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Chapter 10: Product Concepts
1
Review and Assignments for Chapter 10
Review Quesons
1. Although major appliances, like washers and dryers, are usually considered
homogeneous shopping products, the high-efficiency front-loaders that boast many
more features than standard machines are gaining in popularity. Do you think
high-efficiency technology is enough to make washers and dryers heterogeneous
shopping products? Explain.
2. A local civic organization has asked you to give a luncheon presentation about planned
obsolescence. Rather than pursuing a negative approach by talking about how
businesses exploit customers through planned obsolescence, you have decided to talk
about the benefits of producing products that do not last forever. Prepare a one-page
outline of your presentation.
Students may come up with some creative reasons for producing products that do not last
forever, but economic reasons are the most compelling. The design and manufacturing
Applicaon Quesons
1. Form a team of four or five. Have the team determine what the tangible and intangible
benefits are for a computer, a tube of toothpaste, a beauty salon, and a dentist.
Computer: Tangible benefits include the storage capacity, speed, aesthetics (such as variety of
Toothpaste: Tangible benefits include the taste, the packaging, the fluoride, and whitening
Beauty salon: Tangible benefits include the actual service (haircut and style, manicure, etc.),
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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Dentist: Tangible benefits include the amount of waiting time, how well the dentists and other
2. Break into groups of four or five. From the list of products below, have each member of
the group classify each product into the category (convenience, shopping, specialty,
unsought) that they think fits best from their perspective as a consumer (i.e., if they
were buying the product). The products include Coca Cola (brand), a car stereo, a
winter coat, a pair of shoes, life insurance, a pair of blue jeans, hamburgers, shampoo,
canned vegetables, and frozen pizza.
Students’ answers will differ. They should give reasons why they have placed each product in
3. Law & Order is a popular television show with numerous brand extensions. Do you
think the brand is overextended? Explain.
The effects of overextending the Law & Order brand have already begun. Because shows are
available every day on at least three cable channels, ratings for the first-run primetime
4. A local supermarket would like to introduce their own brand of paper goods (e.g., paper
towels, facial tissue, etc.) to sell alongside their current inventory. The company has
hired you to generate a report outlining the advantages and disadvantages of doing
so. Write the report.
Although students’ answers will vary, they should address some of these points. Retailers’
private-label store brands have become more popular and are increasing their share of the
market at the expense of manufacturers’ national brands. If a retailer’s store brand offers
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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5. How does Hormel use its website (http://www.hormel.com) to promote its products? Is
the site designed more to promote the company or its brands? Check out the Spam
website at http://www.spam.com/. How do you think Hormel is able to successfully
sustain this brand, which is often the punch line to a joke?
6. Find a product at home that has a distinctive package. Write a paragraph evaluating
that package based on the four functions of packaging discussed in this chapter.
7. List the countries to which Levi Strauss & Co. markets through its website,
http://www.levi.com/. How do the product offerings in the U.S. selections differ from
those in Europe?
Levi Strauss markets in the United States, Canada, Europe/South Africa (38 countries),
Asia/Pacific (Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan), and Latin America
8. Land’s End and L.L. Bean are renowned for their product guarantees. Find and read
the exact wording of their guarantees on their websites. Do you think a company
could successfully compete against either without offering the same guarantee?
All other things being equal, it would be very difficult for a company to compete head-to-head
with either Land’s End or L.L. Bean without offering the same comprehensive guarantee.
Applicaon Exercise
What is your favorite brand of sandwich cookie? If you’re like most Americans, chances are it’s
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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Oreo. In fact, Oreos are so popular that many people think Oreo was the original sandwich
cookie. But they’re wrong. Sunshine first marketed its Hydrox sandwich cookie in 1908. Hydrox
Activities
1. Can you re-create Hydrox through a name change? What kind of brand name could go
head-to-head with Oreo? (Most people unfamiliar with Hydrox think it is a cleaning
product.) Make a list of three to five possibilities.
2. How can you package your renewed sandwich cookie to make it more attractive on the
shelf than Oreo? What about package size? Draft a brief packaging plan for the new
Hydrox (or whatever name you chose).
3. Can you modify the original formula to make something new and more competitive? Will a
brand extension work here? Why, or why not?
Purpose: To show students how important branding can be to product success. Students try to
relaunch the Hydrox cookie brand (the original chocolate sandwich cookie) by investigating
branding issues (including brand name and brand mark), determining the role of packaging, and
assessing the feasibility of brand extensions.
Setting It Up: This exercise will work best in teams or as a group project. It could also serve as
the basis for a marketing plan project.
This exercise was inspired by the following Great Idea in Teaching Marketing.
Alice Griswold, Clarke College
The Oreo Debate
This exercise can be effectively used in the chapters relating to “product” as it deals with issues
pertaining to brands (national versus private), packaging, brand loyalty, and image.
I come to class with three packages of chocolate sandwich cookies—Oreo, Hydrox, and a
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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New name: Keebler Droxies. What did the Hydrox name mean? It came from a mix of
hydrogen and oxygen to signify pure ingredients, but consumer research studies revealed it
sounded more like a cleaning fluid.
Not only does Hydrox face a huge challenge trying to catch up to Oreo, but they face challenges
Price comparisons will show the private label at almost half the price of Oreo with Hydrox
Packaging comparisons show all three packages using the same blue tones, so as to perhaps
Students enjoy this exercise because it allows them to personally test a favorite product and
Ethics Exercise
A product that a potential buyer knows about but is not actively seeking is called an unsought
product. Is the marketing of unsought products unethical? Discuss your answer in terms of the
AMA Code of Ethics, found at http://www.marketingpower.com.
1. Is the marketing of unsought products unethical? Discuss your answer in terms of the
AMA Code of Ethics, found at http://www.marketingpower.com.
Marketing unsought products is not unethical, because consumers may have needs and
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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Video Assignment: Zappos
1. Zappos sells all four categories of consumer products.
a. True
b. False
2. When Steve discusses the “buyer for outdoor” and the “buyer for running,” what does he
mean?
a. These are the people responsible for determining how people buy these items from
Zappos.
b. These are the people who determine the product mix for each of these categories.
c. These are the people who buy products that have been modified specifically for
Zappos.
d. These are the people who decide when to reposition their category.
3. Zappos offers consumers and brands things that traditional stores may not. Which of the
following is true?
a. Zappos offers specialty products at a steep discount to consumers, while helping
brands grow their equity through awareness.
b. The use of captive brands by Zappos allows companies to branch into new areas with
minimal risk to their other brands. Customers benefit from captive brands because
they get high quality without always paying the highest price.
c. Zappos offers consumers the ability to compare shopping products with the one-stop
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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shopping of convenience products, while offering brands the ability to leverage their
brand equity while still being available in a wide product mix.
d. Zappos offers a unique co-branding strategy for its vendors that allow them to
combine their brands with the Zappos brand and give customers access to more
brands than possible in a shoe store.
4. The Zappos wide calf boot is part of the Zappos _____.
a. private brand
b. manufacturer’s brand
c. family brand
d. trademark
5. Manufacturing a wide calf boot is which kind product modification?
a. Style modification
b. Functional modification
c. Quality modification
d. Brand extension
6. Which of the following does the Zappos brand expect its excellent customer service across
all its businesses to do?
a. Create brand loyalty.
b. Increase awareness of the brand name.
c. Create a family brand.
d. Offer an explicit warranty.
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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Case Assignment: Burger King
The cooks were busy in the Burger King kitchen in 2016. Every few months, they released a new
item for the more adventurous fast-food customers to try out.
At the end of January 2016, Burger King introduced new Jalapeño Chicken Fries, Dr
Pepper Shakes, and Oreo Irish Mint Shakes. All three items were available for a limited time.
“Our guests can’t get enough of our spicy menu items, not to mention our Chicken Fries,
so we’re giving them more of both with this new addition to our Chicken Fries lineup,” said Alex
Then in February, Burger King announced the addition of flame-grilled hot dogs to the
It is estimated that Americans eat over 20 billion hot dogs each year. With the addition of
“The introduction of Grilled Dogs just made sense to our guests and for our brand,” said
The Classic Grilled Dog is a flame-grilled hot dog topped with ketchup, mustard,
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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March brought another limited-time offering: The Angriest Whopper sandwich. The
Angry Whopper sandwich was a popular previous limited-time menu item. The Angriest
After giving their customers’ stomachs a few months to settle, Burger King was back at it
again in June 2016. For a limited time, they offered Mac n’ Cheetos, a collaboration venture with
“Mac n’ Cheetos are a doubly cheesy combination of warm mac n’ cheese covered with
that crispy Cheetos flavor everyone loves,” said Axel Schwan, executive vice president and
Burger King was founded in 1954 and is now the second-largest fast food hamburger
Sources: B. Mogan, “Burger King Restaurants and the Cheetos Brand Unleash Very Cheesy
Collaboration for Summer ’16,” Burger King, June 27, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016,
Chicken Fries and Two New Shake Flavors,” Burger King, January 27, 2016, accessed October
23, 2016,
Chain in U.S. to Serve Flame-Grilled Hot Dogs,” Burger King, February 11, 2016, accessed
October 23, 2016,
at Burger King Restaurants,” Burger King, March 30, 2016, accessed October 23, 2016,
© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Chapter 10: Product Concepts
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© 2018 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
