How does demand for business products differ from consumer demand?
> What factors influence a buyer’s willingness to spend?
> What business cycle stage are we experiencing currently? How is this stage affecting businesses in your area?
> Why are environmental scanning and analysis important to marketers?
> Discuss the impact of technology on marketing activities.
> What does the term technology mean to you? Do the benefits of technology outweigh its costs and potential dangers? Defend your answer.
> Name several nongovernmental regulatory forces. Do you believe self-regulation is more or less effective than governmental regulatory agencies? Why?
> What are the goals of the Federal Trade Commission? List the ways in which the FTC affects marketing activities. Do you think a single regulatory agency should have such broad jurisdiction over so many marketing practices? Why or why not?
> What types of problems do marketers experience as they interpret legislation?
> Describe marketers’ attempts to influence political forces.
> How would you define Campbell’s target market for soup?
> How do wealth and consumer credit affect consumer buying power?
> Define income, disposable income, and discretionary income. How does each type of income affect consumer buying power?
> In what ways can each of the business cycle stages affect consumers’ reactions to marketing strategies?
> What are the four types of competition? Which is most important to marketers?
> What factors determine whether a business organization adopts and uses technology?
> How will changes in sociocultural forces provide opportunities for Whole Foods in the future?
> How has Whole Foods been successful in the highly competitive supermarket industry?
> How does the company adjust to changes in economic conditions?
> How would you describe BoltBus’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats?
> Why was BoltBus’s selection of a target market so vital to the success of its marketing strategy?
> Evaluate Campbell’s success in implementing the marketing concept.
> Where does BoltBus fit within Greyhound’s levels of strategic planning? What challenges does this pose for Greyhound?
> Describe the role of Apple stores as an important part of its marketing strategy.
> How has Apple implemented the marketing concept?
> What will Apple need to do to maintain product innovation and customer loyalty?
> When considering the strategic planning process, what factors influence the development of a marketing strategy?
> What is SWOT analysis and why is it important?
> When assessing actual performance of a marketing strategy, should a marketer perform marketing cost analysis? Why or why not?
> Which element of the strategic planning process plays a major role in the establishment of performance standards? Explain.
> Identify and explain the major managerial actions that are a part of managing the implementation of marketing strategies.
> What are the two major parts of a marketing strategy?
> What benefits will your product provide to the customer? How will these benefits play a role in determining the customer value of your product?
> How should organizations set marketing objectives?
> How can an organization make its competitive advantages sustainable over time? How difficult is it to create sustainable competitive advantages?
> What are some issues to consider in analyzing a firm’s resources and opportunities? How do these issues affect marketing objectives and marketing strategy?
> Explain how an organization can create a competitive advantage at the corporate strategy level and at the business-unit strategy level.
> Identify the major components of strategic planning, and explain how they are interrelated.
> Identify and explain the major components of a marketing plan.
> Can you identify the core competencies of your company? Do they currently contribute to a competitive advantage? If not, what changes could your company make to establish a competitive advantage?
> When Netflix originally entered the movie rental business, was it competing on the basis of a first-mover advantage or a late-mover advantage? Did it rely on the same advantage when it began streaming original content?
> What performance standards do you think Netflix uses to evaluate the outcome of its marketing strategies?
> How does Netflix use its marketing mix to create a sustainable competitive advantage?
> Discuss how the marketing concept contributes to company’s long-term success.
> How has New Belgium implemented the marketing concept?
> How does New Belgium’s focus on sustainability as a core value contribute to its corporate culture and success?
> How would you apply Dale Carnegie’s methods if you were trying to make a sale to a company with a large buying center?
> Which concerns of business customers should Dale Carnegie’s marketers pay close attention to when selling training services to a company like American Express?
> What function does an industrial classification system help marketers perform?
> What are the major components of a firm’s buying center?
> What has Kim Jordan done to create success at New Belgium?
> Why do buyers involved in straight rebuy purchases require less information than those making new-task purchases?
> List several characteristics that differentiate transactions involving business customers from consumer transactions.
> Identify the stages of the business buying decision process. How is this decision process used when making straight rebuys?
> What are the commonly used methods of business buying?
> What are the primary concerns of business customers?
> Why might business customers generally be considered more rational in their purchasing behavior than ultimate consumers?
> Identify, describe, and give examples of the four major types of business markets.
> How do environmental, business, interpersonal, and individual factors affect business purchases?
> Why is GE’s involvement with the Olympics a good way to show that the company understands the primary concerns of business customers?
> In which stage of the business buying decision process is GE’s reputation likely to have the most influence on a railroad that is considering the purchase of new locomotives?
> How can an organization implement the marketing concept?
> How does derived demand apply to the demand for passenger-jet engines? What are the implications for GE’s marketing efforts?
> Why would Starbucks want customers to know that it believes in social responsibility?
> In terms of situational influences and level of involvement, what are the benefits of mobile pay?
> With Evolution Fresh, which psychological influences on consumer buying decisions does Starbucks seem to be addressing?
> In what ways does social class affect a person’s purchase decisions?
> How does an opinion leader influence the buying decision process of reference group members?
> In what ways do lifestyles affect the consumer buying decision process?
> How do marketers attempt to shape consumers’ learning?
> What is consumer misbehavior? Describe the various forms of consumer misbehavior.
> What are reference groups? How do they influence buying behavior? Name some of your own reference groups.
> What is the focus of all marketing activities? Why?
> What are family influences, and how do they affect buying behavior?
> How do roles affect buying behavior? Provide examples.
> Why are marketers concerned about consumer attitudes?
> What is selective exposure? Why do people engage in it?
> What are the categories of situational factors that influence consumer buying behavior? Explain how each of these factors influences buyers’ decisions.
> Name the types of consumer decision-making processes. List some products you have bought using each type. Have you ever bought a product on impulse? If so, describe the circumstances.
> How does a consumer’s level of involvement affect his or her choice of decision-solving process?
> What are the major stages in the consumer buying decision process? Are all of these stages used in all consumer purchase decisions? Why or why not?
> What is culture? How does it affect a person’s buying behavior?
> Which situational influences on the buying decision process are particularly important to Disney’s marketing efforts?
> What is marketing? How did you define the term before you read this chapter?
> Which social influences on the buying decision process do Disney marketing activities take into account?
> Which psychological influences on the buying decision process does Disney address with its marketing efforts?
> What role do geographic variables play in Ski Butternut’s segmentation and targeting?
> How is Ski Butternut applying behavioristic variables in its segmentation strategy? Explain your answer.
> Of the four categories of variables, which seems to be most central to Ski Butternut’s segmentation strategy, and why?
> What hypothesis do you think the product designer formulated before he began researching how consumers use buckets? Do you agree with his decision to use observation rather than another method of collecting primary data? Why?
> Do you think Home Depot is segmenting the contractor market using only business variables or a combination of business and consumer variables? Explain your answer.
> Which segmentation variables does Home Depot appear to be using to reach consumer markets? Why are these appropriate?
> Is Home Depot using differentiated targeting, undifferentiated targeting, or concentrated targeting? How do you know?
> What dimensions are used to segment business markets?
> Why is marketing important in our society? Why should you study marketing?
> Under what conditions might a firm use multiple forecasting methods?
> Under what conditions are market tests useful for sales forecasting? What are the advantages and disadvantages of market tests?
> What are the two primary types of surveys a company might use to forecast sales? Why would a company use an outside expert forecasting survey?
> What is a sales forecast? Why is it important?
> Why is selecting appropriate target markets important to an organization that wants to adopt the marketing concept philosophy?
> Why is a marketer concerned about sales potential when trying to select a target market?
