UNIVERSITY OF
OF MALTA
MALTA
UNIVERSITY
THE MATRICULATION EXAMINATION
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
MARKETING
MAY 2015
EXAMINERS’ REPORT
IM EXAMINERS’ REPORT MAY 2015
IM MARKETING
MAY 2015 SESSION
EXAMINERS’ REPORT
Part 1: Statistical Information
Table 1 shows the distribution of grades for the May 2015 session of the examination.
GRADE
A
B
C
D
E
F
abs
TOTAL
NUMBER
29
49
69
39
29
23
11
249
% OF TOTAL
11.6
19.7
27.7
15.7
11.6
9.2
4.4
100
Part 2: Comments regarding candidate’s performance
Question 1
Almost all candidates answered parts a) and b) correctly. Some were not familiar with the term
‘elasticity of demand’ and others failed to distinguish properly between retailing and wholesaling.
Question 2
The main problem in question 2 was the definition of customer relationship management. Some
candidates did not know what it was.
.
Question 3
Most candidates managed to list the different business orientations satisfactorily. In part b) there were
candidates who did not provide commercial examples and although they could explain the
characteristics of the different orientations, the application was rather poor.
Question 4
Many candidates gave a diagram to accompany this question with a good explanation of the different
stages. There is an overall misconception that the stages progress naturally from one stage to
another, without mentioning that, for example, some products may have been on the market for
decades without experiencing a decline.
Question 5
Candidates who opted for this question were generally well prepared to explain the concept of
marketing segmentation. There were some who also included B2B segmentation in part b) of this
question. This was agreed to be acceptable to address the question.
Question 6
Candidates were able to distinguish between primary and secondary research. The quality of the
answers varied in part b). Although many could mention the stages of the marketing research
process, the explanation of the stages and the application to online social networks differed
considerably.
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IM EXAMINERS’ REPORT MAY 2015
Question 7
Candidates had a good idea of the types of advertising media, with many mentioning more than the
required five. Many applied the media to the restaurant business correctly. The general weakness of
the replies was in the mentioning of the advantages and disadvantages of each medium.
Question 8
The three types of pricing strategies were well defined by the candidates who selected this question.
Most respondents managed to distinguish satisfactorily between the market penetration and market
skimming strategies.
Chairperson
Examiners’ Panel 2015
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