Compilation of beautiful and absolutely wonderful interview questions on marketing management! This article includes:
- Sales and marketing interview questions and answers
- Marketing executive interview questions and answers
- Marketing coordinator interview questions
- Questions to ask a marketing manager
- Marketing questions and answers exam
- Entry level marketing interview questions
Interview Questions # 1. What do you understand by market segmentation?
Ans. ‘Market segmentation involves dividing the market of potential customers into homogeneous subgroups. These subgroups may be distinguished in terms of their behaviour pattern, attitudes, demographic characteristics, psychographic profile and the like.’ – Brian Sternthal and Alice M. Tybout.
The market segments are not created by the company, but it exists in the market. The marketer needs to identify the segment and then decides as to which one he will target.
Market segmentation helps large companies to be relevant for the small groups of customers. For small companies, it helps to be the niche player in the market. It is relevant for large Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies like Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Colgate Palmolive India, ITC and it is also relevant for a relatively small FMCG company like Ghari Detergent.
At the same time, it also helps the company to differentiate their market offerings for large segment of the market. That’s why you find Lux, Liril, Rexona, Lifebuoy, Hamam, Breeze, Pears and Dove coming out from the same company HUL.
Generally most of the companies are operating between the scale of mass marketing and the segment of one. On the one hand, you can think about Bentley, a fully customized car in accordance with your choice for accessories, colour, fabric, upholstery etc. to the Dell Laptops and PCs. In the case of Bentley, it is meant for the lucky few, as it costs in Crores. But you can have your customized laptops and PCs at a competitive price from Dell, delivered to your home or office.
Even your paint for your home or offices can be customized now. In most of the paint shops in India, you will find a computer sitting in that dusty environment of paint and hardware shop. That computer helps you to customize the paint for you and it will give your ‘Merawala Green’ colour paint.
This is called Mass Customisation, which means ‘production of individually customized goods and services at mass production prices’.
The concept was first used by Stan Davis in ‘Future Perfect’ in 1987. Slywotzky and Morrison has termed it as the Choiceboard, which offers the online customers an interactive online system that allows them to design their own products and services by choosing from a menu of attributes, components, prices and delivery options. The customer’s selections send signals to the supplier’s manufacturing system that set in motion the wheels of procurement, assembly and delivery.
Wind and Rangaswamy has termed it as the Customerisation and described it as an operationally driven mass customisation with customised marketing in a way that helps customers to get the product of his choice.
Interview Questions # 2. What is the difference between advertisement and publicity?
Ans. Advertisement differs from publicity as regards the following points:
1. Advertisement is a paid form of communication. Its cost is borne by the advertiser. But publicity is any non-paid mention of an organisation or its ideas or products in the news media. Publicity cannot be purchased in the usual sense of the term. Any institution can come to the attention of the public by being newsworthy. It has not to pay anything for the publicity, but has to supply the necessary information to the news media.
2. Advertisement is issued by an identified sponsor. Publicity does not need an identified sponsor.
Interview Questions # 3. Describe the functions of advertising.
Ans. (i) To create awareness, customer interest or desire in a product and services.
(ii) To increase levels of sales and profitability.
(iii) To build brand loyalty and brand equity.
(iv) To communicate about attributes of products.
(v) To change customer attitudes – perhaps trying to move a product more “up-market” or to dispel some widely held perceptions about the product.
(vi) To support the activities of the distribution channel and sales.
(vii) To retain customers.
(viii) To shift customers form competitor’s brand.
(ix) To support the sales force – advertising can make the job of the sales force easier and more effective by attracting advertisement from potential customers and perhaps motivate them by boosting the profile of the business.
Interview Questions # 4. Discuss the three types of information supplied by MIS to the marketing department. Also discuss about the benefits of MIS.
Ans. Marketing Information System (MIS) is a computerized system that is designed to provide an organized flow of information and support the marketing activities of an organization. It is a set of efficient procedures and techniques that help organizations to collect, evaluate, sort, and generate reports for making effective decisions. Every organization has an MIS department that gathers the information regarding marketing mix, consumer behavior, and industry and competitor analysis.
Following are the three types of information supplied by MIS to the marketing department:
i. Recurrent Information:
It implies information that is supplied on a regular basis. It includes information, such as customers’ expectations and their changing needs, and the market share of a product.
ii. Monitoring Information:
It refers to information that is obtained by scanning information sources on a regular basis. The sources are magazines, articles, government reports, and annual reports.
iii. Requested Information:
It implies information that is generated in response to explicit request by the marketing department of an organization. It may include information related to competition strategies and market share.
MIS helps in making various decisions related to product development, improvement, pricing, packaging, and distribution.
Following are the benefits of MIS:
i. Market Monitoring:
It helps to keep a track of the changes occurring in market segments, behavior of customers, technologies, competitors’ activities, and government policies.
ii. Strategy Development:
It refers to the generation of new marketing strategies. MIS provides information required for the development of a marketing strategy. It enables marketers to develop strategies for new products, pricing, personal selling, distribution, customer service, and partnerships.
iii. Functional Integration:
It refers to the integration of marketing activities. MIS helps in coordinating the activities of marketing department with other departments, such as customer service, engineering, finance, logistics, manufacturing, and production.
Interview Questions # 5. What are the characteristics of good advertising?
Ans. (i) It should create interest among audience and capture the attention of the target audience. It has to provide the audience information that is of interest to them message and content of advertisement should not be complex in nature.
(ii) The audience should interpret the message in the intended manner- it should fulfill the marketing objectives of a business firm. The need, desire, value and motive should be interpreted through the message in the intended manner.
(iii) It should influence the audience positively by diverting their attitude in favour of product and services attitude is a central theme of advertising. It should create a desire of purchase. Adverting must result in maximization of sales, profitability and building of high brand equity.
Interview Questions # 6. Discuss the benefits of advertising:
Ans. Advertising benefits to all may it be manufacturer, wholesaler, retailer, customer, salesman or community in the following ways:
a. It helps easy introduction of products into the markets.
b. It helps to create an image and reputation not only of the product but also of the advertiser.
c. It helps to establish a direct contact between manufacturers and consumers.
d. Easy sale of the products is possible since consumers are aware of the product and its quality.
e. The reputation credited is shared by the wholesalers and retailers and alike.
f. It provides an opportunity to the customers to compare the merits and demerits of various substitute products.
g. It helps in increasing the consumer knowledge about the product.
h. This is perhaps the only medium through which consumers could know the varied and new uses of a product.
i. Modern advertisements are highly informative.
j. Advertising prepares necessary ground for a salesman to begin his work. Hence sales efforts are reduced.
k. The contact established with the customer by a salesman is made permanent through advertising.
l. Advertising in general is educative in nature.
m. Advertising leads to large scale production creating more employment opportunities.
Interview Questions # 7. What are the qualities of a good brand name?
Ans. A good brand name should possess the following qualities:
(i) The brand name should be easy to pronounce, spell and remember. It should be short also. For example, Amul, Airtel, Natraj, Titan, Nirma, Lux, Surf, etc. are short and simple words. These could be easily read and remembered by all.
(ii) If possible, the brand name should suggest something about the product’s benefits, uses, purpose, quality and performance. For instance ‘Ujala’ suggests brightness, ‘Hajmola’ suggests digestive properties, and Sunsilk suggests hair shine like sun and softness of silk.
(iii) The brand mark or design should be attractive to the eyes such as Amul, Natraj, and Dairy Milk.
(iv) The brand design should be unique or distinctive. It should be clearly identifiable even in the crowded market place. For instance, Cinthol, Perk, Amul, Thumbs Up, etc. possess this quality.
(v) The brand name should appropriate and suitable to the product as for instance, Hero for bikes, Maruti Suzuki for cars, Britannia Nutrichoice for biscuits, Boost for health drink, etc.
(vi) The brand should have a stable life, its life should not be affected by the changes in fashions or styles. Philips, Bournvita, Saridon, Surf and Airtel are some examples in this regard.
(vii) The brand name should be capable of being registered. This will protect the brand holder from imitation by the rivals.
Interview Questions # 8. What are the personal factors that influence buyer behaviour?
Ans. The third factor is personal characteristics, including the buyer’s age, stage in the life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, personality, and self-concept.
1. Age and Life Cycle Stage:
People buy different goods and services over a lifetime. Purchase of household durables, services, volume of purchase, and loyalty all depends on age and stage of life cycle of a person.
2. Occupation and Income:
It is most important variable which impact buying behaviour of a customer. The profession or the occupation a person is in again has an impact on the products they consume. The status of a person is projected through various symbols like the dress, accessories and possessions. Purchase power of a consumer depends on his or her disposable income, customers become more attentive about brand and quality of products and services with increase in income.
3. Life Style:
Life styles are a person’s mode of living as identified by his or her activities, interest and opinions. Lifestyle analysis is an important factor in segmenting and targeting consumers according to their lifestyle classification.
4. Personality:
Personality is the sum total of an individual’s enduring internal psychological traits that make him or her unique. Personality is usually described in terms of such traits as self- confidence, dominance, autonomy, deference, sociability, defensiveness, and adaptability.
Each person has a distinct personality that influences buying behaviour. Personality can be useful in analyzing consumer behaviour, provided that personality types can be classified accurately and that strong correlations exist between certain personality types and product or brand choices.
Interview Questions # 9. Explain the features of franchising.
Ans. The salient features of a franchise are as follows:
(i) The franchiser owns a trade or service mark and allows the franchisee to use it under a licence.
(ii) The franchisee pays for the licence and becomes a part of the franchiser’s network. An initial payment has to be made and then a yearly licence fee. There may be an agreement on the percentage of sales or profit to be given monthly, quarterly or annually.
(iii) The franchiser provides all marketing support and proper equipment and systems for doing business in the required manner. Such a company virtually sets up the business for the franchisee who is going to run it.
(iv) There is a clause in the franchise agreement for the franchisee to follow franchiser’s policies regarding modes of operation of business. The franchisee is also required to maintain a particular kind of decor in the place of business.
(v) The franchiser may arrange training for the personnel working in the franchisee organisation. This is very common in restaurants and fast food chains.
Interview Questions # 10. Discuss the business applications of electronic commerce.
Ans. Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following:
(i) E-mail
(ii) Enterprise content management
(iii) Instant messaging
(iv) Newsgroups
(v) Online shopping and order tracking
(vi) Online banking
(vii) Domestic and international payment systems
(viii) Shopping cart software
(ix) Teleconferencing
(x) Electronic tickets
(xi) Supply chain management
(xii) Video on demand
(xiii) Remote banking
(xiv) Procurement and purchasing
Interview Questions # 11. What is the need for marketing ethics?
Ans. (i) To maintain public confidence – Unethical marketing practices on the part of a few business firms can erode public confidence in them. Companies can restore and increase the confidence of public by setting and enforcing high ethical standards in marketing. It is in the interest of business itself to be ethical because consumers are the mainstay of business.
(ii) To avoid government regulation – Unethical marketing practices increase the probability of government control on business. Honest and fair dealings with customers help business firms to avoid such control and thereby retain the freedom of operations.
(iii) To regain social power – Marketers can regain and improve their power and influence over the society by fulfilling their responsibility to consumers and other groups of the society. They need to use their power in a manner that is acceptable to the society.
(iv) To boost public image – People form an opinion about a business enterprise on the basis of their experience. When marketers care for customers, they form a positive opinion. Ethical marketing behavior can protect the image of the enterprise.
(v) For enlightened self-interest – Many marketers engage in ethical behavior due to enlightened self-interest or in the expectation that ‘Ethics pay’. They believe that if they do not act in the public interest, the public and customers will strike back in one way or the other.
When marketing practices deviate from accepted standards, the exchange process can break down, resulting in customer dis-satisfaction and lack of trust. Customers avoid marketers who are perceived to be unethical.
Interview Questions # 12. What is green marketing?
Ans. It is any marketing activity of a firm that is intended to create a positive impact or lessen the negative impact of a product on the environment in order to capitalize on consumers’ concerns about environmental issues.
More and more consumers are concerned about the natural environment. However, instead of shelling out extra money for a ‘green product’, consumers now want to buy an eco-friendly product at the same price as any other product.
Many retailers/marketers have launched initiatives related to one or more of the “4 R’s” of environmental protection:
1. Reducing – Reduce the quantum of packaging on items either purchased or produced for resale.
2. Recycled – Rely on recycled materials for product packaging and operating supplies. Shipping cartons could be made of recycled paperboard.
3. Recycling – Besides recycling paper and related items, many retailers recycle beverage containers and other forms of packaging.
4. Re-using – Some marketers urge consumers to reuse, rather than discard, empty packages such as glass jars and plastic bottles as these can be used for refilling purposes.
These “4 R’s” demonstrate good citizenship. Further, it represents sound business sense as it can provide a differential advantage and attract added customers.
Interview Questions # 13. Compare between Speciality Stores and E-Tailers.
Ans. Speciality Stores:
Speciality stores should not be confused with speciality goods. In a sense, speciality stores are misnamed, because they may carry any of the categories of consumer goods. A very narrow and deep assortment, often concentrating on a specialised product line or even part of a specialised product line, is offered to consumers by a speciality store.
Most speciality stores strive to maintain manufacturers suggested prices although they may offer their own store brands at lower prices. Typically, they provide atleast standard customer services. The success of speciality stores depends on their ability to attract and then satisfy consumers who especially want deep assortments and extensive top-quality services.
E-Tailers:
They are the stores which sell their products online via the internet. They maintain a website on which products, their pictures, features, price, etc. are displayed. The buyers can log on to site, select the good, place the order and make payment all through the internet. Their goods get delivered at their home. E-tailers have become very popular due to convenience and wide variety they offer. For example – Flipkart, Ebay, Snapdeal, Amazon, Jabong, etc.
Interview Questions # 14. What do you mean by marketing mix?
Ans. Marketing mix is one of the key concepts in modern marketing theory and forms an important constituent of modern marketing strategy. It is a comprehensive term and encompasses different elements of marketing. Marketing strategy is a plan in action. It is a grand design proposed for the purpose of accomplishing pre-determined marketing objectives. Marketing strategy is concerned with marketing mix. In fact, the various tools of marketing management through which strategy is translated into action are together called ‘Marketing Mix’.
Individually, they are product, place, price and promotion, as given by J.E. McCarthy. Marketing mix is, thus, a combination of these four ingredients namely product, place, price and promotion. These elements are interrelated and interdependent and revolve around the primary objective of providing customers satisfaction. The term ‘Marketing Mix’ has been defined in different ways by different marketing experts. The term ‘Marketing Mix’ was introduced by Professor N.H. Borden, of Harvard Business School of America.
According to him marketing mix covers two things:
(i) List of important elements or ingredients that make up this marketing programme; and
(ii) The list of forces having bearing on the marketing operations.
As per Mr. Jerome McCarthy –
“Marketing is the pack of four sets of variables namely – product variable, price variable, promotion variable and place variables”.
According to Philip Kotler –
“The firm s task is to find the bet settings for its marketing decision variables. The setting constitutes its marketing mix”.
William J. Stanton has defined Marketing-Mix as –
“Marketing mix is the term used to describe the combination of the four inputs which constitute the core of a company’s marketing system – the product, the price structure, the promotional activities and the distribution”.
Marketing-Mix, can thus, be defined as a combination of 4 Ps i.e. Product, Place, Price and Promotion. These 4 Ps are a part of the internal environment of an organization, over which managers can exercise a control. Marketing environment as we know now consists of internal environment (controllable) and external environment (uncontrollable). Developing an appropriate marketing mix is a sensitive and crucial issue. A very creative blending of the various Ps is required to achieve the marketing objective.
This is because there are number of possible ways in which we can satisfy the target customers – different features, tastes and colours of the product, varying size, colours and materials of the packages, different brand names, different prices to be charged from different customers, changing promotional mix etc.
A right and competitive marketing mix is therefore important. However, this mix should be constantly evaluated and reviewed so as to keep it in line with the changing internal and external forces. Internally various Ps are interrelated and interdependent and therefore changes in one P will affect other Ps also.
At the same time, the changing taste and fashion of the consumers, increasing level of competition and number of competitors etc. also keep the marketing mix dynamic. Continuous monitoring and necessary adjustments are therefore essential. However, it is important to mention that marketing mix vary from organization to organization, depending upon the nature of the business, extent of competition etc.
Interview Questions #15. What is the difference between penetration and skimming pricing?
Ans. Penetration Pricing:
Under this policy, prices are fixed below the competitive level to obtain a larger share of the market and to develop popularity of the brand. Many retailers offer discount to attract more and more customers.
They operate on the principal of ‘low mark-up and higher volume’. The penetration pricing policy may also be used at the time of introduction of a new product by keeping the profit margin very low. It helps in developing a long- term market.
Skimming Pricing:
Under this, higher prices are charged during the initial stages of the introduction of a new product. The purpose is to recover the initial investment quickly.
Unlike skimming pricing policy, penetration pricing facilitates higher volume of sales even during the initial stages of a product’s life cycle. Penetration pricing is an aggressive pricing strategy which results in lower profits or even losses during the initial stages.
Penetration pricing is most suitable for routine substitutes in the market where enough similar products with different brands are already available.
Policy of skimming pricing is adopted only if the product is unique and there is a fear in the mind of the producer that this monopoly/uniqueness is short lived.
Interview Questions # 16. Discuss the key trends for showrooming.
Ans. Reverse “Showrooming” Boosts Footfalls:
The growing number of smartphone users and increasing Internet access, it is evident that “digital” technology has become an inevitable part of consumer behavior in India, and the propensity to embrace digital is increasing day by day.
E-commerce organizations have already leveraged this digital wave, which is quite evident by their growing GMV. So here the million-dollar question is- How do brick-and-mortar retailers ride this wave rather than consider it as a threat to their business model to counter the consumer behavior of “showrooming”?
The solution lies in the consumer behavior itself because though consumers are increasingly preferring to purchase online, a significantly big percentage of consumers still continue to use a combination of physical and digital technologies during the shopping journey. While customers are increasingly becoming tech savvy and prefer the convenience of shopping anytime and anywhere, they still value the “touch-feel-try” experience provided by brick- and-mortar retailers.
This shows that even though customers become more comfortable with purchasing online, the brick-and-mortar retail stores will never lose their relevance and continue to play a significant role. This is reflected in the consumers’ inherent propensity to touch, try, and feel the product before finalizing the purchase decision. So with the strategic management of variety and assortment of products across the categories carried by store can reverse showrooming.
The retailers that adapt to consumer preferences with array of products in-store, along with attractive prices and location-based offers, will benefit from increasing number of footfalls at their outlets. In addition, many times, shopping is considered as an entertaining and sociable pastime, by many, and the focus on instant gratification would help the retailers to keep their cash register ringing.
Hence, the off-line retailers have the opportunity to score over the e-tailers in terms of leveraging this consumer behavior, by offering them a seamless experience across both off-line and online channels. This means offering flexibility in buying and receiving delivery.
For instance, the consumers can:
i. Buy online and pick up the delivery in-store
ii. Buy from one store and pick up from the other
iii. Buy in-store and take the delivery at home
iv. Browse free Wi-Fi in-store to order
All these options could be offered realistically only by a retailer having both physical and digital presence. This hybrid shopping experience developed across integrated channels is called as “Omni-channel” system. This suggests that Omni-channel is a strategic way for the retailers to leverage the trend and achieve exponential growth.
Personalized Recommendations:
Retailers today need to enable and empower their sales associates to connect with customers and provide a personalized experience. Several studies have highlighted that one-in-three consumer purchases at leading online sites emanate from recommendations, and traditional retailers also have the opportunity to recreate this kind of service experience via Apple’s iBeacon. As customers are increasingly well informed, they expect, rather demand, more from the service they receive in the store.
They enter the store armed with a capital of information and store staff is expected to not only match this enhanced level of knowledge but also add to it and provide additional value. It is also observed that consumers today are willing to share information with retailers, if it results in personalized, timely, and relevant offers, bundled with incentives and loyalty points. This effectively puts CRM into the hands the store associate to create a coherent and personalized experience for the customer.
Use of Social Media:
Retailers need to ensure a suitable presence via mobile applications and social media, which facilitate greater personalized interactions between brand and consumers. In addition, a growing number of consumers expect to complete their online shopping from social platforms without browsing on an online retailer’s site.
Interview Questions # 17. Explain the meaning of marketing research.
Ans. Marketing research can be defined as a process of finding a solution to a particular marketing problem of an organization with the help of various tools and techniques. According to American Marketing Association (AMA), “Marketing research refers to the systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services”.
Thus, marketing research is about solving marketing problems and grabbing the opportunities in the market. The aim of marketing research is to inform the organization about the different needs, attitudes, and behavior of customers, as well as available profitable opportunities in the market.
It should be noted that marketing research is different from market research because marketing research is a broader concept than market research. Market research involves the research of a specific market; whereas, marketing research deals with, the all marketing issues, such as research, pricing, and distribution of new products.
Interview Questions # 18. Discuss the limitations of marketing research.
Ans. i. Marketing research does not provide solutions to all sorts of problems. It only provides accurate information which can be used to arrive at a decision to reduce problems.
ii. Marketing research deals with human behaviour and therefore exact predictions are not possible. Therefore it is not exact science.
iii. Marketing research is a time taking process. The report is prepared after a long time, when its utility may have been lost.
iv. Marketing research is a costly affair and is considered luxury by the management. It involves high cost of operation.
v. The task of marketing research suffers many times due to inexperienced staff and non-availability of qualified staff.
vi. The marketing research may arrive at erroneous findings when the problem is too complex and the work is not properly done by the researcher on account of paucity of funds, time and techniques.
vii. Marketing research cannot be used as a fool proof tool of forecasting because the various forces of markets are highly complex and to predict about them is not an easy task. Marketers cannot rely on them totally.
viii. Subjective of the research personnel is also a limitation of marketing research.
Interview Questions # 19. Explain the difference between mass marketing and market segmentation.
Ans. Mass Marketing:
1. Looks for similarities in the wants of the buyers.
2. Single product is offered in the market with single marketing program.
3. In general mass marketing is not used by the organisation.
Market Segmentation:
1. Looks for the differences in the wants of the buyers.
2. Different products are offered in market with different marketing program.
3. Marketing segmentation is widely used by the organisation.
Interview Questions # 20. What are the objectives of marketing management?
Ans. The marketing management objectives flow out of the overall objectives of the enterprise. The overall objectives of business are mainly profit maximisation, continuous growth and social service. Marketing management helps in achieving these objectives by selling goods and services which satisfy consumers’ needs and wants effectively and are profitable for the business enterprise.
Main objectives of marketing management are:
(i) Satisfaction of Customers – No organisation can survive in today’s competitive world without satisfying its customers. The marketing manager must study the needs and wants of customers scientifically before offering them goods and services.
(ii) Long-Run Profit and Growth – It is only the marketing department which generates revenue for the organisation. Every organisation wants to earn sufficient profit as a result of sale of their product. If a firm is not able to earn sufficient profit, it will not be able to survive and grow in the market.
(iii) Expand Customer Base – Another objective of marketing management is to attract more and more customers towards the organisations product. This will lead to increase in organisation sales.
(iv) Determine Marketing-Mix – All four P’s i.e. product, price, place and promotion, individually are not capable of achieving organisational objective. All these should be so planned to develop a marketing-mix that will satisfy the needs of the customers.
(v) Increase in standard of living of people – Marketing management by the means of providing better quality products at reasonable price, attempts to increase the standard of living of people in the society.
(vi) Favourable Public Image – To build a favourable public image is another objective of marketing management. This is achieved through providing quality products to the customers at reasonable price.
Interview Questions # 21. Discuss the types of marketing research.
Ans. Formal and Informal Marketing Research:
Marketing is all about identifying and satisfying customer needs. In this process, a marketer has to take many strategic and tactical decisions. These decisions help to understand the marketing opportunity and tap the right kind of market segment.
It does not end here, but it becomes more complex with decisions ranging right from the product to the pricing to the distribution channel and the promotions. It is everyone’s responsibility in the company to understand the market and the customers.
Both markets and the customers can be understood by the help of the following:
1. Formal market research and,
2. Informal market research
Formal market research is a $16.5 billion dollars industry worldwide. Generally large companies spend 1 to 2% of company’s sales on marketing research. In India, there are three types of research firms – syndicated service research firms like NCAER, AC Nielsen, ORG-MARG, IMRB etc., custom marketing research firms, which carries out research work in accordance with the client’s requirement and specialty line marketing research firms.
Besides the formal marketing research, there are creative and affordable ways of finding out information through hiring students from an MBA College for a summer or winter assignment and through regular monitoring of published information and actions.
Marketing Research refers to the formal collection, analysis and reporting of external data, that is relevant to a specific marketing situation faced by the company. Based on the complexity of the marketing situation, it can be as simple as a customer feedback form to a nationwide survey.
Interview Questions # 22. Explain the meaning of environmental scanning.
Ans. Environmental scanning is of utmost importance for a marketer as it does not only create opportunities, but it also creates challenges to the company. It helps the marketer in taking the right decisions for present as well as future. HP saw the opportunity coming in the form for digital printing; that too in the home; leaving the film processing and development shops in red. Tata saw it through Tata Nano; while Apple is keeping the market on its toe with their innovative offerings like iPods, iPhones and iPads.
Now Samsung has launched Galaxy Round with a curved display, while LG has launched World’s first curved OLED TV with 4.3 mm slim screen. Again, taking a leaf from the success of Toyota Prius, Nissan has launched Leaf, its electric car. Constant scanning of the marketing environment is going to be the key of success. Being aware and being innovative is the only formula, which can make a company survive and grow in the market.
Interview Questions # 23. Give the definition of consumer behaviour.
Ans. Consumer Behaviour is defined as the behaviour that consumers, whether it’s an individual or, group or, a business organization, display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their needs.
The principles of Consumer Behaviour lead to the development and implementation of marketing strategies. Now the consumers are also influenced by the new media like Internet, Search Engines, E-Commerce oriented websites etc.
Consumer Behaviour focuses on how individual make decisions to spend their available resources (time, money, effort) on consumption related items. That includes what they buy, why they buy it, when they buy it, where they buy it, how often they buy it, how often they use it, how they evaluate it after the purchase, the impact of such evaluations on future purchases and how they dispose of it.
As an individual, everybody is unique. But everybody use or consume products or services on a regular basis. Marketers need to understand the personal and group influences that affect consumer decisions and they also need to understand, how these decisions are made. In fact, Consumer Behaviour and the decision making process is Interdisciplinary. It’s a relatively new field of study started in the mid to late 1960s. There is no history or body of research of its own. It depends heavily on the concepts developed in other scientific disciplines such as Psychology (the study of the individual), Sociology (the study of groups), social psychology (the study of how an individual operates in groups), anthropology (the influence of the society on the individual) and economics.
Consumers don’t always buy to maximise their benefits. Sometimes, they are also likely to purchase impulsively. They are influenced not only by family and friends, by advertisers and role models, but also by mood, situation and emotion. All these factors combine to form a comprehensive model of consumer behaviour that reflects both the cognitive and emotional aspects of consumer decision making.
Interview Questions # 24. Explain the simplified model of consumer decision making.
Ans. There are three distinct but interlocking stages in the consumer decision making process:
1. Input Stage,
2. Process Stage and
3. Output Stage.
The cumulative impact of each firm’s marketing efforts, the influence of family, friends and neighbours and society’s existing code of behaviour are all inputs that are likely to affect what consumers purchase and how they use what they buy.
The process stage of the model focuses on how consumers make decisions. The psychological factors inherent in each individual (motivation, perception, learning, personality and attitude) affect how the external inputs from the input stage influence the consumer’s recognition of a need, pre purchase search for information and evaluation of alternatives.
The experience gained through evaluation of alternatives, in turn, affects the consumer’s existing psychological attributes. The output stage of the model consists of purchase behaviour and post purchase evaluation. If the consumer is satisfied, he/she will go for repeat purchase.
Interview Questions # 25. Discuss the significance of marketing:
Ans. Marketing is a specialised business activity today. It provides a direction to the functioning of other business activities viz. production, promotion, distribution etc. It guides the actions and decisions of every one in business. It is described as the eyes and ears of the business as it keeps business in contact with its customers, market and overall environment and thereby provides an opportunity to adjust its operations and strategy, as per the changing requirements.
Its significance can be seen in following points:
1. Without marketing, there is no reason for business to exist. Marketing provides the required revenue to the business enterprise by selling the goods and services. Other activities like production distribution and consumption are guided by marketing.
2. It keeps business in contact with the market, thereby enabling it to monitor the changing conditions and adapt itself to the changes.
3. Maximisation of sales and profit is possible through an efficient marketing system, thereby reducing the cost of distribution of goods and services and making business profitable.
4. It raises the standard of living of the people in the society, by providing quality goods and services and redistributing the income.
5. It creates employment opportunities by creating various facilitating activities like transportation, warehousing, insurance etc.
6. By expanding the markets and increasing the volume of goods and services available, it helps in economic development of the country.
7. It bridges the gap between production and consumption and facilitates in smooth exchange of goods and services.
8. Marketing helps in satisfaction of the needs and wants of the consumer in an effective way. It makes available quality goods and services to the consumer at competitive prices.
Interview Questions # 26. Briefly discuss the marketing strategies adopted during PLC?
Ans. Introduction:
As during the introduction stage profits are negative or low because of low sales and heavy promotion and distribution expenses, manufacturer can pursue following strategies:
(a) Rapid Skimming – Under this strategy new product is launched at higher price, with high promotional expense. This strategy is suitable when larger part of the product market is unaware of the product; those who became aware of the product are eager to have product at any price.
(b) Low Skimming – Under this strategy product is launched at high price and low promotion. This strategy is suitable when market is limited in size and most of the market is aware of the product.
(c) Rapid Penetration – Under this strategy product is launched at a low price and huge expenses are done on promotion. This strategy is suitable for products having price sensitive large market and has strong possibility of competition.
(d) Slow Penetration – Launching the new product at a low price and low level of promotion. This strategy is suitable when market is large, is highly aware of the product, is price sensitive and there is some potential competition.
Growth Stage:
The growth stage of the product attracts the competitors in the market.
During this stage the firm uses several strategies to sustain rapid market growth as long as possible:
i. Improves product qualities and adds new product features.
ii. Enters into new market segments.
iii. Shifts from product awareness advertising to product preference advertising.
iv. Lowers down price of product to attract next layer of price sensitive buyers.
Maturity Stage:
When the rate of growth in sales slow; the product inters into the stage of maturity.
The manufacturer may adopt any of the following strategies:
(a) Market Modification – The company may try to expend the market for its matured product in three ways –
(i) Converting non-user into users
(ii) Enter new market segment
(iii) Win competitors customers
(b) Product Modification – Marketer can also try to stimulate sales by modifying the product’s characteristics through quality, feature or style improvement.
(c) Marketing-mix Modification – Marketer might also try to stimulate sales by modifying its other marketing-mix like – price, distribution, advertising, sales promotion etc.
Interview Questions # 27. What are the different factors that influence product decision of a firm?
Ans. Product decisions are critical decisions for any firm. It influences and is influenced by various factors like – objective of the firm, cost of production, demand of the product, competitive position, price, promotion, place etc.
Different factors influencing product decisions are as follows:
(i) Objective of the Firm:
Objectives are the starting point for any activities. Product decisions are influenced by the overall objectives of the business firm and also the product objectives. Various product objectives may be sales growth, effective utilization of resources, offer a full product line, offset products obsolescence, utilization of waste material etc.
(ii) Cost of Production:
Cost influences product decisions significantly. Firms have the option of either buying the product or producing it. A cost – benefit analysis will help the firm to arrive at proper decision.
(iii) Market Demand:
The existing and potential demand in the market influences the product decisions significantly. Products with high demand will be produced more. Less profitable products may be continued with future expectations of profit or dropped from the product line.
(iv) Competitive Environment:
The number of competitors and degree of competition also influence product decisions. Competitors product and his marketing strategy have to be considered before taking product decisions.
(v) Buyer Behaviour:
Markets are highly dynamic and fast changes are there in marketing environment. Marketer has to continuously monitor the changing market wants and accordingly produce the products.
(iv) Place, Promotion and Price:
All the 4 Ps are interrelated and interdependent. Decisions relating to any one of them cannot be taken in isolation. Thus, product decisions are influenced by the price, place and promotion decisions.
Apart from these factors, there are other factors also like goodwill of the firm, capacity of the firm, which influences product decisions.
Interview Questions # 28. Explain the importance of promotion in marketing.
Ans. Importance of promotion in marketing can be summarized as follows:
(i) The activity of promotion has become important because of the widening of the market. The physical distance between producer and consumer and also the increase in the number of prospective buyers, promotion has gained importance. The producer has to now inform all the consumers so as to capture a major share of the market.
(ii) In modern times, there is a cut throat competition in every field. New and new products and producers are entering the market and every producer wants to sell his products first.
In order to meet the competition, the producer has to make the customer/prospective consumer aware of his products and their outstanding feature along with a comparative view of the competitor’s products. This helps the consumers to select the right type of product.
(iii) There are number of channels of distribution. The producer should not only inform the consumers but he should also inform the middlemen about the product as they would also be acting as a means to advertise the manufacturer’s products to the consumers. These middlemen must be well versed in the characteristics of the goods.
(iv) Promotion expenses are the highest of all the marketing expenses. They should be properly and strictly controlled and should be paid due attention.
Interview Questions # 29. What are the various product line policies and strategies adopted by the producer?
Ans. Various product line policies and strategies adopted by the producer of the product are:
(i) Contraction of Product Line:
This is also known as contraction of product-mix. Under this strategy either number of products in product line is dropped out or product line in product-mix is dropped. Decision regarding dropping out particular product or product line is generally due to unprofitability of product or product line. Product may also be abandoned even though it is still profitable, if management feels that some resource can field higher profit from other product.
Thus, contraction of product line may takes place in following ways:
(a) Decrease in the number of product line in product-mix of company.
(b) Decrease in number of product items in existing product line of company.
(ii) Expansion of Product Line:
This strategy is just opposite of contraction of product line. It is also known as diversification of product line. In this strategy firm expands its breadth and depth of product line to fully utilize marketing opportunities. A new product line may be added in existing product line of company for example – Mahindra four wheeler starts producing two wheeler scooty (Duro).
(iii) Trading-Up and Trading-Down:
Trading up and trading down are the two another strategy adopted by the marketers to capture new market and thereby increase their sales. Trading up refers to the adding of higher priced better quality product in existing low priced product line. This strategy helps in increasing the goodwill of the firm in the market. This strategy is generally used by the marketers to capture high class people.
Trading down refers to the addition of low priced product in high priced product line by the marketer. It is done to capture that part of market which old product has not reached.
Product mix is also called product assortment is the set of all product lines and items that the seller offers for sale in the market. It is a collection of entire product lines and product items that a firm offers to its customers.
Product mix involves decisions relating to:
(i) Width – Width of the product line refers to the number of different product lines that the firm has.
(ii) Length – Length refers to the total number of items in a product- line.
(iii) Depth – Depth refers to the number of variations each product in the product line has.
(iv) Internal consistency – Internal consistency means the extent to which the various products in the product line are related to each other or are complementary to each other.
An enterprise can expand its business by either widening or lengthening or deepening its product mix. Thus, product mix includes product item and products line.
Interview Questions # 30. Explain the meaning and definition of sales promotion.
Ans. Sales promotion is one of the fastest growing segments of promotion-mix of every organization and has become a major factor in success of marketing in recent years. It refers to short term incentives, which are designed to encourage the buyer to make immediate purchase of a product or service.
It includes all promotional efforts other than advertising, personal selling and publicity, used by the organization to increase its sales. Sales promotion activities include offering sales discount, sales contest, free gifts, offers and sample distribution. Sales promotion is usually undertaken to supplement other promotional efforts such as advertising and personal selling.
According to American Marketing Association, “Sales promotion refers to those activities other than personal selling, advertising and publicity that stimulate consumer purchasing and deals effectiveness, such as display shows and exhibition, demonstration and various other non-recurrent selling effort not in ordinary routine”.
Thus from above explanation and definition it is clear that sales promotion refers to all those methods, other than advertising; personal selling and publicity adopted by the organization to stimulate consumer purchasing and dealers effectiveness. Companies use sales promotion tools specifically designed to promote consumer (e.g. free sample, discount and contest), middlemen (e.g. dealer discount, dealer incentives and contest) and sales personal (e.g. bonus; special offer).