Deck 12: Product and Service Strategies

Question 1

Although the United States runs a continuing trade deficit in services,it has maintained a trade surplus in goods since 1992.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Buyers rarely play any role in the creation and distribution of services.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Restaurant chains often use the same room decor and dining menu at all their locations in an attempt to standardize the services they offer.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Tangible goods and intangible services both intend to satisfy consumer wants and needs,but the marketing efforts supporting them may be vastly different.

Question 5

The U.S.service sector makes up only one-tenth of the nation's economy.

Question 6

The trend of backshoring,firms returning their offshore work to the U.S.,is growing.

Question 7

A product is a bundle of physical,service,and symbolic attributes designed to satisfy a customer's wants and needs.

Question 8

The marketing mix is the blending of the four strategy elements-product,price,distribution,and promotion-to satisfy the target market.

Question 9

One way to distinguish goods from services is that services are inseparable from their service providers.

Question 10

Services are intangible products.

Question 11

Marketers think in terms of a product as a compilation of package design and labeling,brand name,price,availability,warranty,reputation,image,and customer service activities that add value for the customer.

Question 12

Homeshoring enables firms to save on office space,furnishings,and supplies.

Question 13

A dinner at an exclusive restaurant is a pure good.

Question 14

Providers can maintain inventories of their services.

Question 15

Internet security software that requires periodic updates and annual product upgrades is considered a pure service on the goods-services continuum.

Question 16

A dentist provides pure service.

Question 17

Career counseling session is an example of a pure service on the goods-services continuum.

Question 18

A college education is an example of a pure product on the goods-services continuum.

Question 19

Firms that practice homeshoring experience the benefit of reduction in the use of energy and other natural resources thereby decreasing their impact on the environment.

Question 20

Homeshoring is the practice of hiring workers to do jobs from home.

Question 21

Shopping products typically cost less than convenience purchases.

Question 22

In contrast to the purchase of shopping products,consumers buy convenience products only after comparing competing offerings on such characteristics as price,quality,style,and color.

Question 23

Unsought products are marketed to consumers who may not yet recognize any need for them.

Question 24

As consumers devote little effort to convenience product purchase decisions,marketers must strive to make these exchanges as simple as possible.

Question 25

An Automated Teller Machine (ATM)is an example of a convenience service.

Question 26

Product strategies are essentially the same for consumer and business markets.

Question 27

Installations' marketers typically focus their promotional efforts on employing highly trained sales representatives,often with technical backgrounds.

Question 28

The classification system for business products emphasizes customer buying behavior rather than product uses.

Question 29

In the case of shopping products,a store's name and reputation have considerable influence on people's buying behavior.

Question 30

Installations are major capital investments in the B2B markets and they are often designed specifically for the purchasers.

Question 31

Slotting allowances refer to money paid by producers to retailers to guarantee display of their merchandise.

Question 32

According to retailers,the purpose of slotting allowances is to cover their losses if products don't sell.

Question 33

As consumers are willing to exert considerable effort to obtain specialty products,producers can promote them through relatively few retail locations.

Question 34

The purchaser of a shopping product lacks complete information prior to the buying trip and gathers information during the buying process.

Question 35

Marketers classify goods and services by considering the purchase patterns of the majority of buyers.

Question 36

Milk is an example of a convenience product.

Question 37

Convenience of location is unimportant to a consumer who wants to buy a specialty product.

Question 38

Staples are convenience goods and services that consumers constantly replenish to maintain a ready inventory.

Question 39

A chocolate bar bought while standing in the checkout line is an example of staples.

Question 40

The seller's image is very important for those marketers who sell convenience products.

Question 41

Internal analysis in the benchmarking process establishes a baseline for comparison.

Question 42

Marketing accessory equipments requires continuous representation and dealing with the widespread geographic dispersion of purchasers.

Question 43

Price is generally the deciding factor in purchasing raw materials since the costs vary widely across markets.

Question 44

Supplies are also called MRO items.

Question 45

SUVs produced by different automobile companies constitute a single product line.

Question 46

A product line is a series of related products offered by one company.

Question 47

Advertising is an important component in the marketing mix for accessory equipments.

Question 48

If advertisements are used for installations,they emphasize the company's reputation and direct potential buyers to contact local sales representatives.

Question 49

The assortment of product lines and individual product offerings that a company sells is known as its product cluster.

Question 50

The right blend of product lines and individual products allows a firm to maximize sales opportunities within the limitations of its resources.

Question 51

The motivations for marketing complete product lines include the desire to grow,enhancing the company's position in the market,optimal use of company resources,and exploiting the product lifecycle.

Question 52

Managers are responsible for communicating the goals of total quality management to all staff members.

Question 53

A service encounter is a point at which a consumer interacts with a service provider.

Question 54

A company limits its growth potential when it concentrates on a single product,even though the company may have started that way.

Question 55

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is the highest national recognition for quality a U.S.company can receive.

Question 56

Benchmarking is the method of measuring quality by comparing performance against industry leaders.

Question 57

Internal analysis involves gathering information about the benchmark partner to find out why the partner is perceived as the industry's best.

Question 58

Extensive planning time is required for the purchase of supplies.

Question 59

Purchasers of component parts and materials need regular,continuous supplies of uniform-quality products.

Question 60

Service quality refers to the expected and perceived quality of a service offering.

Question 61

In the maturity stage,heavy promotional outlays emphasize any differences still separating competing products,and brand competition intensifies.

Question 62

Marketers typically measure product mixes according to width,length,and depth.

Question 63

Hershey's introduction of a sugar-free version of its candy bar is an example of line extension.

Question 64

The length of a product mix refers to the number of different products a firm sells.

Question 65

Product line extension refers to the development of items that would expand the width of the product mix a company has to offer.

Question 66

Procter & Gamble manufactures laundry detergents under the brand names of Tide,Cheer,and Gain.These brands represent the width of the product mix that Procter & Gamble offers.

Question 67

Sales of a product category continue to grow during the early part of the maturity stage but-eventually reach a plateau as the backlog of potential customers dwindles.

Question 68

When a manufacturer of vinegar,ordinarily used as a food ingredient,promotes its use as a metal cleaner,the manufacturer is attempting to extend the product's lifecycle by changing its package.

Question 69

Most fads experience short-lived popularity and then quickly fade,although some maintain residual markets among certain segments.

Question 70

The depth of product mix refers to the variations in each product the firm markets in its mix.

Question 71

During the introductory stage of the product lifecycle,the public becomes acquainted with the item's merits and begins to accept it.

Question 72

The width of a product mix refers to the number of product lines the firm offers.

Question 73

Product lifecycles can stretch indefinitely as a result of decisions designed to increase the frequency of use by current customers; increase the number of users for the product or change package sizes,labels,or product quality.

Question 74

In the maturity stage of a product lifecycle,differences between competing products diminish as competitors discover the product and promotional characteristics most desired by customers.

Question 75

Fad cycles are examples of traditional product lifecycles.

Question 76

The product lifecycle concept applies to individual brands of a product.

Question 77

The decision about whether to delete products from the product line is usually faced during the late growth and early maturity phases of the product lifecycle.

Question 78

The products whose lifecycles can be extended or stretched indefinitely are referred to as orphan brands.

Question 79

During the maturity stage of the product lifecycle,the industry sales curve for a product reaches a minimum point as competitors exhaust the supply of potential customers.

Question 80

During the growth stage of the product lifecycle,available supplies exceed industry demand for the first time.