Download Name - Bauer College of Business

Midterm Exam, Mark 6361, Monday, Fall 2008
Name: __________________________________
UH ID: __________________________________
Please write your UH ID# on the scantron as well and blacken the matching circles.
Multiple Choice: Each questions worth 2 points. Choose the one alternative that
best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. Marketing intelligence, according to the textbook
a) has no cost because it comes from internal records
b) will be more relevant for business marketers than for consumer marketers
c) refers to information about happenings in the marketing environment
d) reflects results in previous quarters
e) must be experimental to be valid
2. We said in class that it can be misleading to associate any marketing-relevant
characteristics with a particular age group, because
a) International variation is more significant; a 25-year-old in Japan is not like a 25year-old in France
b) One’s cohort may matter more than age; people born in 1978 have certain tastes
and perspectives related to the world they grew up in based on their year of birth
c) Social class differences are more significant than age differences. For example,
9-year-olds from working class families have different priorities from the
priorities of 9-year-olds in middle class families
d) Roles -- expectations associated with who one is – mean that all age groups are
basically alike as consumers
e) Economic differences outweigh age differences even for purchases that are not
significant in cost
3. Considering how to move “prospects” into the role of first-time customers, we said in
class that
a) salespeople cannot be helpful in this effort because they are likely to be working
on commission
b) a company will be wiser to spend its marketing funds turning suspects into
prospects
c) whatever method is chosen will require funds that might otherwise be spent
turning repeat customers into clients
d) a company cannot aspire to gain first-time customers from prospects, only from
suspects
e) a company cannot aspire to gain first-time customers from prospects, only from
those recruited by partners
4. Brand can play a number of specific roles within a company’s brand portfolio. For
example, a __________ is positioned to compete directly with one or more
competitors’ brands so that more important and profitable brands retain their desired
positioning.
a) cash cow
b) mid-market brand
c) low end, entry level brand
d) high end, prestige brand
e) flanker
5. _________ is the ability to prepare, on a mass basis, individually designed products
to meet each customer’s requirements.
a) Concentrated marketing
b) Clustered marketing
c) Specialized
d) Niching
e) Mass customization
6. We said in class that structural ties between a marketing company and a customer
include
a) attending social events with customers – for instance baseball games
b) meeting customers at college alumni events
c) cutting prices for the purpose of taking a customer away from a competitor
d) developing systems to enable customers to order “automatically”
e) investing in one’s own delivery fleet to save money, then passing those savings on
to customers
7. Which of the following is true?
a) If marketers raise expectations too high, the buyer is likely to be disappointed.
b) If the company sets expectations too low, the buyer is likely to be disappointed.
c) If marketers raise expectations too high, they will soon have many copycat
offerings competing in the marketplace.
d) If marketers raise expectations too high, they won’t attract enough customers.
e) If the company sets expectations too low, exceeding buyers’ expectation becomes
difficult.
8. Marketers are advised to define a strategic business unit (SBU) in terms of :
a) production process employed, key material(s) employed, price level
b) customer groups served, customer needs met, technology employed
c) relative market share, length of time the company has been in this business,
uniqueness of its offering compared to competitors
d) management strength, autonomy within the parent company, relation of this
SBU’s products to the company’s other products
e) price, product, promotion, and distribution
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9. Aaron’s hunting and fishing activities, his interest in military history, and his opinions
about an all-volunteer army reflect his _________.
a) demographics
b) personality
c) social class
d) lifestyle
e) self-concept
10. A new supplier, according to the textbook, is least likely to make a sale to a prospect
involved in which of the following buying situations?
a) Direct purchase
b) Functional rebuy
c) Modified rebuy
d) Straight rebuy
e) New task
11. We said in class that Heinz catsup can be viewed as a product that delivers extra
value; they do so by
a) targeting the eaters of specific ethnic foods with labels in various languages
b) targeting older people with easy-squeeze bottles
c) targeting restaurant customers with containers showing the restaurant’s name
d) targeting children the many different colors of catsup
e) targeting customers who prefer an upscale catsup by using glass containers as
well as plastic
12. We said in class that it costs less to attract buyers
a) in a growing product category
b) when a company has low share and attributes that to low awareness of the brand
c) when a company has low share and attributes that to low marketing spending
d) when a company has purchased its suppliers and therefore integrated backwards
e) when a company has purchased retail outlets and therefore integrated forwards
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13. In marketing to consumers, a business must allocate marketing dollars among the five
stages of the consumer buying process. An example from the class discussion led to
the observation that
a) New product marketers should be most concerned with postpurchase behavior,
since they depend on recommendations
b) Information search deserves the greatest share of marketing dollars for familiar
products
c) A retail store might spend marketing dollars enhancing the experience of
shopping if they believe that evaluation of alternatives is critical to the purchase
choice
d) Any consumer marketer is best advised to spend the greatest portion of their
budget on “closing,” except for online marketers
e) The marketing budget should be divided equally among the five stages of the
buying process unless there is a reason to emphasize one over the other
14. We talked in class about PRIZM to make the point that
a) Lifestyle segmentation is easier to accomplish than demographic segmentation
b) Segmentation by types of neighborhoods can be helpful for finding similar
segments in different cities
c) Demographic segmentation is only helpful for retailers
d) Demographic segmentation considers activities, interests, and opinions
e) A segment and a sector are different words for the same concept
15. The textbook compares marketing research contact methods and suggests:
a) phone contact if the primary concern is honest answers
b) an online interview if the primary concern is ability to learn more about the nonverbal reactions of the individual interviewed
c) telephone if the primary concern is gathering information quickly and clarifying
questions that respondents do not understand
d) mail if the primary concern is achieving a high response rate
e) door-to-door surveys if the primary concern is saving money on interviewing
16. Which of the following is a statement from the textbook?
a) You should never “fire” your worst customers.
b) The least profitable 10-20% of customers can actually reduce profits by 50%200% per account.
c) For every 20 customers, a company will make 80 percent more profit.
d) The number of unprofitable customers is equal to the number of profitable ones.
e) The best customers outspend others by a ratio of 5 to 1 in retailing.
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17. Which of the following is an example of a behavioral segmentation variable?
a) Education level
b) Family life cycle
c) Stage of readiness to buy
d) Lifestyle
e) Occupation
18. We said in class that it is unwise to market to people one at a time if there is a way to
reach them more efficiently. That idea would be illustrated by:
a) communicating to parents of children with asthma as a way to deliver a message
to allergists about the availability of an air filter
b) communicating to industrial distributors the advantages of a particular component
that they market to business buyers
c) advertising to dog owners to reach veterinarians
d) setting up a booth at an art fair to promote athletic shoes
e) setting up a booth at an athletic event to promote subscriptions to Architectural
Digest
19. The buying department for a nursing home is informed that the price of the ibuprofen
used for patient medication has increased by 15 percent. They order a new supply
anyway, knowing that they can pass the increase on to the clients. This is an example
of business products having __________ demand.
a) routine
b) inelastic
c) volatile
d) accelerated
e) elastic
20. How might focus group research be particularly useful? We said in class that it might
be if
a) It allows the moderator to observe reactions of people who are not speaking
b) It permits threatening questions to be asked in a setting where only a few others
will know what each person says in response
c) It provides quantitative data
d) It allows for experimentation, meaning that a control group is employed
e) It is conducted on the Web
21. When a(n) __________ cannot be differentiated easily, the key to competitive success
may lie in adding valued __________ and improving their quality.
a) idea; creativity
b) tangible product; services
c) service; tangible products
d) value proposition; creative responses
e) idea; designs
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22. Looking at the slides posted from Nick Grahmann’s talk on Champion Technologies
made clear his basic point, that
a)
a “red ocean” strategy is particularly appropriate in industrial markets
b)
a technically competent company may not understand what customers
value
c)
a marketing department in a science-based organization will focus on
scientists from customer organizations
d)
an industrial marketer takes a risk if it seeks to become a trusted advisor
e)
moving from vendor to preferred supplier is the ideal for any business-tobusiness marketer
23. Which of the following is true of the U.S. government as a market?
a) The U.S. government is the largest customer in the world.
b) Most purchases by the U.S. government are in the billions of dollars, usually for
technology.
c) The U.S. government will always award the contract to the lowest bidder.
d) A comprehensive bid proposal might take as much as a few days to prepare and
“weigh in” at a few dozen pages.
e) Cost minimization drives buying decisions made by the U.S. government.
24. The value delivery model of marketing focuses on which of the following?
a) making and selling products
b) having and holding customers
c) finding and communicating with the customer
d) placing marketing at the beginning of the process
e) serving the profitable mass market
25. What are the two solutions to unprofitable customers?
a) lower fees; reduce service
b) lower fees; increase service
c) raise fees; increase service
d) raise fees; reduce service
e) there is only one solution to unprofitable customers, to fire them
26. The following is a key function of the CMO:
a) create a business scorecard
b) lobby for a favorable government policy
c) manage new product development
d) gather meaningful customer insights
e) develop a data security policy
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27. After working for a roofing contractor for ten years, Cameron Gomez finally
established his own operation. Unfortunately, Cameron’s first six months have been
disappointing. He decided to conduct a marketing research study to gather preliminary
data to shed light on the nature of the problem and suggest some new ideas. He needs to
conduct __________ research.
a) exploratory
b) causal
c) secondary
d) descriptive
e) observational
28. A __________ is a person, household, or company that over time yields a revenue
stream that exceeds by an acceptable amount the marketer’s cost stream of attracting,
selling, and servicing that person, household, or company.
a) good customer
b) sales customer
c) profitable customer
d) strong customer
e) marketing accountant
29. Research by Voicestream Wireless revealed that it serves two different kinds of
consumers: chatterboxes who seemed to live on the phone and those that make lots of
short calls. Based on this research, it should use a(n) __________ segmentation strategy.
a) age-based
b) usage rate
c) user status
d) loyalty status
e) occupation-based
30. Firms that offer tailored programs for several different market segments engage in
__________ marketing.
a) differentiated
b) single-segment concentration
c) undifferentiated
d) market specialization
e) product specialization
Please turn to the next page to answer the 40-point “memo” question.
Then on the page after THAT (p. 9) you can receive 3 points of extra
credit by filling out the one-page research questionnaire.
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I will grade only one memo, and only what you write, legibly, on this side of this page. But please feel free to
draft a “practice” version on the back of any page of this exam and then copy it onto this page after a careful
rereading and editing.
Segmentation and targeting are important ideas in marketing. Please write a memo to
William Van Pelt, owner of a new retail textbook store in the recently-constructed
building across the street from Bauer’s faculty parking lot. Tell him briefly what these
concepts are, making clear how they differ. Then suggest one specific application of
each for his business, and justify your suggestions.
All but 15 of you chose this question. You could earn up to 20 points for describing the
concepts (without merely using the word “segment” and “target,”) and then up to 10 each
for one suggestion of a way to segment his market and one suggestion about targeting.
Segmentation was sensibly described as a process of grouping or categorizing potential
buyers in a population on the basis of some commonality. Almost everyone gave
examples, most commonly student status (graduate/undergrad, day/night, business/law as
a major. But some perfectly sensible papers recommended segmenting the market of
students by parking site and targeting those who park in the lot next to the bookstore.
What I looked for was an answer that met the criteria in the book --- large enough and
accessible, principally. You can probably target freshmen by buying from UH a mailing
list of incoming freshmen. You probably cannot count, let alone access, “students who
don’t like the UC bookstore.” I did hope to see HOW you would target a chosen
segment. If it’s students with cars in the parking lot next to the store, I understand your
choice of flyers under the windshield wipers. If it’s freshmen, it’s stocking lots of UHidentified backpacks and mugs and shirts for which they are presumably the ideal market.
If it’s users of the wellness center, it’s stocking energy drinks and workout clothes.
You lost two points for every error. Spelling errors were way too frequent. The most
common factual error was to say that targeting is “choosing one segment to focus on,”
although the book made clear that marketers can target more than one segment. If you
disregarded the instruction to write only on one side of the page, I took off five points.
Marketing involves working with scarce resources and doing the best you can. For this
question, space was your scarce resource.
Or
Briefly explain in a memo to Mr. Van Pelt what the textbook tells you about creating
customer value, satisfaction, and loyalty. Then give him two specific ideas that use one
or more of those concepts to improve his profitability, and justify your suggestions.
Most people who chose this question were able to explain value/satisfaction/loyalty, but
some failed to realize that while value may be perceived, and thereby lead to purchase,
the other two matter only after using the product. You could earn up to 20 points for
explaining the three concepts and up to 10 for each suggestion. Most commonly, one
suggestion for creating loyalty involved the equivalent of a frequent buyer program,
which was fine. As above, I took off two points per error and five for disregarding space
limitations.
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