In the U.S., almost as many people are employed in sales work as they are in
advertising.
Most purchasing managers use search engines as their FIRST step to satisfy new or
unfamiliar questions.
In customer-initiated interactive communication, marketers must stand up and grab
attention in order to be selected by the customer.
Problems of matching supply and demand often occur when a marketing plan calls for a
regional roll out rather than a national roll out.
With the “multiple target market approach” the marketer combines two or more
homogeneous submarkets into one larger target market as a basis for one strategy.
The seven-step approach to market segmentation uses a S.W.O.T. analysis.
It is the job of the marketing manager to ask for the right information in the right form.
JIT shifts greater responsibility for physical distribution activities forward in the
channel.
Horizontal marketing systems are channel systems in which the whole channel focuses
on the same target market at the end of the channel.
Differentiation often requires a firm to fine-tune its marketing mix to meet the specific
needs of its target market(s).
To avoid wasting time working on the wrong problem, marketing researchers can use a
logical strategy planning framework to guide their efforts.
A value pricer tries to offer a target market the same marketing mix as competitors but
with a below-the-market price.
When a company includes videos on its website of how it has helped individual
business customers solve an important problem, this is an example of offering online
case studies.
The physical distribution concept focuses on lower costs and better service to increase
customer value.
A marketing plan is a written statement of a marketing strategy and the time-related
details for carrying out the strategy.
CRM approaches are based on information from detailed customer databases.
Mass customization applies the principles of mass production to the challenge of
meeting the unique needs of individual customers.
A channel of distribution is part of a supply chain.
As part of the basic problem-solving steps, a consumer searches for information,
identifies alternatives and what factors are important, and then evaluates one or more
products before deciding how best to meet a need.
The strategies for all stages of the product life cycle should be growth strategies.
The early majority avoid risk by waiting until many early adopters have tried a
productto see if they liked it.
Clustering techniques can be used in segmenting to help find similar patterns within
sets of datato identify homogeneous groups of people.
Marketing does not occur unless there are two or more parties who want to exchange
something for something else.
Face-to-face communication with large numbers of customers at the same time is mass
selling.
When a firm uses debt financing, the organization providing financing receives an
ownership share in the company.
The general objective of promotion is to affect buyer behavior.
The main problem with advertising is that it costs so muchon average about one third of
sales dollars for U.S. companies.
A decision support system (DSS) is a computer program that makes it easy for a
marketing manager to get and use information as he or she is making decisions.
That “new car” smell that includes an aroma of leather and wood is an example of using
a positive cue.
The Robinson-Patman Act permits promotion allowances only if they are made
available to all customers on “proportionately equal terms.”
Customer value is just another term for customer satisfaction.
The text argues that international competition will actually improve macro-marketing
systems worldwide.
Shopping products that a customer sees as different and wants to inspect for quality and
suitability are heterogeneous shopping products.
Carol Lamb has lived in Centerville all her life. She owns a retail store that sells hobby
and craft supplies. She bought the store after working there for 7 years. Carol has just
been asked to head up the Retailers and Wholesaler Group of the Centerville Chamber
of Commerce. The most active chamber members in her group are described below:
Walden’s Leather is part of a regional chain of stores that sells leather goodsmostly
men’s and women’s clothingwith the upscale Walden’s brand name. Walden’s primarily
relies on its own stores where knowledgeable salespeople offer great service. Walden
products are also sold, on a limited basis, in some fine department stores.
Publisher’s Helper is a small business started by Audrey Yang that provides and stocks
display racks for paperback books and magazines. Most retailers welcome the service
Audrey provides, in part because she does her own research to determine which
paperback books and magazines sell best in Centerville.
Cuzco’s is Centerville’s alternative to Walmart. The store sells a wide variety of
merchandise. The company used to concentrate its product mix on small appliancesbut
now Cuzco’s carries any product that it can sell profitably. Its low prices stimulate faster
turnovers and higher sales volumes.
Games Unlimited sells video games. Jamie Carraway, who owns the local store, signed
a contract with Games Unlimited and follows strict rules covering her store’s operations
and the Games Unlimited marketing strategy. She pays that company a fee for
promotion it provides as well as commissions on her sales.
Johnson’s Health and Beauty Supplies sells cosmetics and other health and beauty
products to retailers and salons throughout the greater Centerville area. It owns the
goods it sells to these retailer customers, and it provides all the wholesaling functions
they need.
Valu Grocer is an independent grocery store that belongs to an organization sponsored
by a large food wholesaler. The fifty stores grocery stores that share the Valu Grocer
name are linked by contracts that include basic operating procedures, storefront designs,
and joint promotion efforts.
Reddy and Sons sells equipment for several different manufacturers of plastic molding
in the Centerville area. It earns a commission from each manufacturer on the products it
sells for that manufacturer, but it does not take ownership of the equipment it sells nor
does it install the equipment.
Katrina’s Salon started out as a low-status, low-price, low-margin hair salon 15 years
ago. After some success, the company moved into a nicer storefront, raised prices, and
now operates in the middle of the market.
___________ would be classified as an agent wholesaler.
A. Reddy and Sons
B. Publisher’s Helper
C. Johnson’s Health and Beauty Supplies
D. Valu Grocer
E. None of these businesses would be classified as an agent wholesaler.
The largest share of total advertising expenditures in the United States goes for:
A. Internet advertising.
B. television and cable advertising.
C. magazine advertising.
D. direct-mail advertising.
E. radio advertising.
A company’s policy regarding in-store returns falls under which of the following
elements of its marketing mix?
A. Price
B. Place
C. Product
D. Promotion
E. Positioning
Customers are likely to be less price sensitive when:
A. it is easy to compare prices.
B. someone else pays the bill.
C. the total expenditure is high.
D. there are substitutes available.
E. their share of the cost is high.
The “adoption curve” shows:
A. when different groups accept ideas.
B. how quickly a firm should drop current products.
C. the relationship between promotion spending and sales.
D. when a firm should introduce a new product.
E. All of these alternatives are correct.
When consumers go to a brick-and-mortar store to inspect a product and then purchase
from an online retailer, this practice is called ______.
A. shop-hopping
B. integrating
C. showrooming
D. arbitrage
E. baiting
Reminder ads for a product work best in which stage of the adoption process?
A. Awareness
B. Interest
C. Evaluation and trial
D. Decision
E. Confirmation
General-line wholesalers are wholesalers that
A. carry a very narrow range of products and offer more information and service than
other service wholesalers.
B. carry a wide variety of nonperishable items.
C. operate like service wholesalers except that the customer must pay cash.
D. provide only some wholesaling functions.
E. carry a narrower line of merchandise than general merchandise wholesalers.
The Clayton Act is NOT concerned with:
A. product warranties.
B. price discrimination by manufacturers.
C. exclusive dealing contracts.
D. tying contracts.
E. encouraging competition.
Which of the following would be the most difficult task facing a marketing manager?
A. Discover the attitudes of the firm’s target market.
B. Change existing negative attitudes.
C. Create new attitudes toward his or her brand.
D. Promote existing attitudes.
E. Strengthen existing positive attitudes.
Regarding the laws that place limits on marketing activity:
A. Managers who ignore consumer attitudes may cause new laws to be enacted or
existing laws to be modified.
B. Some existing laws may need to be modified or enforced more carefully instead of
adding new laws.
C. Strict enforcement of existing laws and heavy penalties could have far-reaching
effects on the macro-marketing system.
D. Laws set the minimum standards for ethical behavior as defined in a society.
E. All of these alternatives are correct.
Regarding segmenting, as opposed to combining:
A. Segmenting is usually a riskier approach than combining.
B. Segmenters try to satisfy consumers “very well” instead of “pretty well.”
C. Segmenting limits a firm to smaller sales potential and lower profits.
D. A segmenter with limited resources may have to use the multiple target market
approach instead of the single target market approach.
E. All of these alternatives are true.
An interview with 6 to 10 people in an informal group setting is called a(an):
A. secondary interview.
B. focus group interview.
C. observation interview.
D. quantitative research interview.
E. informal investigation.
A product-market is one
A. in which exchanges are based on barter rather than money.
B. where one seller has a patent for a superior product and other firms try to imitate the
leader the best they can.
C. where all of the customers want the same product but will consider a substitute if
their preferred brand is not available.
D. in which competing sellers offer physically or conceptually similar products.
E. in which no intermediaries operate.
____ is the expected earnings stream (profitability) of a firm’s current and prospective
customers over some period of time.
A. Customer equity
B. Profit
C. Net worth
D. Lifetime customer value
E. A premium price
General Electric’s ‘strategic planning grid”:
A. focuses on market share and market growth rate.
B. ignores some important issuessuch as competitive structure and the environmental
impact of a plan.
C. requires that all opportunities be judged either “High” or “Low.”
D. substitutes quantitative estimates for management judgment.
E. None of these is true.
A marketing strategy
A. specifies a target market and a related marketing mix.
B. provides a focused but narrow picture of what a firm will do in some market.
C. is a market-oriented, whole-company plan.
D. includes two interrelated parts–product mix and product development.
E. includes the marketing mix, but does not specify customers.
In a _____________ situation, competitors offer very similar products which customers
see as close substitutes, and managers just compete with lower and lower prices as
profit margins shrink.
A. capitalistic competition
B. pure competition
C. monopoly
D. monopolistic competition
E. collectivist competition
The number and types of competitors a marketing manager must faceand how they
might behaveis called the ______________ environment.
A. cultural
B. competitive
C. economic
D. political
E. social
A producer that enters into a licensing agreement with a foreign company to better
reach foreign customers is most likely selling the rights to use its:
A. production facilities.
B. brand name.
C. channels of distribution.
D. sales force.
E. Any of these are equally likely.
Dell sells custom-made computer systems. Besides order getters, Dell probably uses:
A. order takers.
B. missionary salespeople.
C. merchandisers.
D. manufacturers’ agents.
E. technical specialists.
The development and spread of new ideas, goods, and services for the marketplace is
called:
A. marketing.
B. the micro-macro dilemma.
C. collaboration.
D. innovation.
E. production.
_____ is a promotion activity that tries to spark immediate interest in the consumer.
A. Personal selling
B. Advertising
C. Publicity
D. Sales promotion
E. Press release
Which of the following strategies is most likely to be used in a push promotion to
intermediaries in a sales channel?
A. A retailer of flat-screen TVs runs ads in local newspapers
B. Consumers in a geographic area learn about a new flat-screen TV through television
ads
C. Consumers in a geographic area contact a TV retailer to ask about a specific model
of TV
D. A TV retailer provides free maintenance plans with every flat-screen TV a customer
buys
E. A TV wholesaler includes a free flat-screen TV with every ten TVs that a retailer
buys
You are considering opening a fast-food store. Your fixed costs for the required land,
building, parking lot paving, kitchen equipment, and neon sign will be $1,000,000. The
variable cost will be $1.89 for servings which will sell for $2.89. How many servings
must you sell to break even?
A. 1,000,000
B. 1,200,000
C. 2,890,000
D. 189,000
E. Cannot be determined from the data given.
Marginal analysis
A. reveals the range of prices that should be profitable.
B. can be used to set prices, but it does not give you any idea what quantity might be
sold at that price.
C. does not need an estimate of the demand curve.
D. usually suggests the same price as break-even analysis.
E. None of these alternatives is correct.
Which of the following is not an accurate characterization of the idea evaluation stage
of the new-product development process?
A. The stage involves getting reactions from customers by way of concept testing.
B. The stage evaluates the potential reaction of channel partners like wholesalers and
retailers.
C. The stage produces rough estimates of costs, sales, and profits.
D. The stage introduces a prototype of the product.
E. The stage involves an assessment of the assumptions managers are making about the
new idea.
Most product-markets head toward ______ over the long run.
A. pure competition
B. monopolistic competition
C. capitalistic competition
D. monopoly
E. collectivism
The St. Louis Symphony is an example of what type of organizational customer?
A. Government
B. Wholesaler
C. Intermediary
D. Resident buyer
E. Nonprofit
Traditionally, auction companies would MOST likely be used for:
A. children’s clothing.
B. sports equipment.
C. antique furniture.
D. small appliances.
E. industrial chemicals.
____________ wholesalers are service wholesalers that carry a wide variety of
nonperishable items.
A. General merchandise
B. Limited-function
C. General-line
D. Specialty
E. Drop-shipper
Wilson Alvaro graduated with a marketing degree almost a year ago. Like many of his
friends, he took a job in sales and really enjoys it. A description of Wilson’s job and
those of some of his friends are noted below.
Wilson Alvaro loves biking and has his dream job. He works for a wholesale company
that sells mountain bikes for a manufacturer. He works with a small group of people
who call on the buying offices for two large retail chains, Wal-Mart and Toys R Us. The
group includes a finance person and a production person, and they all work together to
meet the specific needs of these two big accounts; for example, sometimes they
recommend a model of bike that will be available from only that retailer’s stores.
However, Wilson’s main job focuses on building relationships and solving customer
problems. Only occasionally is he expected to try to persuade the retailers to buy more
bikes.
Amy Bowden sells life insurance. She calls on new parents and persuades them to buy
insurance products. It is difficult for a manager to control Amy’s work, but she has
incentive to work hard because her job security and income depend on getting sales.
She is a confident self-starter, so she likes it that way.
Ben Peterson works for a fashionable men’s clothing store. He enjoys spending time
with customers who come in, learning about their fashion needs, and helping them pick
clothes that really work for them. While the store manager can easily observe and direct
Ben’s activities, the manager wants Ben to have the incentive to increase customer
purchases and satisfaction.
Emily Winters handles inside sales for a major industrial distributor. She deals with a
regular set of established customers, most of whom know what they want. Emily talks
to them on the phone and answers questions about products, delivery time, and pricing.
She sometimes works with outside sales reps who visit customers and help introduce
new products. Emily is the first person her customers call when there’s a problem with a
purchase, so she spends a lot of time dealing with customer problems. As an inside
salesperson, Emily’s work is easily supervised by a sales manager-and she has little
influence on how much her customers buy.
Melissa Tran works for a company that sells paper products (like napkins, paper towels,
and paper plates) primarily through small independent grocers. Most of the grocers are
regular customers, but sometimes she makes cold calls to new grocery stores. Melissa’s
job is to develop goodwill and try to increase sales. For example, she often sets up
special promotional displays in stores. Her compensation plan gives her income
security, but she also can receive a bonus for sales growth in her territory.
Charlie Riggs is a telemarketer for an Internet service provider. He calls people on a list
provided by his firm and tries to sign them up for Internet service. Charlie relies heavily
on a presentation he learned during his training. Charlie is very good at what he does
and loves that the more success he has the more he earns.
Melissa Tran’s company wants to have enough salespeople to serve 1,000 accounts. An
effective salesperson can call on each account 12 times a year and should average about
two hours per sales call. Each salesperson works 40 hours a week and takes off two
weeks for vacation each year. Salespeople spend half their time on travel and
administration. How many salespeople does Melissa’s company need?
A. 6
B. 12
C. 24
D. 40
E. There is not enough information to determine the answer.