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.