Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 2 MB0046 Marketing Management - 4 Credits (Book ID: B 1629) Assignment Set -1 (60

marks)

Q-1 A. Explain the six criteria for effective market segmentation B. Discuss the types of target marketing strategies. A-1. 1. The six criteria in detail are as follows:
1. Identity - The marketing manager must have some means of identifying' members of the segment i.e., some basis for classifying an individual as being or not being a member of the segment. There must be clear differences between segments. 2. Accessibility - It must be possible to reach the different segments in regard to both promotion and distribution. In other words, organization must be able to focus its marketing efforts on the chosen segment. 3. Responsiveness - A clearly defined segment must react to changes in any of the elements of the marketing mix. 4. Size - The segment must be reasonably large to be a profitable target. It depends upon the number of people in it and their purchasing power. 5. Nature of demand - It refers to the different quantities demanded by various segments. Segmentation is required only if there are market differentiation in terms of demand. 6. Measurability - The purpose of segmentation is to measure the changing behavioral pattern of consumers.

2. Types of target marketing strategies:

The targeting strategy largely depends on the kind of product market on the basis coverage that the firm plans for the future. The product market coverage strategies are broadly classified as undifferentiated marketing, concentrated marketing, and differentiated marketing strategies. Undifferentiated marketing strategy or mass marketing strategy: In the absence of a proper mechanism to classify the market into a number of market segments and analyze their potential, many firms decide on the mass marketing strategy. In this case, the marketer goes against the idea a differentiated market and decides to sell the product to the whole market. Concentrated marketing strategy:

In the second alternative strategy, the marketing manager decides to enter into a selected market segment instead of all the available market segments. When resources and market access are limited and the company has to face intense competition, the marketing manager has to stretch the budget for market coverage.

Differentiated marketing strategy: Many marketers choose to target several segments or niches with a differentiated marketing offer to suit each market segment. Maruti is the leading automobile company, which has the distinction of having different products for different market segments.

Q-2. Explain the consumer buying decision process. A-2. Consumer Buying Decision Process:
After discussing the factors that influence the buying behavior, we will discuss the process of consumer decision making. Consumer buying decision process is explained through a number of stages and is influenced by one's psychological framework comprising the individual's personality, learning process, levels of motivation, perception towards products and brands, and formation of positive attitude towards the brand. 1. Problem recognition

A buying process starts when a consumer recognizes that there is a substantial discrepancy between his/her current state of satisfaction and expectations in a consumption situation.A need can be activated through internal or external stimuli. The basic needs of common men rise to a particular level and become a drive. From their previous experiences, they know how to satisfy these needs like hunger, thirst, sex, etc. This is a case of internal stimulus A need can also be aroused by an external stimulus such as sighting a new product in a shop while purchasing other usual products. 2. Information search After need arousal, the behavior of the consumer leads towards collection of available information about various stimuli In this case, information about products and services 'are gathered from various sources for further processing and decision-making. The first source of consumer information is the internal source. This means the consumer first search the information regarding the relevant product from his/her inner memory. If the information is not available from internal source for making a purchase decision he or she may collect information from external sources 3. Alternative evaluation

Once interest in a product(s) is aroused, a consumer enters the subsequent stage of evaluation of alternatives. Evaluation leads to formation of buying intention that can be to either purchase or reject

the product/brand. The final purchase will however depend on the strength of the positive-intention, which is the intention to buy. 4. Purchase decision

Finally the consumer arrives at a purchase decision Purchase decisions can be any one of the three -'no buying, buying later, and buy now. No buying takes the consumers to the problem recognition stage as their consumption problem is not solved and they may again get involved in the process as we have explained. A postponement of buying can be due to a lesser, motivation or evolving personal and economic situation that forces the consumer not to buy now or postponement of purchase for future period of time. Q-3. A. Discuss the Henry Assael model on buying decision behavior. B. Explain the five stages of Adoption Process. A-3. a) Types of Buying Decision Behaviour: Henry Assael Model: Henry Assael has come up with an explanation 'to analyse why consumE buy the goods they buy. He explained the relationship between the level involvement by the consumers in the purchase of goods and services a the level at which diverse goods or services differ from one another. therefore came up with four different buying behaviours as explained figure
High Involvement Low Involvement

Significant differences between brends

Complex Buying Behaviour

Variety Seeking Buying Behaviour

Few differences between brands

Dissonance Reducing Buying Behaviour

Habitual Buying Behaviour

Buying Behaviour Let us now study the buying behaviours in detail: Complex buying behaviour - Consumers are highly involved in purchase and aware of significant differences among brands. This is usually the case when the product is expensive, bought infrequently risky, and highly Self-expressive.

 Dissonance-reducing - Sometimes, the consumer is highly involved a purchase but sees little differences in the brands. The h involvement is based on the fact that the purchase is expensive, infrequent, and risky. Habitual buying behaviour - Many products are bought under conditions flow consumer involvement and the absence of significant brand differences. Considering salt, consumers have little involvement in this product category. Variety-seeking buying - Some buying situations are characterised by low consumer involvement but significant brand differences. Here consumers often do a lot of brand switching. Consumers do the

Answer 3b.) Adoption is a micro concept that lays emphasis on the various phases or stages through
an individual consumer passes while accepting/rejecting a new product or service offering. The study of adoption is important for a marketer in the sense that it helps him understand the various stages through which a consumer passes right from his initial awareness to the final acceptance/rejection. It may so happen that the innovative offering may be existing for long in the market, but the consumer is unaware of it; or, it may have existed in the market for long, but is regarded as new because the consumer has heard of it for the first time. This implies that consumers could differ in the manner they complete their purchase activity, right from initial awareness to the final act of purchase. This could mean that the marketer needs to design his selling strategy accordingly. Schiffman defines adoption as the stages through which an individual consumer passes while arriving at a decision to try or not to try or to continue using or to discontinue using a new product. Consumer researchers have proposed a number of models to describe the steps in the adoption process, viz., Hierarchy of Effects Model, Robertsons model, and Rogers model (see table). The models explain the stages through which a prospect passes to end up being a consumer, right from the stage of initial awareness to final adoption. Generally speaking, the consumer passes through five stages of adoption, viz., awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption (or rejection). The assumption underlying this general model of adoption is that when a new product/service is introduced, prospects go through an information search which could range between limited to extensive; of course, for some products this search is highly limited (routine purchases). The five stages are : i) Awareness: ii) Interest: iii) Evaluation: iv) Trial: v) Adoption (Rejection)

Q-4. Describe the components of the micro environment of marketing. A-4. The Components of Organisation's Micro Environment in detailare as follows:
1. The company Some company factors that affect the marketing decisions are Culture and value system - Organisational culture can be viewed as the system, of shared values and beliefs that shape a company's behavioural norms. A value is an enduring preference as a mode of conduct or an end state.

 Mission and objectives - The mission and objectives of the company guide the priorities, direction of development, business philosophy, and business policy. Management structure and nature - Structure is the manner in which the tasks and sub-tasks of the organisation are related Structure is concerned with the hierarchical relationship and the relationship between the management of different functional areas like the structure and of the top management and the pattern of share holding. Human resource - This concerns factors like manpower planning, recruitment and selection compensation, communication, and appraisal 2. Intermediaries:

Intermediaries are independent business units and they carry the company's products and services to the customers. Prominent intermediaries include wholesalers, retailers, merchants, selling agents, brokers, etc. Their objective of being in business is different than being in a firm, so the intermediaries will be interested in maximising their profits. 3. Public:

Positive and favourable public opinion is crucial to marketing success since the public is the authority that permits the existence and operation of competitive marketing systems. This environmental factor includes the general public, its support, the government, and the set of public who have a direct bearing on business. 4. Competitors: Success or failure of an offer largely depends on how competitors react to the company's offer. Godrej was a successful refrigerator manufacturer. Once competition intensified, the company started losing market share.

5. Suppliers: Increase in the price of raw materials will have a bang on effect on the marketing mix strategy of an organisation. As a result, the prices may be forced up. This is the impact that the suppliers can have. Closer relationship with suppliers is one way of ensuring competitive and quality products for an organisation. 6. Customers: Organisations exist because of customers. No customer means, no business. Organisations' survival depends on h6w they meet the needs and wants of the customers and provide them with maximum benefits. Failure to do so will result in a failed business strategy.

Q-5. A. Explain the types of Marketing Information systems. B. Discuss the different components of MIS. A-5. a) Types of MIS:
MIS supplies three types of information, which are: Monitoring information - Monitoring information is the information obtained from scanning external sources which include newspapers, trade publications, technical journals, magazines, directories, balance sheets of companies, and syndicated and published research reports. Data are captured to monitor changes and trends related to marketing situation. Recurrent information - Recurrent information is the information that generated at regular intervals like monthly, sales reports; the stock statements, the trial balance, etc. In MIS, recurrent information is data that MIS supplies at a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual interval, which are made available regularly. Customised information - Customised information is also called problem-related, which is developed in response to some specific requirements related to a marketing problem or any particular c requested by a manager.

b) Components of MIS:
The different components of MIS are as follows: Internal record systems - Internal record systems are available within the company across various departments and provide relevant, routine information for making marketing decisions. The most evident internal record system is the purchase and payment cycle systems. Marketing intelligence system- A marketing intelligence system is the system of collecting and collating data. This system tries to capture relevant data from the external environment. It collects and manages data from the external environment about the competitors' moves, government regulations. Analytical marketing systems - Analytical marketing systems are also known as Marketing Decision Support Systems (MDSS). A MDSS is coordinated collection of data, systems, tools, and techniques with supporting software and hardware. Using this collection, an, organisation gathers and interprets relevant information from business and environment and turns it into a basis for marketing action. It involves problem-solving technology consisting of people, knowledge, software and hardware Marketing research systems - Marketing research systems are based on systems and processes that help marketing managers to design collect, analyse, and report data and findings relevant to a. specific marketing situation facing the company. It also involves analysis of information, which includes a coordinated, collection of data, systems, tools, and techniques with supporting software, and hardware by which an organisation gathers and interprets the relevant data and turns it into a basis for marketing action and tactics.

Q-6. Describe the factors to be considered while developing an Effective marketing mix. A-6. DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE MARKETING MIX:
To develop an effective marketing mix the company should consider the following factors and then choose the most appropriate mix of elements (7Ps) to target the customers: 1. Company's resources - These are one of the prime factors affecting the company's marketing mix. The financial, human, and technological resources available with the company affect the composition of the marketing mix. The firm needs to conduct a Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat (SWOT) analysis for the business unit. The key points to remember about SWOT are as follows: 2. Demographics - It implies to the changes in the composition of the market, the demand of the population, the opportunities in the country, etc. that affect the marketing mix. 3. Current and projected economic conditions - It connotes the economic factors like inflation, employment, taxes, and other, economic factors that influence marketing mix decisions. 4. Market potential - Analysis of market potential for new products considers market growth, prospect's need for your offering, the benefits of the offering, and the number of barriers to immediate use, the credibility of the offering and the impact on the customer's daily operations. 5. Competitors - They are important considerations that affect the marketing mix of a firm as the potential for competitive retaliation is based on the competitor's resources, commitment to the industry, cash position, predictability, and status of the market. The Porter's five forces analysis model, which is an important tool for assessing the potential for profitability Man industry. It works by looking at the strength of five important forces that affect competition. Let us now study the forces in detail. 1. Supplier power The power of suppliers to drive up the prices of inputs. Buyer power The power of customers to drive down products' prices Competitive rivalry The strength of competition in the industry. 2. Threat of substitution - The extent to which different products and services can be used in place of a particular product.. 3. Threat of new entry - The ease with which new competitors can enter the market .ifthey see that a product is making good, profits (and then drive your prices down). By thinking about how each force affects a product and by identifying the strength and direction of each force, you can quicklyassess the strength of a product's position and ability to make a sustained profit in the industry)