Deck 3: The Marketing Environment, Social Responsibility, and Ethics

Question 1

An individual's after-tax income is called his or her discretionary income, which is used for spending and/or saving.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A factor that affects willingness to spend is general economic conditions.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Disposable income is used to pay taxes, spend, and save.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Brand competitors market products with similar features, benefits, and prices to the same customers.

Question 5

The number of firms that control the supply of a product may affect the strength of competition.

Question 6

If political officials have positive feelings toward particular firms or industries, they are less likely to create or enforce laws and regulations that are unfavorable for business organizations.

Question 7

Credit increases future buying power.

Question 8

Political forces are beyond the control of marketers, and so they can only react to them.

Question 9

An oligopoly exists when a firm offers a product that has no close substitutes, making the firm the sole source of supply.

Question 10

The strength of one's buying power depends partially on the state of the economy.

Question 11

Decreases in taxes lead to decreases in disposable income.

Question 12

A monopoly exists when a firm with many potential competitors attempts to develop a marketing strategy to differentiate its products.

Question 13

Environmental analysis helps managers identify potential threats and opportunities linked to environmental changes.

Question 14

Credit increases current buying power at the expense of future buying power.

Question 15

The marketing environment consists of external forces that directly or indirectly influence an organization's acquisition of inputs and generation of outputs.

Question 16

The total amount of disposable income is affected by the amount of taxes consumers pay.

Question 17

A recession is characterized by extremely high unemployment, very low wages, minimal total disposable income, and lack of consumer confidence in the economy.

Question 18

Pure competition is a common competitive environment.

Question 19

Wealth is an accumulation of past income, natural resources, and financial resources.

Question 20

Wealth enables consumers to gain buying power.

Question 21

Through technology assessment, managers try to foresee the effects of new products and processes on the firm's operations and on society.

Question 22

Technological changes do not directly affect what, how, when, and where products are marketed.

Question 23

Marketing ethics refers to principles and standards that define acceptable conduct in marketing.

Question 24

The number of single men and women living alone is declining.

Question 25

Technology affects the types of products offered to consumers.

Question 26

An increasingly diverse cultural base in the United States means that marketers face increasingly diverse consumer markets.

Question 27

Numerous self-regulatory programs have been created to stop or stall the development of laws and government regulatory groups that would regulate marketing practices.

Question 28

Marketing citizenship refers to an organization's obligation to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on society.

Question 29

All members of an industry are bound to follow trade association guidelines.

Question 30

Four dimensions of social responsibility are economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic.

Question 31

Technology is the application of knowledge and tools to solve problems and perform tasks more efficiently.

Question 32

Single people have quite different spending patterns than couples and families with children. They spend more heavily on convenience foods, restaurants, travel, entertainment, and recreation.

Question 33

Technological developments have a direct impact on creating and maintaining a marketing mix.

Question 34

At the most basic level of marketing citizenship, marketers have an obligation to contribute funds to philanthropic causes.

Question 35

Social responsibility is an organization's obligation to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on society.

Question 36

Changes in cultural values have little effect on people's needs for products.

Question 37

Firms always adopt and use new technology.

Question 38

The Food and Drug Administration influences marketing activities the most.

Question 39

A good example of a government regulatory group at the local level is the Better Business Bureau.

Question 40

An organization's obligation to maximize its positive impact and minimize its negative impact on society is known as social accountability.

Question 41

Political forces and legal and regulatory forces are the same thing.

Question 42

Zappos collects information about a wide variety of competitive, economic, political, legal and regulatory, technological, and sociocultural forces that affect its marketing activities. This process is called

A)marketing.
B)survey of environment.
C)environmental scanning.
D)environmental analysis.
E)marketing information processing.

Question 43

Employees can easily determine what behavior is acceptable even in organizations that do not have ethics compliance programs and policies on conduct.

Question 44

Marketers can influence the political process through political action committees that solicit donations from individuals and then contributes those funds to candidates running for political office.

Question 45

Fluctuations in the economy follow a general pattern known as the business cycle. It includes prosperity, recession, depression, and recovery.

Question 46

The dynamics of technology involve the constant change that often challenges the structures of social institutions, including social relationships, the legal system, religion, education, business, and leisure.

Question 47

Under President Kennedy's consumer bill of rights, consumers must have access and opportunity to review all relevant information about a product before buying it.

Question 48

Collecting information from secondary sources such as business, government, trade, and general-interest publications plays an important role in

A)environmental analysis.
B)competitive forces.
C)environmental scanning.
D)procompetitive legislation.
E)self-regulatory forces.

Question 49

Using surveys to conduct marketing research is an example of environmental analysis.

Question 50

There is no evidence that being socially responsible and ethical is worthwhile.

Question 51

Marketing ethics and social responsibility mean the same thing.

Question 52

Three primary methods of collecting information for environmental scanning are

A)marketing research, company records, and advance orders.
B)secondary sources, company records, and observation.
C)executive knowledge, media, and marketing research.
D)observation, secondary sources, and marketing research.
E)company database, executive knowledge, and research.

Question 53

Product competitors market products with similar features and benefits to the same customers at similar prices.

Question 54

The Federal Trade Commission would be the most likely regulatory agency to curb false advertising.

Question 55

To monitor changes in the marketing environment effectively, marketers must engage in

A)environmental scanning and analysis.
B)economic scanning
C)self-regulatory analysis
D)marketing research analysis
E)information collecting

Question 56

Cause-related marketing refers to the specific development, pricing, promotion, and distribution of products that do not harm the natural environment.

Question 57

Marketing ethics concerns the impact of an organization's decisions on society, whereas social responsibility relates to individual decisions.

Question 58

It is not important to consistently enforce standards and impose penalties or punishment on those who violate codes of conduct.

Question 59

Codes of conduct (ethics) are formalized rules and standards that describe what the company expects of its employees in terms of ethical behavior.

Question 60

The right to be informed means that consumers should be treated fairly when they complain to marketers about their products.

Question 61

In 2009 the Coca-Cola Company introduced the "Freestyler," a new freestanding soda dispenser where consumers can choose from over 120 different types of soda and customize their drinks. Freestylers would take the place of typical dispensers where there are only a few different types of soda brands available. In order to develop the new dispenser, Coca-Cola collected information on the soda-drinking habits of individuals in several different age groups, as well as information about new technologies for dispensing liquids from vending machines and the sales of its "fountain" syrup for national restaurant chains to use in their soda machines. Coca-Cola's collection of this information is an example of _____ while the assessment of its impact on the potential for the new "Freestyler" is an example of _________

A)environmental scanning; environmental analysis
B)an environmental force; environmental scanning
C)environmental analysis; environmental strategy
D)strategizing; environmental scanning
E)strategic management; environmental scanning

Question 62

Marketers primarily focus their environmental analysis on ____ competitors.

A)brand
B)product
C)total budget
D)generic
E)monopolistic

Question 63

When marketers define their target market, they simultaneously establish a set of

A)technologies.
B)monopolies.
C)competitors.
D)government regulations.
E)sociocultural forces.

Question 64

In today's marketing environment, competitors can take on many forms. For example, Coke Zero can be seen as a competitor to Stride Mint Chewing Gum. In this circumstance, these two products are described as ____ competitors.

A)generic
B)product
C)total budget
D)monopolistic
E)pure

Question 65

Honda has developed aluminum car bodies that are 100% recyclable and light enough to help conserve fuel. What kind of response is this to environmental forces?

A)Proactive
B)Competitive
C)Reactive
D)Inactive
E)Controllable

Question 66

Which of the following is not at the generic competitor level for Ford's Expedition sport utility vehicle?

A)Ford's Escape SUV
B)Enterprise car rental
C)Harley Davidson motorcycle
D)Schwinn mountain bike
E)Taxicab ride

Question 67

Companies that market products with similar features, benefits, and prices to the same customer group are known as ____ competitors.

A)generic
B)product
C)brand
D)total budget
E)monopolistic

Question 68

While Almond Breeze engages in environmental scanning and analysis, the company is more likely to change its products and marketing strategies to adapt to environmental forces rather than trying to influence these forces. Almond Breeze has a(n) ____ approach to marketing environmental forces.

A)inactive
B)reactive
C)proactive
D)negative
E)variable

Question 69

When Coca-Cola takes the information collected through research and attempts to assess and interpret what it means for its soft-drink marketing efforts, Coca-Cola is engaged in environmental

A)scanning.
B)forces.
C)management.
D)manipulation.
E)analysis.

Question 70

SiriusXM Radio is concerned about how the increasing use of smartphones will affect the future sales of its satellite radio service. The company decides to gather information about the changing trends in music access and delivery to prepare for this trend. SiriusXM's process is called

A)target marketing.
B)environmental scanning.
C)surveying.
D)environmental analysis.
E)dynamic responsiveness.

Question 71

Companies that compete for the same limited financial resources of the same customers are known as ____ competitors.

A)oligopolic
B)total budget
C)generic
D)product
E)brand

Question 72

According to the textbook, a manager's duties in an environmental analysis include

A)checking information for accuracy, resolving inconsistencies, and assigning significance to the findings.
B)observation and assessment.
C)conducting research, assessment, and reporting.
D)observation, market research, and fact finding.
E)checking the company database, conducting research, and reporting.

Question 73

____ competitors are the most significant to marketers because buyers see the different products of these firms as direct substitutes for each other.

A)Oligopolic
B)Total budget
C)Generic
D)Product
E)Brand

Question 74

____ competitors are those that compete in the same product class, but their products have different features, benefits, and prices.

A)Total budget
B)Generic
C)Brand
D)Product
E)Price

Question 75

The four major competitive structures are

A)monopolies, oligopolies, oligopolistic monopolies, and pure competition.
B)pure competition, heavy competition, moderate competition, and light competition.
C)brand, product, total budget, and generic.
D)oligopolies, monopolies, monopolistic competition, and pure competition.
E)monopolies, limited competition, oligopolistic competition, and pure competition.

Question 76

Companies delivering mixed concrete know that it cannot be shipped farther than 25 miles because the concrete might harden in the truck. Carter Concrete Supply Co is the only supplier of mixed concrete to customers within a 30-mile radius. Carter Concrete Supply Co is an example of which one of the following competitive structures?

A)Monopoly
B)Oligopoly
C)Monopolistic competition
D)Pure competition
E)Monopsony

Question 77

____ competitors provide very different products that satisfy the same basic customer need.

A)Brand
B)Generic
C)Total budget
D)Product
E)Marketing

Question 78

After Lowe's gathers information related to its marketing environment, it attempts to define current environmental changes and predict future changes. This determines possible opportunities and threats facing the company. It illustrates the process that is called

A)environmental scanning
B)survey of environment.
C)marketing.
D)environmental analysis.
E)marketing information processing.

Question 79

Marketers who attempt to influence and change the various environmental forces have a(n) ____ response to these forces.

A)reactive
B)inactive
C)variable
D)positive
E)proactive

Question 80

Marketers who view political forces as being beyond their control are taking a(n) ____ response toward these forces.

A)reactive
B)aggressive
C)proactive
D)competitive
E)liberal