Video Assignment: GaGa’s Inc.
GaGa’s Inc. produces a frozen dessert called Sherbetter in a variety of flavors. GaGa’s is a very
small product line. Jim King, the founder and CEO, discusses the challenges his company faces
in their product category. He also reveals other environmental challenges to his product.
1. When Jim King says that “the health department” didn’t like him making Sherbetter out of
his kitchen, he is referring to what?
a. The Food and Drug Administration
b. The Federal Trade Commission
c. The Consumer Product Safety Commission
d. His local health care organization
2. Which of the following factors does GaGa’s discuss regarding who buys its product?
a. EcoTech and ethnicity
b. Inflation and age group
c. Consumer incomes and purchasing power
d. State laws and market share
3. Requiring such large slotting fees:
a. decreases inflation.
b. forces competition for market share to be among large companies with significant
capital.
c. decreases the work that FDA inspectors have to do.
d. increases innovation by allowing new products to pay to be displayed.
4. When Jim King discusses the factors involved in not using the wholesale distributor
CISCO or direct sales to the consumer, which category of external environment factors is
he discussing?
a. Social
b. Demographic
c. Economic
d. Competitive
5. Seasonal factors that prevented Jim King from opening a scoop shop in New England fall
into which category?
a. Social
b. Demographic
c. Economic
d. Competitive
6. The fact that GaGa’s has been able to stay in business and keeps searching for ways to
reach its customer speaks to what American value?
a. Self-sufficiency
b. Upward mobility
c. Work ethic
d. Conformity
Case Assignment: Sprint Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc.
From 2002 through 2011, commercials featuring the tagline “Can you hear me now?” aired as
Fast forward to 2016, and Marcarelli is appearing in another commercial for a mobile
carrier. This time for Sprint. “I used to ask if you can hear me now with Verizon. Not ʻ ʼ
Sprint’s aim with the commercial is to rebuild their reputation. For years the brand has
“We’ve invested billions of dollars in our network. Times have changed. You can barely
Sprint had been targeting competition with price. The price ad campaign commercials
showed customers destroying their bills with chainsaws and other equipment, claiming Sprint
“Now we’re emphasizing not just our price but also a great product,” Claure said.
Verizon did not sit quietly by as Sprint went after their customers. “Sprint is using our
Continuing to go after Sprint, Verizon then released a commercial featuring
actor/singer/comedian Jamie Foxx saying, “It ain’t about if you can hear me now. It’s about if
Claure responded to the new commercial on Twitter, posting, “This is how @verizon
Customers paying close attention will note that the commercials are not even speaking in
Verizon posted lower-than-expected second-quarter customer growth in 2016, while
Sources: D. Goldman, “Verizon’s ‘Can You Hear Me Now’ Guy Joins Sprint,” CNN Money,
June 9, 2016, accessed October 22, 2016,
TRUE/FALSE
1. Sprint’s target market with the Marcarelli campaign was Verizon customers.
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-1 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
2. Mobile devices are not an important part of the component lifestyle.
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-2 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
3. By featuring a popular nonwhite American in their campaign, Verizon was able to both market
to African Americans and maintain broad appeal.
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-4 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
4. Sprint’s prior marketing campaign highlighted the lower prices they offered over the
competition. This was a smart approach as the country was exiting a bad recession.
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-5 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
5. If a consumer’s income increases, their standard of living is guaranteed to also increase.
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-5 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. For Sprint or Verizon to succeed over the other, they must do all of the following EXCEPT:
a. understand current customers
b. promote unfavorable facts about the competition
c. identify the most value customers and understand their needs
d. understand how consumer decisions are made
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-1 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
2. Owning a mobile device with reliable services appeals to which American value?
a. self-sufficiency
b. upward mobility
c. work ethic
d. equality
e. All of these
f. None of these
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-2 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
3. The population demographics for mobile phone users include all of the following EXCEPT:
a. tweens
b. teens
c. millennials
d. generation X
e. baby boomers
f. All of these are demographics of mobile phone users.
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-3 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
4. Aside from targeting Verizon customers, Sprint could pursue __________, as they make up the
largest group to use mobile devices for any type of transaction.
a. African Americans
b. Native Americans
c. Hispanic Americans
d. Asian Americans
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-4 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
5. If Verizon and Sprint decided to end the feud and merge into one company, they would be
required to notify the government due to which law?
a. Hart-Scott-Rodino Act of 1976
b. Sherman Act of 1890
c. Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914
d. Celler-Kefauver Antimerger Act of 1950
PTS: 1 OBJ: LO: 4-7 TOP: AACSB: Reflective Thinking
KEY: CB&E Model: Strategy MSC: BLOOMS: Level I Knowledge
Great Ideas for Teaching Chapter 4
James S. Cleveland, Sage College of Albany
Discussion Board Topics to Encourage Participation
Discussion board questions provided to students to encourage them to engage in thinking and
writing about the content of the Principles of Marketing course usually take the form of a
provocative statement to which students are asked to respond. An example of this would be “All
PR is good PR.”
Discussion topics such as this one are abstract and often require that the instructor provide an
initial reply to show students what is expected of them in their own replies. For students with
limited work experience, this approach may be quite appropriate. For adult students with
extensive experience as employees and consumers, however, the abstract nature of such topics
can be frustrating.
I have developed, therefore, a series of discussion board questions to use with experienced, adult
students. These questions are designed to encourage them to use their experiences as employees
and consumers as doorways to better understand the course material. The questions also
encourage students to make their own responses more interesting to themselves and to the other
students in the class who will read and comment on them.
Each question has three parts.
1. First, there is a sentence or two from the students’ textbook introducing the topic. By using
the text author’s own words, students are enabled to locate relevant material in the text
more easily, the text content is reinforced, and confusion resulting from the use of variant
terms or expressions is minimized.
2. Second, there is a reference to text pages the student should review before proceeding.
Since the goal of the exercise is for students to apply the course content to their own
experiences, reviewing the content first is important.
3. Third, there is a request for the student to think about or remember some specific situation
in their experience to which they can apply the text material and a question or questions for
them to address in their reply.
Here are additional discussion board questions that are similar. Each is written to fit the same
text cited above but could easily be rewritten and revised to fit another text.
Series A
1. No single business is large or powerful enough to create major change in the external
environment.
2. Review what the assumption that this is true means for marketing in section 4-1b of your
text, and review what the textbook means by the external environment.
3. Then describe whether you agree or disagree with a large company being able to change
the external environment or not.
Series B
1. By the beginning of 2012, one minute out of every five spent on the Internet worldwide
was dedicated to social networking.
2. Review the material in section 4-2c of your text.
3. Then describe how this trend affects how you see advertising material and how the time
you spend online affects your purchasing decisions.
Felicia G. Lassk, Western Kentucky University
Utilizing an Internet Personality Test in the Consumer Behavior Course
An interactive assignment that integrates personality testing and the Internet uses the Keirsey
Temperament Sorter in a class presentation on personality. You can find the Keirsey
Temperament Sorter by searching for “Keirsey Temperament Sorter” and accessing the sorter on
the Keirsey.com website. The 70-item personality test is based on Carl Jung’s psychological
Kim McKeage, University of Maine
Students Practice Making Market/Product Grids on Themselves
This in-class project has students use a segmentation scheme that they have already studied. This
could include:
VALS
If students wish to use VALS, I instruct them ahead of time to get on the Internet and access the
VALS survey online so that they can determine their type.
On the day when we do this exercise, students form groups of five to eight persons. The group is
instructed to pick a product category. I recommend the categories listed below to them as items
they might be familiar with.
Automobiles (cars, trucks, SUVs, etc.)
Athletic shoes
Students then have to describe which market segments are represented in their group according
to the segmentation scheme(s) they choose to use. They must also develop a market/product grid
to describe how to target different products (within their chosen category) toward the different
This exercise quickly shows students the limitations of using only demographics to describe their
customers, and it really clarifies the process of segmentation and positioning for them.