MGT301 Midterm Subjective Paper

SUBJECTIVE MIDTERM PAPER MGT301 (PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING)

Q.NO.1 Differentiate between idea generation and idea screening?

(3 Marks)

Answer: 1 Idea generation: The systematic search for new-product ideas. The first step in the new-product development process is idea generation, which is the systematic search for new product ideas. For every one hundred new product ideas, only a very few ever make it to commercialization. The search for these ideas should be systematic not haphazard.

Idea screening: Idea screening new-product ideas in order to spot good ideas and drop poor ones as soon as possible. The second step in the new-product development process is idea screening that involves screening new product ideas in order to spot good ideas and drop poor ones as soon as possible. Because product-development costs rise dramatically in later stages, companies must proceed only with product ideas that will turn into profitable products. One way to keep information organized is to have executives write up new-product ideas on a standard form that can be reviewed by a new-product committee. A well-designed system for rating and evaluating new-product ideas prevents problems at latter stages.

Q.NO.2 Differentiate between core and secondary beliefs. Do marketers take benefit from the secondary beliefs? (3 Marks)

Answer: 2 People’s core beliefs and values have a high degree of persistence. Core beliefs and values are passed on from parents to children and are reinforced by schools, churches, business, and government.

Secondary beliefs and values are more open to change. It shifts in secondary cultural values. Since secondary cultural values and beliefs are open to change, marketers want to spot them and be able to capitalize on the change potential.

Q.NO.3 As a marketer, you have been assigned a task of conducting research before introducing a product. Do you think that this research is beneficial? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.5 A company has to be careful while dividing the market into various segments. Some segments appear to be fruitful in the short run and unprofitable in the long run. Mention various structural factors that affect long-run segment attractiveness. (5 Marks)

Q.NO.6 What are the important components that are kept in mind while going to analyze the current marketing situation? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.7 Compare and contrast closed-end questions and open-end questions for gathering data. (3 Marks)

Q.NO.8 Differentiate between psychographic and behavioral segmentation? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.9 Briefly explain the market coverage strategies? (5 Marks)

Q.NO.11 Differentiate between exploratory and descriptive research? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.12 How a marketer identifies its niche market, briefly explain it with the help of an example. (3 Marks)

Q.NO.13 Enlist those factors that a company must keep in mind while selecting the target market for its product or service. (3 Marks)

Q.NO.14 It is said that gathering secondary information is one of the important components of developing the research plan. Why secondary data collection is important and what could be the possible problems in collecting secondary data? (5 Marks)

Q.NO.15 Today companies have moved away mass marketing toward target marketing. Briefly discuss the three major steps in target marketing. (5 Marks)

Q.NO.16 Why there is a need to develop a research plan after defining the problem and research objectives? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.17 Why do international markets needs to be segmented? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.18 Understanding technological environment is very important in this era. Identify the major trends in technological environment. (3 Marks)

Q.NO.19 What is market information system? Explain the subsystems that are required to construct a well designed Market Information System. (5 Marks)

Q.NO.20 What is a brand? Discuss the various options available to the company regarding brand strategy. (5 Marks)

Q.NO.21 What determines whether the buyer is satisfied or dissatisfied with a product? How it is useful for marketers? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.22 What are the four strategies that a company can pursue for each of its Strategic Business Units? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.23 How many research approaches are used for collection of data in marketing research? Briefly explain those approaches? (5 Marks)

Q.NO.24 The product passes through different stages once launched in the market. Discuss the Product Life-Cycle Stages in detail. (5 Marks) Q.NO.25 Suppose you are a manufacturer of food products. You believe that your milk line and bread line is of superior quality and taste but there is less sales of both lines. What might be the reasons behind it? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.26 The BCG growth share matrix identifies four classifications of Strategic Business Units (SBUs) which are stars, cash cows, question marks and dogs. Briefly discuss why management finds it difficult to dispose off a “question mark?” (3 Marks)

Q.NO.27 There are different sources from which a company can get ideas for a new product development. These include internal sources, customers, competitors, distributors and suppliers. What should a company do to ensure that the good ideas coming from all these sources are not ignored? (5 Marks)

Q.NO.28 Being the marketing manager, you are going to introduce a new product with the brand name “Slim Fast” in the market for people suffering from obesity. What are the steps you will take to conduct a marketing research before introducing the product in the market? (5 Marks)

Q.NO.29 Why managers acquire information in an organization? (3 Marks)

Q.NO.30 Differentiate between performance quality and conformance quality of the product. (3 Marks)

Q.NO.31 In Growth-share matrix, companies classify its products in to different quadrants. In your opinion, how a company should use the cash generated through Strategic Business Unit (SBU) lying in the quadrant of cash cow.

(3 Marks)

Q.NO.32 In your opinion, why is it important to divide market into different segments for developing a customer-drive strategy? (5 Marks)