gcse business - unit 2 (marketing)

Marketing

is finding the needs of consumers and demonstrating how a business fulfils those needs in a way that increases sales.

Market research

is the collection of data on consumer habits to help decision making in marketing.

Target market

group of customers to which a business aims a product or service. Research is used to identify the group; based on e.g. gender, age and lifestyle.

Primary research

is data collected first hand, often in the form of surveys. Sometimes referred to as field research.

Secondary research

is the collection of data using research or information provided by others, such as magazines, journals and the internet. Often called desk research.

Questionnaire

is a question sheet filled in by the consumer.

Research Interview

a researcher asks a consumer a set of questions and completes a question sheet during the process

Product Trial

are used to test whether customers will buy a good or service

Focus groups

selected small groups of customers who give their opinion on products.

Census data

data collected by the government every ten years, questioning the entire population on their income, occupations etc.

Internal data

data already within a business based on past performance.

Qualitative data

data based on opinions of those being asked.

Quantitative data

data collected that is based on facts or numbers, usually easier to analyse than qualitative data.

Market segmentation

splitting the market for a product into different parts, or segments.

4 Ps of the marketing mix

price, product, place and promotion; known as....?

Competitor pricing

when a price is set based on prices charged by competitor businesses for a similar product.

Cost plus pricing

pricing method that adds a percentage of profit to the total costs of making a product. This gives the selling price.

Penetration pricing

when a price is set lower than the competitor businesses. Often used by new businesses to break into a market. This should only be seen as a short-term strategy.

Skimming

where a new product is more advanced than that of competitors; a price is set high as some customers are willing to pay higher prices to own the newest technology. Sometimes called 'creaming'.

Promotional pricing

prices are reduced to give products a boost or to sell off old stock. Most commonly seen as 'sales' in shops.

Innovation

improvement on an original idea, which will often involve using new processes. It is closely linked to design, where new ideas can be used in a product due to changes in the design.

Design

an element in making a product successful, especially where style and technology work together.

Invention

the introduction of a totally new product or feature.

Research and development (R&D)

used to help introduce both new and existing products. The research may be testing products in a laboratory or conducting market research by interviewing customers.

Product life cycle

the life of a product, usually shown as a graph divided up into four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

Introduction

when a product or service is first on sale.

Growth

when sales are growing strongly as the new product or service becomes known.

Maturity

when sales are at their highest level.

Decline

when sales are falling as the product or service is seen by customers as being old and they switch to newer products and services.

Physical distribution

the distribution of goods using a physical presence such as a shop or office or delivery via e-commerce.

Digital distribution

movement of good / service to a customer through the use of a website or app, e.g downloading

Point of sale promotions

include price reductions, loss leaders, competitions and free samples.

Advertising campaign

a series of advertisements, often using different advertising media.

Advertising media

the methods by which a business can advertise a product. Includes newspapers, TV and radio.

Market data

information that can help marketing decisions. It includes data on such things as market share, changes in demand and the effect of promotions.

Market share

the percentage of total sales of a product that a business has made, e.g. a business sells 20,000 products; the total market for that product is 50,000: the business has a market share of 40 per cent.