Page 564 - Business Principles and Management

Chapter 20 • Nature and Scope of Marketing

SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES
Marketing managers cannot afford to guess about which types of marketing mixes
to use. Marketing is too expensive and customers have too many choices for
businesses to risk making mistakes. Marketers use concepts such as the product
life cycle and consumer goods categories to plan effective marketing mixes. For
example, if a product is in the growth stage, the mix will be quite different than if it
is in the maturity stage. If consumers view a product as a specialty good, marketers
will emphasize different mix elements than if it is a convenience good. Marketers
study markets and competition and use their knowledge of marketing to make
decisions that will satisfy customer needs and result in a profit for the company.
Many consumer complaints today involve marketing activities. Misleading
advertisements, poor customer service, high prices, and poor delivery are all mar-
keting problems. Businesses must be as careful in making marketing decisions as
they need to be in producing a quality product. In the next two chapters, we will
examine each part of the marketing mix in more detail. You will learn how busi-
nesses plan products and use marketing activities to satisfy customers and attract
them away from competing businesses.

CHECKPOINT
List the four different categories of consumer goods.

20.3 Assessment

UNDERSTAND MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
Circle the best answer for each of the following questions.
1. The product life cycle stage in which there is only one brand of
a product available for consumers to purchase is the
a. introduction stage
b. growth stage
c. maturity stage
d. decline stage
2. Products that customers insist on having and are willing to search
for until they find them are called
a. convenience goods
b. shopping goods
c. specialty goods
d. unsought goods

THINK CRITICALLY
Answer the following questions as completely as possible.
3. Explain why a product’s life cycle stage influences marketing
strategy.
4. Describe the factors that influence consumer
goods classification.

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