Core: Marketing, 8e (Kerin)
Chapter 3 Understanding the Marketing Environment, Ethical Behavior, and Social
Responsibility
1) Facebook has approximately what fraction of the world’s population as customers?
A) one-half
B) one-third
C) one-quarter
D) one-fifth
E) one-seventh
2) All of the following statements about the environmental forces that have influenced Facebook
are true except which?
A) The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a laissez-faire policy of not interfering with the
development and marketing of Facebook and other social media websites.
B) Technological advances in data storage, server speed, and software integration have made
Facebook increasingly fast and convenient.
C) Its rivalry with Google, Twitter, and Snapchat and new social networks encourage rapid
expansion.
D) The cost of wireless connectivity and smartphones rapidly declined and Internet access
expanded, which increasingly made social networking affordable for more people.
E) People increasingly look for new ways to communicate, obtain information, and offer
opinions.
3) Environmental scanning refers to
A) assessing any possible negative impact a firm’s activities might have on the local ecology.
B) continually acquiring information on events occurring outside the organization to identify and
interpret potential trends.
C) setting up a regular schedule to assess the performance of different divisions within a firm.
D) initiating an internal talent search to identify employees who can think “outside the box” to
generate solutions to marketing problems caused by changes in the marketing environment.
E) requiring all employees to spend time outside the office to avoid the “ivory tower” syndrome.
4) The process of continually acquiring information on events occurring outside the organization
to identify and interpret potential trends is called
A) significant trend analysis.
B) organizational scanning.
C) environmental scanning.
D) a SWOT analysis.
E) marketing intelligence.
5) Environmental trends arise from all of the following forces except which?
A) competitive
B) economic
C) regulatory
D) behavioral
E) social
6) The purpose of environmental scanning is to
A) uncover causes of trends in the marketplace.
B) uncover trends in the workplace.
C) stop unhelpful trends in the marketplace, and speed helpful ones.
D) stop unhelpful trends in the workplace, and speed helpful ones.
E) identify and interpret trends in the marketplace.
7) Which of the following statements regarding environmental scanning is the most accurate?
A) Environmental scanning changes the marketing environment.
B) Environmental scanning identifies and interprets potential trends.
C) Environmental scanning should be done about every five years.
D) Environmental scanning focuses primarily on ecological factors.
E) It is too costly and there is too much information generated from environmental scanning to
make it viable for small firms.
8) A firm conducting an environmental scan of the marketplace might uncover key ________,
such as the growing popularity of brand advocates, the increasing application of virtual and
augmented reality, and the surging scrutiny regarding the collection and use of consumer data.
A) profits
B) responsibilities
C) idealisms
D) codes
E) trends
9) Starbucks entered a partnership with Keurig Green Mountain to sell K-Cup single-serving
coffee packs. Because Starbucks ________, it was prepared for this shift in its marketing
environment.
A) optimized its distribution by adding local outlets in grocery stores
B) noticed the change in the demographics of coffee and tea drinkers in general
C) added more in-store displays
D) shifted funds from product development to advertising
E) tracked, as part of its ongoing environmental scanning activities, the percentage of households
with single cup brewers
10) As the director of marketing for a local hospital that specializes in caring for limited mobility
patients and related health issues, you must conduct an environmental scan to help create a five-
year marketing plan for the hospital. Which of the following environmental trends should you
consider to be the most important?
A) The number of people in the geographic area who are 65 years or older will increase by 23
percent during the next five years.
B) Millennials are becoming increasingly important in the workplace.
C) The local community has seen a rise in dual-income households.
D) By the year 2025, robotics will play a major role in surgical procedures.
E) Twenty percent of the local population is of Hispanic origin, but that number is expected to
grow during the next decade.
11) The Lemon Tree is a high-fashion boutique selling top-of-the-line women’s clothing and
accessories. The keys to its success include knowing customers’ changing tastes and providing
something different than other retailers. In addition, because of the high value of the
merchandise, The Lemon Tree’s management is investing in the use of computerized inventory
controls and sales order processing. The least important environmental force to The Lemon Tree
at this time is likely to be
A) economic.
B) competitive.
C) technological.
D) social.
E) regulatory.
12) Local newspaper readership has declined significantly in recent years. Not only are
traditional newspapers losing subscribers, they are also losing advertisers. To combat these
trends, many newspaper publishers now offer online versions of their printed newspapers. This is
most likely a response to which environmental force?
A) economic, since few can afford a newspaper today
B) competitive, resulting from new, smaller local newspapers that are flourishing
C) technological, since high-speed printing presses have become more easy to use
D) social, resulting from changing consumer preferences for information delivered online
E) regulatory, since the government provides tax incentives for paper-based products
13) A growing trend to “Buy American” may encourage U.S. automakers to increase political
pressure on Washington to pass legislation for more restrictive quotas on Japanese car imports.
In addition, a decline in the value of the U.S. dollar would be instrumental in Toyota’s decision
to build a manufacturing plant in the United States instead of continuing to export cars from
Japan. If Toyota builds the plant, its decision would reflect
A) a reactive strategy that would impact the competitive environmental force.
B) a proactive maneuver to manipulate and impact the social environmental force.
C) a positive result from regulatory and economic environmental forces.
D) a positive response to a technological environmental force.
E) a negative impact as a result of adverse competitive, regulatory, and technological
environmental forces.
14) Many large consulting firms are beginning to sponsor “women-only” networking events. The
purpose of these events is to offer an opportunity for women in management to network with
other businesswomen, either as clients, mentors, or protégés. This is an example of which
environmental force?
A) social
B) economic
C) technological
D) competitive
E) regulatory
15) The Kansas state legislature recently banned the use of tanning beds by anyone under the age
of 18. This restriction would be an example of which environmental force?
A) social
B) economic
C) technological
D) competitive
E) regulatory
16) Using smartphones, people can watch the news, shoot videos, browse the Internet, take
pictures, and listen to music. Improved features are added with each smartphone introduced by
Apple, Samsung, Google, and others. As a result, customers often want to replace their existing
smartphones with new models every two years or more often, even if their existing phones still
work. This increase in demand is due mostly to changes in ________, an environmental force.
A) competition
B) social culture
C) technology
D) regulations
E) the economy
17) Pending federal legislation will require all online retailers to collect state sales taxes from
customers. This would affect online sellers such as Virtual Vineyards, which now collects state
sales taxes only from customers who reside in California, its home state. This pending legislation
would be an example of which environmental force?
A) social
B) economic
C) technological
D) competitive
E) regulatory
18) The demographic characteristics of a population and its culture are called
A) social forces.
B) economic forces.
C) consumer forces.
D) attitudinal forces.
E) market forces.
19) The social forces in the environment include the ________ of the population and its culture.
A) living standards
B) social classes
C) cohorts
D) ethics
E) demographic characteristics
20) Which of the following statements regarding social forces is most accurate?
A) Changes in social forces can have a dramatic impact on marketing strategy.
B) Social forces within an organization motivate employees to improve their productivity.
C) Social forces determine all of the other environmental forces that affect an organization.
D) Of all the environmental forces, social forces are the easiest for a marketer to manipulate.
21) Which of the following would be identified as a social force in an environmental scan?
A) a new consumer protection law
B) an increase in Asian immigration
C) an introduction of advanced technology
D) a decrease in consumer incomes
E) a new international firm exporting to the United States
22) Generation X consumers indicate they want online customer support; websites that are
comprehensive, professional, and interactive; and advertising that is authentic, family-oriented,
and unique. Generation X is also replacing baby boomers as the largest segment of business
travelers. In response, American Airlines is offering travelers in-flight Wi-Fi, entertainment on
demand, and personal power ports. This is an example of how ________ forces impact the
marketing environment.
A) economic
B) competitive
C) social
D) technological
E) regulatory
23) An important social trend is the continued concern for health and well-being in the United
States. This is most likely evidenced by which of the following?
A) the increased sales of Cigar Aficionado magazine.
B) the introduction of Lay’s Kettle Cooked potato chips, which have 40 percent less fat than
regular potato chips.
C) the opening of more Starbucks coffee boutiques in supermarkets.
D) the upsizing of menu items at fast-food restaurants.
E) the introduction of virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift.
24) Publishers were surprised by the dramatic success of the book Fifty Shades of Grey and
believe that it would likely generate a fresh cycle of female-targeted romances packaged for the
mainstream reader. This is an example of ________ force impacting the marketing environment.
A) an economic
B) a competitive
C) a technological
D) a social
E) a regulatory
25) Demographics refer to
A) the depiction of a population according to its core values or cultural beliefs and their rate of
change.
B) an objective measurement of a person’s likelihood to purchase a product or service.
C) the psychological profile of prospective consumers.
D) the density of a population in a geographic area.
E) the description of a population according to selected characteristics such as age, gender,
ethnicity, income, and occupation.
26) The description of a population according to selected characteristics such as age, gender,
ethnicity, income, and occupation is referred to as
A) consumer group profiling.
B) demographics.
C) behavioral analysis.
D) psychographics.
E) statistical analysis.
27) Demographic characteristics that describe a population include all of the following except
which?
A) income
B) age
C) occupation
D) density
E) ethnicity
28) More is a publication designed to appeal to women aged 40 and over. Demand for such
magazines would be most affected by changing ________ characteristics in the marketing
environment.
A) cultural
B) behavioral
C) psychographic
D) occupational
E) demographic
29) The most recent estimates indicate that the population of the world today is about
A) 3.9 billion.
B) 5.2 billion.
C) 7.4 billion.
D) 8.2 billion.
E) 9.5 billion.
30) By 2050, the world’s population is expected to be
A) 2 billion.
B) 4.7 billion.
C) 6.1 billion.
D) 7.9 billion.
E) 9.8 billion.
31) The change in the growth of the world’s population is called the
A) population contraction.
B) population inversion.
C) population migration.
D) population explosion.
E) population eruption.
32) The population explosion has occurred
A) primarily in the developing countries in Asia and Africa.
B) fairly evenly throughout the world.
C) primarily in the United States due to high birth rates and immigration.
D) primarily in the countries of the European Union due to high birth rates and immigration.
E) primarily in developed countries due to superior economic, infrastructure, and health care
conditions.
33) Projections show that the population is
A) growing rapidly in North America.
B) declining sharply in Australia.
C) decreasing in Africa.
D) increasing in India.
E) increasing in Eastern Europe.
34) The country expected to have the largest population in 2050 is
A) the United States.
B) India.
C) China.
D) Russia.
E) Brazil.
35) Studies of the ________ characteristics of the U.S. population suggest that it is becoming
larger, older, and more diverse.
A) cultural
B) psychographic
C) geographic
D) demographic
E) economic
36) Generally, the U.S. population is becoming
A) smaller, younger, and more diverse.
B) smaller, older, and more diverse.
C) larger, younger, and less diverse.
D) larger, younger, and more diverse.
E) larger, older, and more diverse.
37) By 2030, the U.S. population is expected to exceed
A) 273 million.
B) 314 million.
C) 323 million.
D) 359 million.
E) 414 million.
38) All of the following factors contribute significantly to the rate of change of a country’s
population except which?
A) life expectancy (the average number of years a population lives from birth)
B) immigration (the number of people who enter a country for the purpose of permanent
residence)
C) population density (the total number of people per square mile/kilometer)
D) birth rate (the number of births during a specified time period)
E) death rate (the number of deaths during a specified time period)
39) The generation of children born between 1946 and 1964 is referred to as
A) the grey generation.
B) millennials.
C) Generation Y.
D) baby boomers.
E) Generation X.