the
customer-value hierarchy. Describe the “customer-value hierarchy” and identify the five levels of
product contained within.
31) The vast array of products that consumers buy can be classified on the basis of shopping
habits and are broken down into four main areas. List these four main classifications of consumer
goods and explain what elements are included within.
32) You know that marketers have traditionally classified products based on characteristics of
durability, tangibility, and use. You also know that each product type has an appropriate
marketing-mix strategy attached. In analyzing your company’s products, you decide to list each
of these products and the appropriate marketing-mix strategy to understand where your products
“fit.” List these products and their appropriate marketing-mix strategies.
33) Industrial goods can be classified in terms of how they enter the production process and their
relative costliness. Identify the three groups of industrial goods.
34) A manufacturer is contemplating introducing a product that is inferior to its competition in
its performance, design, and functionality. However, the manufacturer believes that “good brand
marketing” can overcome these shortfalls. Why is this thinking incorrect?
35) Studying how consumers shop, how they use a particular product or service, and how they
dispose of the product when consumed is important for marketers. This information forms the
basis of product strategy. Define the consumption system and identify the two upcoming product
strategies that are affected by this knowledge.
36) Industrial-goods classifications based on terms of how the products enter the production
process and their relative costs include such segments as materials and parts and capital items.
Window cleaning services, consumable office supplies, personal computers, desks, paint, nails,
and buckets are included in the classifications of industrial goods. List the other “classifications”
including subclassifications for industrial goods.
37) Most products are established at one of four performance levels: low, average, high, or
superior. For example, mountain bikes come in a variety of sizes and physical attributes. When a
consumer purchases a mountain bike costing $1,000, he or she expects the bike to perform to
specifications and to have a high ________, meeting the promised specifications.
A) features
B) conformance quality
C) durability
D) performance quality
E) reliability
38) Many products can be differentiated in terms of their ________, which is its size, shape, or
physical structure.
A) form
B) prototype
C) architecture
D) model
E) blueprint
39) ________ is the ability of a company to prepare on a large-scale basis individually designed
products, services, programs, and communications.
A) Mass customization
B) Reverse engineering
C) Interoperability
D) Backward compatibility
E) Benchmarking
40) Buyers expect products to have high ________, which is the degree to which all produced
units are identical and meet promised specifications.
A) durability
B) compatibility
C) conformance quality
D) form
E) performance quality
41) If the Ford GT is designed to accelerate to 50 miles per hour within 10 seconds, and every
Ford GT coming off the assembly line does this, the model is said to have high ________.
A) reliability
B) conformance quality
C) durability
D) compatibility
E) interoperability
42) ________ describes the product’s look and feel to the buyer; it has an advantage of creating
distinctiveness that is difficult to copy.
A) Design
B) Style
C) Durability
D) Conformance
E) Reliability
43) Ideal ________ would exist if users could fix the product themselves with little cost in
money or time.
A) durability
B) reliability
C) style
D) design
E) reparability
44) For ________ to be valued for products like vehicles and kitchen appliances, it should not be
associated with an excessive price premium and the product must not be subject to rapid
technological obsolescence.
A) conformance quality
B) performance quality
C) reparability
D) durability
E) style
45) When the physical product cannot be easily differentiated, the key to competitive success
may lie in adding valued services and improving their quality. The main service differentiators
are ordering ease, delivery, installation, ________, customer consulting, maintenance, and repair.
A) technology intensity
B) responsiveness
C) ease of use
D) customer training
E) adaptability
46) Delivery refers to how well a product or service is brought to the customer. It includes speed,
________, and care throughout the delivery process.
A) expedience
B) intensity
C) tangibility
D) performance
E) accuracy
47) ________ refers to data, information systems, and advice services that the seller offers to
their buyers.
A) Sales force relationships
B) Customer relationships
C) Open source technology
D) Customer training
E) Customer consulting
48) Differentiating on ________ is important for companies with complex products and becomes
an especially good selling point when targeting technology novices.
A) delivery
B) ordering ease
C) ease of installation
D) customer consulting
E) reparability
49) ________ describes the service program for helping customers keep purchased products in
good working order.
A) Returns
B) Ordering ease
C) Installation
D) Maintenance and repair
E) Delivery
50) Which of the following actions would result in the elimination of uncontrollable returns of
products in the short run?
A) improved handling
B) better packaging
C) improved transportation
D) proper storage
E) cannot be eliminated
51) Smith & Adams Poultry has recently upgraded its transactional model such that its customers
(restaurants and hotels) can communicate with its central supply system to indicate purchase
volumes, dates, and receive confirmation, through their computer terminals. This is an example
of a company differentiating itself versus competition in terms of ________.
A) customer relationships
B) customer training
C) installation
D) delivery ease
E) ordering ease
52) To be branded, physical products need not be differentiated.
53) To avoid “feature fatigue,” companies must be careful to prioritize those features that are
included and find unobtrusive ways to provide information about how consumers can use and
benefit from the feature.
54) Firms should design the highest performance level possible for their products.
55) As a selling point, durability commands a particularly high pricing premium, especially for
products that are subject to rapid technological obsolescence, as are personal computers and
video cameras.
56) If the physical product cannot be easily differentiated, the key to competitive advantage lies
in the pricing of the related “services” provided by the manufacturer.
57) Customer training and customer consulting are two areas for service differentiation that
manufacturers can use with their products.
58) The cost of processing a return can be significantly greater than that of an outbound
shipment.
59) The ability to design custom jeans through Levi’s and create merchandise with your own
images through Zazzle are examples of mass customization.
60) Describe the six main service differentiators.
61) Distinguish between controllable returns and uncontrollable returns.
62) To be branded, products must be differentiated. List the possible ways that physical products
can be differentiated.
63) In your position as a marketing manager for a small industrial company, you have been
asked by the president to help differentiate the company’s product from its competitors. In
reviewing your marketing management notes, you note that the text stated that physical products
could be differentiated in nine ways. These nine areas comprise the “meat” of the memo you are
writing to the president of your firm. What are the nine ways that physical products can be
differentiated?
64) When a physical product cannot easily be differentiated, the key to competitive success may
lie in adding valued services and improving quality. Identify the six main service differentiators.
65) Realizing that although household products is a huge category — taking up an entire
supermarket aisle or more — it is an incredibly boring one, the founders of Method Products
designed a sleek, uncluttered dish soap container that also carried functional advantages, such as
ease of dispensing soap and cleaning. Method is competing in the crowded market for household
products on the basis of superior ________.
A) design
B) durability
C) conformance
D) reliability
E) performance quality
66) In increasingly fast-paced markets, price and technology are not enough. ________ is the
factor that will often give a company its competitive edge and is defined as the totality of
features that affect how a product looks, feels, and functions in terms of customer requirements.
A) Conformance
B) Design
C) Performance
D) Reliability
E) Style
67) Design can shift consumer perceptions to make brand experiences more rewarding.
68) Apple has a clear design philosophy it calls “Design 3.0” and an internal design slogan,
“Make it Meaningful,” that reflects its relentless focus on making beautiful and intuitive products
that will be integrated into customers’ lifestyles.
69) Design thinking requires intensive ethnographic studies of consumers, creative brainstorming
sessions, and collaborative teamwork to decide how to bring the design idea to reality.
70) What is the significance of design for a company’s products and services? What are the
advantages of a good design?
71) The common denominators of luxury brands are quality and ________.
A) uniqueness
B) practicality
C) global appeal
D) contemporary
E) goodwill
72) A winning formula for many ________ brands is craftsmanship, heritage, authenticity, and
history, often critical to justifying a sometimes extravagant price.
A) design
B) nondurable
C) durable
D) ingredient
E) luxury
73) The brand promise for ________ is “the product you buy is of highest esteem, based on its
timeliness, elegant design and the high quality, which is derived from the excellence of our
craftsmen.”
A) Hermés
B) Montblanc
C) Patrón
D) Sub-zero Refrigerators
E) Armani
74) ________ has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest luxury market; it’s forecast
that one-third of all high-end goods will be sold there in the coming years.
A) China
B) India
C) South Africa
D) Brazil
E) South Korea
75) Which of the following is NOT one of the guidelines for managing luxury brands?
A) Besides brand names, other brand elements — logos, symbols, packaging, signage — can be
important drivers of brand equity for luxury products.
B) Secondary associations from linked personalities, events, countries, and other entities should
be avoided.
C) Luxury brands must employ a premium pricing strategy, with strong quality cues and few
discounts and markdowns.
D) All aspects of the marketing program for luxury brands must be aligned to ensure high-
quality products and services and pleasurable purchase and consumption experiences.
E) Luxury brands must carefully control distribution via a selective channel strategy.
76) Competition for luxury brands must be defined narrowly.