Marketing

Question 1

Types of market research

Answer 1

1. Field research

2. Desk research

Question 2

What is field research?

Answer 2

Gathering new information by carrying out surveys, interviews and observations. This gathers primary information.

Question 3

What is desk research?

Answer 3

Looking at existing information, eg in newspapers, books and internet websites. This gathers secondary information

Question 4

What are the advantages for field research

Answer 4

1. The research has gathered new information and is therefore more up-to-date than existing information.
2. The information has been gathered for a specific purpose and is therefore more relevant to the business needs.

Question 5

What are advantages of desk research

Answer 5

1. It has already been collected it is easier to obtain than field research
2. The ease by which it can be collected often make

Question 6

The Product Life Cycle

Answer 6

Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline

Question 7

What happens in the Introduction stage?

Answer 7

> High costs for research and development, advertising and promoting
Low sales and profits
Few competitors
Relatively high prices

Question 8

What happens in the Growth stage?

Answer 8

> Sales rise rapidly, profits show and price softens
Competition appears
Unit cost declines and mass market emerges

Question 9

What happens in the Maturity stage?

Answer 9

> Sales rise but more slowly
Profits begin to level as competition grow
Prices become very competitive and may even fall.

Question 10

What happens in the Decline stage?

Answer 10

> Market becomes saturated - supply greater than demand
Customer tastes change and more advanced products are launched
Sales decline permanently

Question 11

Branding

Answer 11

> Branding is widely used by business to create unique selling points. It is a recognizes slogan,word or/and a symbol which can only be put out on its products

Question 12

One Advantage of Branding

Answer 12

> Instant recognition of the product by the customer.

Question 13

A second advantage of Branding

Answer 13

> Brand loyalty is build up which will lead to the customer buying it again.

Question 14

A third advantage

Answer 14

> Consumers believe that the product will be better than its competitors and so the manufacturer can change premium prices.

Question 15

A fourth advantage

Answer 15

> Allows the brand-holder to launch new products using the brand name, or even to enter new markets in new countries.

Question 16

A fifth advantage

Answer 16

> Brands can also convey an image onto the consumer, and if successful can lead to a ‘snob value’ that makes the consumer who owns the product look ‘cool’.

Question 17

A sixth advantage of branding

Answer 17

> A good, well-established brand name actually has a money value which can be added to the balance sheet of the rand holder as an intangible asset

Question 18

Disadvantages of Branding

Answer 18

> It takes a great deal of time to establish a brand. During this time, promotion costs will be high, and even after it is established it is it is necessary to keep promoting to maintain brand viability

> A single bad event with bad publicity can affect the whole range of same-brand products.

> You have to be able to protect your brand name worldwide, and this can often be difficult with huge markets producing ‘fake’ products. These imitators are very difficult to stop and legal actions against the imitators can be time-consuming and costly.

> Brands which develop through fashion can suffer badly when fashions change.

Question 19

Own Brands

Answer 19

Most major supermarket chains and many large retailer chains offer a wide range of products under their own brand names.

Question 20

Advantages of own brand

Answer 20

> Own-brand products are often cheaper

> Attract ,ore customers and ,ore sales within the store

Question 21

Disadvantages of own brand

Answer 21

May be seen by consumers as being of lower quality than established brand names (‘you get what you pay for’)