Hi guys in this post I am going to share an Assignment which was assigned by Dr. Adnan Pitafi. In
this assignment I have given a solution to 9 questions out of 12 as sir
said that only 10 questions are to be submitted so you guys only have
to solve one remaining questions yourself. You can download complete assignment in the last of this post as link is given for downloading.
Question No. 1:
Increasing customer power is a continuing challenge to marketers in today’s
economy. In what ways have you personally experienced this shift in power;
either as a customer or as a business person? Is this power shift uniform
across industries and markets? How so?
Modern
consumers have greater access to information online. This gives them greater
power relative to marketers. Customers compare various options available in the
market before making purchase decisions. Thus they control the market. For
example, when searching for hotel rooms, travelers can often find detailed information
about dozens of local hotels in minutes on a single consumer resource site. Consumers
share notes and reviews about the product or service through the use of websites.
These reviews affect the buying decision of other customers. Thus, one can say
that power has shifted from marketers to the customers.
The challenges and opportunities play a big role in marketing in Today’s
economy. It is true that technology changed leads to advances in
transportation, communication, computers, information technology, automobiles,
and so on.
Those
factors lead the marketers reach their potential customers. However, the
marketers have a few choices to shift to the customers because they have
ability to compare shops and set their own price by purchasing online, and also
relate with one another by accessing......
Question No. 2. (A): In many organizations, marketing does not have a
place of importance in the organizational hierarchy. Why do you think this
happens? What are the consequences for a firm that gives little importance to
marketing relative to other business functions?
Those firms that rise through the ranks from
marketing have a stronger appreciation for marketing activities. Others firms
tend to see the marketing function as an expense rather than an investment.
Another reason is that some firms place more emphasis on shareholders than on
customers. In these cases, financial issues, rather than marketing, rise to the top. The consequences of
shirking marketing activities...
Question No. 2. (B): Defend or contradict this statement: Developing
marketing strategy is more important than implementing marketing strategy,
because if they strategy is flawed, its implementation doesn’t matter.
There are very few universal
rules in marketing. Hence, it is difficult to determine if a strategy is flawed
prior to its execution. Likewise, even perfect strategies can be poorly
implemented. In the end, it is impossible to separate strategy from
implementation—both are vitally important to business success.
Question No. 3: Why is marketing ethics a strategic consideration in
organizational decisions? Who is most important in managing marketing ethics:
the individual or the firm’s leadership? Explain your answer. What are the
elements of a strong ethical compliance program to support responsible
marketing and a successful marketing strategy?
Marketing ethics refer to making marketing decisions that are
morally right. The morality of the marketing decision can encompass any part of
marketing including sourcing of raw materials, staff employment and product advertising
and pricing.
There is a talk of ethics in all managerial decisions and
projections that companies are making these days. For, the customer and the
probable customers are the king; and they are looking for the honest, credible,
trustworthy, transparent organization to build relationship with. They have
less time to do surveys of new players, and would not like their trust to be
betrayed. This defines the importance of marketing ethics in today's business.
This helps building brand as well.
Organizations
face significant treats from ethical misconduct and illegal behavior. The
negative publicity hurts the company more than possible legal penalties. They lose
their reputation, one of the greatest assets. Hence, marketing ethics is an
important strategic consideration in organizational ....
Question No. 4: (A): Of the three major environments in a situation
analysis (internal, customer, external), which do you think is the most
important in a general sense? Why? What are some situations that would make one
environment more important that the others?
In a general sense the customer analysis is the
most important and unfavorable situation for a business, internal analysis
means the work that is happening within the company or the business which is
totally in the hands of the employees of the company example - the price
factor, production factor etc, external analysis means the external part of the
company like the weather, the government policies, the competition in the
market etc but the customer analysis is important as the demand and the desire
of the company is very important for the company. A company producing the
product should be in demand within the customers in the market and there should
be a desire in the consumers to buy the product. Hence the company should have
a good research about the market in order to produce that product that shall be
beneficial for the consumers with the best quality and at the cheapest...
Question No. 4: (B): Do you
think the internet has made it easier or more difficult to collect marketing
data and information? Why? How might the major data collection issues of today
compare to the issues that occurred in the pre-internet era?
Internet is the most widely used source for the
marketing research today. These generation of ours are totally internet
dependent. Whether to buy a product or not, learn about its price and
specifications, comparing two products, getting the reviews, etc are all done
with the help of the internet. Thus, a company can invest in the online
marketing research and collecting data. The internet has the huge range and
depth of information and is growing rapidly. It has become very easy today, to
get the preferences of the consumers as they can be directly approached through
mails or various social media sites. Internet can be used in the various ways
for collecting data. They can set up a questionnaire on the company’s website
or can place ad on the popular websites, inviting people to answer questions by
giving them chance to win prizes. Also, online product testing is getting
popular. Earlier, it was quite difficult, as researchers have to move around
with questionnaires and collect data. But with...
Question No. 5: Choose a
specific product that you use on a daily basis (such as food items, toiletries
or your car) and apply the 5W model to yourself:
A. Who are you (demographics,
Psychographics, etc).
B. What do you do with the
product (Consumption, storage, disposal etc).
C. Where do you purchase the
product? Why?
D. When do you purchase the
product? Why?
E. Why and how do you select the
product?
F. Why do you not purchase
competing products?
One of the very important model marketer uses while designing marketing
strategy for any product is 5W model (Who, What, Where, When and Why). This
model gives all the basic information about the user for the main reason for
adapting the product or rejecting it. In the context of the question, we will
choose Head & Shoulders shampoo product manufactured by Proctor &
Gamble.
A. Who: Male, high school
passed, unmarried, part of upper middle class family and believes in using
branded product for personal use.
B. What: Using the product
to wash my hair thrice in a week for better result.
C. Where: I purchase the
shampoo from the nearby retailer where I can get some discount. I intend to
purchase with a discounted rate as it gives me mental satisfaction of saving
few bucks for myself.
D. When: Generally, I purchase the product few
days before it gets finish. In normal circumstances, I purchase once in two
months. I make sure that I am not ....
Question No. 6: Perform a SWOT
analysis using yourself as the product. Be candid about your resources and the
strengths and weaknesses you possess. Based on the opportunities and threats
you see in the environment, where do you stand in terms of your abilities to
attend graduate school, get a job, begin a career, or change careers, or maybe
becoming an entrepreneur?
Strengths: My strengths are
strong communication, fluent speaking, strong managerial skills and a good
motivator.
Weakness: I consider my
weaknesses as areas of opportunity where growth can be achieved. These are the
areas in me which it need to be improved so as to have future job
opportunities. My weaknesses are impatient, quick decision making and poor
listener.
Opportunity
and Threats:
For me the threat are my competitors which can be my colleagues who compete
with me for that job or promotion for which I am also trying to get. ....
Question No. 7: (A): Many people criticize marketing as being
manipulative based on the argument that marketing activities create needs where
none previously existed. Marketers of SUVs, Tobacco products, diet programs,
exercise equipment and luxury products are typically the most criticized. Given
what you know about the differences between needs and wants, do you agree with
these critics? Explain.
The difference between need and want is simple,
need is something what a human or a person requires and is a necessity of life
without which survival is a bit difficult and want is what a person requires or
desires but is not a necessity of life and can do without the same. It is not
true that marketing activities creates need but the actual is that the
marketers and the marketing activities identify the need of the consumer and
then a product is planned accordingly for that hence these products are not
actual need of the consumers but wants which are insights of the consumer. The
marketers of SUV's, diet programs etc market their product as they have noticed
that there is a requirement within people to drive a luxury car that is more at
comfort and ease, people also have the time to go for diet programs to keep themselves
healthy and fit hence they also have the ab...
Question No. 7: (B): Many consumers and consumer advocates are critical
of individualized segmentation approaches due to personal privacy concerns.
They argue that technology has made it far too easy to track buyer behavior and
personal information. Marketers counter that individualized segmentation can
lead to privacy abuses, but that the benefits to both consumers and marketers
far outweigh the risks. Where do you stand on this issue? What are the benefits
and risks associated with individualized segmentation?
Individualized segmentation offers a variety of
critical information about the potential consumer behavior with respect to
certain specific market scenario and product or service attribute. Through help
of such inputs a marketer can effectively plan its product development and
marketing strategy which best suits to the targeted customer's need. Benefits
of individualized segmentation – customized product and services offering,
convenience delivery according to the need and time of consumers, lower
consumer dissatisfaction etc. While the risks are far too less and harmless in
scope such as predictability of consumer behavior, information about the
consumers buying pattern or shopping cycle, track of shoppers expenditure or
share of wallet. Although there may ...
Question No. 8: Consider the
last purchase you made in these categories: Personal electronics, clothing and
cosmetics. To what extent was your purchase decisions influenced by
decision-making complexity, individual influences, social influences, and
situational influences? What specific issues were the most influential in
making the decision? How could a marketer have swayed your decision in each
case?
The last purchases were made by a
consumer are Vivo Ipl , a pair of Paint
Shirt, and a Makeup .
Factors influences purchase decision:
Consumers tend to be more careful
when making purchases that require complex processes, such as the lengthy
process of buying a house. Individual demographic descriptions come into play;
for example, people with children buy cribs and diapers. Social peer
influences, can sway us either toward or away from certain purchases, just as
specific situations like an overcrowded store or pushy salespeople could
influence purchase decisions.
Product 1 – Vivo Ipl:
The actual complexity of the
purchase was low. A consumer probably researched the hardware power and the
number of available games. If the product is for children, the purchase has
been drawn toward the console that favors cutesy, nonviolent characters suitable
for young game players.
If a consumer favors multiplayer onli....
Question No. 10: Pricing strategy associated with services is typically
more complex than the pricing of tangible goods. As a consumer, what pricing
issues do you consider when purchasing services? How difficult is it to compare
prices among competing services or to determine the complete price of the
service before purchase? What could service providers do to solve these issues?
Because
of the intangibility, it is not easy for consumers to assess or weigh up a
service before they really buy and use it. We may ask our friends or search
third-party reports and recommendations—therefore, it is the degree or matter
of trust between the buyer and service provider. As a service buyer, the key
issues of a) perceived value (e.g., customer benefits to costs or time, effort,
and money; including satisfaction, quality, prestige, function, and the
solution to a matter or question), b) price sensitivity (e.g., the issues of
price elasticity) and c) services after-sales (e.g.,
the subject of warranty: Does the service seller provide
guarantees to buyers, and when, what, where, who and how to manage the service
programs?)—all these factors are determining my pricing strategy (Ferrell &
Hartline, 2008). In all, I would like to buy or pay a service that I trust
(e.g., from my friends, researches or relationship marketing) with a reasonable
and market price plus great after-sales services.
How difficult is it to compare prices among
competing services or to determine the complete price of the service before
purchase?
Price strategy in services is critical (as price
could be the only indication to quality prior to purchase) and more difficult,
especially when 1) service quality is not easy to assess before to buy it; 2)
unknown cost factors; 3) buyers do not understand the service process; 4) new
or not a brand names; 5) no service standard or defined units to compare; 6) no
same type of service in advertising; 7) the final price or cost of service is
not easy to set; and 8) the service is based on yield management system (that
give a firm to control capacity and demand with maximum revenue and capacity
utilization, such as, hotel or airline booking (Ferrell & Hartline, 2008).
The best way to compare prices among competing services or to decide the
complete cost of work prior ordering is to get at least three or more estimate
quotations (by calling, sending inquiry e-mails, or opening bids and tenders)
from firms....
*Note:
If you have found any or if many mistakes in this assignment then
kindly do tell us through comment section given below, and also comment
answers of those questions which are not solved in this assignment.
Thank you
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