Deck 3: Evaluating Opportunities in the Changing Market Environment

Question 1

The objectives of a firm should direct the operation of the marketing department but aren't important to the rest of the business.

Answer 1

False
Explanation: Firms need a hierarchy of objectives,moving from company objectives to marketing department objectives.Firms also need objectives for each of the Four Ps.

Question 2

Attractive opportunities should make use of a firm's resources and its unique strengths.

Answer 2

True
Explanation: Every firm has some unique resources,and opportunities come from making use of these strengths.

Question 3

As compared to larger competitors,smaller firms benefit from lower unit costs,which they achieve with lower sales volumes.

Answer 3

False
Explanation: Smaller firms can be at a great cost disadvantage if they try to win business from larger competitors when the cost of producing and selling each unit decreases as the quantity increases.

Question 4

A large producer with economies of scale always has a competitive advantage over smaller firms.

Question 5

A mission statement substitutes for more specific objectives.

Question 6

Company objectives should lead to a hierarchy of marketing objectives.

Question 7

The direct market environment includes customers,competitors,and the IRS.

Question 8

A mission statement should focus on just the key goals for the organization.

Question 9

Smaller producers always have a great advantage in competing with larger producers because of their flexibility.

Question 10

The opportunities a firm decides to pursue may depend on its resources and capabilities.

Question 11

A mission statement sets out the strengths and weaknesses of a firm as well as the opportunities and threats that it faces.

Question 12

The marketing manager can control the variables in the market environment.

Question 13

Trying to maximize the short-run return on investment may not be compatible with a company's other objectives.

Question 14

Good marketing objectives should be ambitious and almost impossible to achieve.

Question 15

Company objectives should shape the direction and operation of the whole business.

Question 16

A mission statement sets out the organization's basic purpose for being.

Question 17

Objectives should set the firm's course.

Question 18

The external market environment is shaped by these four areas: economics,technology,politics/law,and culture/society.

Question 19

A mission statement can help a manager decide which opportunities to pursue and which to screen out.

Question 20

If the cost of production per unit goes down as the quantity produced increases,small producers can be at a great cost disadvantage.

Question 21

Spying on competitors to obtain trade secrets raises moral issues,but it is not illegal.

Question 22

Many people think that it is unethical to spy on competitors to obtain their trade secrets,but it is perfectly legal.

Question 23

The technological environment includes such things as national income,economic growth,and inflation.

Question 24

Competitor analysis is an organized approach for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of current or potential competitors' marketing strategies.

Question 25

In monopolistic competition,managers sometimes try to differentiate very similar products by relying on promotion or other elements of the marketing mix.

Question 26

Competitive rivals are always easy to identify.

Question 27

The first step in a competitor analysis is to identify potential competitors.

Question 28

Compared to some countries in Latin America,the rate of inflation in the U.S.is low.

Question 29

The inflation rate experienced by the United States in recent years was just about the highest in the world.

Question 30

In market-directed economies,unregulated monopolies are rare.

Question 31

Over the long run,most product-markets tend toward monopolistic competition.

Question 32

The competitive environment has no relationship with the number and types of competitors the marketing manager must face and how they may behave.

Question 33

Although the marketing manager cannot control the competitive environment,he or she can choose strategies that will avoid head-on situations.

Question 34

Interest rates usually decrease during periods of inflation.

Question 35

In a competitor analysis,a current (or planned)target market and marketing mix is compared with what competitors are currently doing (or are likely to do).

Question 36

In monopolistic competition,one firm completely controls a broad product-market.

Question 37

The major shortcoming of competitor analysis is that it focuses on the weaknesses of competitors but ignores their strengths.

Question 38

Market share is an important marketing metric used by marketing managers to track how well their product is doing in a particular market.

Question 39

When the competitive environment moves toward pure competition,producers offer very different products that consumers do not perceive as substitutes for each other.

Question 40

Good relations with intermediaries,good locations,and good salespeople are some of the many resources of a firm that should be evaluated when searching for new opportunities.

Question 41

Many European Union member countries use the same currency,the euro.

Question 42

Technology affects marketing through new products and new processes.

Question 43

The elimination of separate barriers to inter-European trade is making Europe a large unified market.

Question 44

Artificial intelligence and intelligent agents are two separate and distinct technologies.

Question 45

The Sherman Act deals with tying contracts,exclusive dealing contracts,and price discrimination by manufacturers.

Question 46

The political environment may either block or promote new marketing opportunities.

Question 47

Nationalism-or the emphasis on a country's interests before anything else-may affect the work of some marketing managers.

Question 48

Strong sentiments of nationalism facilitate growth in importing and exporting.

Question 49

A manager could be fined for violating the antimonopoly laws,but he or she could not be sent to jail.

Question 50

The Clayton Act focuses on practices that may substantially lessen competition,such as tying contracts,exclusive dealing contracts,and price discrimination by manufacturers.

Question 51

A basic idea in the legal environment in the United States is that attempts by business to limit competition are considered contrary to the public interest.

Question 52

Businesses and individual managers are subject to both criminal and civil laws.

Question 53

Placing the interests of individual consumers before the interests of business is nationalism.

Question 54

The Magnuson-Moss Act regulates product warranties.

Question 55

Technology provides new opportunities and new challenges for marketers.

Question 56

When a machine operates like a human with respect to learning and decision making,it is referred to as artificial intelligence.

Question 57

The Clayton Act deals with tying contracts,exclusive dealing contracts,and price discrimination by manufacturers.

Question 58

Nationalism may affect marketing strategy planning by determining to whom and how much a firm may sell.

Question 59

Marketers no longer encounter differences among European countries.

Question 60

Technology is the application of science to convert an economy's resources to output.

Question 61

In the United States,the Consumer Product Safety Commission sets and enforces product safety standards.

Question 62

The rate of growth of the U.S.population is lower than the rate of growth of some other countries' populations.

Question 63

Marketers should be aware of federal legislation,as well as state and local laws,when planning marketing strategy.

Question 64

Before the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed,it was assumed that common law and the warning "let the buyer beware" would take care of consumers.

Question 65

When considering international markets,income is usually not an important demographic dimension.

Question 66

Both GDP and GNI are measures of national income.

Question 67

Because the Consumer Product Safety Commission has no power to force a product off the market,safety is not a very important consideration in product design.

Question 68

Laws such as the Pure Food and Drug Act were passed because pro-competition legislation did not protect consumers very well in some areas.

Question 69

India has more people than the United States,and China has more people than India.

Question 70

The cultural and social environment affects how and why people live and behave as they do.

Question 71

The concentration of people in major cities often simplifies Place and Promotion decisions.

Question 72

When considering international markets,income is often one of the most important demographic dimensions.

Question 73

Less-developed countries usually experience the slowest population growth.

Question 74

The Consumer Product Safety Commission tries to encourage safe product design,but the commission has almost no power to deal with unsafe products.

Question 75

The cultural and social environment refers to where people live and their income.

Question 76

The U.S.population is over 316 million people,and the world population is more than 7 billion people.

Question 77

There are over 316 million people living in the United States.

Question 78

Deceptive packaging and branding are prohibited by the Magnuson-Moss Act.

Question 79

The Consumer Product Safety Act provides for the creation of safety standards but has no power to set penalties for failure to meet these standards.

Question 80

In Argentina,Israel,and Singapore,for example,less than 20 percent of people live in urban areas.