Principles of marketing/PMKT102/Assessing customer behaviour/Quiz 3

Customers behaviour, marketing channels and value quiz

Indicate whether the following statements are true or false:

• Customers' buying behaviour is influenced by personal and psychological factors, family, and culture.
  • True
    • Correct. Consumer behaviour is influenced by the environment, and different personal and situational contexts.
  • False
    • Incorrect. A person's gender, income or individual characteristics can have an impact "how", "when" and "why" they purchase different products. For example, an eyeglasses company might sell bifocals to 50+ older adults (not young children), or feminine hygiene products to women.
• Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs includes food, water, sleep and conscious consumption.
  • True
    • Incorrect. Typically represented as a pyramid of needs, the primary needs are physiological, followed by safety, love and belonging, with self-esteem at the top of the pyramid. Buying products and services meet certain needs, but is not the need itself.
  • False
    • Correct. Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs includes the most fundamental levels of needs (air, food and water) at the bottom of a pyramid, and the need for self-actualization (i.e., self-esteem, self-respect) at the top. Consumption is not a need.
• Successful marketers use cultural awareness as an important part of their marketing toolkit.
  • True
    • Correct. Culture (and sub-cultures) are about shared beliefs, customs, behaviors, and attitudes that characterize a society (i.e., group of people). Having specific knowledge about the culture pertaining to style of dress (i.e., Afghan women's burkas) can help marketers to be more successful in their marketing efforts.
  • False
    • Incorrect. It is essential for marketers to ensure their campaigns include culture. For example, tailoring a product's advertising to account for cultural differences can make a huge difference in overall success. For example, movies are marketed differently to Japanese vs. US audiences.
• The main types of business customers in Business-to-Business (B2B) markets are: producers, resellers, governments and institutions.
  • True
    • Correct. Each of the above provide considerable markets to businesses that sell their products and services. In particular, governments - federal, state, regional and local provide additional (and huge) markets.
  • False
    • Incorrect. Many businesses develop marketing strategies designed to reach these markets. Some businesses, dedicate individual and team resources to each of these groups. For example, Accenture is a consulting services company, that generates significant revenue through sales to federal, state / provincial and local governments, in different countries.
• Business-to-Consumer (B2C) markets have a greater reliance on personal selling.
  • True
    • Incorrect. B2C markets are most cost-effectively reached through advertising (traditional, Internet), web sties and retail channels. Personal selling tends to be more time-consuming and expensive: this cost is usually offset, by higher ticket items (as one would find in B2B markets).
  • False
    • Correct. B2C markets are most easily reached through mass-market media, including advertising, web sites and retailing. As Internet marketing tools and techniques have become more sophisticated, B2C marketers can target smaller groups of consumers and receive real-time data (feedback) for their efforts.
• Business-to-Business (B2B) markets often have fewer customers that account for most of their sales, and are geographically concentrated.
  • True
    • Correct. In B2B marketing, there are often a small number of businesses that account for a company's sales, and they tend to be located in one region, or clustered in several geographic areas.
  • False
    • Incorrect. Geographically-dispersed customers are expensive to service and maintain, for all but the largest companies. For many B2B marketers, they are able to cost-effectively devote resources to one or two specific markets. (i.e., Northeastern US * Canada; and Western US & Canada).
• A value proposition indicates the features of a product or service provides to a target market.
  • True
    • Incorrect. The value proposition shows why a product or service is superior (focusing on benefits) to competing offers and why the customer should buy it.
  • False
    • Correct. The value proposition focuses on the benefits of a product or service. Firms may emphasize different benefits to different customers (i.e., for a luxury automobile, a stylish, high performance vehicle with many safety features - a 30 year old single male accountant requires a different benefit statement than a stay-at-home mom with two children, both under 10 years old.)
• A SWOT Analysis helps marketers identify threats and opportunities to their marketing plans.
  • True
    • Correct. A SWOT analysis, based on a situation analysis, enables organizations to analyze their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
  • False
    • Incorrect. A SWOT analysis is a very useful technique that helps determine a firm's competitive advantage, and identify ways to minimize its weaknesses (i.e., a lack of awareness of its products in the marketplace, a lack of human resources talent, and a poor location) and focus on its strengths or opportunities.
• According to Michael Porter, in addition to direct competitors, organizations must consider: (1) substitute products; (2) potential entrants (new competitors) in the marketplace; (3) the bargaining power of partners; and (4) the bargaining power of buyers, in their marketing strategies.
  • True
    • Correct. Substitute products that may be available at a lower price, offer considerable competition for products and services. Consider for example, a summer promotion at McDonalds, on the purchase of soft-drinks for $1. This 'bargain' creates competition for sellers of other beverages (i.e., coffee, tea and soft-drinks)
  • False
    • Incorrect. Each of these four classes of competitors pose significant challenges to a marketing strategy, which must flex, adapt and respond to competitive threats.