MK323 Midterm Study Guide - Key Vocabulary Terms

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering foundational marketing concepts, strategic planning, marketing research, STP, consumer behavior, demand forecasting, survey design, innovation, branding, product management, and services marketing from the MK323 course material.

Marketing

Creating, capturing, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that provide value.

Marketplace

The world of trade where buyers and sellers exchange value.

Target Market

The customer group a firm chooses to focus its marketing efforts on.

The 4 Ps

Product: Goods (tangible), services (intangible), ideas

Price: The cost at which a product is sold to consumers, influencing perceived value and market competitiveness.

Place: The distribution channels used to deliver products to consumers, including locations and methods of transportation. (supply chain management & marketing channel management)

Promotion: communication by a marketer that informs, persuades, and reminds potential customers about a product/service to influence their opinions and elicit a response.

Marketing Mix

The four interrelated decisions/actions involving Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

Good

A tangible product you can physically touch whose value comes from the benefits it provides.

Service

An intangible customer benefit produced by people or machines and inseparable from the producer.

Supply Chain Management

Integrating operations efficiently and at the right cost to get products to customers.

Marketing Channel Management

Developing and maintaining partners and relationships within the supply chain.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Strategies and programs designed to build customer loyalty.

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

An advantage competitors cannot easily copy and that can be maintained over time.

Customer Excellence

Retaining loyal customers and providing excellent customer service.

Operational Excellence

Efficient operations, strong supply chain/HR management, and strong supplier relationships.

Product Excellence

High perceived product value supported by effective branding and positioning.

Locational Excellence

Having a strong physical location and/or Internet presence.

Marketing Plan

A written analysis of situation, opportunities/threats, objectives, 4Ps strategy, and projected income.

Star (BCG Matrix)

High market growth and high market share; often needs heavy investment to fuel growth.

Cash Cow (BCG Matrix)

Low growth and high market share; can generate excess resources for other products.

Dog (BCG Matrix)

Low growth and low market share; may be phased out unless it supports other products.

Question Mark (BCG Matrix)

High growth and low market share; needs resources to gain share or may be withdrawn.

Market Penetration

Growth strategy focusing on current markets and current products.

Market Development

Growth strategy focusing on new markets and current products.

Product Development

Growth strategy focusing on current markets and new products.

Diversification

Growth strategy focusing on new markets and new products.

Secondary Data

Information collected previously for another purpose or research project.

Syndicated Secondary Data

Data collected by a provider and sold for a fee to multiple clients.

Scanner Data

Purchase/sales data captured from UPC or checkout codes.

Panel Data

Data collected repeatedly from a group of consumers or households over time.

Primary Data

Data collected specifically to answer the current research question.

Qualitative Research

Broad, open-ended research used to understand explanations, context, themes, and new ideas.

Quantitative Research

Structured numerical research used for prediction, generalizability, and quantification.

Experimental Research

Manipulating variables to test whether one variable causally affects another.

Probability Sampling

Sampling method where every population member has a known, nonzero probability of being selected.

Non-probability Sampling

Sampling method where not every population member has a guaranteed or known chance of selection.

Segmentation

Dividing the overall market into groups with similar needs or characteristics.

Targeting

Evaluating segments and choosing which segment or segments to pursue.

Positioning

Creating a distinct, valued image of the offering in the target customer's mind.

Geographic Segmentation

Segmenting markets by country, region, state, city, neighborhood, ZIP code, or other location.

Demographic Segmentation

Segmenting markets using observable traits such as age, gender, race, and income.

Psychographic Segmentation

Segmenting markets using lifestyle, self-concept, self-values, and how customers describe themselves.

Benefit Segmentation

Segmenting markets based on the specific benefits customers want, such as convenience, economy, or prestige.

Behavioral Segmentation

Segmenting markets by how, when, and why customers use or buy a product, including occasion and loyalty.

Geodemographic Segmentation

Combining geography with demographic and lifestyle information.

Value Proposition

The benefits customers receive and why they should buy the product.

Perceptual Map

A visual map of how consumers perceive brands relative to each other on important attributes.

Functional Need

A need based on product performance or practical usefulness.

Psychological Need

A need based on personal gratification, image, or how the product makes you feel.

Internal Information Search

Using memory and knowledge from past experiences to gather information.

External Information Search

Seeking information from outside sources such as friends, family, Google, or TikTok.

Internal Locus of Control

Belief that your actions influence outcomes, which tends to increase search effort.

External Locus of Control

Belief that fate or outside forces control outcomes, which tends to reduce search effort.

Universal Set

All possible choices in a product category.

Retrieval Set

Brands or stores that come easily to the consumer's memory.

Evoked Set (Consideration Set)

Alternatives the consumer would actually consider buying.

Compensatory Decision Rule

Decision rule where a weakness on one attribute can be offset by strength on another.

Noncompensatory Decision Rule

Decision rule where one key characteristic determines the choice and poor performance elsewhere cannot be traded off.

Choice Architecture

How marketers structure and present choices to influence decisions.

Nudge

A small change in choice presentation that makes a behavior easier or more tempting.

Default Option

The preselected choice a consumer receives unless they actively opt out.

Conversion Rate

How well purchase intent is converted into actual purchases.

Post-Purchase Cognitive Dissonance

Buyer's remorse or internal conflict after a purchase.

Involvement

The consumer's degree of interest in a product or purchase.

Adjusted Purchase Intent (BASES)

Calculated as $80\%$ of 'definitely buy' plus $30\%$ of 'probably buy' responses.

ACV (All Category Volume)

Availability weighted by the total sales of stores carrying the product.

Leading Question

A survey question that pushes respondents toward a preferred answer.

Ambiguous Question

A vague survey question whose wording can be interpreted differently by respondents.

Unanswerable Question

A survey question respondents cannot reasonably remember or know.

Double-Barreled Question

A survey question asking two things at once but allowing only one answer.

Non-Exhaustive Question

A survey question whose answer options do not cover all possible responses.

Non-Mutually-Exclusive Question

A survey question where answer categories overlap so a respondent could fit more than one.

Semantic Differential Scale

A rating scale positioned between two opposite adjective anchors, such as dirty–clean.

Cross-Tabulation

Analyzing relationships between survey variables to understand different buyers or segments.

Pioneer / Breakthrough Product

A truly new product that creates a new market or radically changes an existing one.

First-Mover Advantage

Early recognition and the chance to establish market share before followers enter.

Continuous Innovation

A relatively small product change requiring little new learning.

Dynamically Continuous Innovation

A meaningful product change that still builds on familiar behavior.

Discontinuous Innovation

A major innovation that requires new behavior or learning.

Diffusion of Innovation

The process by which an innovation spreads through a market over time.

Innovators

Consumers (about $2.5\%$) who adopt almost immediately and tolerate higher uncertainty and risk.

Early Adopters

Opinion leaders (about $13.5\%$) who adopt early and help validate the product for others.

Early Majority

Consumers (about $34\%$) who wait until the product is proven, bugs are fixed, and risk is lower.

Late Majority

Skeptical consumers (about $34\%$) who adopt once the product is already very common.

Laggards

Consumers (about $16\%$) who resist switching and may never adopt.

Crossing the Chasm

Moving the adoption of an innovation from early adopters to the mainstream early majority.

Relative Advantage

How much better an innovation seems than existing substitutes.

Compatibility

How well an innovation fits customers' lives, habits, and culture.

Observability

How easily people can see an innovation and its benefits.

Trialability

How easily customers can try a product before committing to a full purchase.

Prototype

The first physical form of a new product.

Alpha Testing

Testing a prototype inside the firm's R&D organization.

Beta Testing

Testing a product with potential customers in a real-use setting.

Test Marketing

Launching an offering in a few geographic areas using the full $4\text{Ps}$ before a national rollout.

Product Life Cycle (PLC)

The stages (Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline) a product moves through as it enters, becomes established in, and leaves the market.

Specialty Products/Services

Offerings for which consumers make considerable effort to find the best supplier.

Shopping Products/Services

Offerings consumers spend a fair amount of time comparing across alternatives.

Convenience Products/Services

Offerings consumers buy with little effort or prior evaluation.

Unsought Products/Services

Offerings consumers do not normally think about buying or may not know about.

Product Mix Breadth

The number of different product lines a firm offers.

Product Mix Depth

The number of individual products within a specific product line.

Brand Equity

Brand-linked assets and liabilities that add to or subtract from the value provided by a product or service.