Question: What is market segmentation? How is the

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of offering virtual dressing rooms from the retailers’ perspective?

> As an architect for retail space, you are responsible for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. How would you make sure that a store’s retail layout meets both accessibility requirements and enables the company to reach profitability objectives?

> A department store is building an addition. The merchandise manager for furniture is trying to convince the vice president to allot this new space to the furniture department. The merchandise manager for men’s clothing is also trying to gain the space. W

> What are the different types of design that can be used in a store layout? How does this impact the types of fixtures used to display merchandise? Describe why some stores are more suited for a particular type of layout than others.

> What sorts of competitive pressures are confronting traditional grocery stores? What options do these stores have to ease these pressures?

> Assume you have been hired as a consultant to measure a local discount store’s floor plan and space productivity. Look back at Chapter 6 and decide which analytical tools and ratios you would use to assess the situation.

> One of the fastest-growing sectors of the population is the over-60 age group. Customers in this age group may have limitations in their vision, hearing, and movement. How can retailers develop store designs with this population’s needs in mind?

> Some staff pharmacists working for retail chains refuse to dispense the Plan B “morning after” contraceptive pill because of their religious beliefs. In another situation, Muslims and Jewish checkout clerks working for supermarket chains refused to touc

> When evaluating retail employees, some stores use a quantitative approach that relies on checklists and numerical scores similar to the form in Exhibit 15-5. Other stores use a more qualitative approach similar to the form in Exhibit 15-4, whereby less t

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of the different forms of compensation programs described in this chapter? Considering the disadvantages only, how can department managers ameliorate lessen the effects of the disadvantages?

> What's the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic rewards? What are the effects of these rewards on the behavior of retail employees? Under what conditions, would you recommend that a retailer emphasize intrinsic rewards over extrinsic rewards?

> Name some laws and regulations that affect the employee management process. Which do you believe are the easiest for retailers to adhere to? Which are violated the most often?

> Give examples of a situation in which a manager of a McDonald's fast-food restaurant should utilize different leadership styles.

> Drugstore retailers such as CVS place diabetic test strips and perfume behind locked glass cabinets and nearly all over-the-counter medicines behind Plexiglas panels. What are the pros and cons of these locked glass cabinets from the retailer’s perspecti

> How do on-the-job, Internet training, and classroom training differ? What are the benefits and limitations of each approach?

> There are services and products involved when buying or renting a car, and in both cases, the customer drives away in a car. But buying a car focuses more on the product, whereas renting involves the service. Explain four ways in which marketing for a

> As an intern for Dunkin’ Donuts, you have been asked to develop a social media campaign for a new glazed muffin. The objective of the campaign is to increase awareness and trial of the new line of muffins. How would you go about putting together such a

> Assume you work for a large consumer-packaged goods firm that has learned its latest line of snack foods is selling very slowly in retail stores. Recommend a strategy for listening to what consumers are saying on blogs, review sites, and the firm’s webs

> Why do some online retailers include editorials and customer reviews along with product information on their websites? Explain how this may influence the consumer’s buying behavior.

> A retailer plans to open a new store near a university. It will specialize in collegiate merchandise such as apparel, accessories, and school supplies. Consider the pros and cons of each of the following media: TV, radio, city newspaper, university newsp

> Outline some elements in a communication program that can be used to achieve the following objectives: (a) Increase store loyalty by 20 percent. (b) Build awareness of the store by 10 percent. (c) Develop an image as a low-price retailer. How would you

> What factors should be considered in dividing up the advertising budget among a store's different merchandise areas? Which of the following should receive the highest advertising budget: staple, fashion, or seasonal merchandise? Why?

> What are the positive and negative aspects of direct marketing from the customer’s perspective?

> Men’s Wearhouse purchased black leather belts for $15.99 each and priced them to sell for $29.99 each. What was the markup on the belts?

> Maintained markup is 39 percent, net sales are $52,000, and reductions are $2,500. What are the gross margin in dollars and the initial markup as a percentage? Explain why initial markup is greater than maintained markup.

> Why would sewing pattern manufacturers such as Simplicity (www.simplicity.com/patterns/) and Butterick (https://butterick.mccall.com/) ask $12.95 (or more) on each pattern and then two times a year offer patterns for sale at $1.99 each? How could this ma

> Distinguish between variety and assortment. Why are these important elements of retail market structure?

> What types of retailers often use a high/low pricing strategy? What types of retailers generally use an everyday low-pricing strategy? How would customers likely react if a retailer switched its pricing strategy from one to the other? Explain your respon

> What are retailers doing to be more socially responsible in buying merchandise? Why are they becoming more socially responsible? Do you buy products that you believe were produced in a socially responsible manner, even if they cost more?

> When you go shopping in which product categories do you prefer store brands or national brands? Explain your preference.

> Why have retailers found exclusive store brands to be an appealing branding option? Choose a department store, a discount store, and a grocery store. What exclusive store brands do they offer? How are they positioned in relation to their national-brand c

> Explain why a grocery store, such as Kroger, offers more than one tier of store brands within a particular product category.

> Does your favorite clothing store have a store-brand strategy? If yes, how does it build store loyalty? If no, how could a store brand create loyalty?

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of manufacturer’s brands versus store brands? Consider both the retailer's and customer's perspectives.

> What are the differences among counterfeit, gray-market, and black-market merchandise? Is the selling of this type of merchandise legal? Do you believe that the selling of these types of merchandise should be allowed? Provide a rationale for your positi

> You have decided that you don’t want to take the final in this class. Explain how you would negotiation this request with the instructor. Consider place, deadlines, past relationship, possible objections, options for mutual gain, and how to maintain a pr

> Assume you have been hired to consult with Forever 21 on sourcing decisions for sportswear. What issues would you consider when deciding whether you should buy from Mexico or China or find a source within the United States?

> In this chapter, some socially responsible activities engaged in by retailers are described. Take the perspective of a stockholder in one of these companies. What effect will these activities have on the value of its stock? Why might they have a posit

> How do retailers add value to the products bought by consumers?

> Do the intended consumers react differently to green products depending on their countries of origin? If so, why?

> Why is the Internet a relevant source of health and fitness information for people, and how can it be used for marketing purposes in this area?

> For each of the following products and activities listed below: a. List two relevant core values and explain your choices. b. Describe how each value either encourages or discourages buying the product or engaging in the activity. The products and acti

> The Citrus Growers of America are planning a promotional campaign to encourage the drinking of orange and grapefruit juices in the late afternoons – an occasion when many people reach for a soft drink. Describe how the organization can use two measuremen

> In what ways do the three forms of cultural learning differ from one another? How can each be used effectively in marketing and advertisements?

> You are the owner of two furniture stores: one catering to upper-middle-class consumers and the other to lower-class consumers. How do social class differences influence each store’s: (a) product lines and styles (b) advertising media selection (c) the c

> To what extent is technology an aspect of social class? Does it require its own social group?

> Which status related variable—occupation, education or income—is the most appropriate segmentation base for: (a) family vacations (b) opera subscriptions (c) subscribing to online.wsj.com (d) shopping at Whole Foods supermarkets (e) buying from freshdir

> Why do marketing researchers use objective, rather than subjective, measures of social class?

> Amazon has introduced a new electronic reader that is more expensive than previous models but has many more features. How can the company use the adopter categories in marketing this product?

> What are the implications of the sleeper effect for the selection of spokespersons and the scheduling of advertising messages?

> You are the marketing vice president of a large soft-drink company. Your company’s advertising agency is in the process of negotiating a contract to employ a superstar female singer to promote your product. Discuss the reference group factors that you wo

> List and discuss factors that affect the credibility of formal communications sources of product information. What factors influence the perceived credibility of informal communications sources?

> How can marketers use social networks, brand communities, and weblogs to locate new customers and target them?

> Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the four methods of measuring opinion leadership.

> How can companies strategically use buzz agents and viral marketing? Illustrate with examples.

> What is the difference between membership groups and symbolic groups?

> What are reference groups? List and discuss at least four groups that influence your purchases. For each group, indicate whether its major influence is comparative or normative and explain your answers.

> Why is an opinion leader a more credible source of product information than an advertisement for the same product? Are there any circumstances in which information from advertisements is likely to be more influential than word-of-mouth?

> Why has advertising on network TV and in magazines been steadily declining?

> Discuss the role of the social and behavioral sciences in developing the consumer decision-making model.

> List and describe two advantages and two disadvantages of mobile advertising.

> Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the following measurement techniques: Google Analytics, media exposure effects, and Nielsen’s cross-platform measures.

> List and describe four advantages of social media over traditional media.

> Describe Google’s role in advertising online.

> Strategically speaking, why is impression-based targeting better than segment-based targeting?

> A marketer of a new car model launched with commercials during the Super Bowl intends to use attitudinal measures, as well as day-after recall tests, to estimate the commercials’ effectiveness. How should the company do so?

> How is communications feedback related to measurement of persuasion and sales effects?

> Do sexual appeals work better than other appeals? Explain your answer and illustrate with examples.

> Why and how must marketers use fear appeals in advertising cautiously?

> What are the advantages and disadvantages of using humor in advertising?

> How can marketers use technology to improve customer retention and enhance their bonds with customers?

> For what kinds of audiences would you consider using comparative advertising? Why?

> Should marketers use more body copy than artwork in print ads? Explain your answer.

> How can marketers construct and transmit addressable ads?

> Compare broadcasting and narrowcasting and explain why marketers are moving away from using broadcasting into narrowcasting and addressable marketing.

> Discuss the strategic differences between traditional media channels and new media.

> List and discuss the effects of psychological noise on the communications process. What strategies can a marketer use to overcome psychological noise?

> Explain the differences between feedback from interpersonal communications and feedback from impersonal communications. How can the marketer obtain and use each kind of feedback?

> A college student has just purchased a new Apple iPad. What factors might cause the student to experience post-purchase dissonance? How might the student try to overcome it? How can the retailer who sold the iPad help reduce the student’s dissonance? How

> Should the marketer of a popular computer graphics program prefer consumers to make internal or external attributions? Explain your answer.

> The Department of Transportation of a large city is planning an advertising campaign that encourages people to switch from private cars to mass transit. Give examples of how the department can use the following strategies to change commuters’ attitudes:

> Discuss the interrelationships among customer expectations and satisfaction, perceived value, and customer retention. Why is customer retention essential?

> Explain how the product manager of a breakfast cereal might change consumer attitudes toward the company’s brand by: (a) changing beliefs about the brand (b) changing beliefs about competing brands (c) changing the relative evaluation of attributes (d)

> How can the marketer of a “nicotine patch” (a device which assists individuals to quit smoking) use the theory of trying to segment its market? Using this theory, identify two segments that the marketer should target and propose product-positioning appro

> Explain a person’s attitude toward visiting Disney World in terms of the tri-component attitude model.

> Because attitudes are learned predispositions to respond, why don’t marketers and consumer researchers just measure purchase behavior and forget attitudes?

> Explain how situational factors are likely to influence the degree of consistency between attitudes and behavior.

> How can marketers use measures of recognition and recall to study the extent of consumer learning?

> What is the relationship between brand loyalty and brand equity? What roles do both concepts play in the development of marketing strategies?

> Why are both attitudinal and behavioral measures important in measuring brand loyalty?

> Discuss the differences between low- and high-involvement media. How would you apply the knowledge of hemispheric lateralization to the development of TV commercials and print advertisements?

> How does information overload affect the consumer’s ability to comprehend an ad and store it in his or her memory?

> For each of the following products, identify the segmentation base that you consider to be the best for targeting consumers: (a) biscuits (b) shampoo (c) wireless broadband (d) holidays. Explain your choices.

> Define the following memory structures: sensory store, short-term store (working memory), and long-term store. Discuss how each of these concepts can be used in the development of an advertising strategy.

> Neutrogena, the cosmetic company, has introduced a new line of shaving products for men. How can the company use stimulus generalization to market these products? Is instrumental conditioning applicable to this marketing situation? If so, how?

> Describe in learning terms the conditions under which family branding is a good policy and those under which it is not.

> How can the principles of (a) classical conditioning theory (b) instrumental conditioning theory be applied to the development of marketing strategies?

> Discuss the roles of extrinsic cues and intrinsic cues in the perceived quality of: (a) wines (b) restaurants (c) cell phones (d) graduate education.

> Why is it more difficult for consumers to evaluate the effective quality of services than the quality of products?

> Why do marketers sometimes reposition their products or services? Illustrate your answers with examples.