1. Form utility is created by production function through enhancing physical characteristics, thus increasing marketability. Time utility and place utility refer to making the product/service available, when customers want them and where they want them respectively. Ownership utility is created when the ownership of the goods/services is transferred orderly. Marketing contributes to time, place and ownership utility. Burger King creates form utility by preparing the menu, which appeals to the customers. It provides time utility by offering meals, which are cooked very fast. Place utility is derived from the wide network of the restaurants and their convenient locations. Finally, ownership utility is generated by the fast process of purchase, where customers don’t have to wait long to take possession of their meal.
2. The shift from supplier’s to the buyer’s market occurred around 1950s in the US in response to the increasing competition and the need to satisfy consumer demands in the best possible way in order to stay competitive. The main peculiarity of the buyer’s market is the abundance and variety of goods, unlike the seller’s market, where there is a shortage of products/services.
3. An organization might develop a campaign, which attracts people to participate in a particular event, which is hosted or attended by a famous person, thus combining event and person marketing. Hence, if a famous actor participates in a one-time charity event, people will be attracted both by the event and by the person.
4. If the American Cancer Society organizes an awareness campaign about Child Leukaemia, they will promote both the cause and influence people to contribute to their organization and to share their goals.
5. Consumer product: cup of coffee, hair gel. Both: iPad, gasoline, boat trailer, hand sanitizer.
6. Marketing mix: product strategy, distribution strategy, promotion strategy, pricing. The combination of the right product, including its packaging, post-sales service, customer service etc., right distribution of the appropriate quantity of the product to the right location in the right time, appropriate promotion through advertising , informing etc., and the most appropriate price, which is justifiable but generates profit, all together blend to create a marketing mix.
7. Target market- people, whose preferences an organization tries to satisfy with its products/services. Since consumer preferences are different, it is important to know those that the company is trying to approach and then to develop a strategy and a marketing mix, which would be most effective with the particular target group.
8. In international markets firms can either pursue standardization (same marketing mix for all markets) or adaptation (unique mix for each market). Standardization is more reliable and has lower cost, but it only works for products/services, which are not affected by national culture and have few variations, therefore it fits more business products. Adaptation is more expensive and risky, however it allow capturing variations in national demand, competitive environment and government regulations, therefore it is more appropriate for consumer products.
9. If a person want to open an accounting firm, he/she may be interesting in both secondary data (number of registered accounting firms in the area, legal and financial requirements etc.) and primary data (e.g. an interview with a potential client regarding the improvement of the service).
10.All consumers may be segmented based on their demographic characteristics (demographic segmentation) and location (geographic segmentation). Private consumers are also segmented based on their attitudes, lifestyles, values (psychographic) and product characteristics sought (product-related segmentation). Business customers are also segmented based on the way they are going to use purchased products (end-use segmentation).
a. Supermarkets featuring organic food – psychographic, geographic; hair care products – demographic, psychographic, product-related; tour bus company – demographic, geographic, product-related; line of baby food - demographic, psychographic; dental insurance - demographic, geographic, psychographic, product-related; dry-cleaner – psychographic, product-related.
11. Determinants of consumer behaviour: personal, interpersonal, external. Thus, personal need to purchase food fast makes people shop in most conveniently located supermarket, national culture and cuisine define the products, which people prefer to buy in the supermarket, while an external effect, such as an economic recession may force consumers to shop cheaper and look for bargains.
12. Relationship marketing protects sellers from competitors, provides better knowledge of the market, reduces cost and increases profits. Customers get preferential treatment, save time, obtain customized products and may enjoy lower prices. Frequency programs provide incentives to purchase from one company and in larger amount in return for additional benefits, which become a part of the buyer-seller relationships. Affinity programs create an emotional bond between buyers and sellers.
References
Boone, Louis E., and David L. Kurtz. Contemporary Business. 14th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons, 2010.
