CUSTOMER_CODE
SMUDE
DIVISION_CODE
SMUDE
EVENT_CODE
JULY15
ASSESSMENT_CODE MK0011_JULY15
QUESTION_TYPE
DESCRIPTIVE_QUESTION
QUESTION_ID
18734
QUESTION_TEXT
What is positioning strategy? Explain the common bases used for
positioning.
SCHEME OF
EVALUATION
Positioning Approaches
(meaning – 1 mark)
Marketers manage product positioning by focusing their marketing
activities on a positioning strategy, pricing, promotion, channels of
distribution and advertising all are geared to maximize the chosen
positioning strategy.
According to C. merle Crawford, common bases used for positioning
include:
( 9 marks)
1.Features refer to objective physical or performance characteristics and
are often used to differentiate products.
2.Benefits are directly related to products, such as Volvo’s emphasis on
safety and durability. “Sticks in a snap”, Fevi Kwick. Fairglow soap is
“fairness soap”.
3.Usage includes end use, demographic, psychographic, or behavioural
segments for whom the product is meant. It also includes product
popularity.
4.Percentage means the lineage denoting who makes the product.
“Buying a car is like getting married. It’s a good idea to know the
family first,” advises the Mercedes S Class model.
5.Manufacturing process is often used to position the product. Some
expensive watches claim to be “hand crafted,” an appearing proposition
in an age of mass produced artifacts.
6.Ingredients are sometimes highlighted to create a position. For
example, some garment manufacturers claim “One hundred per cent
cotton,” or “Hundred per cent Merino wool.”
7.Endorsements are made either by experts or a common person with
whom the target customers are likely to identify.
8.Comparison with a competitor’s product is a fairly common
positioning approach.
10.Pro-environment approach to positioning aims to show that the
company is a good citizen. Canon mentions on its packages, “Made
from recycled material.”
11.Product class, such as freeze-dried coffee shown as a product that is
a different one from instant or regular coffee.
12.Price/quality is powerful positioning technique. Zenith computers
say “Multinational quality, Indian price.”
13.Country or geographic area, such as German engineering, Russian
vodka, Benarsi silk sari, or Dehradun rice.
QUESTION_TYPE
DESCRIPTIVE_QUESTION
QUESTION_ID
18739
QUESTION_TEXT
What are the consumer behavior principles? How they are helpful in
marketing?
SCHEME OF
EVALUATION
Consumer behavior principles are applied in many areas of marketing
they are;
1.Analyzing market opportunity: Consumer behavior study helps in
identifying the unfulfilled needs and wants of consumers. This requires
examining the trends and conditions operating in the marketplace,
consumers’ lifestyles, income levels and emerging influences This may
reveal unsatisfied needs and wants. (4 marks)
2.Selecting target market: A review of market opportunities often helps
in identifying distinct consumer segments with very distinct and unique
wants and needs. Identifying these groups, learning how they behave and
how they make purchase decisions enables the marketer to design and
market products or services particularly suited to their wants and needs.
(3 marks)
3.Marketing mix decisions: Once unsatisfied needs and wants are
identified the marketer has to determine the right mix of product, price,
distribution and promotion. Here too consumer behavior study is very
helpful in finding answers to many perplexing questions. (3 marks)
QUESTION_TYPE
DESCRIPTIVE_QUESTION
QUESTION_ID
72728
QUESTION_TEXT
Explain the factors that distort individual perception with suitable
examples.
SCHEME OF
EVALUATION
Factors that distort individual perception are
1. Physical appearances
2. Stereotypes
3. Irrelevant stimuli
4. First impressions
5. Jumping to conclusions
6. Halo effect
(10 Marks)
QUESTION_TYPE
DESCRIPTIVE_QUESTION
QUESTION_ID
125765
QUESTION_TEXT
What conditions must exist for market segmentation to be
meaningful?
SCHEME OF
EVALUATION
●
Identification (2.5 marks)
●
Sufficiency (2.5 marks)
●
Stability (2.5 marks)
●
Accessibility (2.5 marks)
QUESTION_TYPE
DESCRIPTIVE_QUESTION
QUESTION_ID
125770
QUESTION_TEXT
Explain the VALS with suitable examples describing each type of
consumer
Stanford Research Institute developed a popular approach to
psychographic segmentation called
Values and Lifestyles (VALS)
According to it VALS has 2 dimensions
*
*
Primary motivations
Resources
SRI has identified 3 basic motivations
SCHEME OF
EVALUATION
*
Ideals
*
Acheivement
*
Self-expression
Various lifestyle of consumers based are
*
Innovators
*
Thinkers
*
Believers
*
Strivers
5 marks
*
Survivors
*
Experiencers
*
Makers
5 marks
QUESTION_TYPE DESCRIPTIVE_QUESTION
QUESTION_ID
125774
QUESTION_TEXT Highlight the different types of innovation
Continuous innovation:
This entails introducing a modified product instead of a completely new
product. This type of innovation has minimal disruptive impact on the
existing consumption patterns. Adoption of such products requires minor
changes in behaviour that are unimportant to
consumers.
Dynamically continuous innovation:
SCHEME OF
EVALUATION
This entails making of a new product or modification of an existing
one. It is moderately more disruptive than a continuous innovation but
yet does not alter greatly existing practices of
consumption.
Adoption requires a moderate change in an important behaviour or a
major change in an important behaviour or a major change in an area of
behaviour that is of low or moderate importance to the
individual.
Discontinuous innovation:
This represents a product so new that consumers have never known
anything like it before and impels consumers to adopt new consumption
behaviour practices.