Chapter 8

Question 1

alpha testing

Answer 1

An attempt by the firm to determine whether a product will perform according to its design and whether it satisfies the need for which it was intended; occurs in the firm’s R&D department.

Question 2

beta testing

Answer 2

Having potential consumers examine a product prototype in a real-use setting to determine its functionality, performance, potential problems, and other issues specific to its use.

Question 3

concepts

Answer 3

Brief written descriptions of a product or service; its technology, working principles, and forms; and what customers needs it would satisfy.

Question 4

concept testing

Answer 4

The process in which a concept statement that describes a product or a service is presented to potential buyers or users to obtain their reactions.

Question 5

decline stage

Answer 5

Stage of the product life cycle when sales decline and the product eventually exits the market.

Question 6

diffusion of innovation

Answer 6

The process by which the use of an innovation, whether a product or a service, spreads throughout a market group over time and over various categories of adopters.

Question 7

early adopters

Answer 7

The second group of consumers in the diffusion of innovation model, after innovators, to use a product or service innovation; generally don’t like to take as much risk as innovators.

Question 8

early majority

Answer 8

A group of consumers in the diffusion of innovation model that represents approximately 34 percent of the population; members don’t like to take much risk and therefore tend to wait until bugs are worked out.

Question 9

first movers

Answer 9

Product pioneers that are the first to create a market or product category, making them readily recognizable to consumers and thus establishing a commanding and early market share lead.

Question 10

growth stage

Answer 10

Stage of the product life cycle when the product gains acceptance, demand and sales increase, and competitors emerge in the product category.

Question 11

innovation

Answer 11

The process by which ideas are transformed into new products and services that will help firms grow.

Question 12

innovators

Answer 12

Those buyers who want to be the first to have the new product or service.

Question 13

introduction stage

Answer 13

Stage of the product life cycle when innovators start buying the product.

Question 14

laggards

Answer 14

Consumers who like to avoid change and rely on traditional products until they are no longer available.

Question 15

late majority

Answer 15

The last group of buyers to enter a new product market.

Question 16

lead users

Answer 16

Innovative product users who modify existing products according to their own ideas to suit their specific needs.

Question 17

maturity stage

Answer 17

Stage of the product life cycle when industry sales reach their peak, so firms try to rejuvenate their products by adding new features or repositioning them.

Question 18

pioneers

Answer 18

New product introductions that establish a completely new market or radically change both the rules of competition and consumer preferences in a market; also called breakthroughs.

Question 19

premarket test

Answer 19

Conducted before a product or service is brought to market to determine how many customers will try and then continue to use it.

Question 20

product

Answer 20

Anything that is of value to a consumer and can be offered through a marketing exchange.

Question 21

product development (product design)

Answer 21

Entails a process of balancing various engineering, manufacturing, marketing, and economic considerations to develop a product.

Question 22

product life cycle

Answer 22

Defines the stages that new products move through as they enter, get established in, and ultimately leave the marketplace and thereby offers marketers a starting point for their strategy planning.

Question 23

prototype

Answer 23

The first physical form or service description of a new product, still in rough or tentative form, that has the same properties as a new product but is produced through different manufacturing processes, sometimes even crafted individually.

Question 24

reverse engineering

Answer 24

Involves taking apart a competitor’s product, analyzing it, and creating an improved product that does not infringe on the competitor’s patents, if any exist.

Question 25

test marketing

Answer 25

Introduces a new product or service to a limited geographic area (usually a few cities) prior to a national launch.