WGU D077 Concepts in Marketing, Sales, and Customer Contact Exam Questions and Answers Graded A+

A/B testing
A marketing experiment where two variants of a campaign are tested to see which one is most effective

Accommodation
Style of handling conflict focused on empathy over self-interest

Adaptive selling
Using social styles to customize a sales approach to the specific customer

administered vertical marketing system
Cooperation between levels of a distribution channel where one member sets the terms due to its size and influence

advertising
Paid form of nonpersonal promotion

amiable
People with this social style want to know “why”

analytical
People with this social style want to know “how”

artificial intelligence
Intelligent machines (computers) capable of learning and interacting

attitudes
Positive, negative, or ambivalent evaluation of people, objects, event, activities, ideas, or anything else in the environment

attributes
Characteristics that define a product and will influence the customer’s purchase decision

Avoidance
Style of handling conflict with little empathy or self-interest

B2B sales
Sales to another company that consumes the product or services as part of operating the business or uses the product in the assembly of the final product it sells to consumers

Bait and switch
Fraudulent practice where an advertised product is unavailable so a customer is guided to a more expensive one

Bargaining power of buyers
One of Porter’s Five Forces—the power of customers to drive down prices if supply exceeds demand

Bargaining power of suppliers
One of Porter’s Five Forces—the power of suppliers when there are few alternative sources for the products’ components

Bargaining
The fourth phase in the negotiation process, where the parties seek an agreement

BCG Matrix
Planning tool which uses a quadrant to map the strategic position of a business brand based on the brand’s market share and the market’s growth potential

behavioral observation
Primary marketing research technique involving formal or informal observation of customers and noncustomers

boycott
Voluntary and intentional refusal to buy products from a certain person, company, or country for ethical or political reasons

brand equity
One of the drivers of customer equity, based on how the customer assesses the value of the brand

brand loyalty
The faithfulness of customer’s to a particular company and its products

brand
The unique identity and associations of a company, often captured in a design, sign, symbol, or words that identify a product and differentiate it from competitors

Bundling
Grouping related products together and pricing them as a single product.

business cycle
Expansions and contractions in the level of economic activities (business fluctuations) around a long-term growth trend

business to business (B2B)
Sales to another company that consumes the product or services as part of operating the business or uses the product in the assembly of the final product it sells to consumers

business to consumer (B2C)
Sales directly to the individuals who consume a finished product

business-to-business (B2B)
Sales to another company that consumes the product or services as part of operating the business or uses the product in the assembly of the final product it sells to consumers

business-to-consumer (B2C)
Sales directly to the individuals who consume a finished product for personal use

Buyers
Individuals at an organization who are responsible for the purchase contract, often a purchasing department

buying center
Group of decision makers for a purchase by an organization

Channel conflict
When a company sells products directly to consumers, in competition with the company’s own channel partners

Closed-ended questions
Questions where a researcher provides a set of options from which to choose a response, also called structured questions

Closure
The final phase of negotiation, where an agreement is reached or the negotiation fails

cognitive dissonance
Mental discomfort triggered by holding two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values

Collaboration
Style of handling conflict with high concern for both empathy and self-interest

Competition
Style of handling conflict focused on self-interest over empathy

Competitive pricing strategy
Setting the price for a product or service relative to competitors

Compromise
Middle-ground style of handling conflict

Concentrated marketing
Targeting strategy that focuses on a very limited, specific segment(s) of the market, also called niche marketing

consultative selling
Sales approach where the seller becomes a trusted advisor to the customer and builds a relationship to truly understand her needs

consumer behavior
The study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use, and disposal of goods and services

consumer confidence
Statistical measure of consumers’ level of optimism about current and future economic conditions

Consumer involvement
Level of consumer interest, search, or complex decision-making

consumer
The user of a purchased product or service

consumers
The user of a purchased product or service

Content marketing
Promotion through the creation and sharing of messages and materials designed to stimulate interest in a product

contractual vertical marketing system
Cooperation between levels of a distribution channel as described by a formal agreement

cookies
A small packet of information stored on your web browser to help a website keep track of your visits and activity

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Way of conducting business with commitment to the values, norms, and expectations of society for social responsibility

corporate vertical marketing system
Ownership by a single company of all levels of production and distribution

culture
The customs, arts, social institutions, beliefs, and value systems of a particular people, nation, or social group

customer equity
The combined customer lifetime values of all the company’s customers

customer life cycle
The steps in the customer relationship with a company, from initial contact to loyalty

Customer lifetime value
The total profit a company expects to gain from a customer throughout the relationship

Customer relationship management (CRM)
Processes implemented by a company to handle its contact with customers with the goal of creating a unified customer experience to maximize retention

customer satisfaction
A measure of how products or services delivered by a company meet or exceed customer expectations

customer
The purchaser of a product or service

customers
The purchasers of a good or service

Database marketing organizations
Companies (also known as customer insights service providers) that collect and analyze massive data sets on consumers which can be used as secondary data for marketing research

deception
Hiding the truth, especially to get an advantage

Deciders
Individual(s) at an organization making the final purchase decision, often the person who owns the budget

deductive
Negotiating by beginning with the big picture then turning to details

Demographic segmentation
Dividing the market into subgroups based on demographic data such as age, education, gender, or income

Determining Your Desired Outcome
The second phase in the negotiation process, where you define what you would like to get from the negotiation, also called a Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA)

differentiated marketing
Targeting strategy where a company provides separate offerings to each different market segment that it targets

digital marketing
All of a company’s marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the Internet

Direct distribution
Sale of products from the producer to the end user without an intermediary

Distribution channels
Chain of intermediaries through which a good or service moves from the producer to reach the end consumer

Distribution
Process of acquiring raw materials and moving materials and finished products from the producer to customers

distributive view
Win-lose negotiation that sees the situation as a fixed pie to be divided

diversification
Growth strategy that focuses on creating new products for expansion into new markets

driver
People with this social style want to know “what”

Dual Concern Model
Maps five styles of handling conflict on a grid according to their degree of cooperation or assertiveness

E-commerce
Buying and selling of goods and services over the Internet using websites and/or mobile applications

End users
Individuals at an organization who will use the product or service to be purchased

environmental sustainability
Processes that are capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment

esteem needs
Human requirement to feel respected and valued by others as well as yourself

Ethical consumerism
Type of consumer activism where ethical products are favored and unethical products or companies are avoided

Ethnographic research
Study through direct observation of users in their natural environment (as opposed to a laboratory environment)

experiential learning
Changes in behavior in response to direct experience; learning as a reflection on doing

experimental research
Primary marketing research technique that explores the impact of one or more factors, such as the comparison of two marketing campaigns

expressive
People with this social style want to know “who”

extended problem solving
Complex, high-involvement purchase decision process with significant investment in information searching and product comparison

External factors
Factors an organization may be able to influence, but not control (such as technology innovations, competition, economic trends, and government policies) a company, which can represent opportunities or threats

fair trade
Organized social movement that seeks to help producers in developing countries achieve better trading conditions while promoting sustainability

focus groups
Primary marketing research technique using small groups to delve deeply into a topic of interest

Gatekeepers
Individuals at an organization who control the flow of information to and among others within the buying center; often administrative professionals

generation gaps
Differences in outlook, opinions, values, and cultural norms between people of different generations

Geographic segmentation
Dividing the market into sub-groups based on region or geographic characteristics

good
Physical product offering manufactured by a business

Groupthink
Psychological phenomenon in which individual members of a group accept a viewpoint or conclusion that represents a perceived group position (even when it conflicts with their own beliefs or judgment)

Guerilla marketing
Innovative, unconventional promotional tactics that engage customers through unique experiences

hard selling
Sales approach using psychological pressure and insistent language to push a customer to a quick purchase decision

high-involvement decisions
Complex purchase decisions that are important to the consumer and involve some risk

Implementation
Process of implementing the marketing strategy through specific actions or tactics

in-depth interviews
Primary marketing research technique using structured one-on-one conversations to delve deeply into a topic of interest

Indirect distribution
Sale of products where intermediaries assist in moving goods and services from producers to end users

individual marketing
Targeted micromarketing focused on the needs of individuals, sometimes call mass customization or one-to-one marketing

inductive
Negotiating by beginning with details and working up to a larger agreement

inflation
General increase in prices of goods and services over time and decrease in the purchasing power of money

influencer marketing
Using paid brand advocates who have large social followings with a target audience to promote a product or brand on social media

Influencers
Individuals at an organization who affect a purchase decision, sometimes brought into the buying process to provide technical expertise

Initiators
Individuals at an organization who suggest purchasing a product or service

integrated marketing communications (IMC)
Immersive and targeted communication with customers to help move them through the various stages of the buying process

integrative approach
Win-win negotiation that looks for ways to expand the pie so each party gets more

internal data
Information from within a company, such as sales and marketing records, that can be used for secondary data in marketing research

internal factors
Factors controlled by the organization (such as financial resources, product lines, or technical capabilities), which can be either strengths or weaknesses

internet search
An entry into a search engine based on a keyword or phrase, also called a search query

Investigation
The initial phase in the negotiation process, where information is gathered

Leader pricing
Pricing products below market price to attract customers to a store where they would not otherwise shop

leads
Information about a potential customer

learning
Changes in behavior that result from previous experiences

Limited problem-solving
Moderately involved purchase decision-making process where a consumer has some prior knowledge but still conducts light research

local marketing
Targeted micromarketing focusing on very small segments in a given geography

Love and belonging needs
Human requirement for interpersonal relationships (family, friendships, intimacy) and feelings of belongingness

Low-involvement decisions
Straightforward, often routine purchases that require less effort and pose lower risk to the consumer

market development
Growth strategy focused on expanding existing products into new markets

market penetration
Growth strategy focused on current products and current markets with the goal of increasing market share

market segmentation
Process of dividing the market into subgroups of consumers (segments)

market share
A company’s percentage of the total sales in a particular market

marketing concept
Business philosophy holding that a company’s goals can best be achieved by identifying and satisfying the target customer’s needs and wants

marketing mission statement
Explanation of why the marketing plan exists and what problem it hopes to solve

marketing mix
The controllable elements in the marketing environment, made up of the product, price, promotion, and place; also known as the 4Ps of marketing

marketing objectives
Specific, measurable achievements that an organization wants from its marketing activities within a specified time frame

marketing plan
A comprehensive document or blueprint, informed by analysis of the organization, customer, and market environment, that outlines marketing efforts (including objectives, strategies, and tactics) for an identified period

marketing planning process
The steps an organization goes through to create a marketing plan (includes analysis of the organization, customer, and market environment) with specific objectives, strategies, and tactics for the marketing effort

Marketing research
Process of gathering, recording, and analyzing data about consumers, competitors, and the market

marketing
Business function that identifies, satisfies, and retains customers through a set of activities related to creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for the customer

Micromarketing
Targeting strategy that focuses narrowly on catering to the needs of individuals or very small segments in a targeted geography

Mixed negotiations
A blend of inductive and deductive negotiation

modified rebuy
An organization reorders a product or service with modifications

motivations
Level of inner drive or pressure to satisfy a need

needs
Human requirements that range from basic physiology to safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization

New product development
Process of creating a new product or service for the market, involving strategy, organization, concept generation, marketing planning, and commercialization

new task
A buying situation where an organization considers buying a product or service for the first time

nondisclosure agreements (NDAs)
Signed documents when entering into a business relationship detailing what information cannot be disclosed about another company

nonexperiential learning
Changes in behavior in response to secondary input, such as a celebrity endorsement

omnichannel communication
Unified and consistent communication with customers across all channels a company employs

Omnichannel
Content strategy used by organizations to improve customer experience through creating seamless, consistent engagement across all channels

Open-ended questions
Questions where a researcher asks participants to provide a verbal or textual response

opinion leaders
Highly influential people who help set the attitudes, behavior, beliefs, opinions, and values of a reference group

organizational capabilities
Combinations of skills, processes, human abilities, and competencies that are unique to an organization

Penetration pricing
Intentionally pricing a product lower than the market price to gain market share in a new market

perceptions
Process by which a consumer identifies, organizes, and interprets information to create meaning

Permission marketing
Expectation that marketers will ask for permission to sell or to offer potential customers marketing messages

Personal selling
A type of selling that uses person-to-person interaction to sell products and services

PEST
Form of analysis used to isolate opportunities and threats in the marketing environment

Physiological needs
Basic biological requirements for human survival

Place
Element of the marketing mix involved with getting the product from the producer to the customer

Planned obsolescence
Selling products that will need to be replaced frequently by design because they are obsolete

Porter’s Five Forces model
Planning tool which provides a model for how to identify and analyze the competitive forces that shape a company’s environment and influence profitability

Positioning maps
Graphical depiction of how potential customers view a brand or product and the competition against key criteria

positioning statement
Single sentence that concisely identifies the target market for a product and what marketers want customers to think about it

positioning
Strategic activity where marketers identify the distinctive place they want a product or service to hold in the minds of a target market segment

Presentation
The third phase in the negotiation process, where you put together information to support your position

prestige pricing
Raising the price of a product to increase the perception of its value

price gouging
When the seller dramatically increases the prices of goods, services, or commodities to an unreasonable or unfair level

Price skimming
Intentionally pricing a new product offering high with the intention of lowering it over time as competition grows, particularly in the case of a unique offering with little or no competition at the outset

Price
Element of the marketing mix involved with the cost of a product, or what a company asks for from the customer in exchange for the product

Primary research
Research tailored to the specific problem or challenge you are trying to address

product depth
Number of versions offered for each product in the product line

product development
Growth strategy focused on creating new products for an existing market

product life cycle
Phases of a product, from introduction to growth, maturation, and decline

product lines
Series of similar products focused on a sector that a company creates under a single brand

product mix
The complete range of products offered for sale by a company throughout its product lines, also known as the product assortment

product
A service, good, or system that is offered to a market for sale to customers

Product-related segmentation
Dividing the market into sub-groups based on the consumer’s relationship to the product (benefits, usage rates, or brand loyalty)

profit
The amount gained by a company, calculated by the difference between the amount earned from the sale of products and the total cost to produce them and sell them in the market

Promotion
Element of the marketing mix involving methods for informing and influencing customers to buy a product, including traditional advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, and digital marketing

Promotional pricing
Lowering the price of a product for a limited time to attract more customers and increase sales volume

Prospecting
Identifying people or companies that might be interested in buying a product or service

prospects
A qualified and interested potential customer

Psychographic segmentation
Dividing the market into subgroups based on lifestyle or personality

Public relations
The practice of creating and maintaining public goodwill through publicity and nonpaid forms of communication

pyramid scheme
Unethical and unsustainable business model where those higher up the pyramid profit from recruitment fees of those below

Qualifying
Asking questions and conducting research to determine that a prospect is willing and able to buy

qualitative
Research exploring ideas, perceptions, and behaviors

quantitative
Research using information that can be counted, tabulated, and statistically analyzed

reference groups
Formal or informal group of people whose shared attitudes, behavior, beliefs, opinions, and values are adopted by a consumer

Reinforcement
Process of having learning validated through rewards or consequences, which confirm that what you learned was correct.

reliability
The degree to which a research method produces stable and consistent results

retention equity
One of the drivers of customer equity, based on the tendency of a customer to stay with the brand given equal alternatives

revenue
Income a company receives from the sale of goods or services

Rivalry
One of Porter’s Five Forces—competition from other companies in the industry

routine problem-solving
Automatic, low-involvement purchase decision process based on limited information or information gathered in the past

safety and security needs
Human requirement for personal, emotional, and financial security, as well as health and well-being

Sales promotion
Marketing activities such as coupons that provide a direct incentive for the customer to make an immediate purchase of the product

secondary research
Using already existing data that may be relevant to what you want to know

segments
Subgroup of the market for a product

Selective perception
Process by which consumers see what they want to in media messages while ignoring contradictory viewpoints

Self-actualization
Human desire to realize your full potential

service
Intangible product offering by a business

situational analysis
A collection of methods that marketers use to analyze and understand an organization’s capabilities, customers, and business environment

social listening
Primary marketing research technique monitoring or engaging with social media communities to gather information

social media
Websites and applications where users can create, share, and communicate with others in social networks

Solution selling
Sales approach where the seller diagnoses the customer’s problem then recommends a mix of products and services (a solution) to solve it

straight rebuy
An organization reorders a product or service without modifications

Strategic Opportunity Matrix
Framework that maps the four growth strategies (market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification) to a grid based on whether they address new or existing products and markets

strategies
Plans of action or game plans designed to meet certain objectives

supply chain transparency
Company disclosing how its products (and their components) are sourced and made

supply chain
System a company uses to acquire raw material, produce products, and deliver the products and services to customers

survey research
Primary marketing research technique that asks individual respondents to answer a questionnaire

SWOT analysis
Analysis of the internal, controllable factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external, uncontrollable factors (opportunities and threats) that influence an organization

syncretic decision-making
A purchase decision where in a family both partners have an equal say

syndicated marketing research
Source of secondary data for marketing research that is collected by a marketing research company and can be purchased by organizations

Tactical planning
Identification of key actions, or tactics, aligned to the marketing strategy that will enable marketers to achieve marketing objectives

tactics
The actions taken to implement a strategy that drives toward a particular objective

target market
Specific group of customers toward which a firm directs its marketing efforts

targeting
Selection of a segment or segments of the market on which marketers will focus

Team selling
Sales approach that involves multiple people from an organization joining forces to advance a customer opportunity

Telemarketing
Method of direct marketing by a saleperson over the phone

The Internet of Things (IoT)
Embedding computers in everyday things, turning them into smart and connected devices that can be monitored and used for data analytics

Threat of new entrants
One of Porter’s Five Forces—the likelihood that new competitors will enter the market

Threat of substitute products or services
One of Porter’s Five Forces—the likelihood that consumers will switch to a different type of product or service that meets the same need (such as taking a bus instead of buying a car)

trial close
Where the salesperson asks a question or makes an assumptive statement to gauge whether or not a potential customer sees value in the product, service, or solution before asking for a decision

uncontrollable elements
Elements in the external marketing environment that cannot directly be controlled by marketers

Undifferentiated marketing
Targeting strategy involving a single offer and marketing mix for all segments, also called mass marketing

validity
The extent to which a research method accurately measures what it is intended to measure

value equity
One of the drivers of customer equity, based on how the customer assesses the value of the product or service a company provides

vertical marketing systems
Cooperation between multiple levels of a distribution channel

vision
Desired future position for the organization

Product
A retailer offers all customers complementary, eco-friendly gift wrapping to add value to their holiday purchases.

Which element of the marketing mix does this ethical decision-making address?

BCG matrix
A manager seeks to help the organization make good portfolio-management decisions.

Which tool should the manager use for this process?

Strategy
Which component of the marketing planning process utilizes situation analysis to address the needs of the target customer?

Requires expertise in data collection
What is a limitation of primary data sources?

Marketing mix
Which component must the marketing team create to effectively target each segment of the consumer market?

Target
Which action includes selecting a segment to serve as the focus of the marketing team’s efforts?

Problem and opportunity recognition
A marketer developed a makeup tutorial video using the company’s new cosmetic line designed to diminish dark circles around the eyes.

Which stage of the consumer decision-making process is the marketer seeking to achieve?

Integrative
Individuals A and B are negotiating Individual A’s pay package with multiple forms of pay and benefits to be discussed and agreed upon by both. While the goals are not compatible, Individuals A and B will have a long relationship as boss and worker which must be taken into account during their negotiation.

Which approach to negotiation should these two individuals adopt?

Modified rebuy
A sales representative calls on a company and is told, “We will order the same product and quantity that we ordered last month, but please have the product delivered to our western plant instead of our eastern plant.”

Which type of Business to Business (B2B) buying situation is this?

4 P’s: product, price, promotion, and place.
What are the controllable elements in the marketing environment?

Marketing decisions are influenced by not only the competition, but also the political and legal, economic, sociocultural, technological, and environmental elements in the environment.
What are the uncontrollable elements in the marketing environment?

The steps involve the mission statement, situational analysis, objectives, strategy development, and monitoring and control.
What are the steps in the marketing planning process?

SWOT analysis looks at an organization’s strengths and weaknesses alongside the opportunities and threats in the business environment.
What is SWOT used for?

The BCG matrix helps identify where an organization should invest in marketing to be profitable
What is BCG used for?

Porter’s Five Forces model addresses the competitive landscape in the market and the potential for profitability.
What is Porter’s Five Forces model used for?

Marketing is a set of activities related to creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for others. In business, the function of marketing is to bring value to customers, whom the business seeks to identify, satisfy, and retain. Marketing is finding out the needs and wants of potential buyers (whether organizations or consumers) and then providing goods and services that meet or exceed the expectations of those buyers.
Define marketing

Sales incorporates actually selling the company’s products or service to its customers, while marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers so that the product or service sells. Sales includes the actual sale of the company’s product, however marketing often works to help customers make their actual decision to purchase by communicating value.
What is the difference between sales and marketing?

good – tangible, service – intangible
Baking soda, toothpaste, phone – goods
pedicure – service
What is the difference between a good and a service? Identify if the product is a good or service- Arms and Hammer Baking soda, iPhone, Crest Toothpaste, Pedicure

The marketing mix represents the controllable elements in the marketing environment. It includes product, price, promotion, and place.
Identify the four elements in the Marketing mix

-Introductory: Low sales, Little or no profit, Often little to no competition
-Growth: Increasing sales, Rapidly increasing profit, Market has accepted the product and competitors begin to enter the market
-Maturity: High sales, High then declining profit, High level of competition, may be difficult for original company to compete
-Decline: Declining sales, Declining profit, Competitive pressure remains high and demand falls
What is Product life cycle stage? Identify at least two main features in each of the life cycle stages.

product mix – all of a company’s product lines
product width – the number of different product lines
product lines – series of products a company offers
product depth – adding to the sub-products or versions in a product line
What is product mix, product lines, product width, and product depth?

  • Skimming: Pricing a new product high to increase profits (Apple iPhone)
  • Penetration pricing: Pricing a new product lower than the perceived market price to attract market share (Comcast’s introductory pricing for cable and internet)
  • Leader pricing: Pricing products below normal markup or at cost to attract customers to a store where they would not normally shop (Low prices on organic milk at Whole foods)
  • Bundling: Grouping related products together to encourage customers to buy both (Shampoo and conditioner sold as a set at a hair salon)
  • Prestige pricing: Raising the price of a product to increase the perception of its value (High-priced T-shirts and other goods at specialty shops in fashionable districts)
  • Competitive pricing: Setting the price of a product according to the price of competitive products (Pricing a new line of shoes slightly below the cost of a competitor)
    What are the key differences between Price skimming, Penetration pricing, Leader pricing, Bundling, Prestige pricing & competitive pricing strategy.

Promotion includes several different components—traditional advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, social media, and digital marketing.
What are the different components in Promotions?

Both omnichannel and IMC seek to coordinate a unified message to the customer, but rather than working in parallel like IMC, omnichannel communication channels and their supporting resources are designed and orchestrated to cooperate. Integrated marketing focuses on the strategies marketers use to target leads, opportunities, and customers, while omnichannel marketing focuses primarily on the customer experience and buyer’s journey by integrating communication channels between the customer and your business.
What is the difference between integrated marketing communications and Omnichannel communication?

Place involves some method of getting the product from the creator of the product to the customer. Place includes a myriad of important tasks: transportation, location, supply chain management (managing each entity that deals with the product in its route to the buyer), online presence, inventory, and atmospherics (how the office, store, or even the website looks).
What is Place strategy?

Distribution is efficiently managing the acquisition of raw materials by the factory and the movement of products from the producer or manufacturer to business-to-business (B2B) users and consumers. It includes many facets, such as location, hours, website presence, logistics, atmospherics, inventory management, supply-chain management, and others
What is Distribution?

A supply chain is the system through which an organization acquires raw material, produces products, and delivers the products and services to its customers.
What is supply chain?

cooperation between multiple levels of a distribution channel
What is Vertical marketing systems?

corporate, contractual, and administered
What are the three types of Vertical marketing systems?

competitive, natural/ecological, political-legal, socio-cultural, demographic, technological, and economic elements
Identify the various Uncontrollable elements in the marketing environment that may impact an organization.

Competitive elements: Includes such factors as new and shifting competition from domestic and foreign-based firms
What are uncontrollable competitive elements

The marketing mix (product, price, promotion, and place)
What are the various controllable elements in the marketing environment?

Business cycle fluctuations occur around a long-term growth trend and have four distinct phases: expansion, peak, contraction, and trough.
Define: the phases of the Business cycle

From an ethical perspective, product considerations involve whether the product is created in a way that does damage to or sustains the environment, whether it fulfills customer needs and delivers value, and whether the needs it fulfills are in the best interests of individuals and society.

  • Products should provide the quality and value customers expect. Marketers may also consider the ethical implications of how products are created and their impact on communities and the environment.
  • Pricing should be fair and transparent. Particularly in situations where consumers have few or no alternatives, companies should consider whether their pricing models are ethical.
  • Promotion should avoid deception, respect customer contact, and consider the appropriateness of a message for the audience.
  • For place, marketers should consider the entire distribution channel and whether it delivers value to customers. Companies may also consider how the production and distribution of their products affects the environment and society.
    Identify at least 3 ethical considerations for product, price, place, promotion marketing mix variables.

The marketing plan is the guiding document used by marketing managers and teams to lay out the marketing objectives that marketing efforts focus on and the actions they take to achieve these objectives.
A comprehensive marketing plan paints the big picture of what is happening with an organization internally and externally. After analyzing the marketing environment, the plan recommends strategies and tactics aimed at helping the organization take full advantage of available opportunities and resources to accomplish its goals.
Define Marketing plan

As a situation analysis tool, SWOT analysis examines the internal (controllable) and external (uncontrollable) factors that impact the organization and its strategies. The internal factors are strengths and weaknesses; the external factors are opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis gives an organization a clear picture of the situation in which it operates and helps it determine which strategies to pursue.
What Is SWOT analysis?

external threat/opportunity
Identify the SWOT in this situation: A company has developed technical capabilities

external opportunity
Identify the SWOT in this situation: New government policies will help the company in the future

internal weakness
Identify the SWOT in this situation: The company has high employee turnover

external threat/opportunity
Identify the SWOT in this situation: The company is concerned about the country’s economic condition

What is the current market share?
What is the market’s growth potential?
What are the two different aspects of a business unit or product that are considered in BCG matrix?

Dog: A product or business with low market share in a mature industry is a dog. There is no room for growth, which suggests that no new funds should be invested in it.
Cash cow: A cash cow is a product or business that has high market share and is in a slow-growing industry. It is bringing in more money than is being invested in it, but it does not have much growth potential. The profits from a cash cow can be used to fund high-growth investments, but the cash cow itself warrants low investment.
Question mark: A question mark is a product or business that has low market share currently, but is in a growing industry. This case is trickier: The product or business is consuming financing and creating a low rate of return for now, but its direction is unclear. A question mark has the potential to become either a star or a dog, so close monitoring is needed to determine its growth potential.
Star: A star has high market share in a fast-growing industry. This kind of product or business is poised to bring a strong return on the funds invested. It also has the potential to become a cash cow at the end of the product life cycle, which can fund future investments.
What are the four quadrants in the BCG matrix?

Cow
Identify the BCG quadrant in which this product will be placed: Brand X has a slow market-growth rate but currently hold a high market share.

dog
Identify the BCG quadrant in which this product will be placed: Brand Z should be divested

question mark
Identify the BCG quadrant in which this product will be placed: Brand Y shows a rapid growth

star
Identify the BCG quadrant in which this product will be placed: Brand M should be vetted and company should hold on to this brand.

Threat of new entrants (or barriers to entry)
Threat of substitute products or services
Rivalry
Bargaining power of buyers
Bargaining power of suppliers
What are the five forces identified in Porter’s five forces model.

Strategic planning outlines the vision or direction for how the marketing department will achieve its objectives.
What purpose does Strategic planning serve in the marketing planning process?

Tactical planning identifies the key actions marketers will implement to affect controllable elements of the strategy (e.g., offering a specific promotion on free shipping to increase the average transaction value on a company’s website).
What purpose does tactical planning serve in the marketing planning process

Marketing research is the process of systematic gathering, recording, and analyzing data about customers, competitors, and the market.
Define marketing research

Primary – Data collection specifically tailored to the problem you are trying to address
Secondary – Source information that has been previously collected for other purposes (internal or external)
Identify major 3 differences between primary and secondary data?

Marketers should take into account ethical considerations when gathering, analyzing, and storing primary data. Data should be kept secure, gathered transparently, and used for the purposes stated to participants.
What are some of the guidelines researchers must consider while collecting Primary data?

Primary data directly address the problems or challenges of interest. However, it can be costly, time-consuming, and can require expertise to collect.
Identify advantages and disadvantages of primary data

When using secondary data, marketers should consider the credibility and reliability of sources and use clear citations.
What are the guidelines researchers must consider while collecting Secondary data?

by examining the following:
New versus existing markets
New versus existing products
How does the Strategic Opportunity Matrix assist companies in establishing appropriate growth strategies?

The four basic growth strategies according to the Strategic Opportunity Matrix are market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification.
Identify the four types of growth strategies an organization may pursue.

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a combination of policies, processes, and strategies implemented by a company that unify its customer interaction and provide a mechanism for tracking customer information. The purpose of customer relationship management is to cultivate a lasting relationship with the customer.
In your own words, describe customer relationship management (CRM) and the purpose of implementing CRM in an organization.

A key benefit of CRM is enabling companies to be more responsive to (and retain) customers. The customer experiences more unified, relevant communication with the company. Marketing and sales can analyze the data collected to better fit their target customer needs.
One challenge is ensuring consumer privacy and security given the increased collection of data. As organizations optimize for user tastes based on data, it is the largest data points that will drive changes. As a result, while most consumers will benefit from changes, the rest of the consumers are at risk of being ignored entirely if their needs differ from the majority. It may also be a challenge for organizations to integrate a CRM system into all relevant departments and workflows.
Identify and describe at least two benefits and two challenges of CRM.

It predicts how much profit is associated with a customer during the course of their lifetime relationship with a company. This concept can also include less tangible benefits associated with customer loyalty, such as brand engagement and customer referrals.
CLV can help marketers assess the effectiveness of marketing efforts and the value of specific customer segments.
Why is customer lifetime value (CLV) utilized by organizations?

Reach—getting a prospective customer’s attention
Acquisition—bringing a prospective customer into a sphere of influence
Conversion—turning a prospect into a paying customer
Retention—engaging an existing customer to keep them
Loyalty and Advocacy—turning a customer into an advocate for the company
Identify and briefly describe the five steps in the customer life cycle.

Customer equity is the total combined customer lifetime values of all a company’s customers. More loyal customers—with higher CLV—equal more customer equity. More customer equity is an indication of how valuable a company is to customers and in the marketplace.
What is customer equity and why is this an important measure for organizations?

High customer satisfaction, which is driven by a products and services consistently meeting or exceeding expectations, is a key indicator of retention. If you set the expectations too low, people will not buy the offering. But if you set the expectations too high, you run the risk that your buyers will be dissatisfied.
What is the role of setting expectations in assuring customer satisfaction?

Notice, Choice, Access, Security
Identify and briefly describe the four guidelines regarding fair information practices in an electronic marketplace.

B2B marketers sell to other businesses or institutions that consume the product as part of operating the business or use the product in the assembly of the final product that they sell to consumers. B2C marketers focus their efforts on consumers, the individuals who consume a finished product.
Describe the difference between a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) market.

help marketers focus their efforts on specific customer groups
What is the purpose of market segmentation and why is this practice important in successful marketing?

Demographic segmentation groups customers based on categories such as age, education, gender, income, and household size.
Geographic segmentation groups customers by location as well as regional and climate characteristics.
Psychographic segmentation groups customers based on personality, lifestyle, affinities, activities, and opinions.
Product-related segmentation groups markets based on the benefits provided by the product.
Identify and describe the four methods marketers use to segment markets.

Differentiated marketing targets specific market segments differently according to the benefits that the company offers each one.
Undifferentiated marketing involves marketing to the entire market and to all segments the same way.
Concentrated marketing focuses on appeal to a very narrowly defined target segment.
Micromarketing focuses on individual consumer preferences (individual marketing) and on marketing to companies and individuals within a small localized area (local marketing).
Identify and describe the four types of targeting strategies.

Positioning is a strategic process that marketers use to determine the place an offering should occupy in a given market, relative to other customer alternatives. The end result of positioning is the successful creation of a market-focused value proposition that describes why the target segment should buy the product.
What is positioning?

Consumer behavior is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and all the activities associated with the purchase, use, and disposal of goods and services. This includes the consumer’s emotional, mental, and behavioral responses that precede or follow these activities. Marketers use data on consumer behavior to shape a market offering.
In your own words, describe consumer behavior and the role of consumer buying behavior in the marketing research process.

1 Problem and opportunity: Consumer recognizes a need (You are relocating to a new area and need a place to live.)
2 Search: Consumer searches for information about options (You research financing, available homes, and communities.)
3 Evaluation: Consumer evaluates, considers, and ranks the available options (You rank available homes and develop your criteria.)
4 Decision: Consumer makes a decision whether or not to purchase a product or service (You decide to purchase a particular home.)
5 Buy: Consumer completes the purchase (You go through the purchase process and receive the title to the home.)
6 Post-purchase: Consumer assesses the decision and the buying experience (You move into your new home and feel good about your decision as home values rise in the neighborhood.)
Describe the steps of the consumer decision-making process and identify an example of the consumer’s action in each step.

-Personal influences are unique to each consumer in the way they affect decision-making. These influences include needs and motivation, perceptions, learning, and attitude
-Interpersonal influences come from a consumer’s relationships with other people and groups. These influences come from a consumer’s participation in family, culture (including subcultural groups), and society (including reference groups).s
Describe the types of influences on consumer decision-making.

high-involvement decisions are those that are important to the buyer (home, newborn baby product)
Low-involvement decisions are more straightforward, require little risk, are repetitive, and often lead to a habit. (toothpaste)
What is the difference between a high- involvement purchase decision and a low-involvement purchase decision and identify a consumer purchase decision involving each.

routine (low-involvement), extended (high-involvement), limited (in the middle)
Describe the three types of problem-solving processes and identify a customer’s level of involvement with each type.

Routine (low-involvement)
Identify the problem-solving process in this situation: Consumer always goes to Joe’s repair shop to fix his car

Extended (high-involvement)
Identify the problem-solving process in this situation: Buying a home takes extensive search because buyer wants to make sure he buys a house in a good school district

Consumers may make ethical considerations part of their decision-making process, either by boycotting brands and products or through positive buying. Labor conditions, fair trade, and environmental concerns may all factor in consumer decisions.
Explain how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) may influence the decision-making process for consumers.

The salesperson extends the relationship that was established through marketing efforts and makes a personal connection with you. If you have a good experience, your relationship with the company gets even better, and you are more likely to shop there again and tell your friends. In addition to closing the sale (when the customer purchases the product or service), the salesperson has a very important role in the marketing process. Because the salesperson (in the store, online, or on the phone) is a primary touch point and a personal interaction with the customer, the salesperson is the brand in the eyes of the customer.
Personal Selling is the personal aspect of the Promotion “P” in the marketing mix, briefly discuss how you think Personal Selling is part of both Marketing and Sales.

  • consultative selling is about partnering with the customer with a true focus on problem-solving
  • solution selling offers a complete package or solution for the business problem
  • team selling involves a dedicated team working together to represent the company and meet customer needs
  • telemarketing is a method of direct marketing either over the phone or through a subsequent face-to-face or web conferencing appointment scheduled during the call
    Briefly discuss the 4 main types of sales approaches

Technological advances and the internet are providing additional means for customers and salespeople to interact.
Adaptive selling is a trend in personal selling that focuses on understanding the customer’s social style and adapting your approach to it.
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) supports sales by immersing customers in communications with the brand using different touchpoints.
Artificial intelligence is allowing sales to reach a new level of customized messaging.
Define the 4 key trends in Personal Selling

Prospecting and Qualifying
Approaching customers
Presenting and demonstrating the product
Handling objections
Closing
Following up
Name the 6 steps in the sales process

It is unethical for salespeople to deceive customers through lying or omission. Anticompetitive practices—such as bait and switch, planned obsolescence, and pyramid schemes—are another form of unethical behavior in sales.
For a sales organization and each sales rep, there are several areas of ethical behavior that are vital to uphold. Describe the unethical issues you’d want to avoid as an ethical sales rep.

Distributive: Divide the pie (win-lose)
Integrative: Collaborate to expand the pie (win-win)
Inductive: Start with details
Deductive: Start with the big picture
Mixed: Focus on key details and big picture items (most common)
Describe the five approaches utilized by various organizations to implement negotiating strategies.

cooperation/concern for others vs assertiveness/concern for self
The avoiding style seeks to deny conflict.
The accommodating style gives in to what the other side wants, even at the expense of one’s personal goals.
The compromising style is a middle ground, where individuals express their own concerns, but still respect the other person’s goals.
The competing style wants to reach a goal regardless of what others say or how they feel.
The collaborating style seeks a win-win solution to the problem in which both parties get what they want.
Based on the Dual Concern Model, explain the five common styles involved in handling conflict Also describe the two competing concerns explained in the Dual Concerns Model.

Target market: B2C – Larger, B2B – Smaller, niche
Purchasers: B2C – Single, B2B – Multiple
Buying process: B2C – Single step, B2B – Multiple step
Sales cycle: B2C – Shorter, B2B – Longer
Sales driver: B2C – Recognition and repetition, B2B – Relationship and detailed information
Explain the differences between consumer and organizational buying as related to each of the following: Target Market, Purchasers, Buying Process, Sales Cycle, and Sales Drivers.

straight rebuy: the organization reorders a good or service without any modifications
modified rebuy: the buyer wants to reorder a product but with some modification to the product specifications, prices, or other aspects
new task: when an organization considers buying a product for the first time
Briefly describe the three major buying situations (straight rebuy, modified rebuy, and new task) and explain the key differences between each.

Initiators who suggest purchasing a product or service
Influencers who try to affect the outcome decision with their opinions
Deciders who have the final decision
Buyers who are responsible for the contract
End users of the item being purchased
Gatekeepers who control the flow of information
Identify the six roles (participants) involved in the organizational buying center and describe their function/functions in the organizational buying process.

Personal sales are relationship based, requiring the seller to tailor the process according to the buyer’s personality and approach.
B2B sales are often large and complex, which necessitates personalizing the marketing mix to the individual buyer.
Pricing is negotiated between the buyer and seller, rather than being set and uniform across all customers.
Communication about the product and pricing takes place mainly through informal or formal verbal presentations and discussions.
Explain the four ethical challenges in B2B sales negotiation

The function of marketing in business is to bring value to customers.
What is the main function of marketing in business?

-Focusing on the needs and wants of the customers so the organization can distinguish its product(s) from competitors’ offerings. Products can be goods, services, or ideas.
-Integrating all of the organization’s activities, including production and promotion, to satisfy these wants and needs.
-Achieving long-term goals for the organization by satisfying customer wants and needs legally and responsibly.
What is involved in the marketing concept?

Product refers to the goods, services, or ideas that a company offers to the market. Marketers consider the phases of the product life cycle, the product mix, positioning, and branding as they put together a product strategy.
Identify the important characteristics of the Product element of the marketing mix.

Price refers to something given in exchange for a product. Pricing strategy is based on demand for the product, customer’s perceived value of the product, and the cost of producing that product. Pricing strategies include skimming, penetration pricing, leader pricing, bundling, and prestige pricing.
Identify the important characteristics of the Price element of the marketing mix.

Promotion refers to methods for informing and influencing customers to buy the product. Each company creates a unique promotional mix for each product. The promotional mix may include traditional advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and digital marketing (including social media, online advertising, and content marketing). Integrated marketing communications is an approach that carefully coordinates all promotional activities to produce a consistent, customer-focused message.
Identify the important characteristics of the Promotion element of the marketing mix.

Place involves how the product gets from the producer to the customer, including supply chain and inventory management. Companies may use direct or indirect distribution models. They may use corporate, contractual, or administered vertical marketing systems for their distribution channels. Omnichannel retailing means having a uniform customer experience around all the ways a customer can engage with the company.
Identify the important characteristics of the Place element of the marketing mix.

In a corporate vertical marketing system, a single company owns all levels of production and distribution. For example, Apple sells the products it designs and manufactures through its own retail stores.
What is a corporate vertical marketing system?

In a contractual vertical marketing system, a formal agreement between the levels (such as franchise, retail sponsored or wholesale sponsored) coordinates the distribution process. For example, many fast food chains operate as franchises.
What is a contractual vertical marketing system?

In an administered vertical marketing system, one member of the channel system effectively controls the system out of sheer power and size. It can determine the activities of the other channel levels without an ownership stake.
What is a administered vertical marketing system?

Natural/ecological elements: Includes such factors as natural resources, increased pollution, supply of raw materials, and practices that support environmental sustainability
What are uncontrollable natural events?

Political-legal elements: Includes such factors as changes in laws, regulatory agency activities, and political movements
What are uncontrollable Political-legal events?

Socio-cultural elements: Includes such factors as the buying behaviors of specific cultures and subcultures, the values of potential customers, the changing roles of families, and other societal trends such as employees working from home and flexible work hours
What are uncontrollable Socio-cultural events?

Demographic elements: Includes such factors as changes in the ages of potential customers (e.g., baby boomers, millennials), birth and death rates, and locations of various groups of people
What are uncontrollable Demographic events?

Technological elements: Includes such factors as advances in telecommunications and computer technology
What are uncontrollable Technological events?

Economic elements: Includes such factors as changing incomes, unemployment levels, inflation, and recession
What are uncontrollable Economic events?

PEST analysis looks at uncontrollable elements in the business environment. PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) analysis provides a framework for looking at the influence of uncontrollable elements in the marketing environment. Analyzing the entirety of the macro-environment is an extensive and complex task, but understanding the framework of basic influences allows for an organized and strategic approach to isolating each opportunity or threat.
What is PEST analysis?

  • Price fixing (collusion): When two or more competing companies agree (or collude) on how much to charge for a product or service
  • Price discrimination: When a company charges different prices to buyers of the same product in order to maximize profit
  • Predatory pricing (undercutting): When a company prices a product or service extremely low to drive out competition
  • Bait and switch: When a company advertises a product for a low price and “switches” a customer to a higher-priced product
  • Price gouging: When a company has a monopoly on the market and prices products or services overly high to drive profit
    What are the main unethical pricing tactics?

The key components of the marketing planning process include the following:
Identifying the marketing mission statement
Conducting a situational analysis
Defining objectives
Developing strategies and tactics
Monitoring and controlling
Define marketing planning process

The marketing mission statement addresses what customers need and want from the company’s products and services.
Situational analysis helps marketers understand the controllable and uncontrollable forces that affect the company, including its competition. Various tools can support situational analysis.
Marketing objectives align to organizational objectives and describe the specific results the marketing plan hopes to achieve.
The next step involves developing a marketing strategy for the target market using the four Ps.
In the final step, marketers determine what indicators will help monitor progress on the plan, and they make adjustments if necessary.
Identify all the steps and minimum of two characteristics for each of the steps in the marketing planning process.

Marketing objectives
A marketing department develops a marketing plan that focuses on departmental goals and the actions the department must take to achieve them.
Which component provides this detailed information?

SWOT analysis offers two key benefits: (1) It encourages realistic planning, and (2) it improves an organization’s ability to forecast future events.
What are the key benefits of SWOT analysis?

The BCG matrix (sometimes called the growth-share matrix) was created in 1970 by Bruce Henderson and the Boston Consulting Group to help companies with many businesses or products determine their investment priorities.
What is the BCG matrix?

Market share is the percentage of a market (defined in terms of units sold or revenue) accounted for by a specific product or entity. Companies track market share data closely.
What is Market Share?

Market-growth potential is more difficult to quantify. It generally includes analysis of similar markets, as well as analysis of the underlying drivers for marketing growth. It is an estimation of what the future value of a market will be.
What is Market Growth?

According to the logic of the BCG matrix, as an industry grows, all investments become cows or dogs.
What happens to all investments as an industry grows according to the BCG matrix logic?

The intent of the matrix is to help companies make good portfolio management decisions. Marketers should focus investment in the areas that are likely to provide returns and fund future growth.
What is the purpose of the BCG matrix?

Porter’s Five Forces model is a tool for analyzing the competitiveness of a market. Companies use the Five Forces model to identify opportunities or evaluate decisions in the context of the environment.
What is the purpose of Porter’s Five Forces model?

A marketing strategy is how you will achieve the specified objectives in the marketing plan. It is informed by a clear understanding of an organization’s strengths and weaknesses, the competitive environment, the potential for growth, and the target customer.
What is a marketing strategy?

All data should be assessed for its reliability and validity, and marketing research may incorporate data from many sources to provide a more complete answer to a marketing problem or question.
What should all data be assessed for?

Qualitative research explores ideas, perceptions, and behaviors in depth with a relatively small number of research participants. Quantitative research collects information that can be easily counted, tabulated, and statistically analyzed.
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research?

It aims to answer questions with more complex, open-ended responses. It provides information that can help marketers understand the big picture of how customers perceive or experience something.
What kind of questions does qualitative research answer?

Quantitative methods allow researchers to test and validate a hypothesis or an idea that they believe is the best course of action.
What kind of questions does quantitative research answer?

Secondary data is more cost-effective and may even be freely available. However, it may be older information or may not directly address the specific problems or challenges that interest you.
Identify advantages and disadvantages of secondary data

behavioral observation, in-depth interviews, focus groups, social listening, survey research, and experimental research.
What are the typical primary marketing research techniques?

When creating a survey, marketing researchers must strike the right balance between covering enough information to gain useful data and making the questionnaire short enough that people will finish it. The longer the questionnaire, the less likely people are to take the time to answer all the questions. Most marketing researchers concur that if a questionnaire takes longer than 15 minutes to answer, people will often not finish it.
What should marketers do when creating a survey?

Tactical planning addresses the actions associated with a marketing strategy
Which component of the market planning process addresses the actions associated with a marketing strategy?

Exploring ideas, perceptions, and behaviors in depth
Which attribute represents qualitative research?

Market penetration: This growth strategy uses current products and current markets with the goal to increase market share. Under Armour (lowest risk)
What is the Market Penetration strategy according to the Strategic Opportunity Matrix?

Market development: This growth strategy uses existing products to capture new markets. For example, Starbucks engages in market development by selling its coffee beans in grocery stores.
What is the Market development strategy according to the Strategic Opportunity Matrix?

Product development: This growth strategy uses new products in the existing market. Nissan Leaf
What is the Product development strategy according to the Strategic Opportunity Matrix?

Diversification: This strategy creates completely new opportunities for the company by creating new products and new markets. Disney (highest risk)
What is the Diversification strategy according to the Strategic Opportunity Matrix?

Product development
Which growth strategy utilizes existing markets with new products using the strategic opportunity matrix?

Market penetration
Which growth strategy utilizes existing markets with existing products using the strategic opportunity matrix?

Diversification
Which growth strategy utilizes new markets with new products using the strategic opportunity matrix?

Market development
Which growth strategy utilizes new markets with existing products using the strategic opportunity matrix?

A customer’s life cycle includes the customer’s entire interaction with the company or brand: a path from the first contact to loyalty.
What is a customer’s life cycle?

CLV = (profit margin per customer x # of years customer is active) – cost of acquiring customer
How is CLV calculated?

average sales revenue per customer,
average profit margin contribution per customer,
average number of sales annually by customer,
number of years and months the average customer remains active, and
cost of acquiring a new customer
What information is needed to calculate CLV?

value equity—how the customer assesses the value of the product or service provided by the company
brand equity—how the customer assesses the value of the brand, above its objective value
retention equity—the tendency of the customer to stick with the brand, even when it is priced higher than an otherwise equal product.
What are three drivers to customer equity?

Ethical concerns with CRM involve ensuring appropriate contact with customers (frequency and method of contact) as well as maintaining data privacy and security.
What are the main ethical concerns of CRM?

Market segmentation is the process of separating, identifying, and evaluating the layers of a market.
What is market segmentation?

Place: What place does the offering occupy in its market?
Rank: How does the product or service fare against its competitors in the areas evaluated by customers deciding what to buy?
Attitude: How does the company want customers to think about this offering and the benefits it offers them?
Outcomes: What must it do to ensure the product or service delivers on the positioning selected?
What questions do you answer when you position a product or service?

The target market
The brand name
The key points of differentiation
The product and service category or frame of reference in which you are establishing this market position
The reasons why customers should believe the positioning claims
*Positioning statements should also be statements of truth.
What should a positioning statement include?

Positioning strategies can be based on product attributes, price, quality, competition, application, user groups, or category.
What are the main positioning strategies?

Marketers can use a positioning map as a tool to understand where their product fits in the market with respect to the competition. This helps marketers select the most effective positioning strategy.
What is a positioning map used for?

Society
Which interpersonal influence affects consumer behavior through reference groups, which may be formal or informal, through friendship, face-to-face interaction, and even indirect contact?

Concentrated
A company which leases RV camp sites in the southern-most parts of the United States, places advertisements in a retiree-based organization’s magazine to attract retiree campers during winter. The company only caters to retiree campers.

searching
Determining which movie to watch by visiting a movie critic’s website describes which stage of the consumer decision-making process?

Customer support assistance is integrated across channels.
What is a benefit of customer relationship management (CRM)?

The target market and what customers should think about the brand
What elements are identified by a positioning statement?

Perception
Which personal influence is described as a process by which a consumer identifies, organizes, and interprets information to create meaning?

Team selling should be used when there is a chance of high sales and profit.
When should team selling be used?

analytical, driver, amiable, and expressive.
What are the four social styles in the social style matrix?

As defined in the social styles matrix map, expressives are defined by high responsiveness and high assertiveness. (Want to know “who”)
What behavior characteristics are expressives identified by in adaptive selling?

As defined in the social styles matrix map, drivers are defined by low responsiveness and high assertiveness. (Want to know “what”)
What behavior characteristics are drivers identified by in adaptive selling?

As defined in the social styles matrix map, amiables are defined by low assertiveness and high responsiveness. (Want to know “why”)
What behavior characteristics are amiables identified by in adaptive selling?

As defined in the social styles matrix map, analyticals are defined by low assertiveness and low responsiveness. (Want to know “how”)
What behavior characteristics are analyticals identified by in adaptive selling?

Despite the term close, which implies the end, closing the sale starts with the first step in the selling process—qualifying. The close builds on everything that has already taken place throughout the selling process—rapport, trust, and information sharing. Not only does closing start at the first point in the selling process, but it also is far from the end of the selling process.
When does closing the sale begin?

interpersonal, organizational, and environmental
What are the types of factors that contribute to B2B purchase decisions?

  • The economic buyer—This individual is responsible for buying products that enable the company to achieve a business advantage. can range from the business unit manager level to as high as the CEO. This buyer type is sometimes referred to as the decider or decision maker.
  • The infrastructure buyer—Also known as influencers, this role influences the buying decision at the execution level. typically someone in the IT department.
  • The user buyer—This position often initiates the purchase process and influences the buying decision at the user level.
    What roles make up the decision-making unit in the hi-tech sector?

Investigation: information gathering
Determining Your Desired Outcome: thinking through your desired outcome or best alternative to a negotiated agreement
Presentation: assemble the information you have gathered in a way that supports your position
Bargaining: parties discuss their goals and seek an agreement
Closure: you and the other party have either come to an agreement on the terms or one party has decided that the final offer is unacceptable, therefore that party walks away
What are the five phases of negotiation?

Some people are taught to feel that negotiation is a conflict situation, and these individuals may tend to avoid negotiations to avoid conflict. Other common mistakes include letting ego get in the way of creating a fair deal for both parties, having unrealistic expectations, or allowing emotions to derail the negotiation process.
What common mistakes cause negotiations to fail?

The varying degree of cooperation (concern for the needs of the other, or empathy) and assertiveness (concern for your own needs, or self-interest) that each conflict style entails.
What does the Dual Concern Model grid show?

Demonstrate respect for your target customer
Demonstrate high personal standards in business relationships
Provide fair value to the target customer
Play nicely in the competitive environment
Be truthful
Explain the five ethical responsibilities of sales and marketing employees.

They are to be “milked” continuously with as little investment as possible, since such investment would be wasted in an industry with low growth. Cash “milked” is used to fund stars and question marks, that are expected to become cash cows some time in the future.
What should you do with a cash cow according to the BCG matrix?

Dogs, thought of as pets, should be sold off once short-time harvesting has been maximized.
What should you do with a dog according to the BCG matrix?

Question marks (also known as adopted children) are a starting point for most businesses. Question marks have a potential to gain market share and become stars, and eventually cash cows when market growth slows. If question marks do not succeed in becoming a market leader, then after perhaps years of cash consumption, they will degenerate into dogs when market growth declines. When a shift from question mark to star is unlikely, the BCG matrix suggests divesting the question mark and repositioning its resources more effectively in the remainder of the corporate portfolio[2]. Question marks must be analyzed carefully in order to determine whether they are worth the investment required to grow market share.
What should you do with a question mark according to the BCG matrix?

The hope is that stars become next cash cows.
Stars require high funding to fight competitors and maintain their growth rate. When industry growth slows, if they remain a niche leader or are amongst the market leaders, stars become cash cows; otherwise, they become dogs due to low relative market share.
What should you do with a star according to the BCG matrix?

PRE-ASSESSMENT:CONCEPTSINMARKETING,SALES,AND

CUSTOMERCONTACT(KQO1)(PKQO)

Attempt #3

Status:Passed

1. What uncontrollable marketing element provides user input as to how the company delivers upon its value

proposition?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Quality controlinspections

Product delivery schedule

Competitive elements

Consumer feedback

2. Whichset of activities related to creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings hasvalue for

others?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Marketing

Sales

Distribution

Quality

3. Which controllable element is included in the marketing mix?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Legal

Product

Political

Environmental

4. Which concept refers to the number of product versions in a product line?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Accessibility Policy Accessibility Settings

WGU Chat

Depth

Width

Brand

5. What type of vertical marketing system is a franchise?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Conict

Corporate

Contractual

Administered

6. A marketer introduces a tutorial video featuring the company’s new cosmetic line.

Which set of elements from themarketing mix is themarketer using?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Price andplace

Product and price

Promotionand place

Product and promotion

7. An online consignment store offers free gifts with purchases within the next 30 days using an attractive and

easy-to-usewebsite.

Which part of themarketing mixis represented by the company’s website?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Price

Product

Promotion

Place

8. An online consignment store offers gently used designer fashions and sends weekly text alerts to customers o

new arrivals and popular items.

Which element of a marketing mixis represented by this store’s text alerts?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Accessibility Policy Accessibility Settings

WGU Chat

Price

Product

Promotion

9. A manager is researching an element of the marketing environment that the company cannot control.

Which one of these elements is the manager considering?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Place

Pricing

Promotion

Demographic

10. A manager is writing a marketing plan and reviewing the company’s microenvironment.

Which environmental factor is this manager considering?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Competitive

Demographic

Political-legal

Socio-cultural

11. What is a controllable element of the marketing environment?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Legal

Social

Cultural

Promotion

12. What is an example of a controllable element that inuences marketing decisions?  

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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Promotional campaigns

Technological advances

Social factors 

13. Which action reects the use of ethical marketing?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Posting revised customer reviews

Reselling returned products online

Supply chain transparency reporting

Labeling without instructions foruse

14. A small town has two coffee shops. The shop owners agree to raise their prices for espresso drinks from $3 to

$6 per cup becausethey are the only two shops in themarket.

Which illegalpricing tactic is being used?  

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Price xing 

Bait and switch

Predatory pricing

Price discrimination

15. A woman visits a baby store, planning to buy a crib for $100. The salesperson tells her that the $100 crib is no

longer available but a$250 crib can be purchased. Thewoman can see the$100 crib boxes on a shelf.

Which pricing tacticwas thesalesperson attempting to use? 

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Price xing

Bait and switch

Predatory pricing

Price discrimination

16. An energy drink company is promoting the benets of its caffeinated product without identifying the risks of

consuming thedrink.

Which action should the company take to align its marketing with ethical practices?

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Promoting product benets

Using transparent marketing 

Delivering the promised value

17. A tness application allows users to opt-out of its tness reminder text messages but continues to send text

messages for 30 days following the opt-out period. Users arenot notied of this fact when they opt-out of the

text messages.

Which ethical marketing practice is thecompany violating?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Customer value

Sales promotion

Customer privacy

Brand engagement

18. A marketing manager is conducting a situational analysis during the market planning process and needs to

differentiate between controllable and uncontrollableelements. Themanager decides to rst identify the

controllableelements.

Which business element is themanageridentifying?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Culture

Products

Customer

Competition

19. A marketing manager would like to take advantage of factors outside the company to develop an effective

marketing plan.

Which factor does themanager needs to consider?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Market forces

Company resources

Product management

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Strengths andweaknesses

Financialandhuman resources

Technicalresources andproducts

21. Which SWOT analysis component is under a company’s control?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Legalchanges

Social trends

Product budgets

Market entrants

22. A manager seeks to help the organization make good portfolio-management decisions.

Which tool should themanager use for this process?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

BCG matrix

Acidtest ratio

SWOT analysis

Porter’s ve forces

23. According to the logic of the BCG matrix, marketers should focus investment in the areas that will provide

good returns and fund futuregrowth.

Which quadrant of theBCG matrixmeets this guideline?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Dog

Star

Cash cow

Question mark

24. A manager is considering the economics of an industry’s factors that determine how competitive, attractive,

and protable themarketis forthecompany’s products.

Which planning tool is being used by this manager?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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SWOT analysis

Porter’s ve forces model

Pro forma income statement

25. A company operates in an industry in which raw materials are scarce, and in which the vendors charge

excessively high prices forraw materials.

Which one of Porter’s ve forces is illustrated by this company’s situation? 

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Threat ofnew entrants

Bargaining power ofbuyers

Threat ofsubstitute products

Bargaining power ofsuppliers

26. A marketer selects the use of banner ads in order to achieve higher sales revenue. 

Which componentof themarketing planning process is being represented by this action?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Tactic

Vision

Mission

Strategy

27. A company analyzes its internal and external environments, identies the needs of its target market, and

develops a plan for accomplishing its mission, objectives, and goals.

Which componentof themarketing planning process has the company developed?   

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Tacticalplanning

Marketing plan

Performance analysis

Tacticalimplementation

28. Which component of the marketing planning process utilizes situation analysis to address the needs of the

target customer?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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Strategy

Weaknesses

Opportunities

29. What is a limitation of primary data sources?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Less exibility indata collection

Requires expertise in data collection

Data may havechanged during the period

Fails to directly address the needed information

30. Which ethical guideline should marketers keep in mind when collecting primary data content?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Maintaining data transparency

Separating groups by demographics

Answering allquestions fromparticipants

Avoiding plagiarismwhen gathering customer information

31. Why should marketing researchers follow best practices for ethical considerations?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Become more cost-efcient with practices and sales gains

Support understanding ofrecent sales benets and promotions

Obtain the largest growth in marketing fora specictime period

Ensure respect for respondents and integrity of the data collected

32. A smartphone company has great brand loyalty but customers have become increasingly frustrated with the

lackof new features. Thecompanydetermines that adding new features will increasesales.

Which growth strategyis the companyusing to achieve higher sales?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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Market penetration

Market development

Product development

33. An apparel company became the number-one provider in the U.S. New customers had switched to this

company’s clothing lineinstead of buying from competitors.

Which strategic opportunitydid the company use to achieve this goal?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Diversication

Market penetration

Market development

Product development

34. A marketing manager for a U.S. puzzle factory plans to work with a t-shirt designer to add a puzzle t-shirt to

his existing puzzle products to enter theJapanesemarket.

Which growth strategyis being used by this company? 

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Diversication

Market penetration

Market development

Product development

35. What is a challenge of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Itwill identify a marketing problem.

Itcapturesdata across the customer life cycle.

Itis able to move a customer towards a nal purchase decision.

Itfocuses on data that reects majority preferences.

36. Which customer has the lowest customer lifetime value (CLV) rate?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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Repeat customers with buying potential

One time customer with a huge purchase

Frequent customers with buying potential

37. Which equity driver involves assessing the worth of a company’s product?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Value

Brand

Retention

Customer

38. Which equity driver involves assessing the uniqueness of a company’s product from its competitors?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Value

Brand

Retention

Customer

39. A marketing department is reviewing a new Super Bowl ad for the company with the goal to reach the largest

possible audience.

Which marketing approach is being used?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Mass marketing 

Personalselling

Business-to-business

Product differentiation

40. A company needs to effectively reach the target market with the right products, services and messages.

Companyleaders suggest reducing the consumers into smaller groups to streamline theprocess.

Which conceptis being illustrated?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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Market segmentation

Consumer evaluation

Establishing promotions

41. Which component must the marketing team create to effectively target each segment of the consumer

market?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Fiscalplans

Marketing mix

B2B marketing plan

Research and development

42. Which action includes selecting a segment to serve as the focus of the marketing team’s efforts?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Mix

Target

Niche

Differentiation

43. A mobile phone carrier markets pricing plans to its customers differently depending on how much data the

customers useeach month.

Whattype segmentation strategyis the mobile phone carrier using?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Geographic

Demographic

Psychographic

Product-related

44. What type of marketing is a company using if their efforts are directed towards a specic group?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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Strategy

Mass

Undifferentiated

45. Which factor is used more efciently when a target market has been identied?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

End users

Potentialusers

Fiscalresources

Legalcompliance

46. A mattress retailer sells a variety of quality mattresses. The company wishes to reach a large customer base by

offering graduated rebates to differentcustomers depending on thesize and qualityof themattress purchase

by thecustomer. Several commercials are developed to highlight each mattress along with its accompanying

rebate.

Whattype of targeting strategy is being used by themattress retailer?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Concentrated

Differentiated

Micromarketing

Undifferentiated

47. A consumer laundry detergent manufacturer makes several types of laundry detergents and wishes to create

commercials foreach of theproducts showcasing each product’s strengths.

Whattype of targeting strategy is being used by this consumer laundry detergent manufacturer?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Micro-marketing

Concentrated

Differentiated

Undifferentiated

48. A customer reviews clothing items on an e-commerce site. The customer wants to be seen as current and

trendy. The site stresses the value and durability of the clothing it sells, so the customer moves on to another

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The customer wanted to shop more online

The product did not meet the pricing criteria

The customer’s idea offashionwas not reected

The claims of product durability were questionable

49. In its ads and product literature, Phone A brand commonly compares its products and their operating systems

against Phone B and theiroperating system.

Which positioning strategy is being used by thePhone A brand?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

User

Quality

Attributes

Competition

50. A realtor wants to sell luxury vacation homes and would like to identify potential buyers.

Whatmust therealtor understand to target this group? 

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Howbuyers arrive at the decision to purchase a luxury vacation home

Whatthetotal costs are when selling luxury vacationhomes

Whatthemarketing budget is forselling luxury vacationhomes

Howthe sales projections for luxury vacationhomes look nextquarter

51. A customer is searching for a book on Ireland in a used bookstore that specializes in travel biographies. She

wants to purchasethebook as a birthday gift for a friend who has special memories of a trip to Dublin.

Whatelement of consumer behavioris inuencing thecustomer’s purchase?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Price

Family

Emotion

Society

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ANSWER ANSWER

Act and buy

Search and process information

Evaluateand identify alternatives

Problem and opportunity recognition

53. An individual bought a premium computer but is now concerned that it will be obsolete in a couple of months

after a friend mentions thata newer version will be coming out soon. Theindividual wishesthatthepurchase

had been delayed until after thenew version comesout.

Which formof dissonance is this individual experiencing?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Reduction

Awareness

Pre-purchase

Post-purchase

54. Which personal inuence is related to physiology, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem, or self-

actualization?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Need

Learning

Attitude

Perception

55. Which interpersonal inuence group is critically important as a consumer unit and has a major impact on

attitude and behaviortoward brands?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Family

Culture

Society

Leader

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Search

Post-purchase

Needrecognition

57. A customer wants to purchase a novel for a ight that departs in less than an hour. The customer quickly

searches for reviews to determine which book has themost positive ratings.

Whattype of problem-solving is being used by this customer?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Limited

Routine

Extended

Consumer

58. A company designs a loyalty program for its customers who purchase their products every week.

Whattype of problem-solving process do thesecustomers exhibit?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Limited

Routine

Extended

Promotion

59. A company publishes its environmental and social practices monthly on its website.

Whattype of ethical behavioris being practiced by this company?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Advocacy

Sustainability

Transparency 

Industrialization

60. A sales representative interacts with a prospect by asking insightful questions that help the prospect identify

the specic requirements of their needs. Throughout the process, the sales representative interacts with the

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ANSWER ANSWER

Tele-selling

Team selling

Consultative selling

Business-to-business selling

61. Which types of points are blogs, wikis, and social media that companies use to build and sustain relationships

with the customer?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Touch

Print

Adaptive

Negotiation

62. What is one factor a company should consider when designing a team selling approach?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Who willlead the sales team

Howrewards will be distributed

Howto offer a completepackage

When to communicate with the customer

63. A salesperson sends a recorded sales pitch to potential clients through mobile phones.

Which selling method is described in this scenario?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Telemarketing

Consulting

Solution selling

Team selling

64. Which activity is conducted by salespeople but not by marketers?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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Designing the brand message

Copywriting advertising communications

Determine the consumer’s risk tolerance for the purchase

65. Individuals A and B are negotiating Individual A’s pay package with multiple forms of pay and benets to be

discussed and agreed upon by both. While thegoals are not compatible, Individuals A and B willhave along

relationship as boss and worker which must be taken into account during their negotiation. 

Which approach to negotiation should thesetwo individuals adopt?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Inductive

Deductive

Distributive

Integrative

66. An individual was hired by a rm and will negotiate a salary package soon. In preparation, the individual is

researching what similar jobs in thearea are paying. 

Which stageof negotiation is being illustrated by this individual?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

Closure

Outcome

Bargaining

Investigation

67. Individuals A and B had to share one administrative support assistant between the two departments, and due

to an increase in sales, theneed foradministrative support grew in each department. 

Thetwo resolved theworktime issue of theadministrativesupport assistantforeach departmentby

emphasizing problem-solving and integration of each other’s goals. Using this style created a win-win solution

forboth departments. 

Which style of handling conict was used by thesetwo individuals?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

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Competition

Collaboration

Accommodation

68. A company is purchasing a product. This decision involves a large number of participants and the collection o

a great amount of information. The product is expensive and there arehigh risks associated with the purchase

Which type of Business to Business (B2B) buying situation is this?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

New task

Solution selling

Straight rebuy

Modied rebuy

69. A sales representative is told by a client company <To prepare for our next month’s production, order the sam

quantity of the same product that we ordered forthis month’s production but change thecolorfromblue to

red”.

Which type of Business to Business (B2B) buying situation is this?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

New task

Modied rebuy

Straight rebuy

Relationship selling

70. A sales representative calls on a company and is told, <We will order the same product and quantity that we

ordered lastmonth, but please have theproduct delivered to ourwestern plant instead of oureastern plant.=

Which type of Business to Business (B2B) buying situation is this?

YOUR

ANSWER

CORRECT

ANSWER

New task

Modied rebuy

Straight rebuy

Organizationalpurchasing

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