Topic 5 Flashcards
What are customer needs?
The desires that a customer hopes to satisfy through the purchase of a product
What is marketing?
A series of business activities designed to ensure that customers recieve the correct products in the correct quantities and at the right time
Name some examples of customer needs
- value for money
- sufficient information
- after-sales (or post-sales) service
What is the marketing mix?
All the activities that influence whether or not a customer buys a product
What questions do entrepreneur’s ask themselves/others when selecting the correct marketing mix?
- Is the product the right one?
- Does the price represent good value for money?
- Do interested customers know about the product?
- Is the product easily available to customers?
How do businesses become competitive? (4)
- discover customers’ needs
- provide a good or service that meets those needs
- use the correct marketing mix
- increase SALES and become more COMPETITIVE
What does exchange mean in business?
An exchange occurs when someone gives up something in return for something else, e.g. a business exchanges a product for money.
What is a customer
A customer is someone who buys a product from a business
What is a consumer
A consumer is someone who uses goods and services produced by businesses
What is sales volume
Sales volume measures the number of items sold
What is sales value
Sales value measures the revenue generated
What is segmentation
Segmentation occurs when a market is divided into different groups of needs and wants
What is market research
The process of gathering, analysing and processing data relevant to marketing decisions
What is a target market?
The group of consumers to which a business intends to sell a particular product to
What is qualitative market research?
An approach to market research designed to uncover the attitudes and opinions of customers that affect their decisions to purchase goods and services
What is quantitative market research?
The collection of numerical marketing information that can be analysed statistically and stated in the form of numbers
What is primary market research
This research uses data gathered for the first time
What is secondary market research?
This research uses data that has been gathered already
What are focus groups?
A small group of people selected to give their views on a particular business issue, such as: brand image.
What are the four P’s (marketing mix)?
- price
- product
- promotion
- place
Why is price important for the marketing mix?
- Businesses can make a variety of decisions regarding the price at which they sell their products, including whether to charge a low price.
- They also decide on payment terms; for example an important part of a business’s selling proposition may be to let customers spread payment over a period of time.
Why is product important for the marketing mix?
- The term ‘product’ includes its design, features and functions.
- Many businesses try to create a perception of their products in the minds of consumers.
Why is promotion important for the marketing mix
- Customers will not buy a product if they do not know about it.
- It is essential to communicate with customers to inform them of the benefits that a product provides.
- Communication may be via adverts in newspapers, radio and television, sponsorship of an event, via the business’s website and social media.
Why is place important for the marketing mix
- Place is not just where products can be bought, although for some businesses their outlets are an important way of attracting customers.
- Place also refers to how products are distributed by businesses to their customers.
What is competitive pricing?
Matching the prices charged by competitors
What is cost-plus pricing?
A product is priced to cover the costs of it and a percentage profit is added on top.
What is a loss leader?
A product is priced to sell at a loss in the hope that customers will also buy other items from the business, snd it will make a profit on these
What is price penetration?
Launching a new product at a low price with the aim of achieving high sales
What is price skimming?
Setting a high price for a product when it first enters the market
What are some factors that influence the choice of pricing method?
- costs
- business reputation
- nature of the market
- whether the business has an objective of growth
- degree of competition
- product life cycle stage
What are some external influences on pricing?
- nature of market
- degree of competition
What are some internal influences on pricing?
- costs
- business’s reputation
- product life cycle
Why is price skimming used?
- Often used to launch a new product on the market.
- Prices are set high initially and then reduced over time (and as competitors’ products become available).
- Likely to be successful if a product is distinctive.
- Often used for technological products where a high price may not put off too many customers.
- It can provide a business with high levels of revenue, which may be needed to pay for the costs of developing the new product.
Why is price penetration used?
- Prices are set low when introducing a new product into the market to quickly generate high sales and achieve a greater market share than would otherwise be possible.
- High sales can enable a business to negotiate bulk purchases from suppliers, reducing costs and increasing profits.
- This approach is often successful if price is an important factor for customers - airlines often use this pricing method.
- It can be risky as stronger businesses may reduce their prices in response to protect their market share, so expected high sales of the new product may not materialise.
Why is competitive pricing used?
- Occurs when businesses match prices set by other sellers in the same market.
- It is common in markets where customers can easily compare prices, there are a limited number of sellers or the products sold are similar.
- Price comparison websites have encouraged the use of this pricing method.
- If a business sets a low price, competitors are likely to reduce their prices to match, which results in all businesses earning less profit.
Why is loss leader used?
- A very low price is set for one product and is heavily advertised.
- Although the business makes a loss from this product, customers attracted to it are expected to buy other, more profitable products from the business while shopping.
- This is commonly used in supermarkets.