Marketing
The process of creating, pricing, distributing, and promoting goods, services, and ideas to facilitate satisfying exchange relationships with customers and to develop and maintain favorable relationships with stakeholders in a dynamic environment
Marketing Mix
Four marketing variables—product, price, distribution, and promotion— that a firm controls to meet the needs of customers within its target market
customers
The purchasers of organizations' products; the focal point of all marketing activities
target market
A specific group of customers on whom an organization focuses its marketing efforts
product
A good, a service, or an idea
value
A customer's subjective assessment of benefits relative to costs in determining the worth of a product
exchanges
The provision or transfer of goods, services, or ideas in return for something of value
stakeholders
Constituents who have a "stake," or claim, in some aspect of a company's products, operations, markets, industry, and outcomes
marketing environment
The competitive, economic, political, legal and regulatory, technological, and sociocultural forces that surround the customer and affect the marketing mix
Marketing Concept
A managerial philosophy that an organization should try to satisfy customers' needs through a coordinated set of activities that also allows the organization to achieve its goals
market orientation
An organization wide commitment to researching and responding to customer needs
customer relationship management (CRM)
Using information about customers to create marketing strategies that develop and sustain desirable customer relationships
relationship marketing
Establishing long-term, mutually satisfying buyer-seller relationships
green marketing
A strategic process involving stakeholder assessment to create meaningful, long-term relationships with customers while maintaining, supporting, and enhancing the natural environment
environmental scanning
The process of collecting information about forces in the marketing environment
environmental analysis
The process of assessing and interpreting information gathered through environmental scanning
competition
Other firms that market products that are similar to or can be substituted for a firm's products in the same geographic area
brand competitors
Firms that market products with similar features and benefits to the same customers at similar prices
product competitors
Firms that compete in the same product class but market products with different features, benefits, and prices
generic competitors
Firms that provide very different products that solve the same problem or satisfy the same basic customer need
total budget competitors
Firms that compete for the limited financial resources of the same customers
monopoly
A competitive structure in which an organization offers a product that has no close substitutes, making that organization the sole source of supply
oligopoly
A competitive structure in which a few sellers control the supply of a large proportion of a product
monopolistic competition
A competitive structure in which a firm has many potential competitors and tries to develop a marketing strategy to differentiate its product
pure competition
A market structure characterized by an extremely large number of sellers, none strong enough to significantly influence price or supply
buying power
Resources—such as money, goods, and services—that can be traded in an exchange
disposable income
After-tax income
discretionary income
Disposable income available for spending and saving after an individual has purchased the basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter
willingness to spend
An inclination to buy because of expected satisfaction from a product, influenced by the ability to buy and numerous psychological and social forces
business cycle
A pattern of economic fluctuations that has four stages: prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
An agency that regulates a variety of business practices and curbs false advertising, misleading pricing, and deceptive packaging and labeling
Better Business Bureau (BBB)
A local, nongovernmental regulatory agency, supported by local businesses, that helps settle problems between customers and specific business firms
National Advertising Review Board (NARB)
A self-regulatory unit that considers challenges to issues raised by the National Advertising Division (an arm of the Council of Better Business Bureaus) about an advertisement
technology
The application of knowledge and tools to solve problems and perform tasks more efficiently
sociocultural forces
The influences in a society and its culture(s) that change people's attitudes, beliefs, norms, customs, and lifestyles
social responsibility
An organization's obligation to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on society
marketing citizenship
The adoption of a strategic focus for fulfilling the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic social responsibilities expected by stakeholders
ethical issue
An identifiable problem, situation, or opportunity requiring a choice among several actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong, ethical or unethical
cause-related marketing
The practice of linking products to a particular social cause on an ongoing or short-term basis
strategic philanthropy approach
The synergistic use of organizational core competencies and resources to address key stakeholders' interests and achieve both organizational and social benefits
consumerism
Organized efforts by individuals, groups, and organizations to protect consumers' rights
codes of conduct
Formalized rules and standards that describe what a company expects of its employees
marketing research
The systematic design, collection, interpretation, and reporting of information to help marketers solve specific marketing problems or take advantage of marketing opportunities
exploratory research
Research conducted to gather more information about a problem or to make a tentative hypothesis more specific
customer advisory boards
Small groups of actual customers who serve as sounding boards for new-product ideas and offer insights into their feelings and attitudes toward a firm's products and other elements of its marketing strategy
focus group
A small group of 8 to 12 people who are brought together to participate in an interview that is often conducted informally, without a structured questionnaire, to observe interaction when members are exposed to an idea or a concept
conclusive research
Research designed to verify insights through objective procedures and to help marketers in making decisions
descriptive research
Research conducted to clarify the characteristics of certain phenomena to solve a particular problem
experimental research
Research that allows marketers to make causal inferences about relationships between variables
research design
An overall plan for obtaining the information needed to address a research problem or issue
hypothesis
An informed guess or assumption about a certain problem or a certain set of circumstances
reliability
A condition that exists when a research technique produces almost identical results in repeated trials
validity
A condition that exists when a research method measures what it is supposed to measure
primary data
Data observed and recorded or collected directly from respondents
secondary data
Data compiled both inside and outside the organization for some purpose other than the current investigation
population
All the elements, units, or individuals of interest to researchers for a specific study
sample
A limited number of units chosen to represent the characteristics of a total population
sampling
The process of selecting representative units from a total population
probability sampling
A type of sampling in which every element in the population being studied has a known chance of being selected for study
random sampling
A form of probability sampling in which all units in a population have an equal chance of appearing in the sample, and the various events that can occur have an equal or known chance of taking place
stratified sampling
A type of probability sampling in which the population is divided into groups with a common attribute, and a random sample is chosen within each group
nonprobability sampling
A sampling technique in which there is no way to calculate the likelihood that a specific element of the population being studied will be chosen
quota sampling
A nonprobability sampling technique in which researchers divide the population into groups and then arbitrarily choose participants from each group
mail survey
A research method in which respondents answer a questionnaire sent through the mail
telephone survey
A research method in which respondents' answers to a questionnaire are recorded by an interviewer on the phone
telephone depth interview
An interview that combines the traditional focus group's ability to probe with the confidentiality provided by telephone surveys
personal interview survey
A research method in which participants respond to survey questions face-to-face
in-home (door-to-door) interview
A personal interview that takes place in the respondent's home
shopping mall intercept interview
A research method that involves interviewing a percentage of individuals passing by "intercept" points in a mall
on-site computer interview
A variation of the shopping mall intercept interview in which respondents complete a selfadministered questionnaire displayed on a computer monitor
online survey
A research method in which respondents answer a questionnaire via email or on a website
crowdsourcing
Combines the words crowd and outsourcing and calls for taking tasks usually performed by a marketer or researcher and outsourcing them to a crowd, or potential market, through an open call
statistical interpretation
Analysis of what is typical and what deviates from the average
marketing analytics
The use of databases, big data, and measurement methods enabled by technology to interpret the effectiveness of a firm's marketing functions
big data
Involves massive structured and unstructured data sources that can be used by marketers to discover unique insights and make strategic decisions
data silo
A file of fixed data that is in one department isolated from the rest of the organization
database
A collection of information arranged for easy access and retrieval
single-source data
Information provided by a single marketing research firm
marketing decision support system (MDSS)
Customized computer software that aids marketing managers in decision making
marketing information system (MIS)
A framework for managing and structuring information gathered regularly from sources inside and outside the organization