A soft drink company distributed cell phones to pre-adolescents in low-income areas. The phones routinely received advertising messages for the drink. Following criticism, the company said that the benefits of the disadvantaged children’s having the cell phones (e.g., safety) outweighed any “exploitive targeting’ considerations. Do you agree with the company’s position? Explain your answer.
> Describe in learning terms the conditions under which family branding is a good policy and those under which it is not.
> How can the principles of (a) classical conditioning theory (b) instrumental conditioning theory be applied to the development of marketing strategies?
> Discuss the roles of extrinsic cues and intrinsic cues in the perceived quality of: (a) wines (b) restaurants (c) cell phones (d) graduate education.
> Why is it more difficult for consumers to evaluate the effective quality of services than the quality of products?
> Why do marketers sometimes reposition their products or services? Illustrate your answers with examples.
> What are the implications of figure-and-ground relationships for print ads and for online ads? How can the figure-and-ground construct help or interfere with the communication of advertising messages?
> How do advertisers use contrast to make sure that their ads are noticed? Would the lack of contrast between the advertisement and the medium in which it appears help or hinder the effectiveness of the ad?
> Does subliminal advertising work? Support your view.
> Describe how technology enhances the exchange between marketers and consumers.
> For each of these products—chocolate bars and cereals—describe how marketers can apply their knowledge of differential threshold to packaging, pricing, and promotional claims during periods of (a) rising ingredient and materials costs and (b) increasin
> Discuss the differences between the absolute threshold and the differential threshold. Which one is more important to marketers? Explain your answer.
> How does sensory adaptation affect advertising effectiveness? How can marketers overcome sensory adaptation?
> A marketer of health foods is attempting to segment a certain market on the basis of self-image. Describe how the marketer can use actual self-image and ideal self-image to do so.
> Is there likely to be a difference in personality traits between individuals who readily purchase foreign-made products and those who prefer American-made products? How can marketers use the consumer ethnocentrism scale to segment consumers?
> Describe the type of promotional message that would be most suitable for each of the following personality market segments and give an example of each: (a) highly dogmatic consumers (b) inner-directed consumers (c) consumers with high optimum stimulati
> Research has found that the target market selected by the maker of a digital camera consists primarily of individuals who are other-directed and also have a high need for cognition. How can the camera’s marketer use this information in promoting its pro
> Describe personality trait theory. Give five examples of how personality traits can be used in consumer research.
> Contrast the major characteristics of the following personality theories: a) Freudian theory b) neo-Freudian theory c) trait theory. In your answer, illustrate how each theory is applied to the understanding of consumer behavior.
> How would you explain the fact that, although no two individuals have identical personalities, personality is sometimes used in consumer research to identify distinct and sizable market segments?
> Define the societal marketing concept and discuss the importance of integrating marketing ethics into the company’s philosophy and operations.
> a. How do researchers identify and “measure” human motives? Give examples. b. Does motivational research differ from quantitative research? Discuss. c. What are the strengths and weaknesses of motivational research?
> What are the features of qualitative research, and what are the techniques used to undertake this type of research?
> For each of the following products, select one level from Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. Describe how you would use the need you selected in promoting the product to a market segment of your choice. The products are: e-readers, expensive shoes, and
> How can marketers use consumers’ failures to achieve goals in developing promotional appeals for specific products and services? Give examples.
> Maslow’s hierarchy of needs begins with the primacy of physiological needs and puts self-actualization at the top of the pyramid. Some academics have claimed that this theory is flawed. Discuss why this might be true.
> Think of a product or service of your choice. Now enumerate ways in which it could be marketed to target consumers as both an approach object and an avoidance object. Cite appropriate examples.
> Consumers have both innate and acquired needs. Give examples of each kind of need and show how the same purchase can serve to fulfill either or both kinds of needs.
> Discuss the statement “marketers don’t create needs; needs pre-exist marketers.” Can marketing efforts change consumers’ needs? Why or why not? Can they arouse consumer needs? If yes, how?
> Mobile service providers segment their customers based on several variables. What are some of these variables? Identify five benefits that mobile users might seek that could be used for targeting this group.
> Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Royal Caribbean International are two companies in the vacation and travel industry. After looking at their websites, describe the kind of consumers that each company is seeking to attract. Also, describe how either company
> How is market segmentation, targeting, and positioning interrelated? Illustrate how these three concepts can be used to develop a marketing strategy for a product of your choice.
> Some marketers consider benefit segmentation as the segmentation approach most consistent with the marketing concept. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Why?
> Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using demographics as a basis for segmentation. Can demographics and psychographics be used together to segment markets? Illustrate your answer with a specific example.
> Describe the relationship between behavioral targeting and predictive analytics.
> How might retailers reevaluate the segmentation base of social class during a recession? What kinds of tactics might they use, and how might this help the customer and the retailer?
> Why do marketers have to reposition their brands? Illustrate with examples.
> What is the relationship between benefit segmentation and positioning?
> How is the understanding of consumers’ perceptions of a product’s attributes used to position a brand within that product category?
> Quantitative research methods are often the preferred method of choice for many analyses. Explain why.
> There are a few sampling methods in use. Which of the preferred ones feature a randomized component?
> It is often said that consumers receive “free” content online. Is this the case? Why or why not?
> At a time when many consumers can avoid advertising messages via sophisticated “time shifting” devices, marketers increasingly use product placements (also known ads “branded entertainment”). In your view, is this a wise strategy or not? Explain your a
> A manufacturer of a new product for whitening teeth would like to investigate the effects of package design and label information on consumers’ perceptions of the product and their intentions to buy it. Would you advise the manufacturer to use observatio
> Explain the distinction between primary and secondary data, and note the characteristics of each.
> What is the difference between primary and secondary research? Under what circumstances might the availability of secondary data make primary research unnecessary? What are some major sources of secondary data?
> Apply the five criteria for effective targeting to marketing a product of your choice to college students.
> What are the privacy implications of the increasingly widespread monitoring of online consumers by companies?
> Why is it important to study consumer ethics?
> Is it right to advertise prescription medications directly to consumers? Why or why not?
> Think of the last time you purchased a gift for someone special. How did you know what that person would like, and what did you consider when purchasing the gift?
> The mobile telephone has vastly improved over the last few decades. It had its humble beginnings in the 1970s when Motorola saw the need for better communication. In today’s society, users not only use mobile phones for phone calls and text messages, but
> How do consumers reduce postpurchase dissonance? How can marketers provide positive reinforcement to consumers after the purchase in order to reduce their dissonance?
> How can a marketer of a very light, very powerful laptop computers use its knowledge of customers’ expectations in designing a marketing strategy?
> Consumers purchase products to satisfy their needs; these could be luxury items or products that are necessary. Many large consumer purchases require in-depth comparisons in terms of price, quality, and brand. Imagine you are looking to purchase a produc
> Define extensive problem solving, limited problem solving, and routinized response behavior. What are the differences among the three decision-making approaches? What type of decision process would you expect most consumers to follow in their first purch
> What is umbrella positioning? Illustrate its pros and cons with the help of an example.
> To what extent does the channel of communication affect the level of success of a new innovative product? Think of examples that have been successful and unsuccessful due to channels of communication.
> Looking at the charts presented earlier in this chapter, select a product that members of a particular nation consume very lightly. Research the country’s culture and geographic location and describe why they do so.
> Looking at the charts presented earlier in this chapter, select a product that members of a particular nation consume heavily. Research the country’s culture and geographic location and describe why they do so.
> As shown earlier, Hong Kong’s Chinese spend more on clothing than any other nation. Research Hong Kong’s culture and geographic location and explain why they do so.
> Coca-Cola is considering introducing very small bottles of its product in Brazil. These would cost less than bottled water. Discuss whether or not the company should do so.
> An American company is considering introducing yogurt in Japan. What cultural aspects should the company study before deciding whether or not to do so?
> Give three examples of product problems that companies have faced during marketing in global markets and describe how these problems could have been avoided.
> Give three examples of linguistic problems that companies have faced during marketing in global markets and describe how these problems could have been avoided.
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of localized promotional strategies?
> What are the advantages and disadvantages of global promotional strategies?
> How would you segment the market of consumers who would like to order Oakley sunglasses online? Explain your answer.
> What is cross-cultural consumer analysis? How can a multinational company use cross-cultural research to design each factor in its marketing mix? Illustrate your answer with examples.
> In terms of consumer behavior, are the world’s countries and their cultures becoming more similar or more different? Discuss.
> With all the problems facing companies that go global, why are so many companies choosing to expand internationally? What are the advantages of expanding beyond the domestic market?
> a. How should marketers promote products and services to working women? What appeals should they use? Explain. b. As the owner of a BMW automobile dealership, what kind of marketing strategies would you use to target working women?
> Marketers realize that people of the same age often exhibit very different lifestyles. Using the evidence presented in this chapter, discuss how developers of retirement housing can use older Americans’ lifestyles to more effectively segment their market
> In view of the anticipated growth of the over-50 market, a leading cosmetics company is re-evaluating the marketing strategy for its best-selling moisturizing face cream for women. Should the company market the product to younger (under 50) as well as ol
> Asian Americans are a small proportion of the total U.S. population. Why are they an important market segment? How can a marketer of tablet computers effectively target Asian Americans?
> How can marketers of the following products use the material presented in this chapter to develop promotional campaigns designed to increase market share among African American, Hispanic, and Asian American consumers? The products are: (a) iPods, (b) r
> Discuss the importance of subcultural segmentation to marketers of food products. Identify a food product for which the marketing mix should be regionalized. Explain why and how the marketing mix should be varied across geographic areas of the United Sta
> Why is subcultural analysis especially significant in a country such as the United States?
> Explain how marketers can use each of the following into data predictive analytics: (1) the websites consumers visit (2) consumers’ levels of engagement with visited websites (i.e. the pages viewed, lengths of visits, return to site frequency) (3) visito
> Describe the interrelationship between consumer behavior and the marketing concept.
> Jim Donavon was selected as the new CEO and president of Famous Products. He was told that the current CEO was near retirement and would become chairman of the board. Jim flew to Milwaukee to visit Famous Products for the first time. He had briefly talke
> At Xerox, diversity equals success. Former CEO and Chairman of Xerox, Anne Mulcahy, explains that diversity is about more than race and gender; it’s about inclusion and creating an environment where all employees can grow to their fullest potential. X
> Jennifer was now expected to take decisive action, and in fact, the problems got worse. In trying to do a thorough job and meet approval, things stopped moving once they hit her office as she dwelled on them, and her desire to make things better led her
> When a national search for the position of permanent VP concluded that all of the external candidates were unacceptable, it was recommended that Jennifer be hired only if she agreed to change her management style. Upon hiring her, the President made a “p
> Although Jennifer was very popular, it was soon realized that she was not making things happen in her new position, nor was she doing well making tough decisions. She wanted to please everyone, making it hard to “choose sides” when a decision had to be m
> This case presents the dilemma that many managers face when introducing a new training program. Personnel director Shane Alexander of the Central State Medical Center hopes to overcome performance problems by introducing a canned training program. Upper
> This case examines teamwork practices and working conditions among painters at the wooden toys manufacturer, Hovey and Beard Company. The case describes how the company overcame difficulties around a change in its production process in which painters sat
> McCoy’s is one of the nation’s largest family-owned and managed building supply companies. The business has been in operation for almost 70 years and has sales exceeding $400 million from approximately 10 million customers in six states. The company has
> Zappos.com has a unique company culture. The CEO, Tony Hsieh, believes that extraordinary customer service is the key to keep customers coming back. He stated that sometimes loyal customers get complementary upgraded to overnight shipping, stating that a
> This case profiles Trader Joe’s, an oases of value that offers exotic, one-of-a-kind foods priced below key competitors such as Whole Foods and Dean & DeLuca. The company applies its pursuit of vale to every facet of its operations. By focusing on natu
> This case deals with leadership and management styles, change and stress management, communication, conflict, and conflict resolution. Jennifer Treeholm, Associate VP for Academic Affairs at Midwest U, is appointed interim VP. Her popularity, ten years’
> Incident one: Two research scientists were competing for a new product development award. Scientist A was technically stronger, but more quiet and modest. Scientist B was good and very outgoing and networked often. After they submitted their proposals Sc
> This is a quaint and readable case that focuses on the vagaries of miscommunication. 1. What barriers to communication are evident in this fable? 2. What communication “lessons” does this fable offer to those who are serious about careers in the new work
> This case examines the conflict styles of various people at a fictional university. Marsha Lloyd, a new professor at the Central University, is promised a pay system based on merit. However, when the raises are given, Lloyd believes her raise is average
> The case examines decisions made regarding a job interview, health-care costs, salaries of women and bonuses paid to employees. Questions examined include: How does wearing a wedding or engagement ring affect a woman’s job interview? Is it OK for employe
> When people think about auto racing many people automatically think of the race car driver. However, there is much team work involved in auto racing. In Nascar, pit stops are the best examples of team work, with some members refueling and some changing
> This case presents issues of teamwork, group process, group norms, leadership, motivation, conflict, and conflict resolution. Christine Spencer is concerned about her organizational behavior group work project. The allotted mark will be given to the tea
> The case describes a situation at Perfect Pizzeria that gets progressively worse. The essence of the case is that bonuses are paid to local store managers based on the store meeting certain percentage targets regarding food and beverage costs and profits
> Mary Jones accepts a job with a salary of $25,000 per year. She is happy with this salary and during her first year of work spends a significant amount of time working extra hours after work, on the weekends, and while on assignment in Costa Rica. She re
> MagRec is a company that specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of magnetic recording heads. Dinah Coates discovers a memo that describes a manufacturing defect and shows it to her boss Pat. A remedy to resolve the problem is devised; unfortun
> First Community Financial is an example of an organization that is structured to ensure productive communication as well as efficient workflow within its ranks. The officers in one department are aware of the needs within their area as well as the potent
