Program: MBA

Semester-III
Course: Syndicated Learning Program
(SLP-3)Academic year: 2023-24

Department of Marketing & Strategy

IBS, IFHE, Hyderabad.

Dr.Mukesh Mishra
Area Head - Department of Marketing & Strategy

Resource Persons:
 Dr.Dwarakanath siriguppi(Course-Coordinator)
 Dr.Amar Raju
 Dr.Anitha Acharya
 Dr.Shivratan agrwal
 Dr.Vijayudu Gnanamkonda
 Dr.Vikas Gautham

S.No. Broader Topic Pg. No.

3-10

1 1.1 Marketing
Analytics

2 1.2 Brand
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 Management 11-14
2

15-19
3 1.3 Product
Management

20-29
1.4
4
Marketing
Research

30-32
5 1.5 Digital
marketing

33-40
1.6 Customer
6 Relationship
Management
7 1.7 Retail
41-56
Management

8 1.8 B2B Marketing

57-60

9 1.9 Sales &

61-64
Distribution
Management

10 1.10 Consumer
65-70
Behaviour

11 1.11 Services
71-74
Marketing

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FAQs –Marketing Electives

1.1 Marketing Analytics

1) What do you think is the responsibility of a Data analyst?
Ans:
Responsibility of a Data analyst may include, providing support to all data analysis and coordinate with
customers and staffs; resolving business associated issues for clients and performing audit on data; analyzing
results and interpreting data using statistical techniques and provide ongoing reports; prioritizing business
needs and work closely with management and information needs; identifying new process or areas for
improvement opportunities; analyzing, identifying and interpreting trends or patterns in complex data sets;
acquiring data from primary or secondary data sources and maintaining databases/data systems; filtering and
“cleaning” data, and reviewing computer reports; determining performance indicators to locate and correct
code problems; securing database by developing access system by determining user level of access.

2) What is required to become a data analyst?

Ans:
To become a data analyst, robust knowledge on reporting packages (Business Objects), programminglanguage
(XML, Javascript, or ETL frameworks), databases (SQL, SQLite, etc.); strong skills with the abilityto analyze,
organize, collect and disseminate big data with accuracy; technical knowledge in database design,data models,
data mining and segmentation techniques; strong knowledge on statistical packages for analyzinglarge datasets
(SAS, Excel, SPSS, etc.) are required.

3) What are various steps in an analytics project?

Ans:
Various steps in an analytics project include Problem definition; Data exploration; Data preparation;
Modelling; Validation of data; Implementation and tracking.

4) Mention what is data cleansing?

Ans:
Data cleaning also referred as data cleansing, deals with identifying and removing errors and inconsistencies
from data in order to enhance the quality of data.

5) List out some of the best practices for data cleaning?

Ans:

Some of the best practices for data cleaning includes, sort data by different attributes; for large datasets cleanse
it stepwise and improve the data with each step until you achieve a good data quality. For large datasets, break
them into small data. Working with less data will increase your iteration speed. To handle common cleansing
task create a set of utility functions/tools/scripts. It might include, remapping values based on a CSV file or
SQL database. If you have an issue with data cleanliness, arrange them by estimated frequency and attack the
most common problems. Analyze the summary statistics for each column (standard deviation, mean, number
of missing values). Keep track of every date cleaning operation, so you can alter changes or remove operations
if required

6) What is logistic regression?

Ans:
Logistic regression is a statistical method for examining a dataset in which there are one or more
independent variables that defines an outcome.

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 7) List of some best tools that can be useful for data-analysis.
Ans: R; R Studio; MS-Excel Advanced; Tableau; Spotfire; RapidMiner; OpenRefine; Google Search
Operators; Solver; Python; SAS; SPSS

8) What is the difference between data mining and data profiling?

Ans:
Data profiling: It targets on the instance analysis of individual attributes. It gives information on
various attributes like value range, discrete value and their frequency, occurrence of null values, data type,
length, etc. Data mining: It focuses on cluster analysis, detection of unusual records, dependencies, sequence
discovery, relation holding between several attributes, etc.

9) List out some common problems faced by data analyst?

Ans:
Some of the common problems faced by data analyst are Common misspelling; Duplicate entries;
Missing values; Illegal values; varying value representations; Identifying overlapping data

10) Mention the name of the framework developed by Apache for processing large data
set for an application in a distributed computing environment?
Ans:
Hadoop and MapReduce is the programming framework developed by Apache for processing large data set
for an application in a distributed computing environment.

11) What are the missing patterns that are generally observed?
Ans:
The missing patterns that are generally observed are: Missing completely at random; Missing at random;
Missing that depends on the missing value itself; Missing that depends on unobserved input variable.

12) What are the data validation methods used by data analyst?
Ans:
Usually, methods used by data analyst for data validation are: Data screening; Data verification

13) What should be done with suspected or missing data?

Ans:
Prepare a validation report that gives information of all suspected data. It should give information like
validation criteria that it failed and the date and time of occurrence. Experienced personnel should examine
the suspicious data to determine their acceptability. Invalid data should be assigned and replaced with a
validation code. To work on missing data, use the best analysis strategy like deletion method, single imputation
methods, model based methods, etc.

14) How to deal the multi-source problems?

Ans:
To deal the multi-source problems, restructuring of schemas is done to accomplish a schema integration;
identify similar records and merge them into single record containing all relevant attributes without
redundancy.

15) What is an Outlier?

The outlier is a commonly used terms by analysts referred for a value that appears far away and
diverges from an overall pattern in a sample. There are two types of Outliers: Univariate; Multivariate.

16) What is Hierarchical Clustering Algorithm?

Hierarchical clustering algorithm combines and divides existing groups, creating a hierarchical
structure that showcase the order in which groups are divided or merged.

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 17) What is K-mean Algorithm?
Ans:
K-mean is a famous partitioning method. Objects are classified as belonging to one of K groups, K is chosen
a priori. In K-mean algorithm, the clusters are spherical (i.e. the data points in a cluster are centered around
that cluster); the variance/ spread of the clusters is similar (i.e. each data point belongs to the closest cluster)

18) Mention what are the key skills required for Marketing Data Analyst?
Ans:
A marketing data scientist must have the following skills
Database knowledge (Database management; Data blending; Querying; Data manipulation)
Predictive Analytics (Basic descriptive statistics; Predictive modeling; advanced analytics)
Big Data Knowledge (Big data analytics; unstructured data analysis; Machine learning)
Presentation skill (Data visualization; Insight presentation; Report design)

19) What is collaborative filtering?

Ans:
Collaborative filtering is a simple algorithm to create a recommendation system based on user’s behavioral
data. The most important components of collaborative filtering are users- items-interest. A good example of
collaborative filtering is when you see a statement like “recommended for you” on online shopping sites that’s
pops out based on your browsing history.

20) What are the tools used in Big Data?

Ans:
Tools used in Big Data includes: Hadoop, Hive, Pig, Flume, Mahout, Sqoop.

21) What is KPI, design of experiments and 80/20 rule?

Ans:
KPI is Key Performance Indicator- a metric that consists of any combination of spreadsheets, reports or charts
about business process.
Design of experiments- the initial process used to split data, sample and set up of a data for statistical analysis.
80/20 rules- means that 80 percent of your income comes from 20 percent of your clients.

22) What is Clustering? What are the properties for clustering algorithms?
Ans:
Clustering is a classification method that is applied to data. Clustering algorithm divides a data set into natural
groups or clusters. Properties for clustering algorithm are Hierarchical or flat; Iterative; Hard and soft;
Disjunctive.

23) What are some of the statistical methods that are useful for data-analyst?

Ans:
Statistical methods that are useful for data scientist are: Bayesian method; Markov process; Spatial and cluster
processes; Rank statistics, percentile, outliers’ detection; Imputation techniques, etc.; Simplex algorithm;
Mathematical optimization.

24) What is time series analysis?

Time series analysis can be done in two domains, frequency domain and the time domain. In Time series
analysis the output of a particular process can be forecast by analyzing the previous data by the help of various
methods like exponential smoothening, log-linear regression method, etc.

25) What is imputation? List out different types of imputation techniques?

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 Ans:
During imputation we replace missing data with substituted values. The types of imputation
techniques involve are:
Single Imputation
Hot-deck imputation: A missing value is imputed from a randomly selected similar record by
the help of punch card
Cold deck imputation: It works same as hot deck imputation, but it is more advanced and
selects donors from another datasets
Mean imputation: It involves replacing missing value with the mean of that variable for all
other cases.
Regression imputation: It involves replacing missing value with the predicted values of a
variable based on other variables.
Stochastic regression: It is same as regression imputation, but it adds the average regression
variance to regression imputation.
Multiple Imputations
Unlike single imputation, multiple imputation estimates the values multiple times

26) Which imputation method is more favorable?

Ans:
Although single imputation is widely used, it does not reflect the uncertainty created by missing data at
random. So, multiple imputations is more favorable then single imputation in case of data missing at
random.

27) Explain what is the criterion for a good data model?

Ans:
Criteria for a good data model includes: It can be easily consumed; Large data changes in a good model should
be scalable; It should provide predictable performance; A good model can adapt to changes in requirements.

28) What is the difference between Data Mining and Data Analysis?
Ans:
Data Mining Data Analysis
Used to order & organize raw data in a
Used to recognize patterns in data stored.
meaningful manner.
The analysis of data involves Data Cleaning.
Mining is performed on clean and well-
So, data is not present in a well- documented
documented data.
format.
Results extracted from data mining are not Results extracted from data analysis are easy to
easy to interpret. interpret.

29) What do you think are the criteria to say whether a developed data model is good or not?
Ans:

The answer may vary from person to person. But below are a few criteria which I think are a must to be
considered to decide whether a developed data model is good or not:
A model developed for the dataset should have predictable performance. This is required to predict the future.
A model is said to be a good model if it can easily adapt to changes according to business requirements.
If the data gets changed, the model should be able to scale according to the data.
The model developed should also be able to easily consumed by the clients for actionable and profitable
results.

30) Can you tell what is a waterfall chart and when do we use it?
6
 Ans:
The waterfall chart shows both positive and negative values which lead to the final result value. For example,
if you are analyzing a company’s net income, then you can have all the cost values in this chart. With such
kind of a chart, you can visually, see how the value from revenue to the net income is obtained when all the
costs are deducted.

31) How can you highlight cells with negative values in Excel?
Ans:
You can highlight cells with negative values in Excel by using the conditional formatting. Below are the steps
that you can follow:
Select the cells which you want to highlight with the negative values.
Go to the Home tab and click on the Conditional Formatting option
Go to the Highlight Cell Rules and click on the Less Than option.
In the dialog box of Less than, specify the value as 0.

32) How can you clear all the formatting without actually removing the cell contents?
Ans:
Sometimes you may want to remove all the formatting and just want to have the basic/simple data. To do this,
you can use the ‘Clear Formats’ options found in the Home Tab. You can evidently see the option when you
click on the ‘Clear’ drop down.

33) What is a Pivot Table, and what are the different sections of a Pivot Table?
Ans:
A Pivot Table is a simple feature in Microsoft Excel which allows you to quickly summarize huge datasets. It
is really easy to use as it requires dragging and dropping rows/columns headers to create reports.
A Pivot table is made up of four different sections:
Values Area: Values are reported in this area
Rows Area: The headings which are present on the left of the values.
Column Area: The headings at the top of the values area makes the columns area.
Filter Area: This is an optional filter used to drill down in the data set.

34) Can you make a Pivot Table from multiple tables?

Ans:
Yes, we can create one Pivot Table from multiple different tables when there is a connection between these
tables.

35) How can we select all blank cells in Excel?

Ans:
If you wish to select all the blank cells in Excel, then you can use the Go To Special Dialog Box in Excel.
Below are the steps that you can follow to select all the blank cells in Excel.
First, select the entire dataset and press F5. This will open a Go To Dialog Box.
Click the ‘Special‘button which will open a Go To special Dialog box.
After that, select the Blanks and click on OK.
The final step will select all the blank cells in your dataset.

36) What are the most common questions you should ask a client before creating a dashboard?
Ans:
The answer may vary on a case-to-case basis. But, here are a few common questions that you can ask while
creating a dashboard in Excel.
Purpose of the Dashboards
Different data sources
Usage of the Excel Dashboard
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 The frequency at which the dashboard needs to be updated
The version of Office the client uses.

37) What is a Print Area and how can you set it in Excel?
Ans:
A Print Area in Excel is a range of cells that you designate to print whenever you print that worksheet. For
example, if you just want to print the first 20 rows from the entire worksheet, then you can set the first 20 rows
as the Print Area.
Now, to set the Print Area in Excel, you can follow the below steps:
Select the cells for which you want to set the Print Area.
Then, click on the Page Layout Tab.
Click on Print Area.
Click on Set Print Area.

38) What steps can you take to handle slow Excel workbooks?
Ans:
Well, there are various ways to handle slow Excel workbooks. But, here are a few ways in which you can
handle workbooks.
Try using manual calculation mode.
Maintain all the referenced data in a single sheet.
Often use excel tables and named ranges.
Use Helper columns instead of array formulas.
Try to avoid using entire rows or columns in references.
Convert all the unused formulas to values.

39) Can you sort multiple columns at one time?

Ans:
Multiple sorting refers to the sorting of a column and then sorting the other column by keeping the first column
intact. In Excel, you can definitely sort multiple columns at a one time.
To do multiple sorting, you need to use the Sort Dialog Box. Now, to get this, you can select the data that you
want to sort and then click on the Data Tab. After that, click on the Sort icon.
In this Dialog box, you can specify the details for one column, and then sort to another column, by clicking
on the Add Level button.

40) What do you understand by the term Normal Distribution?

This is one of the most important and widely used distributions in statistics. Commonly known as the Bell
Curve or Gaussian curve, normal distributions, measure how much values can differ in their means and in
their standard deviations. Refer to the below image.

Fig: Normal Distribution – Data Analyst Interview Questions

As you can see in the above image, data is usually distributed around a central value without any bias to the
left or right side. Also, the random variables are distributed in the form of a symmetrical bell-shaped curve.

41) What is A/B Testing?

Ans:
A/B testing is the statistical hypothesis testing for a randomized experiment with two variables A and B. Also
known as the split testing, it is an analytical method that estimates population parameters based on sample
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 statistics. This test compares two web pages by showing two variants A and B, to a similar number of visitors,
and the variant which gives better conversion rate wins. The goal of A/B Testing is to identify if there are any
changes to the web page. For example, if you have a banner ad on which you have spent an ample amount of
money. Then, you can find out the return of investment i.e. the click rate through the banner ad.

42) What is the statistical power of sensitivity?

Ans:
The statistical power of sensitivity is used to validate the accuracy of a classifier. This classifier can be either
Logistic Regression, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest etc. Sensitivity is nothing but the ratio of
Predicted True Events to Total Events. Now, True Events are the events which were true and the model also
predicts them as true.

Fig: Seasonality Formula – Data Analyst Interview Questions

43) What is the Alternative Hypothesis?

Ans:
To explain the Alternative Hypothesis, you can first explain what the null hypothesis is. Null Hypothesis is a
statistical phenomenon that is used to test for possible rejection under the assumption that result of chance
would be true. After this, you can say that the alternative hypothesis is again a statistical phenomenon which
is contrary to the Null Hypothesis. Usually, it is considered that the observations are a result of an effect with
some chance of variation.

44) What is the difference between univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis?
Ans:
The differences between univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis are as follows:
Univariate: A descriptive statistical technique that can be differentiated based on the count of variables
involved at a given instance of time. Bivariate: This analysis is used to find the difference between two
variables at a time. Multivariate: The study of more than two variables is nothing but multivariate analysis.
This analysis is used to understand the effect of variables on the responses.

45) Can you tell me what are Eigenvectors and Eigenvalues?

Ans:
Eigenvectors: Eigenvectors are basically used to understand linear transformations. These are calculated for
a correlation or a covariance matrix. For definition purposes, you can say that Eigenvectors are the directions
along which a specific linear transformation acts either by flipping, compressing or stretching. Eigenvalue:
Eigenvalues can be referred to as the strength of the transformation or the factor by which the compression
occurs in the direction of eigenvectors.

46) What is the difference between 1-Sample T-test, and 2-Sample T-test?
Ans:
T-Tests are a type of hypothesis tests, by which you can compare means. Each test that you perform on your
sample data, brings down your sample data to a single value i.e. T-value. Refer below for the formula.

Fig: Formula to calculate t-value – Data Analyst Interview Questions

e.g. the analogy of the signal-to-noise ratio, since the formula is in a ratio format.
Here, the numerator would be a signal and the denominator would be the noise. So, to calculate 1-Sample T-
test, you have to subtract the null hypothesis value from the sample mean. If your sample mean is equal to 7
9
 and the null hypothesis value is 2, then the signal would be equal to 5. So, we can say that the difference
between the sample mean and the null hypothesis is directly proportional to the strength of the signal. Now,
if you observe the denominator which is the noise, in our case it is the measure of variability known as the
standard error of the mean. So, this basically indicates how accurately your sample estimates the mean of the
population or your complete dataset. So, you can consider that noise is indirectly proportional to the precision
of the sample. Now, the ratio between the signal-to-noise is how you can calculate the T-Test 1. So, you can
see how distinguishable your signal is from the noise. To calculate, 2-Sample Test, you need to find out the
ratio between the differences of the two samples to the null hypothesis. To summarize, the 1-Sample T-test
determines how a sample set holds against a mean, while the 2-Sample T-test determines if the mean between
2 sample sets is really significant for the entire population or purely by chance.

47) What are different types of Hypothesis Testing?

Ans:
The different types of hypothesis testing are as follows:
T-test: T-test is used when the standard deviation is unknown and the sample size is comparatively small.
Chi-Square Test for Independence: These tests are used to find out the significance of the association between
categorical variables in the population sample.
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): This kind of hypothesis testing is used to analyze differences between the
means in various groups. This test is often used similarly to a T-test but, is used for more than two groups.
Welch’s T-test: This test is used to find out the test for equality of means between two population samples.

48) What is the difference between variance and covariance?

Ans:
Variance and Covariance are two mathematical terms which are used frequently in statistics. Variance
basically refers to how apart numbers are in relation to the mean. Covariance, on the other hand, refers to how
two random variables will change together. This is basically used to calculate the correlation between
variables.

49) What is the basic syntax style of writing code in SAS?

Ans:
The basic syntax style of writing code in SAS is as follows:
Write the DATA statement which will basically name the dataset.
Write the INPUT statement to name the variables in the data set.
All the statements should end with a semi-colon.
There should be a proper space between word and a statement.

50) What are the different types of Joins?

Ans:
The various types of joins used to retrieve data between tables are Inner Join, Left Join, Right Join and Full
Outer Join. Refer to the image on the right side.

Inner join: Inner Join in MySQL is the most common type of join. It is used to return all the rows from multiple

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 Tables where the join condition is satisfied.
Left Join: Left Join in MySQL is used to return all the rows from the left table, but only the matching rows
from the right table where the join condition is fulfilled.
Right Join: Right Join in MySQL is used to return all the rows from the right table, but only the matching
rows from the left table where the join condition is fulfilled.
Full Join: Full join returns all the records when there is a match in any of the tables. Therefore, it returns all
the rows from the left-hand side table and all the rows from the right-hand side table.

1.2 Brand Management

1. Is price premium same as brand equity?

Price premium is one widely accepted operationalization of brand equity. One effect of customer’s differential
response is measured in terms of willingness to pay for a branded vs unbranded product i.e. price premium.

2. Is “Bengali Sweets’ a brand?

No, as it does not clearly identify the source nor clearly differentiates. Two shops selling the same ‘Bengali
sweets’ can be different.

3. What’s the difference between trademark and brand logo?

A trademark is a recognizable insignia, phrase, word, or symbol that denotes a specific product and legally
differentiates it from all other products of its kind. A trademark exclusively identifies a product as belonging
to a specific company and recognizes the company's ownership of the brand. Thus, a logo registered for
commercial trade purposes can be a trademark.

4. What does it mean for a company that Brand Image is different from Brand Identity?
It means the company is not able to form the image it set out to do and is missing its objectives. This could
primarily be driven by poor communication or because customers are connoting other unintended associations.

5. When should a firm go for umbrella branding rather than individual branding?
To gain demand side benefits of higher brand awareness levels, greater brand meaning clarity, consistency,
synergies across products, brand extension opportunities for a brand perceived to be versatile. This helps have
a focused and concentrated brand building effort. Supply side benefits like positive spill over from others,
operational efficiencies for new and old products, integrated and synergistic marketing for all products leading
to incremental brand awareness and knowledge.

6. When should a firm attempt individual branding?

When the brand reputation risk is high (negative connotations with parent brand) or when the brand dilution
risk is high (unrelated, too broad diversification or mixed/ unclear positioning) then individual brand is better.

Also, if the target segment is diverse (To focus on niche) or when positioning is to be specific (change
economical to / from premium) then individual branding is preferred.

7. How does brand equity translate to brand value?

A Marketing program investments change customer mindset leading to better market performance delivering
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 better shareholder value thereby creating brand value. Thus, cash-flows from customer purchases provide
customer lifetime values, and this leads to customer equity and translates to goodwill and financial worth of
the brand.

8. With reference to the CBBE pyramid, what is the ultimate goal of a brand manager?
Build intense active loyalty.

9. When is it advisable to kill a brand?

If a brand has lost relevance, is performing poorly and when it is not possible to rejuvenate / revitalize it. This
includes the condition where the cost incurable for the same outweigh possible gains. Additionally, one may
kill a brand if it is too broadly diversified from the portfolio and the parent firm wants to focus and concentrate.
Also, if market overlap and brand meaning overlap is high with some other brand leading to cannibalizing the
sales, a given brand may be killed. If the brand equity is negative and unlikely to improve, one may consider
killing the brand.

10. What are the key elements of positioning a brand?

Positioning is the process of placing the brand in the minds of the customer viz.-a-viz. the bran’s competitors.
Essential elements / components include providing a frame of reference (F-O-R), identifying points of parity
P-o-P) and points of differentiation (P-o-D) with respect to the competition.

11. Which brand element is most prone to copying and thus, less protectable?
Packaging & Signage.

12. How can a Brand benefit from other brands’ brand equity?
A brand can leverage other brands’ brand equity by association. The meaning transfer / spill-over effect aids
the secondary brand to uplift (or downgrade) the primary brand’s brand equity. These can be done by means
of brand alliances, ingredient branding, using parent company brand name and with the help of brand
extensions.

13. What is the difference between brand extension and product line extension?
A product line extension pertains to an offering in the same product category using the same brand name. A
brand extension relates to an offering in a different product category using the existing brand name.

14. What do mean by multi-brands strategy?

This is an approach by a firm that has many different brand (names) offerings in the same product category.
E.g. Ariel and Tide by P&G.

15. What is adaptation vs standardization in branding?

Standardization implies providing the same branding (promotion) across markets. Adaptation relates to
modifying the promotion approach (or product offering) to suit the target market. Considerations for a choice
between them include time, cost and speed of planning and delivery; global image, effectiveness,
customization, cultural sensitivity and sociological factors, legal issues, and market development levels.

16. What is a niche brand?

A niche brand is brand that caters to very limited set of customers who are willing to pay much more due to
their perception about the superior quality that the brand offers. Example of niche brand is Louis Vuitton.

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 17. What is a ‘private label’?
A private label is a brand that is owned by a retailer. It is also called ‘retailer’s brand’. Examples of Indian
private labels are Knighthood and DJ &C from Big Bazaar.
18. Do you think Virat Kohli (or any other cricketer) is a brand? Why?
Yes, Virat Kohli is a brand because the very purpose of a brand is: a) to differentiate the product/ service from
the competitor, and b) to act as a promise of quality and value that product/ service offers to the user or
customer.
Kohli fits both cases: a) We can always differentiate Virat Kohli as cricketer and captain from the rest, and b)
Virat Kohli as a cricketer promises the Indian team, Indian supporters as well as his franchisee match winning
performances as a batsman and absolute commitment and aggression as a captain.
19. Which is more important - the product or the brand?
It is totally dependent upon the context. If it’s an absolute new brand (launch of its first product) then the
product will take precedence as the product’s performance (functionally and/ or emotionally) will create the
reputation that in turn will build the brand. However, for an existing brand the ‘brand’ takes the precedence
as every product is embedded with the value proposition that the brand makes.
20. What is brand valuation? Can you state one brand valuation technique?
Ideally speaking, brand valuation means the process of estimating the monetary/ financial value of a brand.
One of the popular measures of brand valuation is the ‘market capitalization’ method. Market capitalization
method can be explained as the difference between the traded price and the face value of the share multiplied
by the number of outstanding shares in the market.
21. What is the fundamental difference between brand promotion through online media and that of
offline media?
The major fundamental difference is the reach. In online media the promotion can be more individualized and
can be designed to reach specific audience. Offline media is less customized and more mass promotion in
nature.
22. What is ‘rebranding’?
Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof
is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in theminds
of consumers, investors, competitors, and other stakeholders.
23. Explain Perceptual Mapping?
Perceptual mapping is a diagrammatic technique used by marketers that attempts to visually display the
perceptions of customers or potential customers. Typically the position of a company's product, product line,
or brand is displayed relative to their competition.
24. Can you explain the BCG Matrix using ITC or HUL or any other brand portfolio?
Technically, Sir/ Madam the BCG Matrix is for SBUs that deal with portfolios of products and brands.
Therefore, I can draw and explain the BCG Matrix for ITC/ HUL given their respective SBUs but not
considering the brands they own.
25. What is your opinion on international car (any other product) brands entering the Indian
market?
Indian automobile (other product) market is growing primarily because of growth in disposable income in the
urban and semi-urban markets. Entry level cars are now becoming affordable for the middle class and the
upper middle class. In addition, the upper market segments are also seeing increase in demand primarily due
to growth in the upper middle class and the HNI segment. Another important reason for growth of international
brands is the availability of easy credit and EMI options.
26. Explain the Brand Asset Valuator model.
(Please refer to the text book for detailed explanation).

27. I have launched a new product (say a cell phone). How should go about building its brand?

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 Brand building is a process that is primarily alluded to creating/ building customer based brand equity. The
brand building blocks are fundamentals of brand pyramid (CBBE) proposed by Keller? (The student should
go on to explain Keller’s brand pyramid model)
28. We are XYZ Bank. How do you think we should brand our products (say the savings and current
accounts)?
It is a fact that in most cases savings and current accounts (retail liability products) have their own categories
and names. However, in most cases customers just know that they are having such accounts and are unfamiliar
or unsure of the specific names and types of the accounts (savings or current) they hold. Moreover, the needs
of accountholders by themselves are different (example, salary account, senior citizen account NRI account.
Similarly, for high value current account and low value current account). Therefore, I would think that it’s
better to focus on the broad types of retail liability products (accounts) than specific product. Once, the
customer is approached specific account may be offered to him.
29. Why should a brand localize?
The brand should primarily localize to cater to the tastes and specific needs of the local markets. For example,
in Hyderabad Subway uses ‘halal’ meat and does not sell pork and beef. In Kolkata, Subway uses non- halal
meat and sells ham salami sandwiches.
30. What is brand architecture?
In the field of brand management, brand architecture is the structure of brands within an organizational entity.
It is the way in which the brands within a company's portfolio are related to, and differentiated from, one
another. The brand architecture should define the different forms of branding within the organization; how the
corporate brand and sub-brands relate to and support each other; and how the sub-brands reflect or reinforce
the core purpose of the corporate brand to which they belong. For example, Tata follows a ‘branded house’
architecture where the individual product brands (Tata Tea) just explains the product type or category and the
corporate brand ‘Tata” takes the lead in delivering the brand promise. In contrast, HUL (Kissan, Modern etc.)
and P&G ‘house of brands’ architecture where the corporate brands allow the individual product brands to
take lead in the marketing strategies.
31. Which is more important – product/ service branding or organization branding?
It depends upon the architecture. ‘House of brands’ focuses on individual products or services whereas
‘Branded house’ focuses on the organization/ corporate brand. It is interesting to notice however, that service
organizations primarily use ‘branded house’ architecture, for example, IndiGo, LIC, HDFC Bank, Airtel etc.
32. Which are the major public sector banks in India? (HDFC Bank/ ICICI Bank major public
sector competitors)
SBI, Bank of Baroda, PNB, Canara Bank, Central Bank
33. What is brand loyalty?
Brand loyalty may be explained as the customer’s positive feelings towards a brand and dedication to be
connected with the brand not only at present but also in the future. Brand loyalty generally gets manifested
through re-purchase, willingness to pay price premium, and spreading positive WOM.

34. Explain ‘Brand Identity/ Kapferer’s Prism’.

Refer to the text book and use a suitable live example to explain.

35. Why do you think marketers use different marketing mix for the same brand across markets?
The primary reason for using different mix across markets is the effect of culture or sub culture. Let’s take the
case of India, Cadbury brings out its Celebrations pack where the packaging depicts ‘Rakhee’ or ‘Deeya’
during Raksha Bandhan or Diwali and these ads are generally shown in Hindi and is primarily sold in north
India. The same product gets a packaging of the idol of ‘Durga’ and is primarily targeted at West Bengal and
eastern India during the period leading up to Durga Puja. The ads during that time are primarily in Benghali.

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 1.3 Product Management

1. What do companies look for in a new Product Manager?

Ans: Aside from intellect & smartness, the power to adapt, think and act on own feet, ability to work with
multiple types of teams, ability to prioritize features that they already know users are looking for, are few other
qualities companies usually look for in a candidate. A Product Manager has to be resilient, strategic and
insightful.

2. How would you describe our product to someone who wanted something similar, only Rs20
cheaper?
Ans: After a thorough research on what our product is, I will know enough to speak about them with familiarity
to the market. I will preferably use User testimonials, Specific product features; and Cost-benefit overview to
explain and justify why ours is Rs20 more. I can highlight features such as it syncs to user’s smartphone,
computer and other devices to save a lot of time and hassle. The users have ability to control it when they're
at home or on vacation, and rarely have to contact customer support for help with an issue.
3. If the company is about to roll out the successor to its most well-known product, how would you
position the legacy product so that it continues to sell well?
Ans: Before launching a successor, I would look for: Practical solution, Knowledge of consumer practices,
and Understanding of targeted consumers. For example, I would lower the price so that you're able to reach
the budget-conscious consumers who make up about 30 percent of company’s base. The new product would
appeal more to consumers who prioritize having something more recent and advanced.
4. How do you manage a new product launch? What tactics, strategies and processes do you use?
Ans: Without a good teamwork and a time bound schedule in the launch project it won’t be possible. Hence,
I would assess team effort, mention of timeline, and tracking of progress. For example, I would develop a

launch plan based on input from teams such as support, testing and product management. I may seek advice
from key stakeholders when setting a schedule with dates and deliverables. Weekly meetings as the launch
date approaches would be required to ensure everything is on track, so also checking that we're staying on
track by continuing to design and market the product toward the right audience.
5. Take a typical day in your life as a product manager. What's something you would perhaps
prefer to skip?
Ans: Whether teamwork or collaboration, practically nothing can be skipped. Even all supporting details, and
cultural fit are important. Having said this, if I would still have to skip something, then it would be probably
extensive documentation. I think any product manager would like to skip it sometimes. It's a vital process, of
course, and something I never do hold back on. Working with customers and developers and meeting deadlines
is what I particularly enjoy, so the paperwork side feels slow in comparison.
6. How do you know when a product is designed well?
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 Ans: There may not always be a consensus on what is to be called a good product design. To me, a good design
would fit with the priorities, of the company as well as of the users. For example, a product is well- designed
when it's simple, intuitive and promises what it delivers. Consumers should be able to use it out of the box
without thumbing through a hundred pages in a manual. Plus, a well-designed product today should be
environmentally friendly. I shouldn't be able to notice a waste of resources such as excessive packaging.
7. What would you improve about our product?
Ans: After quickly learning about the company’s product(s) and thinking critically about it, I would see pros
of the execution/ example of something that has succeeded, and something that didn't go well. For example, a
creative job done for executing the product, and the buildup to the product reveal could be pros. But, it’s better
to narrow the focus of the product so that it does not confuse the market if it was meant for parents or children.
8. What technical skill do you have that sets you apart as a product manager?
Ans: As a product manager, I have to have good skills on data collection, interactive prototyping, coding,
analytics and other area with a balance. This is because, if I am good at A/B testing, analytics and statistical
skills, I would be able to determine ideas for a product launch, devising a new test with the variables better
controlled. I need to know in-depth the customers' pain points.
9. What was the hardest decision you had to make as a product manager? How did you handle it?
(For experienced candidate)
Ans: Product managers must make strong complex decisions. You’re looking for the analysis that went into
the decision, the research that was done, and the result or impact that happened as a result of the decision. A
hard decision is driven by recognizing that a recommendation is going to impact a lot of people, and the
business overall. It might be a personnel decision or perhaps a dramatic change in product direction. Hard
decisions imply having to convince a lot of people of a point of view. Listen for the process that was employed
to get agreement from the company to proceed with the decision.
10. What are the identifiable differences between a project manager and a product manager?
Ans: A project manager will drive the day to day activities for every meeting, will be very detailed about
who’s doing what, and will be responsible for the on-budget and on-time delivery of commitments. A product
manager is also responsible for the delivery but they will act more as a business owner, responsible for the
success or failure of the product or service in the market.
11. Can you describe a scenario as a product manager where you failed? And what did you learn from
it? (For experienced candidate)

Ans: As an experienced personnel I can tell that the bigger challenge any product manager would face is not
to find fault with a decision or outcome within their realm of responsibility. The learnings are key, as the type
of failure they encountered should be material to the results of the product or service that they were working
on. Listen for an admission of failure to identify the customer properly, or perhaps the product or service was
too early for the market. Don’t try to compete in a saturated market where differentiation was hard to identify
or does not have enough value. Other challenges might be internal to the company operations, i.e. pricing it
effectively, or the pricing model complexity. If the solution was too complex for onboarding, then perhaps the
churn rates will be too high. If there was not marketing and sales team to get the word out, then perhaps they
will be unable to make the case for a strong business plan.
12. Product managers will often have to manage personnel issues or conflicts. Can you describe a
time where you had to deal with a personnel issue? (For experienced candidate)

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 Ans: In some cases, an individual just might not be a fit, and that person—while they have great talents in
certain areas—might need to rethink their professional goals. If it’s not a direct report, they may have
coordinated with the direct manager. The product manager needs to manage the situation and make the changes
that will get the team back on track. An experienced product manager may have developed a performance
improvement plan, which they have to monitor and review with the employee on a weekly or monthly basis.
In larger enterprises, this might include human resources. Termination or reassignment may be required at
times. It needs to be explored how this type of situation occurs and its result. Concrete steps to beformulated
to get the team back on track.
13. How do you monitor performance and success? (For experienced candidate)
Ans: A professional product manager will have a strong set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that they
will monitor in order to understand their position, growth, progress and success. There are four key categories
to listen for, including business metrics, product usage metrics, product development metrics, and product
quality metrics. Listen for a solid selection of KPIs, e.g. Revenues or bookings, Funnel, Retention, attrition,
churn, customer lifetime value, Customer counts, Velocity, time to revenue, onboarding times etc. Product
managers should also be using KPIs to plan for growth, perhaps in their NetOps environments or of onboarding
resources to meet more demand. Likewise, if the support and maintenance metrics are reducing, look for an
adjustment of engineering resources as an appropriate data-driven management decision.
14. Have you ever been in a situation where your team has let you down and you’ve had to take the
blame? (For experienced candidate)
Ans: A professional product manager will always manage the communications around “fault.” For a team
effort, they would ultimately own the responsibility for the delay, taking the blame and need to learn from that
experience to correct estimates and commitments for the future. If the delay was caused by malfeasance or
lack of skills, then corrective action should be initiated by the product manager. Performing a root cause
analysis for the delay is important and should be part of every continuous improvement initiative. In discussing
this with your candidate, listen for the business approach to addressing slippages.
15. What was your most successful product as product manager? (For experienced candidate)
Ans: A professional product manager will be able to point to simplify their achievements in terms that relate
to business results. For example, even for highly complex technological innovations, they should be able to
convert it into business values. “Our team created and patented complex machine learning algorithm to predict
traffic volumes” is a reasonable response. But this has not provided the “So what?” answer. “Our team created
and patented complex machine learning algorithm to predict traffic volumes, reducing congestion by 30% and
traffic accidents by 15%.” Drill down into the details of the project to confirm that they were actuallydriving
the effort, not just part of the team.
16. How do you define market opportunity in a business plan?

Ans: Market opportunity can be described in various ways, including the total dollar value available in the
market. Often referred to as total addressable market (TAM), it represents the current and growing (future)
total value of what everyone will spend on solutions of the same type. The compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) represents the speed at which the market is growing, and would often also be referenced when talking
about a market size. A product manager should also be able to describe the portion of that whole value that
would be available to them, which represents their potential market share (or addressable market). This value
might be represented as a percentage of the market, or in a dollar value.
17. Can you describe how the product management team participates in sales enablement?
Ans: An experienced product manager embraces the responsibility for the success of the product or service.
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 He understands the needs of the marketing and sales departments and invest time to educate sales, systems
engineering and marketing resources. He discusses his role in supporting sales enablement, e.g. Sales
Effectiveness (Sales onboarding, Sales training and workshops, Training library, Coaching and recognition,
Spiffs and contests); Sales Efficiency (Sales journey roadmap, Process streamlining, Order finalization, Sales
repeatability); Customer Engagement (Executive briefing center management, Major account support,
Segments and vertical markets specialization, Online buying experience and online customer management,
Customer interactions, Channel programs); Marketing Effectiveness (Resource management, Deal desk
support, Sales scripts and vertical playbooks, Prospect qualification identification) etc. Effective Product
managers focus on the sales support, requirements, and feedback gathering in partnership with the sales and
marketing teams.
18. What is the Gartner Magic Quadrant, and why is it important for many software vendors?
Ans: Gartner is an analyst firm in the IT sector. It has defined a methodology for identifying leaders,
visionaries, niche players, and challengers in an industry. The ability for a company to have their product in a
specific quadrant on the Gartner Magic Quadrant can have a dramatic market impact on revenues, and on
acquiring investments.
19. How do you gain credibility from the development/ engineering teams as a new product
manager?
Ans: I am comfortable with jumping in and providing leadership to a team, listen and respect opinions and
suggestions of the team. I can engage with the team in whichever way they are comfortable, workshop, webinar
etc. They should represent the team with honesty and integrity and set reasonable expectations to thebusiness
outside the team. From a technical perspective, their ability to review proposals and recommendations should
reflect their technical knowledge of the environment. Team members will expect theproduct manager to make
timely choices and reflect recommendations, and remain confident in their data- driven decisions. So, I will
listen for explanations that describe their decision-making acumen, their communication skills, and respect for
the team.
20. What are signs that it’s time to cut corners to get the product launched, and what would you
cut?
Ans: If deadlines are not going to be met, or when it is apparent that testing is failing, or when sprints are not
completing on time, or when UX design is falling behind. An experienced product manager will be exploring
different opportunities to meet their deadline and explore some of the potential actions they have undertaken
such as reducing functionality to a minimum for the first release, re-prioritizing the roadmap, soft-launch with
selected customers etc. They should be able to explain the problem and actions to resolve the gap.

21. In the context of product management, how would you describe “low-hanging fruit”?

Ans: Low-hanging fruit often refers to a quick win. This might refer to a target market that is in dire need of
a solution, or may be a feature/functionality adds on that will drive exponential revenues. A product manager
must be attuned to market changes that would suddenly create an opportunity for dramatic changes in results.
The 80/20 rule applies here—gaining 80% of the value with 20% of the effort. Or, from another perspective,
addressing 80% of the market and treating outliers as exceptions.
22. Please describe the “…ilities”—the foundational elements that are required for a SaaS-based
enterprise offering. For example, scalability would be one.
Ans: Primarily in the context of enterprise-grade offerings where a SaaS or cloud infrastructure element exists,

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 listen for functional descriptions of the following: Securability; Scalability; Reliability; Manageability; and
Billability. An experienced product manager will handle on each of these elements in an enterprise setting.
23. What are the most exciting technology trends and why are they important?
Ans: Top latest trends in the industry are like augmented reality, the growth of audio interactions in all systems,
virtual reality, analytics, artificial intelligence, or block chain. They might affect individuals as they become
more prevalent with automation, predictive analytics, and process automation.

24. What are the important elements of a competitive analysis?

Ans: A competitive analysis can be broken down into two parts—the first is the strength, weakness,opportunity
and threat (SWOT) analysis that will be used internally by the company to develop strong positioning
statements for the sales and systems engineering teams. It should cover both the technical and business aspects
of the competitor. The second, more detailed technical analysis would do a feature-by-feature comparison,
highlighting the gaps that the competitor has. It should be factual and presented in a professional, non-
slanderous format.
25. What is your experience with shutting down a product or service? What are the key challenges
in an end-of-life (EOL) process?
Ans: The EOL process can be complicated, and covers key elements, including: EOL decision-making; Sales
notifications; Customer migration plans; Returns, rebates, upsell policies; End of life, end of support, end of
availability; Contracting etc.
26. What is ‘Business analysis’ in new product development?
Ans: ‘Business Analysis’ is a stage of NPD which is a preliminary estimate of sales volumes and costs based
on data. This is more substantial than managerial hunches, as it estimates the commercial performance of the
proposed product.

27. What is understood by Payback period?

Ans: It is the time that it takes for the revenues of an investment project to equal the expenditures on the
project. It is a rough indicator of liquidity and risk, but may not be a measure of profitability.

28. What is Break-even analysis?

Ans: The analysis of the sales turnover required to pay back the investments in the project, is called ‘Break
even Analysis’. It helps making decision on price, distribution and production volume?

29. Explain ‘Commercialization’.

Ans: Having established that the new product will deliver the promised benefits and that a need still exists for
it in the marketplace, the next step in the process is to make it available to intended customers. This phase is
known as Commercialization.

30. What is consumer adoption?

Ans: Rogers suggested that there are five steps, through which a consumer finally adopts a product / innovation,
e.g. Awareness, Interest, Evaluation, Trial, and Adoption. This is called Adoption model.

*****
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 1.4 Marketing Research
1. Discuss the importance of marketing research in todays’ world.

Answer: Marketing research is needed on a continual basis, if you want to keep up with the latest market
trends and gain a competitive edge in the business market. Understand the needs of existing customers and
why they chose your service over competitors. Identify new business opportunities and changing market
trends.

2. Discuss the difference in two terms and its importance - qualitative and quantitative research.

Answer: It’s important to understand the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, especially
if you’re new to the field. There’s a common misconception that one is ‘better’ than the other, however
qualitative and quantitative research serve vastly different purposes.
Qualitative research is often used for exploring. It helps researchers gain an understanding of underlying
reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or
hypotheses for potential quantitative research.
Qualitative data collection methods vary using unstructured or semi-structured techniques. Common methods
include focus groups, individual interviews, observation or immersion, and diary studies. The sample size is
typically small, and respondents are selected to fulfill a given quota.

3. Discuss the applicability of exploratory and conclusive research design.

Answer: Exploratory research is one which aims at providing insights into and an understanding of the
problem faced by the researcher. Conclusive research design, as the name implies, is applied to generate
findings that are practically useful in reaching conclusions or decision-making Conclusive research design
usually involves the application of quantitative methods of data collection and data analysis.

4. Describe the applicability of causal research design.

Answer: The investigation into an issue or topic that looks at the effect of one thing or variable on another.
For example, causal research might be used in a business environment to quantify the effect that a change to
its present operations will have on its future production levels to assist in the business planning process.

5. Use of survey in marketing.

Answer: A survey is a data collection tool used to gather information about individuals. Surveys are commonly
used in psychology research to collect self-report data from study participants. A survey may focus on factual
information about individuals, or it might aim to obtain the opinions of the survey takers.

6. What is the Application of Pilot study in marketing?

Answer: A pilot study, pilot project, pilot test, or pilot experiment is a small scale preliminary study conducted
in order to evaluate feasibility, time, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to
performance of a full-scale research project.

7. What is the Usage of questionnaire?

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 Answer: A set of printed or written questions with a choice of answers, devised for the purposes of a survey
or statistical study.

8. Difference between population and sample.

Answer: The population consists of each and every element of the entire group. On the other hand, only a
handful of items of the population is included in a sample.

9. Difference between probability and non-probability sampling methods.

Answer: Probability sampling is based on the fact that every member of a population has a known and equal
chance of being selected. With non-probability sampling, those odds are not equal.

10. Usage of snowball sampling.

Answer: Snowball sampling is where research participants recruit other participants for a test or study. It is
used where potential participants are hard to find. It's called snowball sampling because (in theory) once you
have the ball rolling, it picks up more “snow” along the way and becomes larger and larger.

11. Application of correlation and regression analysis in marketing research.

Answer: Correlation is a statistical measure that indicates the extent to which two or more variables fluctuate
together. A positive correlation indicates the extent to which those variables increase or decrease in parallel;
a negative correlation indicates the extent to which one variable increases as the other decreases.
Regression is a statistical measurement used in finance, investing and other disciplines that attempts to
determine the strength of the relationship between one dependent variable (usually denoted by Y) and a series
of other changing variables (known as independent variables).

12. List the characteristics of Likert scale.

Answer: A Likert scale is a psychometric scale commonly involved in research that employs questionnaires.
It is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey research, such that the term is often used
interchangeably with rating scale, although there are other types of rating scales.

13. What do you understand by sampling error?

Answer: In statistics, sampling error is incurred when the statistical characteristics of a population are
estimated from a subset, or sample, of that population.

14. What is non-sampling error?

Answer: In statistics, non-sampling error is a catch-all term for the deviations of estimates from their true
values that are not a function of the sample chosen, including various systematic errors and random errors that
are not due to sampling. Non-sampling errors are much harder to quantify than sampling errors.

15. What is reliability?

Answer: Reliability in statistics and psychometrics is the overall consistency of a measure. A measure is said
to have a high reliability if it produces similar results under consistent conditions.
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 16. What is validity?
Answer: In general, VALIDITY is an indication of how sound your research is. More specifically, validity
applies to both the design and the methods of your research. Validity in data collection means that your
findings truly represent the phenomenon you are claiming to measure. Valid claims are solid claims.

17. Usage of factor analysis.

Answer: Factor analysis is a statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated
variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables called factors. For example, it is
possible that variations in six observed variables mainly reflect the variations in two unobserved variables.

18. Use of cluster analysis.

Answer: Cluster analysis or clustering is the task of grouping a set of objects in such a way that objects in the
same group (called a cluster) are more similar (in some sense) to each other than to those in other groups
(clusters).

19. Usage of measurement scales.

Answer: Data can be classified as being on one of four scales: nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio. Each level
of measurement has some important properties that are useful to know. Properties of Measurement Scales:
Identity – Each value on the measurement scale has a unique meaning.

20. What do you know about conjoint analysis?

Answer: Conjoint analysis' is a survey-based statistical technique used in market research that helps determine how
people value different attributes (feature, function, benefits) that make up an individual product or service.

21. What is discriminant analysis?

Answer: Discriminant analysis is a technique that is used by the researcher to analyze the research data when
the criterion or the dependent variable is categorical and the predictor or the independent variable is interval
in nature.

22. Difference between ANOVA and MANOVA.

Answer: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a collection of statistical models and their associated estimation
procedures (such as the "variation" among and between groups) used to analyze the differences among group
means in a sample.

Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is simply an ANOVA with several dependent variables. That
is to say, ANOVA tests for the difference in means between two or more groups, while MANOVA tests for
the difference in two or more vectors of means.

23. Usage of SPSS in marketing studies.

Answer: SPSS (Statistical package for the social sciences) is the set of software programs that are combined

22
 together in a single package. The basic application of this program is to analyze scientific data related with
the social science. This data can be used for market research, surveys, data mining, etc.

24. What do you believe is the best way to obtain research?

Answer: Market research is a vast industry, with many ways to conduct research. Generally, the key
distinction is between quantitative and numerical research versus qualitative research. Some market research
roles will include a combination of both, whereas others will be largely quantitative or qualitative.

You can also use the distinction of primary and secondary research. Primary research is new research that you
have conducted or carried out in order to find answers to specific questions, and which may include surveys,
questionnaires of focus groups. Secondary research however is research that has previously been conducted
and may be publicly available information.

25. How would you communicate results of your research to a client?

Answer: Write a report or give a presentation, be sure to include the raw data so they can make their own
analysis. You need to show an appreciation of how you need to present different data in different ways. If you
have collected a large data set then it will be a good idea to use diagrams to present the data whereas if you
have conducted an in-depth focus group then you will need to transcribe a report. It is crucial that you show
an awareness of effective methods of communication and presentation.

26. Each phase of the marketing research process is important. If in the first phase of the process the
problem is identified, what is done after that but before data is collected?

Answer: Determine what information is needed, identify relevant information sources, and evaluate data
collection methods.

27. In order to determine customer needs and to implement marketing strategies and programs aimed
at satisfying those needs, what type of information is required for marketing managers?

Answer: Marketing managers need information about customers, competitors and other forces in the
marketplace.

28. What do you understand by marketing information system?

Answer: A formalized set of procedures for generating, analyzing, storing, and distributing pertinent
information to marketing decision makers on an ongoing basis.

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 Q6. How marketing information system is different from decision support system.
Answer:
Marketing Information System Decision Support Systems
∙ Structured Problems ∙ Unstructured Problems
∙ Use of Reports ∙ Use of Models
∙ Rigid Structure ∙ User-Friendly Interaction
∙ Information Displaying Restricted ∙ Adaptability
∙ Can Improve Decision Making by Clarifying Raw ∙ Can Improve Decision Making by Using "What If"
Data Analysis

29. In order to understand the differences in the environments of countries, cultural units, or foreign
markets, the researcher should understand which environments?

Answer: The differences in the environments of countries, cultural units, or foreign markets should be
considered when conducting international marketing research. These differences may arise in the marketing
environment, government environment, legal environment, economic environment, structural environment,
informational and technological environment, and sociocultural environment.

30. Explain why back translation and parallel translation are needed.

Answer: Direct translation involves a bilingual translator who translates the questionnaire directly from a base
language to the respondent's language. However, if the translator is not fluent in both languages and notfamiliar
with both cultures, direct translation of certain words and phrases may be erroneous. Procedures suchas back
translation and parallel translation have been suggested to avoid these errors.

31. How the Internet can facilitate the implementation of different types of research designs?

Answer: During the exploratory phase of the research, forums, chat rooms, or newsgroups can be used to
generally discuss a topic with anyone who visits the chat room. Newsgroups focus on a particular topic and
function like bulletin boards. During the exploratory phase of the research, forums, chat rooms, or newsgroups
can be used to generally discuss a topic with anyone who visits the chat room. Newsgroups focus on a
particular topic and function like bulletin boards. Internet users stop by a newsgroup to read messages left by
others and to post their own responses or comments. Newsgroups or chat rooms could be used to set up more
formal focus groups with experts or individuals representing the target audience in order to obtain initial
information on a subject. For descriptive research, surveys can be conducted on the Internet and Internet
browsing behavior can be observed by using cookies. For causal research, experiments can be conducted on
the Internet.

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 32. Tell about at least five (5) applications of depth interviews. Give a specific example of each.

Answer:
1. Detailed probing of the respondent (automobile purchase).
2. Discussion of confidential, sensitive, or embarrassing topics (personal finances, loose
dentures).
3. Situations where strong social norms exist and the respondent may be easily swayed by group
response (attitude of college students toward sports).
4. Detailed understanding of complicated behavior (department store shopping).
5. Interviews with professional people (industrial marketing research).
6. Interviews with competitors, who are unlikely to reveal the information in a group setting
(travel agents' perceptions of airline package travel programs).
7. Situations where the product consumption experience is sensory in nature, affecting mood
states and emotions (perfumes, bath soap).
8.
33. Why is the online focus group process faster to analyze than the traditional method?

Answer: The online focus group process is faster to analyze than the traditional focus group method because
respondents are asked to always start their response with the question number, so the moderator can quickly
tie the response to the proper question. This makes it fast and easy to transcribe a focus group session. The
group interaction lasts for about an hour. A raw transcript is available as soon as the group is completed, and
a formatted transcript is available within 48 hours.

34. If I allocate 100 points to attributes of a toilet soap in a way that reflects the importance they attach to each
attribute, which scaling is being used?
Answer: Constant Sum Scaling

35. What criteria should the researcher use when deciding whether to use a neutral alternative with
dichotomous questions?

Answer: If a neutral alternative is not included, respondents are forced to choose between "yes" and "no" even
if they feel indifferent. On the other hand, if a neutral alternative is included, respondents can avoid taking a
position on the issue, thereby biasing the results. The following guidelines are offered: If a substantial
proportion of the respondents can be expected to be neutral, include a neutral alternative. If the proportion of
neutral respondents is expected to be small, avoid the neutral alternative.

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 36. Where will you make uses of nonprobability and probability sampling?

Answer: Nonprobability sampling is used in concept tests, package tests, name tests, and copy tests, where
projections to the populations are usually not needed. In such studies, interest centers on the proportion of the
sample that gives various responses or expresses various attitudes. Samples for these studies can be drawn
using methods such as mall intercept quota sampling. On the other hand, probability sampling is used when
there is a need for highly accurate estimates of market share or sales volume for the entire market. National
market tracking studies, which provide information on product category and brand usage rates, as well as
psychographic and demographic profiles of users, use probability sampling. Studies that use probability
sampling generally employ telephone interviews. Stratified and systematic sampling are combined with some
form of random-digit dialing to select the respondents.

37. Can you list the guidelines for asking questions during survey administration?

Answer:
 Be thoroughly familiar with the questionnaire.
 Ask the questions in the order in which they appear in the questionnaire.
 Use the exact wording given in the questionnaire.
 Read each question slowly.
 Repeat questions that are not understood.
 Ask every applicable question.
 Follow instructions and skip patterns, probing carefully.

38. How would you represent consumer preferences for frozen foods as dummy variables if the
respondents were classified as heavy, medium, light, nonusers?
Answer: Product Usage Category Dummy Variable Code
X1 X2 X3
Nonusers 1 0 0
Light users 0 1 0
Medium users 0 0 1
Heavy users 0 0 0

Note that X1 = 1 for nonusers and 0 for all others. Likewise, X2 = 1 for light users and 0 for all others, and
X3 = 1 for medium users and 0 for all others. In analyzing data, X1, X21, and X3 are used to represent all
user/nonuser groups. The student may choose to alternate which product category is X1, X2, or X3. This is

acceptable as long as one of the four categories is coded as all zeros.

26
 39. What are various procedures for statistically adjusting data?

Answer: In weighting, each case or respondent in the database is assigned a weight to reflect its importance
relative to other cases or respondents. Weighting is most widely used to make the sample data more
representative of a target population on specific characteristics.
Variable respecification involves the transformation of data to create new variables or modify existing
variables. The purpose of respecification is to create new variables that are consistent with the objectives of
the study.
Scale transformation involves a manipulation of scale values to ensure comparability with other scales or
otherwise make the data suitable for analysis.

40. Discuss the relationship between Type I error and Type II error and the power of a test.

Answer: Type I error occurs when the sample results lead to the rejection of the null hypothesis when it is in
fact true. The probability of Type I error is denoted as α. Type II error occurs when, based on the sample
results, the null hypothesis is not rejected when it is in fact false. The probability of Type II error is denoted
by β. Unlike α, which is specified by the researcher, the magnitude of β depends on the actual value of the
population parameter (proportion). The complement (1 - β) of the probability of a Type II error is called the
power of a statistical test.
The power of a test is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false and should be rejected.
Although β is unknown, it is related to α. An extremely low value of α (e.g., = 0.001) will result in intolerably
high β errors. So it is necessary to balance the two types of errors. As a compromise, α is often set at 0.05;
sometimes it is 0.01; other values of α are rare. The level of α, along with the sample size, will determine the
level of β for a particular research design. The risk of both α and β can be controlled by increasing the sample
size. For a given level of α, increasing the sample size will decrease β, thereby increasing the power of the
test.
41. Suppose that four groups, each consisting of 100 randomly selected individuals, were exposed to
four different commercials about Tide detergent. After seeing the commercial, each individual provided
ratings on preference for Tide, preference for Proctor and Gamble (the company making Tide), and
preference for the commercial itself. Because these three preference variables are correlated, what
statistical analysis technique will help to determine which commercial is the most effective (produced
the highest preferences across the three variables).

Answer: Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)

27
 42. In determining how different price levels will affect a household's cereal consumption, it may be
essential to take household size into account. How it can be best analyzed?
Answer: with the help of Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).

43. Given the multiple regression equation, Ŷ = a + b1X1 + b2X2, and the bivariate equation Ŷ = a + bX,
why is the partial regression coefficient, b1, different from the regression coefficient, b, obtained by
regressing Y on only X1?
Answer: This happens because X1 and X2 are usually correlated. In bivariate regression, X2 was not
considered and any variation in Y that was shared by X1 and X2 was attributed to X1. However, in the caseof
multiple independent variables, this is no longer true.

44. Suppose a researcher wants to explain attitudes towards a respondent's city of residence in terms of
duration of residence in the city. The attitude is measured on an 11-point scale and the duration of
residence is measured in terms of the number of years the respondent has lived in the city. In a pretest
of 12 respondents, the calculated t value for the correlation coefficient based on the data given is 8.414.
The critical value of t for a two-tailed test and α = 0.05 is 2.228. r = .9361. What is the null hypothesis
for this scenario? What do the results mean in terms of the null hypothesis and the correlation
coefficient, r?

Answer: The null hypothesis of no relationship between X and Y is rejected. This along with the positive sign
of r, indicates that attitude toward the city is positively related to the duration of residence in the city.
Moreover, the high value of r indicates that this relationship is strong. If this were a large and representative
sample, the implication would be that managers, city officials, and politicians wishing to reach people with a
favorable attitude toward the city should target long-time residents of that city.

45. Which approach is best to use to obtain perception data, the direct approach or the derived
approach?

Answer: The direct approaches are more frequently used than the attribute-based approaches. However, it
may be best to use both these approaches in a complementary way. Direct similarity judgments may be used
for obtaining the spatial map, and attribute ratings may be used as an aid to interpreting the dimensions of the
perceptual map.

28
 46.. We are all aware that the Coca-Cola Company changed its flagship brand of 99 years to New Coke
and subsequently returned to the old favorite, Coca-Cola Classic. Working in a group of four, read as
much material as you can on this “marketing bungle.” Identify the decision problem the Coke
management faced. As a team of researchers, define the marketing research problem and its specific
components.

Answer: Coca-Cola was faced with a gradually declining market share as Pepsi gained and surpassed Coke
in market share. The underlying reason for the slide of Coke was a change in consumer preferences toward a
sweeter, less carbonated drink, like Pepsi. Thus, the decision problem for Coke management was how to
combat Pepsi given this change in consumer tastes. Specifically, should Coke introduce a new brand more
attuned to consumer tastes to combat Pepsi?
The marketing research problem can be conceived in alternative ways, but one general statement is “What
mix of product attributes can Coca-Cola devise which will be more in favor with consumers given current
tastes?” Components of this problem, of which only a few are listed here, include:
 What level of sweetness is desired by consumers?
 What level of carbonation is desired by consumers?
 What brand name should be devised for the drink?
 What type of packaging provides the greatest consumer awareness of the brand? Etc.

47. You are the group product manager for Procter and Gamble in charge of laundry detergents. How
would you make use of information available from a store audit? Ask another student to play the role
of Vice President of Marketing. Explain to your boss the value of store audit information related to
laundry detergents.

Answer: A product manager would analyze store data to determine:

 Sales Volume—Total, subtotal by outlet, subtotal by area.
 Product Performance—Have we increased or decreased sales over the past period?
 Competitive Actions—has a past strategy been successful?
 Develop sales forecasts.
 Inventory and Distribution—does existing inventory balance demand?

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 1.5 Digital Marketing
1. What is the role of SEO in digital marketing?
SEO signifies search engine optimization, which helps in increasing the visibility of blog, site or pages in
Bing, Google and Yahoo or similar search engines. In a nutshell, it gets your ranking on the first pages of
search results.
For example: If you are looking for certification programs. You will type the keywords like certification in
digital marketing, digital marketing course, digital marketing courses and training programs in India.
Keywords play a great role in SEO. After typing the keyword, you will come across several links on the first
page, thus show the importance of being on first page.
2. Why is online marketing preferred over offline marketing these days?
Online marketing is preferred because the information about any product is immediately available. One can
easily get in touch with customers and provide feedback. It is also easy to make corrections in campaigns in
real time. Also, online marketing is easily measurable as the interaction usually happens on a digital platform.
Last but not the least, online marketing is more flexible when it comes to timing and investment required.
3. How do you stay updated with new digital marketing trends?
I regularly follow popular blogs, read articles and analyze digital marketing campaigns from time to time. I
also get newsletters from various digital marketing experts and agencies on what are the recent developments
in the field. I also occasionally attend some podcasts and webinars on new digital marketing techniques.
4. What do you understand by marketing automation?
Marketing automation refers to the software that exists with the goal of automating marketing actions. Many
marketing departments have to automate repetitive tasks such as emails, social media, and other website
actions. The technology of marketing automation makes these tasks easier. With the help of marketing
automation, email campaigns, SMS, website interactions can be automated.
5. What is programmatic advertising?
Programmatic advertising is a system that automates the processes and transactions involved with purchasing
and dynamically placing ads on websites or apps. Programmatic advertising makes it possible to purchase and
place ads, including targeted advertising content, in less than a second.
6. What is real time budding in digital marketing context?
Real-time bidding is a means by which advertising inventory is bought and sold on a per-impression basis, via
programmatic instantaneous auction, similar to financial markets. It involves Demand Side Platform, Supply
Side Platforms, Ad Networks and Exchanges which automate this process. So basically, marketers can bid for
a particular ad space based on precise targeting (including demographics, geographic) and based on the
demand and supply of such inventory, the bids are placed and finalized algorithmically.
7. What do you mean by earned media?
Earned media refers to publicity gained through promotional efforts other than paid media advertising. An
example of earned media is testimonials and positive reviews from customers on various social media
platforms.
8. What is On-Page Search Engine Optimization?
On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant
traffic in search engines. On-page refers to both the content and HTML source code of a page that can be

30
 optimized, as opposed to off-page SEO which refers to links and other external signals. On-page SEO has
changed over the years, so it's important to keep up with the latest practices.
9. What is Off-Page Search Engine Optimization?
Off-page optimization refers to all the measures that can be taken outside of the actual website in order to
improve its position in search rankings. These are measures that help create as many high-quality backlinks
(incoming links) as possible. This can be done by being present on various social media platforms, asking
influencers to write and send traffic to a particular website, doing directory submissions etc.
10. What are different types of advertising options available online?
Various types of advertising options available online are Display Advertising, Search Advertising, Video
Advertising, Native Advertising etc.
11. What do you mean by bounce rate?
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing
only one page. It can be calculated by diving number of visitors who went without interacting with a page by
total number of visitors visiting that page. Usually, the lower the bounce rate the better it is.
12. What is affiliate marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards one ormore
affiliates for each visitor or customer brought by the affiliate's own marketing efforts. This type of marketing
is widely done by most of the e-commerce websites like Amazon and Filpkart.
13. What is content marketing?
This is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs,
and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its
products or services.
14. What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is a strategy that utilizes many forms of pull marketing – content marketing, blogs, events,
SEO, social media and more – to create brand awareness and attract new business. It works on the principle
that communication should not be forced on consumers, rather information should be provided to consumer
only then they are interested to acquire that information.
15. Name some popular online platforms where marketers can advertise their brand?
Some of the online platforms where marketers can advertise include YouTube, Facebook. LinkedIn, Twitter.
With the help of demand side platforms like Google Ads, markers can advertise on almost all popular online
publishers like Time of India, Economic Time, various blogs and numerous Google Ad-Network websites.

16. Why do you think digital marketing is challenging?

Digital marketing is challenging because it is evolving very fast. One has to learn how digital marketing is
done, what is more effective, how can one achieve better ROI. Moreover, as the technology advances,
marketers have to learn new techniques, this constant learning makes Digital Marketing both challenging and
fun.

17. Tell me what are some of the popular KPIs to measure performance of digital marketing efforts?

Some of the important digital marketing KPIs are Cost per Conversion/Acquisition, Cost Per Click,

31
 Engagement Rate, Call-to-Action Rate, Return on Marketing Investment etc.

18. What are the key activities a digital marketer or digital marketing team does?
Digital marketing involves numerous activities, which marketers usually do. Just that, most of this activities
are performed using digital media. These activities usually include: Social Media Marketing, Pay-Per-Click
Advertising, Website Optimization, Referral Marketing Campaigns, E-Mail and SMS Marketing, Affiliate
Marketing Programs, Content Marketing. Apart from these, the Digital Marketers also actively measure the
performance of various marketing endeavors performed.

19. Why has Facebook become such a popular marketing and advertising platform?
Facebook is world’s largest social network website. Not only more than a billion consumers use Facebook,
they are also very active on this platform. Moreover, when consumers are on Facebook, they are usually in a
leisurely mood, which is the best time for most of the brands to reach consumer.
Facebook also offers marketers myriad ways to reach out to consumers. Companies can promote the brand by
doing content marketing on the platform, which can be done freely. Facebook also provides opportunity to
advertising and has very precise targeting options to market the product to the right prospect.

20. What is the role of ‘Buyer Persona’ in the context of digital marketing context?
A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real
data about your existing customers. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer
demographics, behaviour patterns, motivations, and goals. The more detailed one is the better.

In digital marketing context, it is possible to create multiple campaigns which are personalized based on the
buyer persona. There are also tools, which modify the campaigns, according to the buyer’s persona. Thus,
understanding and listing different buyer persona is an essential part of digital marketing efforts.

*****

32
 1.6 Customer Relationship Management
1. What is CRM?
 ‘Growing profitable customers’
CRM uses IT tools and techniques to capture customer data, analyse this data to identify the most profitable
customers / customer segments and develop longer relationships with them.
 Importance and relationship of IT with Marketing
IT has a very important symbiosis with CRM, but CRM goes much beyond IT. While IT tools and techniques
are useful, the application of marketing analysis to the data received and drawing marketing programmes
thereon is the unique competence of CRM
 Evolution of CRM
From profiling customers to segmenting customers to researching them and investing in technology, CRM is
moving towards managing customer needs and expectations

2. Important concepts
 Fragmentation of markets
In trying to achieve product and market differentiation, marketers in especially growing and / or mature
markets are forced to break the market into smaller segments and even niches. This leads to more product
variants and therefore lesser product runs, increasing ineffectiveness of mass advertising, increasing
production and marketing costs as well as shorter product life cycles. These factors combine to put great
pressure on the bottom line.
 Customization
To achieve differentiation, marketers attack smaller segments and niches, especially in mature markets. After
a stage, to be more customer- facing, virtually the only option is to customise at least the service delivery, if
not the product itself
 Level of aggregation
In the process of market development, every market moves from aggregated, unsegmented, mass marketing
to market segmentation to customized marketing. Thus, for the marketer, a crucial determinant of success is
the level of aggregation he uses i.e. does he cover the market making a Rolex watch or a Titan watch?
 Automation of customer – facing processes
Today’s technology enables a customer to contact a marketer via a variety of channels. Automation enables
not only integration of the information received from the different channels but also to standardize
organizational response to routine transactions, leaving more importance for human intervention to tackle
the unique problems or queries.

3. Market-intelligent enterprise
The characteristics of such an enterprise are:
• Strategic use of customer and prospect information
• Transactional focus
• Operational use of information
• Strategic channel management
• Technology-enabled new business opportunities
• Enterprise-wide approach

33
 4. Customer value
 From customer’s viewpoint
The marketer has to understand the customer’s value equation – the trade-off made between benefits
expected and price paid
 From organisation’s perspective
The organisation looks at customer value differently. The focus is on how much value the particular customer
or the customer segment adds to the organisation. There is also a time dimension here in that moreenlightened
organisation would be looking at not only value derived from the customer(s) today but what is the likely value
derivable in the future

5. Relationship marketing – important aspects

 Transaction vs. relationship
Very briefly, the transaction is a one-off, whereas it takes time to nurture and develop a relationship. The
latter entails much more commitment from the organisation as it involves developing repeat purchase and
caring more for the customer.
 Customer lifecycle

The stages from being a suspect, then a prospect to being a first time customer and then making repeat
purchases to either becoming an advocate or a lost customer are covered in the customer life cycle
 Customer acquisition
The process of converting a suspect and a prospect to
somebody who makes a purchase
 Customer retention
Holding on to a customer thus acquired by engendering
loyalty
 Attrition
Loss of a customer either to a competitor or even a cessation
of need
 Migration
Movement to another vendor, another product or even
another area

 Widening, deepening and lengthening (of relationship)

The best way to understand this is the canal analogy. Widening would imply supplying more products,
deepening would mean understanding the customer needs better and lengthening entails the relationship
is sustained over a longer time frame
 Internal marketing
A process where employees across functions are made to feel like customers so that they empathise more
with the latter and deliver better customer service
 Benchmarking (internal & external)
Internal benchmarking is judging yourself against your own previous performance whereas external
benchmarking refers to evaluating yourself against either industry standards or global practices or your
competition – in effect against somebody outside your organisation
 Customer perceived quality
The customer’s perception of how a product or a brand
would satisfy his or her expectations
 Customer value chain
34
 Analysis to understand the drivers of value from the customer’s perspective and aligning the firm’s activities
accordingly
 Life time value
The value the firm derives over the period from a specific
customer over the duration of the relationship

6. Loyalty
 Attitudinal
Having a good perception about a product or outlet and even
recommending it to others, but not necessarily patronising
that product or outlet
 Behavioural
Buying a particular product or patronising a particular outlet,
but not necessarily feeling good about it
 Types of behavioural loyalty
# undivided loyalty # occasional switcher # switched loyalty # divided loyalty
# indifference
 Loyalty grid
A 2 x 2 matrix showing different combinations of the absence or presence of attitudinal and behavioural
loyalty – the absence of both attitudinal and behavioural loyalty is ‘no loyalty’, where the attitude ispositive
but the behaviour is negative, there is ‘latent loyalty’, a situation with a negative attitude but positive
behaviour is called ‘inertial loyalty’ and ‘loyalty’ is characterised by both attitudinal and behaviouralloyalty

 Factors affecting loyalty

 Competitive parity

 Variety-seeking behaviour
 Low involvement
 Price sensitivity
 Deal proneness
 Low share of voice or presence in information landscape
 Loyalty – profitability relationship
The customer acquisition stage is marked by absence of both loyalty and profitability, the relationship stage
by the absence of either loyalty or profitability and the ‘marriage’ stage by both loyalty and profitability
 Reasons for terminating relationship
 Novelty seeking
 Dissatisfaction
 Relative advantage
 Conflict
 Loss of trust
 Cessation of need

7. Customer Lifetime value

 Components

35
 The net present value of cash inflows expected from the
customer over his life time
 Calculation
Identify and calculate acquisition costs, selling cost and customer care cost. Evaluate how these are likely to
move in the future
Calculate likely revenue today and in the future after factoring in price increases.
Offset the costs against revenues to work out profits
Calculate the net Present Value of the profit flows

8. CRM Ecosystem (collaborative, analytical and operational CRM)

 Analytical CRM performs analysis of customer and transactional data in the data warehouse
 Operational CRM refers to the customer interface process as well as the devising of marketing actions
and programmes on the basis of analytics
 Collaborative CRM means sharing of customer information to provide holistic service to the customer

9. Importance of analytics
• Greater need for customer-centricity
• Differentiation becoming more difficult
• Marketing cycle times becoming compressed
• Increased transparency of markets
• Attention span of customers decreasing

10. Scope of analytics

• Capturing all relevant customer information
• Measuring & optimizing customer relationships
• Customer Behaviour Modeling
• Customer Value Assessment (profitability, LTV, profiling & scoring)
• Deploying analytical results to improve planning & customer interaction

11. Business Architecture of Analytical CRM

A typical Analytical CRM system provides an interface between the customer information platform and the
customer interaction platform. The information platform consisting of Analytics of Marketing, Sales, Service,
Product and Customer facets uses Channel Analytics to capture data from the various customer touch points
and also provides knowledge to these points.

12. Data warehousing and Data Mining

 Data warehousing objectives
 Data to be current
 Data to be accurate
 Data to be secure
 Data to be easily available to authorised users
 Data descriptions to be maintained for users & system developers

13. Phases of processing and types of data

 Phases - selection and sampling, pre-processing and cleaning, transformation and reduction ,data
mining, evaluation of knowledge and performance system
 Types – Numeric, Alphanumeric, Graphic, Audio, Video, Varying granularity

36
 14. Data mining tools:
Decision trees, Rule induction, Case based reasoning, Visualisation, Nearest neighbour,
Clustering algorithms, Neural networks, Evolutionary computation, Association rules

15. Segmentation
 B2B and B2C
 B2B - demographic, operating variables, purchasing approaches, situational factors, personal
characteristics
 B2C - geographical, demographic, socio – economic, behavioural, psychographic, buyingmotives
 Techniques
 RFM – Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value
 CHAID - Chi – squared automated interaction detection
 CART- Classification & Regression Trees

16. Operational CRM

 Call centre management
 Customer management activity: targeting ~ enquiry management ~ welcoming ~ getting to know the
customer ~ customer development ~ managing problems ~ win back
 Elements of a call centre: manpower, IT, telecom, process management
 Quality of contact ~ service level ~ capacity planning ~ predicting staff needs ~ routing ~ managing
satisfaction ~ managing quality
 Key performance indicators
 Average value of a call
 Costs per call
 % abandoned

 Customer satisfaction
 Errors
 AHT (average handling time)
 Forecast load vs. actual
 Internet and website management
 Traffic building ~ on line & off line
 Visitor expectations ~ content & context ~ creating trust ~ offering convenience ~ personalisation
 Quality during visit: design of page, content, site
 Visit ~ transaction ~ delivery ~ retention
 Measuring results
 Direct mail
 Developing, producing, sending & following up
 Marketing briefing ~ creative briefing ~ traffic ~ fulfilment ~ evaluation

17. Collaborative CRM

 Various departments of the company like sales, service, technical support & marketing share
information they collect about customers to improve quality of customer service and increase customer loyalty
 It allows company to synchronise & manage efficient and productive interaction with customers,
prospects, partners & internal associates across all communication channels. The customer’s viewpoint is
taken care of at every transaction level
37
 18. Collaborative CRM - processes
• Segmentation
• Shopper Knowledge building
• Objective setting & KPIs
• Joint Business Planning
• Implementing
• Monitoring
• Learning & improving

19. Components of CRM Systems

• Front office: * sales force automation or sales information system * partner management system
(support to intermediaries) * call or contact centre * website * kiosks
• Middleware: * data warehouse * campaign management system * content management system
• Back office: legacy systems – generally older and have a longer lifespan – designed for management
of transactions or products
• Call centre: * switches, computers & connections * calling life identification * automated outbound
dialing * voice processing * computer telephone integration * database * tele-business software
• Internet & the website: * intranet, extranet & internal computer networks * security * e-commerce

20. Levels of e-Commerce infrastructure

 Communications network infrastructure
 Message distribution infrastructure
 Electronic publishing infrastructure
 Business service infrastructure

 Electronic commerce applications

21. Campaign management systems

• Opportunity identification – relationship planning – campaign management – customer interaction
– measuring & evaluating
• Types of campaigns:
# Single shot
# Wave
# Triggered
# Longitudinal (over time)

22. Sales Force Automation – use situations

 Contact management
 Lead management
 Opportunity management
 Knowledge management & intranet access
 Price quotations and order configuration
 Follow up
 Sales analysis
 Reporting

38
 23. Choosing a CRM package
 Solution offerings:
# Customer
development # service
Centre
# sales mgt & support
# market analysis
# internet & telemarketing
# product & brand management )
 80 -20 rule (standardisation: customisation)

24. Suppliers of CRM systems – types:

• Integrated ERP applications
• CRM suites
• CRM frameworks
• Best of breed
• Building own applications

25. Implementation
 Issues – hard and soft

 Pre-requisites
 Anchoring
 Estimating resource needs
 Realistic expectations

 Sufficient training

 Processes
 Identify area needing change
 Identify relevant milestone
 Create a measurement approach
 Announce and implement quickly

 Reasons for failure

 lack of a business case with clear objectives
 organisation not ready for CRM
 poor data quality
 scope of the project was too broad
 lack of sponsorship from top management
 project was IT driven
 insufficient attention to change management
 stakeholders do not react positively
 misconception that CRM can be contracted out to system integrators
 bureaucratic approach

39
  resistance from IT department

26. Recent developments

 Cloud computing
 Globalisation
 Big Data

27. Ethical issues – privacy, data security, confidentiality

*******

40
 1.7 Retail Management
1. What is the meaning of the word Retail? Define “retailing”?
Suggested Answer:
a) The word retail is derived from the French word “retailer,” which means to cut of a piece or to break
bulk. Retailing is a set of business activities that adds value to the products and services sold to the end
consumers for their personal, family, or household consumption. It includes every sale to the final consumer.
It is the final stage of the economic activity.
b) Retailing encompasses the business activities involved in selling goods and services to consumers for
their personal, family or household use. It includes every sales to the final consumer --- ranging from cars to
apparel to meals at restaurants to movie tickets. Retailing is the Last stage of distribution process (Berman,
Evans & Mathur, 2011).

2. Why are retailers required? What are the functions of a retailer?

Suggested Answer: Retailers are required to perform the following five basic functions:

a) Providing Assortments
b) Breaking Bulk
c) Holding Inventory
d) Providing Services
e) Increasing the Value of Products and Services

3. Define retail mix? What are the elements of the retail mix?
Suggested Answer: According to Levy, Weitz and Pundit, retail mix is a set of decisions retailers have to
make to satisfy customers’ needs and influence their purchase decisions.
Following are the elements of retail store mix
a) type of merchandise and/or services offered,
b) variety and assortment of merchandise offered,
c) level of customer service, and
d) price of the merchandise.
e) Location of the store
f) Store layout & Design
g) Advertising & Sales Promotion

4. In retailing what is a merchandize, variety and assortment?

Suggested Answer:
a) Merchandise refers to things that can be bought or sold (like food, clothing etc which fall under GM
while merchandise related to health and beauty care products are referred to as HBC. Together they stand as
GM/HBC)
b) Variety is the number of merchandise categories a retailer offers.
c) Assortment is the number of different items offered in a merchandise category.

Variety is often referred to as the breadth of merchandise, and assortment is referred to as the depth of
merchandise. Each different item of merchandise is called a stock-keeping unit (SKU). Some examples of
SKUs include an original scent, 813 gm box of Tide laundry detergent with bleach.

5. What are some of the popular retail formats in India?

Suggested Answer:

41
 Source: https://www.ibef.org/download/Retail-Report-2018.pdf

6. What is the difference between single brand retailing and multi-brand retailing?
Suggested Answer:
Source: https://www.ibef.org/download/Retail-Report-2018.pdf

7. Define Omni channel retailing? How is it different from multichannel retailing?

Suggested Answer: Omni-channel retailing — or, Omni channel (meaning, all channels) — is a fully-
integrated approach to commerce that provides shoppers a unified experience across online and offline
channels (e.g., touchpoints).

https://www.smartinsights.com/online-brand-strategy/multichannel-strategies/a-briefing-on-managing-
omnichannel-retail/

42
 8. What are the growth drivers of retail in India?
Suggested Answer:

Source: https://www.ibef.org/download/Retail-Report-2018.pdf

9. Define Catchment area of a retailer? Explain its importance for a retailer?

Suggested Answer:

Catchment is defined as the sphere of influence from which the retailer is likely to draw its customers. It is the
area from where they expect to gather footfalls and run their business. Most widely used definition of various
catchments is Primary, Secondary and Tertiary that attract 75%, 20% and 5% of the total visitors respectively.

Key information outputs from Catchment analysis:

It is very important to accurately undertake catchment analysis. This will give the retailers information in the
lines of:
• Population of the area, Number of households, Family size
• Demographics of the residents: Age, Income, Occupation, Marital Status, Number of kids, Number of elders
• Understand catchments needs, wants and other lifestyle measures
• Assets owned: Electrical appliances, Number of cars, Number of bikes
• Media consumption patterns
• Current shopping behavior: Who shops? From where? How often? Average Spends? How do they visit?
What do they buy?
• Understand perception of their competitors
• Current F&B experience available; what is missing? What would they look forward to having around?
• Category gaps: Any product category the area is missing, Any brands that they want to have in the
surrounding

43
 The above-mentioned information areas will then help the retailers make many important and strategic
decisions.
• It helps estimate the number of potential footfalls accurately
• Helps plan the dedicated floor plans by categories (if catchment analysis is undertaken in the initial stages
of development)
• Parking area for cars and bikes can be better managed
• Determining category mix of the outlet
• Help target promotional activities / exercises
• Help decide on the frequency and types of activities and events to be held at the center
• Help differentiate from the competitors

10. Explain the process of selecting retail location and site selection?
Suggested Answer: 3 steps to be followed
1. Evaluate Geographic (trading) Area
2. Type of location within a geographic area
3. If an opening or expansion, the format/size of the store to be opened

A geographic area containing customers of a particular firm or a group of firms for specific goods or services.
Primary Trading Area: encompasses 50- 80 percent of a store’s customers

Secondary Trading Area: contains an additional 15- 25 percent of a store’s customers

Tertiary/Fringe Trading Area: includes all the remaining customers and they are widely spread.
Parasite store: does not have its own trading area or store traffic but draws customers who visit its location for
other reasons

44
 Destination Store: the store that has the better assortment and generate a trading area much larger than that of
competitors with a “me too” appeal.
Methods of evaluating a geographic area are (i) Analog Model; (ii) Retail Gravity Model; (iii) Huff’s Gravity
Law and (iv) Multiple Regression
Criteria to be considered for Site Selection

11. What are the different site characteristics that a retailer considers?
Suggested Answer:

12. What is a GIS?

Suggested Answer: GIS – a system of hardware and software
used to store, retrieve, map and analyze geographic data
along with the operating personnel and the data that goes
into the system.
• coordinate system (latitude and longitude)
• spacial features (rivers and roads)
• some firms offer services combine GIS with updated census data, consumer spending patterns and
lifestyles
– ESRI (www.esri.com)
– Claritas (www. Claritas.com)
– MapInfo (www. Mapinfo.com)

13. What is a retail value chain?

Suggested Answer: A retail value chain represents the total bundle of benefits offered to consumers through
a channel of distribution. It comprises store location and parking, retailer ambience, the level of customer
service, the products/brands carried, product quality, the retailer’s on-stock position, shipping, prices, the
retailer’s image and other elements.

14. What is merchandise management? Outline its guiding principles?

45
 Suggested Answer: Process by which a retailer offers the correct quantity of the right merchandise in the
right place at the right time and meets the company’s financial goals.
• Merchandise philosophy refers to set of guiding principles for all the merchandise decisions that a
retailer makes. It must reflect:
1. Target market
2. Retailer institutional type
3. Marketplace positioning
4. Defined value chain
5. Supplier capabilities
6. Costs
7. Competition
8. Product trends

15. Explain Category management?

Suggested Answer: A category is an assortment of items that a consumer finds as reasonable substitutes for
each other. Goods are categorized on the basis of similarities in consumer tastes, preferences, liking and
disliking such as Junk food, Bar-be-Que, Razors, burgers, baked confectionary, sweets, etc. According to
Institute of Grocery Distribution, “Category Management is the strategic management of various merchandise
groups through trade tie ups and partnerships which aims to maximize turnover and profit by satisfying
consumer needs and want.” According to Nielsen (1992), Category Management is a process of managing
product categories as separate business units and customizing them to satisfying consumer needs.

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/retailing/category-management-definitions-significance-and-8-steps-
process/48198

16. State the parameters to be used for evaluation of merchandise performance?

Suggested Answer:

Three types of analyses related to the monitoring and adjustment step are: (i) Sell through analysis; (ii) ABC
analysis of assortments; and (iii) Multiattribute analysis of vendors
17. What is the difference between national brands and private labels?
Suggested Answer:
Manufacturer (National) Brands are brands that are designed, produced, and marketed by a vendor and sold
by many retailers.
Private-Label (Store/House/Own) Brands are brands that are developed by retailer and only sold in retailer’s
outlets

18. What are the relative advantages of private labels vis-à-vis national brands?
Suggested Answer:

https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/re-tales/the-rise-of-private-label-brands/2241
https://hbr.org/1996/01/brands-versus-private-labels-fighting-to-win
19. What is the retail life cycle?
Suggested Answer: The retail life cycle states that retail institutions pass through identifiable life stages-

46
 introduction (early growth), growth (accelerated development), maturity and decline.

47
 https://www.citeman.com/7774-concept-of-life-cycle-in-retail.html

20. What is wheel of retailing?

Suggested Answer: The Wheel of Retailing is a theory to explain the institutional changes that take place
when innovators, including large business houses, enter the retail arena.
The Wheel of Retailing is a hypothesis that describes how retailers approach to capture market share and create
brand value. It explains how retailers usually begin at the bottom of the wheel with low prices, profits and
prestige and then gradually work their way up to increased prices, profits and prestige.

https://www.marketing91.com/the-wheel-of-retailing-concept/
21. What is CRM? How can retailers make their customer loyalty programs effective?

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 Suggested Answer: Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business philosophy and set of strategies,
programs, and systems that focuses on identifying and building loyalty with a retailer’s most valued customers.
Retailer’s Goal through CRM is to develop a base of loyal customers and increase its share of wallet (the
percentage of the customers’ purchases made from the retailer).

Following are some of the measures which retailer may take to make their customer loyalty program
effective:
1. Use a simple points-based system.
2. Use a tier system to reward initial loyalty and encourage more purchases.
3. Charge an upfront free for VIP benefits.
4. Structure non-monetary programs around your customers' values.
5. Partner with another company to provide all-inclusive offers.
6. Make a game out of it.
7. Be as generous as your customers.
8. Scratch the "program" completely.
9. Build a useful community for your customers.
https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-loyalty

22. Explain customer loyalty along with the ways in which a retailer can develop its CRM program?
Suggested Answer: Committed to purchasing merchandise and services from a retailer
Resist efforts of competitors to attract the loyal customer
recommend their retailer to others.
Emotional attachment to retailer
 Personal attention
 Memorable positive experiences
 Brand building communications programs

Retailers can develop their customer loyalty program using following tools:
• Identifying Market Segments (RFM analysis)
• Identifying Best Customers (CLV analysis)
• Increasing Share of Wallet (Market Basket Analysis)
•
23. Explain how should a retailer evaluate its financial performance?
Suggested Answer: The Strategic Profit Model

49
 24. What are factors that affect a retailer’s pricing strategy?
Suggested Answer:

25. What are markdowns? Explain its relevance in retailing?

Suggested Answer: A markdown is the reduced selling price of an item. This can be calculated by taking the
original asking price for your product and subtracting the actual price the product was purchased for.
Markdowns are important because inventory has a “shelf-life”. Old product can steal space from new items.
By taking a markdown, you’re making room for new inventory because you know you can sell it more quickly
for full price. On average, inventory shelf life is 60-90. In some retail markets like fast-fashion for boutiques,
inventory lifecycle is even shorter.
Markdowns and discounts are NOT the same thing and should be treated differently. A markdown is a
devaluation or a reduction in price because of a product’s inability to sell at its original price. A discount is a
reduction in price for a specific purpose (e.g. employee discount, military discount, student discount, special
event).
https://www.ricssoftware.com/blog/markdowns/

26. What are different types of pricing strategies which a retailer can use to increase profits?
Suggested Answer: Retailers use a variety of techniques to maximize profits by charging different prices to
different customers
1. Individualized Variable Pricing (First Degree of Price Discrimination) – Set unique price for each customer
equal to customer’s willingness to pay e.g. Auctions, Personalized Internet Prices

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 2. Self-Selected Variable Pricing (Second Degree of Price Discrimination) – Offer the same price schedule to
all customers e.g. Quantity discounts, Early Bird Special, Over Weekend Travel Discount, Clearance
Markdowns for Fashion Merchandise, Coupons, Price Bundling, McDonald’s Value Meal, Multiple-Unit
Pricing or Quantity Discount etc.
3. Variable Pricing by Market Segments (Third Degree of Price Discrimination) – Charge different groups
different prices e.g. Seniors Discounts, Kids Menu etc.
• Zone Pricing (Third Degree of Price Discrimination) – Charge different prices in different stores, markets,
regions

27. Explain the importance of space planning in retailing?

Suggested Answer: Space planning is important due to the following:
 Allocating floor/shelf space locating merchandise
in store (or on website)
 Where should merchandise be displayed?
 How much space should be allocated to each category/item?
 How many items of each SKUs should be displayed?
Space planning consideration include:
• Profitability of merchandise
• Customer Buying considerations: Impulse products near front, Demand/Destination areas off the beaten
path & Physical characteristics of product.
• Complementary products should be adjacent - Sales rate- More units of faster selling merchandise need
to be displayed

28. What are the objectives of store design & layout?

Suggested Answer: The objectives of store design are as follows:
• Consistent with retailers image and strategy
• Positive influence on customer satisfaction and purchase behavior
• Cost effective
• Flexible
• Meet needs of disabled
Productivity ratios are output/input
– Sales per square foot
– Sales per linear foot
– Gross or contribution margin per square foot

29. What are different types of store design and layout?

Suggested Answer:
1. Grid
2. Racetrack
3. Free Form/Boutique

30. Explain the relevance of visual merchandising in retailing?

Suggested Answer: The art of increasing the sale of products by effectively and sensibly displaying them at
the retail outlet is called as visual merchandising. Visual merchandising refers to the aesthetic display of the

51
 merchandise to attract the potential buyers, prompt them to buy and eventually increase the sales of the store.
In simpler words, visual merchandising is the art of displaying the merchandise to influence the consumer’s
buying behaviour.
• Visual Merchandising helps the customers to easily find out what they are looking for.
• It helps the customers to know about the latest trends in fashion.
• The customer without any help can actually decide what he intends to buy.
• It increases the sales of the store and results in increased level of customer satisfaction.
• The customers can quickly decide what all they need and thus visual merchandising makes shopping
a pleasant experience.
• Visual merchandising gives the store its unique image and makes it distinct from others.

31. What do you feel is the key role of a retail manager?

Suggested Answer: This question is asked to determine whether you have an understanding of what a retail
manager’s position is. Use this opportunity to speak about the retail management business and what you think
would be your responsibilities would be. Read up about the position! Once the interviewer is convinced that
you understand the role of a retail manager, your chances of being hired are good.
Some duties and qualities required of the retail manager are:
• Team leadership and team development abilities.
• Managing the hiring process: HR activities and employee training.
• Workplace scheduling – Day to day operations.
• Problem solving skills – Communications skills.
• Sales management.
• Product and project management – Professional qualities and prioritization

32. What would you do in a situation where you have an understaffed shift?
Suggested Answer: This is another situation where strong problem-solving skills are needed. Within store
management there are certain situations that you are bound to face at some point, and being understaffed is
one of them. Employers want to know that you will be able to properly handle such a situation. In answering
this question, provide a detailed course of action that you would take to try to get the store properly staffed as
quickly as possible, ending with your willingness to cover the shift if need be. This showcases your leadership
abilities, which interviewers are looking for.
By understanding the true purpose behind a question, you can be sure to provide the best possible answer.
There are a number of ways that you can formulate your answer, but you want to make sure that you address
the key concerns that are being brought up with the line of questioning. Become familiar with the
aforementioned store manager interview questions and answers, and you will be well on your way to securing
the position you desire.
33. How to prevent stock outs when dealing with surges in demand?
Suggested Answer:
Step 1: Demand Planning and Sales Forecasting
Step 2: Set Inventory Controls
Step 3: Utilize an inventory management system
Step 4: Transparency is key
https://www.ecomdash.com/prevent-stock-outs/
34. If a customer is rude, unruly, or confrontational, what do you do?
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 Suggested Answer: When working in customer service, it's guaranteed your employee will occasionally come
across frustrated or rude customers. You'll need a candidate who knows how to show empathy and de-escalate
the situation, rather than make matters worse. For instance, your candidate should say something like this --
"If a customer is being rude or confrontational, I first recognize there's a reason for it, even if I don't know
what that is. I do my best to show empathy, and try to figure out the root of the problem. Then, I focus on
potential solutions, rather than ruminating over the issue. The quicker I can reach a resolution, the faster the
customer will likely calm down and become more polite." You don't want a candidate who believes it's okay
to fight back, or ask the customer to leave the store. Instead, you need a candidate who is calm and empathetic
during stressful customer interactions, and remains focused on finding a solution.
35. How do you make sales and promote a high-value average transaction?
Suggested Answer:
1. Crunch the numbers. Begin by figuring out the dollar value of your average sale. If you have 20 customers
and total sales of $1,000 on a typical day, your average sale is $50. Then you can set a new target and plot
your strategy to hit it. Depending on your business, you might also want to calculate your average sales per
hour, day of the week, employee, location, marketing campaign or other variables. Frequently the answers
will lead directly to a plan of action. If your numbers are low on Mondays, for example, you can plan special
Monday promotions. If one ad typically brings in a $2 sale and another weighs in at $12, you can adjust
accordingly.
2. Change your product or service mix. Adding or subtracting to what you sell can help grow your typical
ticket size. Take the case of a bakery that had an average sale of just $5. The problem was they offered virtually
no higher-priced items. When they added specialty cakes and other premium goods, that figure jumped to $14.
The same effect can sometimes be achieved by dumping lower-priced products. If you sell three different
toasters, drop the $35 model and the customer will spend $45 or $55 instead.
3. Bundle your offerings. Encourage customers to spend more by giving them a package deal on multiple
products or services. At McDonald's, the bundles are Extra Value Meals that include an entrée, fries and a
drink. At a car repair shop, it might be a tune-up and lube job rolled into one visit. You can also bundle your
time. One computer repair company that wasn't making enough money charging by the hour started selling
services in 10, 20 or 30-hour blocks. That new option yielded higher average sales and ensured return business.
4. Go for the add-on sale . "Do you want fries with that?" is a textbook example, but the same approach works
for any business. One attorney I know started asking whether every client had an up-to-date will. Two out of
three didn't. The result was an extra $4,000 in average weekly billings. Later he repeated the feat with living
wills. Another way to drive add-on sales is to create a checklist of related products for a particular kind of
purchase. If you're a hardware store, a paint customer might also need brushes and drop cloths. Hand him a
checklist and he'll likely walk out with more than a can of Antique White.
5. Create weekly or monthly sales challenges. Focusing your sales team on a particular area for a week or a
month can also generate add-on business. When I owned photocopy shops, we pushed colored paper one week
and banner the next. Some grocery stores offer specials at the checkout counter to trigger impulse sales.
6. Take hidden products or services out of the shadows. I once coached an insurance broker who sold only
1.27 policies per customer despite offering more than 14 types of insurance. A survey revealed that most
clients didn't know he sold those products. He was failing to show his entire hand. Signage, newsletters and
other tactics can help.
7. Train your staff to make the higher dollar sale. Sometimes simply making personnel aware of your target
sale value will help you get there. If they're just selling what the customer came in for, you're not going to hit
your numbers. Tell them what you're looking for, and then give them the tools to achieve it.
8. Raise your prices. If you're just opening your doors, price your products or services on the high side and
figure out how to offer more value. Being the cheapest isn't necessarily going to pay the bills, and you'll be
left high and dry when a competitor beats your price.

53
 https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/191978
36. How to Reduce Operating Costs in Your Retail Business
Suggested Answer:
1. Cut Unnecessary Operating Costs
2. Rent Your Retail Space
3. Reduce Packaging Costs
4. Merge Online & Offline Shopping Experience
5. Make Better Deals with Suppliers
6. Hire Outsourced Employees
7. Eliminate Manual Tasks
https://www.hashmicro.com/blog/reduce-operating-costs-in-retail-business/

*****

54
 1.8 Business to Business Marketing

1. What is B2B concept?

Definition of B2B Marketing. B2B (business-to-business) marketing is marketing of products to businesses

or other organizations for use in production of goods, for use in general business operations (such as office
supplies), or for resale to other consumers, such as a wholesaler selling to a retailer.
2. What Is Business 2 Business Sales?

B2B sales is short for business-to-business sales. It refers to an activity where a business is selling its products
or services (creating value) to another business. It is distinct from B2C or business-to-consumer sales, which
mean sales to individuals rather than businesses.
3. Differences between B2B and B2C
B2B B2C
Geographically Concentrated Geographically dispersed
Customized Products Standardized products
Functional involvement Family involvement
Fewer Buyers Larger buyers
Emphasis on personal selling Emphasis on advertising
Competitive price bidding List price
Shorter channel Multiple linkages

4. What Is B2b Process?

Business-to-business refers to a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another.
This typically occurs when: A business is sourcing materials for their production process (e.g. a food
manufacturer purchasing salt).
5. What are the typical tasks of Sales representatives?

o Selling
o Prospecting
o Pre-sales service
o CRM
o Inbound information handling
o Outbound information handling
o Market research
o Sales team cooperation

6. What ate the characteristics of organizational markets?

1. The size of the market
2. International aspects
55
 3. Concentration of buyer power
4. The nature of demand
7. What are different organizational markets?
1. Commercial customers
2. Institutional customers
3. Governmental organizations

8. Potential members of the buying centers/Decision Making Unit (DMU)

1. Initiators
2. Influencers
3. Buyers
4. Decision makers
5. Gate keepers

9. What are the potential stages in organizational buying process?

1. Problem recognition
2. General need description
4. Supplier search
5. Proposal submission
6. Supplier selection
7. Order process specification
8. Performance review

10. What are different buying situations in B2B Marketing?

1. New task purchase
2. Modified rebuy
3. Straight rebuy

11. Define Hybrid/Omni channel

Two or more marketing channels set up by a single firm to reach one or more customer segments. In this form
of multichannel distribution a variety of direct and indirect approaches are used to deliver the firm's goods to
its customers.

12. What is Reverse logistics?

This involves moving goods from their typical final destination in order to recapture value or to dispose of
them properly.

56
 13. What are Bases for Business market segmentation?
A. Market characteristics:
1. Customer location
2. Customer size
3. Market served by customer
4 .Usage rate
5. Purchase situation

B. Buyer characteristics:
1. Purchasing strategies
2. Purchasing policies
3. Importance of purchase
4. Attitude to risk
5. Personal characteristics of buyer

14. What are the types of Business products?

1. Input products-(raw materials, manufactured materials and parts)
2. Foundation products (Capital equipment or installations and Accessory equipment’s)

3. Facilitating or MRO supplies (Tangible supplies business service)

15. Business service classification
1. Product related (Delivery services, after sales service, training)
2. Marketing services (Marketing Research and advertising)
3. Professional services (consulting, accounting, legal services)
4. Information services(inventory management and supply chain management)
5. Financial services (Financing for product purchases, credit evaluation, banking and insurance)

16. The factors affecting price setting:

1. Company
2. Customers
3. Competitors
4. Channels
5. Context/Environment

17. What are the elements of Integrated Marketing Communication mix?

57
 1. Personal selling
2. Trade shows
3. Direct marketing
4. Sales promotions
5. Advertising
6. Public relations

18. Targeting of B2B

 Market growth: Market size, Potential and growth rate
 Competitive intensity ( number of competitors, ease of entry, potential of substitute products
 Access to market (channel access, familiarity with customers, fit with company culture and image.)



58
 1.9 Sales & Distribution Management

1. Stages in personal selling process?

Presale preparation – Prospecting – Pre-Approach – Approach to customers – Sales Presentations – Handling
Objections – Negotiation – Closing Sale – Follow-up
2. What you understand from prospecting?
Prospecting is the first step in the sales process, which consists of identifying potential customers, aka
prospects. The goal of prospecting is to develop a database of likely customers and then systematically
communicate with them in the hopes of converting them from potential customer to current customer.What is
a cold call?
3. Functions of a sales manager?
 Selling
 Forecasting
 Budgeting
 Sales Planning (Quotas)
 Managing sales operation related issues..
 Sales force Organizing
* Size of Sales Force
* Size of Territory
* Sales person selection, recruitment,
compensation, motivation, Appraisal & Control
 Coordinating with Marketing department

4. Define sales management

• Defined as “Planning, Directing and control of Selling activities including Recruiting, Selection and
Training, Supervising, Paying and motivating Sales Force”

5. What do you understand by AIDA model,

The AIDA Model, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action model, is an advertising effect
model that identifies the stages that an individual goes during the process of purchasing a product.

6. Explain FAB approach.

FAB stands for Features, Advantages, and Benefits. A FAB Statement is explaining the feature, what it does
(the advantage), and how that benefits the prospective client. Features are one of the easier things to identify.
These are facts or characteristics about your business, products, and services. Pre-sale Preparation means…

7. Discuss few closing techniques..

 Ask for the Order simply
 Summarize and ask Order
 The concession close –

59
 if you book order now, 2% special dis
• The Alternate close –
Would you like RED/BLUE ; Deliver it on Mon / Wed ??
• The Objection close –
If your objection is solved, will you buy??

8. What are sales organization structures based on?

Sales organization structures can be based on Geography, Product, Customer group, Channel Based and
Functional Based.

9. Different types of sales force compensation.

Straight Salary
Straight Commission
Combination – Sal +
Commission
- bonuses; Incentives; Performance linked pay; Team performance pay
- Fringe Benefits (Holidays, loans, Esops, Els)

10. Name different types of quotas

 Sales Volume / Value Quota
 Activity Quotas
 Budget Quotas – Margin Quota, Expense Quota, Profit Quota
 Combination Quotas

11. Examples for Activity Quotas…

Number of calls / Number of Demos handled / Number of new customers added
12. What kind of companies do insist for Budget quotas
When there is a product customization and the revenue from the product varies according to the customers’
requirements, we use Margin Quotas or Budget Quotas.

13. Explain Sales potential:

Market share of that market potential that a company possibly hope to achieve

14. Define Market Potential.

Highest possible expected industry wide sales of a product/service over a given period in specified market.

15. Define Sales Quotas

Specific sales goals assigned to a sales person, sales region etc.,

16. Name few qualitative forecasting methods

Delphi, Panel of executive opinion, Sales force composite, Consumer/user survey method

17. Explain sales force composite method

Sales person in charge of each area, territory will forecast & Done in concern with superior.

18. Explain Delphi Method.

Members of committee are formed. Questionnaire is sent to each member; Forecast, beliefs, opinions are
received from each expert member; Coordinator analyses all & sends them average forecast; Consensus is
reached.
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 19. Discuss Ratio/ Naïve method.
Sales forecast for next year = Actual sales this year / Actual sales last year.

20. Name few Qualitative methods.

Moving average; Exponential smoothening; Decomposition; Regression; Naïve / Ratio Method.
21. Discuss Exponential smoothening method.
Ft+1 = aSt + (1-a)Ft; Ft+1 = time period that is to be forecast
a = alpha, or smoothing constant; St = current periods’ actual sales; Ft = current periods’ forecasted
sales

22. What do you understand from Sales Territory?

Sales territory is a grouping of customers assigned to an individual sales person so that he can call
conveniently and economically.

23. Different methods of designing territories.

Built-up Method / Work load method…… & …… Break Down Method.

24. Discuss few territory routing structures

Clover leaf / Straight line or Hop-Scotch method / circular

25. Channel of Distribution

A channel of distribution comprises a set of institutions which perform all of the activities utilised to move a
product and its title from production to consumption

26. Types of Distribution

Direct and Indirect; Exclusive, Selective and Intensive

27. Name few channels types & members, Intermediaries

Super stockiest; franchising;

Stockists, Dealers, Distributors; Agents, Brokers, CFAs

Vending Machines, ATM, Internet; Wholesalers
Retailers, Organised retailing, Modern trade

28. What do you mean by channel conflict?

Channel conflict is a situation in which one channel member perceives another channel member(s) to be
engaged in behavior that prevents it from achieving its goals.

29. What are different types of channel conflicts?

Vertical channel conflict; Horizontal channel conflict; Multi-channel conflict

30. Reasons for channel conflicts?

Goal Incompatibility: Great Dependence; Unclear Role; Difference of perceptions

31. What do mean by dealer investment?

Investment on stock + market credit.

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 32. What is primary sales and what is secondary sales?
Primary sales is sales from company to dealer. Secondary sales is dealer to wholesaler/retailers.
33. Define Channel Power
It is defined as…Ability to influence actions of other channel members in a channel.

34. Types of channel powers

Coercive power, legitimate power, Expert power, Referent power, Reward Power.

35. Example for Zero level channel can be…

ONLINE Channel

36. What do you mean by Reverse distribution

It is the process of continuously taking back products or packaging materials to avoid further wastage.
37. Discuss functions of a channel member.
Bulk Breaking, Delivery of stocks, Negotiating, promoting, physical distribution, Inventory, Payment, Risk
taking etc.,
38. What is ROI of a Channel Member (like Stockiest)
The return that the a channel member gets on their capital employed in business
An exercise to be regularly done to understand the viability of business

39. Factors affecting ROI of a channel member.

Turnover– Gross monthly / yearly; Gross Margin –Margin on your turnover

Net Investment is…..Paid up stock + Market credit + claims (if any)
Expenses—Both Direct & Indirect Expenses for attaining sales

40. Formulae for ROI of a Stockiest

ROI = (Margin – expenses / Net Investment) *100

Or

ROI = ROTATIONS x NET MARGINS

Where ROTATIONS = TURNOVER / NET INVESTMENT
NET MARGINS = (NET PROFIT / TURNOVER)*100

41. Can two sales officers have same targets?

- No not necessarily, depending on market potential of the territory, targets for each sales officer are fixed.

42. How do you increase sales?

I will first check whether there are any gaps in market where we are not supplying our products and fill that.
Along with that I will concentrate on the entire range of products and see that retailers purchase maximum
varieties.

*******

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 1.10 Consumer Behaviour
1. What is Counter-segmentation?
Counter-segmentation is defined as combining market segments to appeal to a broad range of consumers. The
assumption is that consumers will be happy with fewer choices because it means lower prices.

2. Explain Micro targeting?

Micro targeting is narrowing the segment size to the point of customizing products and marketing programs
for specific individuals. It involves the use of local and direct marketing data mining techniques that involve
predictive market segmentation.

3. Define Customer value?

The perceived monetary value of the bundle of economic, functional, and psychological benefits customers
expect from a product or service.

4. Elaborate buyer blackbox?

The buying behaviour of final consumers is influenced by various factors. These factors or characteristics
determine what is going on in the so-called black box of the consumer. The buyer black box is the consumer’s
head. There, the whys of buying behaviour take form?
The buying behaviour is based on stimuli, coming from the environment, such as the 4 Ps (Marketing Mix)
and other environmental factors such as the forces in the Macro Environment. The stimuli then go through the
buyer black box, where a decision is formed. The black box consists of two parts. This reaction on stimuli is
based on 1) the buyer’s characteristics, as well as 2) the buyer’s decision process. The outcome of the thinking
that takes place in the black box are the buyer’s responses. These refer to buying attitudes andpreference. Also,
the purchase behaviour is an outcome. What does the consumer buy, where, when, and in what quantities?
Finally, the relationship behaviour towards brands and companies is a result of the things going on in the buyer
black box. Thus, the black box is the central element of the consumer buying behaviour.

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 5. Explain a consumer decision making process through a theory.
In Nicosia Model the decision-making process is divided into four areas
 Area 1 - includes consumer attitudes shaped by information from the market. In this area
information flows from the source of their creation to the recipient.
 Area 2 - consumer is looking for information about specific products and gives them value. During the
evaluation the consumer allocates appropriate weight to each information piece. When the result ofthe
evaluation of a given product from the consumer's point of view is satisfactory, consumer is motivated tobuy.
 Area 3 - act of purchase. Motivation - established in advance by consumer prompts him to acquire the
product.
 Area 4 - feedback, as result of the consumption of the product, the consumer acquires a new experience
and base on it his new preferences
(predisposition). This last step is
not only the consumption of a
product but also a very important
factor for the future decisions of
the consumer. Feedback is also a
very important factor for the
company, which acquires a new
information that could be used in
preparing future product policy,
its advertising and
communications targeted to the
consumer.

6. Howard and Sheth

model of consumer behaviour
variables
Howard-Sheth model is based on the assumption that the consumer behaves rationally during purchase,
process is repeatable and is result of incentives which have their source in the environment (input variables).
It consists of four main groups of variables:

I. Input variables, i.e. stimuli arising from the marketing activities and social environment of the consumer.
Include three different types of stimuli, which are:
 Significant incentives - physical characteristics and the attributes of a product, such as price, quality,
originality and accessibility, brand characteristics,
 Symbolic incentives - verbal or visual characteristics of the product, form of product perceived by
buyer/customer, effect of advertising and promotion messages used by seller,
 Social stimuli - whose source is the social consumer environment, family, reference groups, and society
in general.
II. Hypothetical constructs, including the psychological variables influencing consumer behaviour during
the decision-making process. It is regarded by the authors as abstract, not defined and not intended directly.
They distinguished two main constructs:
 Perceptual constructs - describe obtaining and processing information, attention to stimulus, sensitivity
to messages, receptivity, blocking information, prejudice, etc.,
 Learning constructs - how buyer forms attitudes, opinions, and knowledge influencing his buying
decisions, evaluation after purchase, brand comprehension, etc.
III. Output variables: purchase intention, attitude, brand perception and attention. They are noticeable effects
of internal processes, for example: decision to implement the purchase, disclosure of customer view and
interest, as well as the declaration of other activities. The most important output variable from the point of
view of marketing is actual purchase, because it involves carrying out activity based on consumer preferences.
Hierarchy of output variables include:

64
  Attention - scope of information accepted after exposing buyer to stimulus,
 Comprehension - amount of information actually processed and stored in buyer mind,
 Cognition - forming attitude towards products,
 Intention - to buy or not to buy particular product,
 Purchase behaviour.
IV. External variables that have not been presented in the Howard and Sheth model and are not direct part
of the decision-making process, however, have a significant impact on consumer decisions and are usedin
marketing activities as a criterion for segmentation. These include such variables as: value of purchase for the
buyer, the character traits of the consumer, membership of a social group, the financial status of a consumer,
the pressure of time.

7. Explain briefly Theory of Planned Behaviour

 Theory of Reasoned Action: a person’s behaviour is determined by the intention to perform it.
Behavioural Intention = Attitude + Subjective norms
 Theory of Planned Behaviour: The actual behaviour is a result of behavioural intentions, but is
controlled to some extent by perceived behavioural control

8. What is Goal Directed Behaviour?

Since everything cannot be bought immediately, behavioural control is applied. The person may buy the
product depending on how strong the desires are and how quickly the resources for buying it can be collected.

9. Why do we concentrate on Consumer Personality?

Personality is defined as the distinctive and relatively enduring ways of thinking, feeling and acting that
characterize a person’s responses to life situations. In marketing, we are concerned with personality as it
impacts on consuming and buying goods.
Freudian theory of Personality: Personality is the product of a subconscious mind – it arises from a conflict
between a person’s desire to fulfill his conscious and unconscious physical needs and also be acceptable in
society at the same time.
Neo-Freudian Theory:
Alfred Adler said that people suffer from inherent feelings of inferiority, called the inferiority complex and
that the primary motivation of humans was a striving for superiority.

10. What is Trait Theory? How can we be used it?

Traits are defined as habitual patterns of behaviour, thought, and emotion.

The Five Factor Model suggests five dimensions of personality, which are: Openness, Conscientiousness,
Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (OCEAN).
Sixteen Personality Factors (16 PF) suggests that a person’s or group’s personality can be plotted on 16 factors.
Companies can work out effective segmentation and also develop products that meet the needs of these groups
based on these factors.

11. What is Consumer dogmatism?

Consumer Dogmatism refers to the resistance to change of consumers, and represents the degree to which an
individual's mind-set is open or closed.

12. How can we understand Cognitive Personality Factors?

 Visualizers are consumers who get influenced by graphics, images and videos.
 Verbalizers are consumers who prefer the written or verbal information. They prefer products that have
detailed information.
 High Need for Cognition consumers are thinkers, collect information and deliberate upon it.
 Low need for Cognition consumers like messages that contains fun, fantasy, colours, music, jingles
etc.

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 13. Differentiate the consumer ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism.
 Consumer ethnocentrism is a feeling of patriotism, and a resultant desire to accept or reject foreign
made products and brands.
 Cosmopolitanism refers to individuals who are oriented towards the outside world rather than their
local community.

14. What is Anthropomorphism?

Anthropomorphism is the process of prescribing human characteristics to non-human objects. Advertising
encourages consumers to view brands in human terms.

15. What is Gender bending?

Gender bending is the term used to show how brands target the opposite sex.

16. How could analyze the self / self-image in a purchase decision making?
People buy what fits with what they think about themselves.
The self-congruity theory says that consumers prefer those products in which their self-concept is congruent
with the product-user image of a product.
The personality congruence effect states that people prefer
those brands with which they share personality
characteristics.
Online profiles of people help us in discovering real personalities through virtual personality - many people
use avatars to describe themselves on social media and gaming sites.

17. How will you understand consumer motivation?

Consumer motivation is defined as an internal state that drives people to identify and buy products or services
that fulfil conscious and unconscious needs or desires.
A motive is an emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action. A
drive is an aroused state of psychological tension that typically arises from a need. A desire is a strong feeling,
or a sense of longing or craving for a thing.

18. What is hedonic consumption?

When things are bought or consumed for sheer happiness, it is called hedonic consumption

19. What is Halo Effect?

Bias shown by customers towards certain products because of a favourable experience with other products
made by the same company or because of a past favourable experience.

20. How can a consumer be learn things?

Motivation: The driving force that impels consumers to try out new products
Cue: A cue is a signal to a consumer to buy or consume a product or service. Cues act as stimuli and gives
directions to motives.
Response: The reaction of the consumer to the cue.
Reinforcement: Reinforcement occurs when a customer is satisfied with the experience of consuming the
product.

21. Explain Tricomponent Attitude Model

According to the tricomponent attitude model, attitude consists of three major components, viz., a cognitive
component, an affective component, and a conative component. The cognitive component consists of a
person’s cognitions, i.e., knowledge and perceptions (about an object). The affective component of an attitude
comprises of the consumers emotions or feelings (toward an object). The conative component is concerned

66
 with the likelihood or tendency of certain behavior with regard to the attitude object. It would also mean the
predisposition or tendency to act in a certain manner toward an object.

22. Discuss how the study of consumer behavior helps marketers in strategic and tactical planning?

In the complex and dynamic environment that organizations experience today, marketers need to be ‘customer-
centric’ in orientation and design their marketing program accordingly. Marketers must study consumers to
understand their buying patterns and consumption behaviour. Questions that need answers include ‘what’ do
consumers buy, ‘why’, ‘when’, and ‘where’ they buy from, as well as ‘how often they buyand use’. Answers
to these questions would help marketers in strategic and tactical planning.
 Strategic Planning: Formulation and implementation of decisions with respect to
 Target marketing: Segmentation, targeting and positioning.
 Tactical Planning: Formulation and implementation of decisions with respect to the marketing
mix.

23. How do psychological and sociological influences affect consumer decision making?
Consumers are influenced by psychological and sociological factors as well as the environment, when it comes
to the purchase decision making process.
 Whatever consumers buy, and why, when and where they buy from, as well as how often they buy and
use what they buy are affected by psychological and sociological influences, and hence such influences affect
consumer decision making.
 Psychological influences: Motivation and involvement, perception, learning and memory, attitudes,
self-concept and personality, perception and communication.
 Sociological influences: Social groups, reference groups, family, social class, culture, sub-culture,
cross-culture, national and regional influences, and interpersonal communication and opinion leadership.

24. While formulating a marketing program, should marketers lay emphasis only on the physical
activity (transaction) or the entire decision making process that consumers undergo? Give reasons for
your answer.
The buying process involves the physical transaction as well as the cognitive process involved in buying, using
and disposing of goods and services. Surrounded by such decisions are psychological determinants and the
sociological influences which affect the manner in which people think, feel and select between different
product and/or brand alternatives. Hence, marketers must lay emphasis on the entire decision makingprocess
that consumers undergo.

25. What is a message strategy? What are the factors that determine that kind of message strategy
that must be designed for a product?

The message strategy deals with the content and the form (creative strategy) of the message, and helps
communicate a message about a brand in a creative and persuasive manner. o With respect to the message
strategy, the marketer must decide what must be said and how, and also assess how the target market would
respond to the message, both in terms of its content and structure. o For effective communication with the
target segment(s), it is essential that the marketer decides what the message is, for whom it is meant (the
consumer segment), and how the message must be communicated so to be best understood by the audience.
The factors that determine that kind of message strategy that must be designed for a product are as follows: o
Nature of the good and service offering: High or low involvement products, and purchase situations o
Objective of the communication: Cognitive, affective and behavioural; Advertising appeals: Rational and
emotional o Media through which it would be transmitted: Personal and non-personal; Print and audio-visual
o Nature of the audience:
Personal characteristics of the segment(s) in terms of demographics (age, education, income, etc.) as also the
psychographics (motivation, attitude, personality, AIOs etc.) and the social influences (family, culture, sub-

67
 culture, etc.);
Target segment’s motivation, ability, and opportunity to process the information. o Situational and socio-
cultural context.

26. Explain what you mean by the credibility of the source and the credibility of the medium? What
are the implications of these on a firm’s communication program?
Define credibility of the source, and state its importance
o Credibility of formal and informal sources
o Components of credibility: Expertise and trustworthiness as well as attractiveness (including similarity,
familiarity and likeability)
o Credible source and its impact on the persuasiveness of messages
Define credibility of the medium, and state its importance
o Credibility of the channel: personal and non-personal channels
o Credible channel and its impact on the persuasiveness of messages

27. Write short notes on cognitive, affective and behavioural responses? Which of these is more
important for a marketer with respect to his business and profits?
Message acceptance may manifest in cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses.
o Define cognitive, affective, and behavioural responses.
Marketers have control over the message content and the choice of the channel, and can take decisions with
respect to these to gain consumer attention and aid comprehension. However, they have hardly any control
over the manner in which the consumer accepts the message at these various levels.
The marketer’s ultimate objective is a behavioural response, translated as purchase.
o This response may not always be direct and immediate, and so marketers may have to initially rely on the
cognitive and affective responses.
- The message content must be congruent with already existing knowledge and beliefs, thoughts and opinions,
and feelings, all of which constitute a frame of reference against which a consumer compares and assimilates
or contrasts new information.

***

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 1.11 Services Marketing
Q1. What are the characteristics of services?
Intangibility, Inseparability, Heterogeneity, Perishability

Q2. Explain zone of tolerance?

The extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept the variation between desired service
and acceptable service is known as zone of tolerance.

Q3. What do you mean by services? How are services different from goods?
Services are deeds, processes and performances provided or coproduced by one entity or person for
another entity or person.

Q4. What do you mean by service encounter?

Whenever a customer interacts with a service organization or a representative of the provider, it is termed
as a service encounter.

Q5. What are the different types of service encounters?

Remote encounter, Technology-mediated encounter, Face-to-face encounter.

Q6. What do you mean by service quality?

Service quality is the customers’ perception of the service provided to the individual.

Q7. Explain the dimensions of service quality?

The dimensions are Reliability, Tangibility, Empathy, Responsiveness, and Assurance.

Q8. Explain the dimensions of e-service quality?

The dimensions are Efficiency, Fulfillment, System Availability and Privacy.

Q9. Explain the dimensions of e-service recovery quality?

The dimensions are Responsiveness, Compensation and Contact.

Q10. Explain service marketing triangle?

The service marketing triangle or the Service triangle as it is commonly called, underlines the relationships
between the various providers of services, and the customers who consume these services.

Q11. Explain Interactive Marketing?

Interactive marketing is a one to one marketing process that reacts and changes based on the actions of
individual customers and prospects.

Q12. Explain services marketing mix?

The service marketing mix is also known as an extended marketing mix and is an integral part of a service
blueprint design. The service marketing mix consists of 7 P’s as compared to the 4 P’s of a product marketing
mix.

Q13. What is the GAP model of service quality?

The Gap Model of Service Quality is a framework which can help us to understand customer satisfaction. In
the Gap Model of Service Quality, customer satisfaction is largely a function of perception. If the customer
perceives that the service meets their expectations then they will be satisfied. If not, they’ll be dissatisfied.
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 Q14. Explain the customer Gap?
The customer gap is the difference between customer expectations and customer perceptions. This gap occurs
because customers do not always understand what the service has done for them or they misinterpret the
service quality.

Q15. Explain the provider gaps of the Gap model of service quality?

Gap 1: Knowledge Gap

The knowledge gap is the difference between the customer’s expectations of the service and the company’s
provision of that service.

Gap 2: The Policy Gap

The policy gap is the difference between what the management understands of the customer needs and the
translation of that understanding into service delivery policies and standards.

Gap 3: The Delivery Gap

The delivery gap is the difference between service delivery policies and standards and the actual delivery of
the service.

Gap 4: The Communication Gap

The communication gap is the gap between what gets promised to customers through advertising and what
gets delivered.

Q16. What do you mean by customer defined standards? Provide examples

A customer service standard is the interaction between a business and its customers. Customer service
standards are excellence, response time, accessibility, delivery time and commitment. All business leads back
to the customer in one form or another, so it is imperative that companies continuously strive to improve the
level of service they deliver. Customer service standards must be constantly monitored and incorporated into
the strategic planning of the company.

Q17. What do you mean by hard customer defined standard and soft customer defined standard?
Hard standards are operational standards whereas Soft standards are perceptual standards.

Q18. What do you mean by service failure?

A service failure, simply defined, is service performance that fails to meet a customer’s expectations.
Typically, when a service failure occurs, a customer will expect to be compensated for the inconvenience in
the form of any combination of refunds, credits, discounts, or apologies.

Q19. What do you mean by service recovery?

It is the action a service provider takes in response to service failure.

Q20. Explain service recovery paradox?

The service recovery paradox is a situation in which a customer thinks more highly of a company after
the company has corrected a problem with their service, compared to how he or she would regard the company
if non-faulty service had been provided. The main reason behind this thinking is that successful recoveryof a
faulty service leads to increased assurance and confidence among customers.

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 Q21. What is servicescape?
‘Servicescape’ refers to the environments in which services are delivered and where the firm and customer
interact.

Q22. What do you mean by service blueprinting?

A service blueprint is a visual diagram that explains how a service works and shows how processes and
their components are linked to each other along a timeline.

Q23. What do you mean by physical evidence?

Physical evidence comprises of the elements which are incorporated into a service to make it tangible and
somewhat measurable. At the same time, it also helps in the positioning of the brand and for targeting the right
kind of customers.

Q24. Explain service profit chain?

A service profit chain is the service sequence from employees to customers to profit. According to this
concept, a company’s strategy and service delivery system influence how employees deal with customers-that
is, how productive they are in providing service and the quality of that service.

Q25. What are the reasons for the listening gap?

Essentially, this gap arises because management doesn’t know exactly what customers expect. There are a
number of reasons this could happen, including:

i) Lack of management and customer interaction.

ii) Lack of communication between service employees and management.
iii) Insufficient market research.
iv) Insufficient relationship focus.
v) Failure to listen to customer complaints.

Q26. What are the reasons for service design and standards gap?
This gap is the difference between what the management understands of the customer needs and the
translation of that understanding into service delivery policies and standards.

There are a number of reasons why this gap can occur:

i) Lack of customer service standards.

ii) Poorly defined service levels.
iii) Failure to regularly update service level standards.

Q27. What are the reasons for service performance gap?

This gap is the difference between service delivery policies and standards and the actual delivery of the
service.

This gap can occur for a number of reasons:

i) Deficiencies in human resources policies.

ii) Failure to match supply to demand.
iii) Employee lack of knowledge of the product.
iv) Lack of cohesive teamwork to deliver the product or service.
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 Q28. What are the reasons for the communication gap?

This gap is the gap between what gets promised to customers through advertising and what gets delivered.

A number of reasons why this can happen:

i) Overpromising.
ii) Viewing external communications as separate to what’s going on internally.
iii) Insufficient communications between the operations and advertising teams.

Q29. What do you mean by service expectations?

Service expectations refer to the total perceived benefits a customer expects from a company's product or
service. If the actual experience customers have with a product exceeds the expectation, they are typically
satisfied.

Q30. What do you mean by customer perceptions?

Customer Perception is defined as what customers think about a service or a service provider or its
offerings. It can be positive or negative feelings, perceptions, inhibitions, predispositions, expectations or
experiences that a customer has.

***

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Brand Management

Question: Assume You Are a Brand, Describe Your Strengths and Weaknesses?

Answer: My strengths are good communication, analytical and client servicing skills and flexibility to any kind of environment.

My weakness is diversified concentration.

I position as a brand by means of catering to the mass market (Flexibility) with assortment of product categories (diversified concentration) across geographies (flexibility) with high quality
product standards to the consumers.

Question: What is the Difference Between a Brand and a Product?

Answer: While brand is a name, term, symbol, design or logo, product is of an identifiable generic nature object.

Question: What are the major areas, concerning managing brands? what is the negative impact of brand management in the company?

Answer: The major areas of concern for a company

To brand or not
Cost and benefit of developing brand equity
Brand strategy
Brand repositioning

Negative impact of brand management portrays a Turf mentality among brand managers leading to cannibalization of a few brands and Sub optimal utilization of resources.

Question: What is the basic idea behind Co-branding? please give suitable example from India and abroad?

Answer: When two brands come together to create greater value to the customer then it is called Co-branding. Coke and McDonald’s have done that globally, while Dettol and ICICI Prudential are
doing in India.

Question: It is not always profitable to go in for brand building? do you support this view? how would you brand Indian software development skills?

Answer: Cost of brand building Vs Benefit of branding. The point to note is that branding cost is an immediate process whereas the benefits are always long-term goals. If viewed from a long
term image building prospective. It is always profitable to go in for brand building. We may lose out to cheaper labor nations unless we do something to brand our software development skills.
Branding a nation is not a new and impossible proposition.

73
Global Marketing

Question: In the context of international marketing, how important is a second language for a manager?

Answer: Due to rapid globalization, many organizations are expanding into foreign countries, integrating and incorporating many international markets. This international expansion creates a need
for managers to have a second language for smooth business activities. A second language plays a key role in international marketing in today's business environment. It allows managers to
improve customer satisfaction through interactions in both verbal and non-verbal communication.

A manager's language affects various organizational processes such as marketing, internal reporting, innovation, hiring, integration, and teaming up with others. It can affect many aspects, and
only by learning a second language can managers communicate and interact with native people, understanding their culture to help an organization connect with its target market and improve its
international marketing strategies.

Question: In an attempt to market the products abroad, what kind of marketing strategy a firm should choose?

Answer: When a firm attempts to market its products abroad, it can choose between two divergent marketing:

(1) Initially it can enter a few of the most promising markets. Once its presence is established’ and the potential of its product proved, it penetrates new and presumably less profitable markets.

(2) The firm may choose to enter as many potential markets as possible as the same time. The initial broad-, scale penetration is followed by a strategy of abandoning some old and less profitable
markets.

Marketing managers find the first strategy superior and use it widely because it requires a lower investment in marketing and permits the firm to test its products and concentrate on markets with
the highest expected return. Most firms become multinational through this kind of creeping commitment.

Question: What do you understand about Geocentric pricing policy?

Answer: Geocentric pricing policy involves, a company neither fixes a single price worldwide nor remains aloof from subsidiary pricing decisions but instead strikes an intermediate position.

Question: What roles do international product supports play in reaching target markets?

Answer: International product supports include installation, maintenance, servicing and repair, providing credit, answering questions by telephone or over the Internet, assisting businesses with
inventory management, and more general activities such as providing market information. Companies often have to perform these activities in order to reach their target markets

Question: What is the role of the service sector in international marketing?

74
Answer: Services play a huge role in international marketing. Services are intangible products that are based around some act or performance that delivers value. Services play a larger role in more
developed countries. Tourism is a big part of the service sector in international marketing.

Question: What three forms of co-branding can be used in domestic and international marketing?

Answer: Co-branding strategies can follow ingredient, cooperative, or complementary approaches.

Question: How does the concept of brand valuation relate to international marketing?

Answer: It is the process of estimating the value of a brand. the ISO (International Standards Organization) produced ISO Standard 10668 in 2010 as an effort to reach agreement on how brand
valuation should be reached. According to the ISO approach, three types of analysis are required for brand valuation: legal analysis (including assessments of the legal protections of the brand),
behavioral analysis (including the contribution of the brand to purchase decisions as well as the attitudes of all stakeholde r groups), and financial analysis (market values, cost, and income
figures).

Question: What ethical issues are present in international product marketing?

Answer:

a. Companies are sometimes criticized for knowingly dumping unsafe or even recalled products to foreign segments in order to increase international sales or to offset sagging domestic sales.

b. Your products may be unsafe for consumers in some countries – you should not try to make money off of these consumers.

c. Packaging itself can be an ethical concern. If wasteful or used to mask the contents, packaging can come under attack. The use of air to make packages seem fuller and the waste associated
with plastic bottles of water are two recent examples. Using imagery on the package that targets children when the product may not be appropriate for that age group can be another packaging
issue.

d. When testing products, companies should treat animals ethically.

e. The product line itself may be an ethical issue. Companies may chose not to sell the full product line in certain markets denying those consumers access to the benefits from those products. If
medicines, healthier foods, or similar products are involved, it may appear that companies are wrongly selecting which consumers have better health or other positive outcomes.

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Question
A company's marketing environment consists of the actors and forces outside marketing that affect the marketing
1 What is marketing environment? management's ability to build and maintain successful relationships with target customers.
Demography is the study of human population in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, and other
2 What is Demography? statistics.
3 What are some common micro environment factors? Company, suppliers, intermediaries, competitors, public, customers.
Macro environment factors are larger societal factors that affect the micro environment. Like political, economic, social,
4 What are macro environment factors? demographic, etc.
5 Name some demographic trends which effect a company? Increased population, Changing family system, better educated population.
Which are the various groups of public that can affect an organizations
6 ability to achieve its objectives? Financial public, Media public, Citizen-action public etc.
7 What are the five stages of buyer decision process? Need Recognition, Information Search, Evaluation of Alternatives, Purchase and Post Purchase Behavior
8 What the stages in the process of adopting a new product? Awareness, Interest, Evaluation, Trial, Adoption
9 What do you mean by relative advantage? Degree to which an innovation appears superior to existing products.
10 What is complex buying behavior? When people are highly involved in a purchase and perceive significant differences among brands.

Marketing Research FAQs

S.No. Question Answer
R-squared is the proportion of variance in the
dependent variable that can be explained by the
1 What is R-square? independent variable.
The Adjusted R-squared takes into account the number
of independent variables used for predicting the target
variable. In doing so, we can determine whether adding
new variables to the model actually increases the model
2 What is adjusted R-square? fit.
R2 shows how well terms (data points) fit a curve or
line. Adjusted R2 also indicates how well terms fit a
curve or line, but adjusts for the number of terms in a
model. If you add more and more useless variables to a
model, adjusted r-squared will decrease.
3 Difference between R-square and adjusted R-square.
4 Name the projective techniques. Construction, Completion, Association, Expressive
5 Types of measurement scales Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, Ratio
6 Name two data reduction techniques Factor and cluster analysis
CRM FAQs
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 S.No. Question Answer
Buttle's CRM value chain model, Payne & Frow's five
1 Name some famous CRM models step process model
Three main types - Collaborative, operational and
2 Different types of CRM analytical

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 1.What are the bases for market segmentation?
Ans. Demographic, Geographic, Pyschographic and Behavioural segmentation
2. What is the criteria for effective segmentation?

Ans; Measurable; Substantiable; Accessible:

Differentiable: Actonable 3.How do you segment
your the following products
A. Books- Demographic, Pyschgraphic and Behavoural segmentation
A. Shoes- Demographic, Geographic; Pyschgraphic
4. What are the major segmentation variables for Business markets

Ans: Demographic; Operating varaibles; Purchasing approaches; Situational factors; Personal characteristics
5. Split loyals

Ans: Consumers who are loyal to two or three brands

6. Super segment

Ans: A Super segment is a set of segments sharing

some exploitable similarity. 7.How a positioning
strategy helps marketer?
Ans: It helps in guding about marketing strategy by clarifying the brand's essence, identifying the goals it helps the consumer
achieve, and showing how it does so in a unique way. 8.Stradle Positioning
Ocasionally, a company will be able to straddle two frames of reference with one set of
points-of-difference and points-of-parity. What are the four quadrants of BCG matrix?
Ans: 1. Question marks 2. Star 3. Cash
cows 4. Dogs what are the two
dimensions of BCG matrix?
Ans; 1. Relative market growth 2.
Relative market share How the BCG
79 Ans:The Matrix is used to evaluate the relative attractiveness of growth strategies that leverage both existing products and markets vs. new ones, as well as the level of risk associated with each.
 matrix helps the marketer?
Ans: It helps in reviewing of business strategy. It also guides the managers about the reviewing
of SBUs and Brands in terms of competition. What is Value chain?
Ans; Value chain is a tool for identifying ways to
create more customer value. Value chain analysis
Ans:Value chain analysis is a means of evaluating each of the activities in a company's value chain to
understand where opportunities for improvement lie. Why do mareketers conduct value chain analysis?
Ans: Conducting a value chain analysis prompts you to consider how each step adds or subtracts
value from your final product or service What are the Primary activities of a value chain?
Ans; 1. Inbound logistics 2. Outbound logistics 3.Operation 4.
sales & Markewting 5. Service What are the supportive activities
of a value chain?
Ans: 1. Firm's infrastrcture 2. Procuement 3.
HRM 4. Technology What is ansoff matrix?
The Ansoff matrix is a strategic planning tool that provides a framework to help executives, senior managers, and marketers
devise strategies for future growth
Whic are the Four quadrants of Ansoff Matrix?
Ans: 1. Market development 2.Diversfication 3.Market
penetration 4. Product development How Ansoff Matix is useful
for marketers?

80 Ans:The Matrix is used to evaluate the relative attractiveness of growth strategies that leverage both existing products and markets vs. new ones, as well as the level of risk associated with each.
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