CSS Business Administration Marketing Syllabus

What is 'customer lifetime value' (CLV)?

The total worth of all the purchases a customer makes over a lifetime of patronage. Losing a customer means losing the entire stream of future purchases.

What is 'customer equity'?

The total combined customer lifetime values of all the company's current and potential customers. It measures a firm's performance based on its customer relationships.

What is 'share of customer'?

The portion of a customer's purchasing that a company gets in its product categories (e.g., capturing more of a customer's spending), as opposed to market share.

List the five steps of the marketing process model.

1) Understand the marketplace and customer needs/wants; 2) Design a customer-driven marketing strategy; 3) Construct an integrated marketing program that delivers superior value; 4) Build profitable relationships and customer delight; 5) Capture value from customers to create profits and customer equity.

What four questions define a customer-driven marketing strategy?

Whom will we serve? (segmentation and targeting) and How will we serve them? (differentiation and positioning) — i.e., choosing a value proposition.

What is a 'value proposition'?

The set of benefits or values a company promises to deliver to customers to satisfy their needs; it answers 'Why should I buy your brand rather than a competitor's?'

What are the 4Ps of the marketing mix?

Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.

Define each of the 4Ps briefly.

Product: the goods/services offered. Price: the amount charged. Place: distribution activities making the product available. Promotion: activities communicating product merits and persuading target customers.

How do the 4Ps map to the 4Cs (customer view)?

Product = Customer solution; Price = Customer cost; Place = Convenience; Promotion = Communication.

What are the three extra Ps in the 7Ps extended (services) marketing mix?

People, Process, and Physical evidence (added to Product, Price, Place, Promotion).

What does SMART stand for in setting marketing objectives?

Specific, Measurable, Achievable (Attainable), Relevant (Realistic), and Time-bound.

What is the difference between a marketing goal and a marketing objective?

A goal is a broad, general statement of desired long-term outcome (e.g., 'become market leader'); an objective is a specific, measurable, time-bound target supporting that goal (e.g., 'increase market share by 10% in 12 months').

What is the difference between the micro-environment and the macro-environment?

Micro-environment: actors close to the company that affect its ability to serve customers (the company, suppliers, intermediaries, customers, competitors, publics). Macro-environment: larger societal forces affecting the whole micro-environment.

Name the six actors of the marketing micro-environment.

The company itself, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers/markets, competitors, and publics.

What are the six forces of the macro-environment (PESTEL/Kotler's framework)?

Demographic, Economic, Natural, Technological, Political (legal), and Cultural forces.

What does PESTEL stand for in environmental analysis?

Political, Economic, Social (sociocultural), Technological, Environmental (natural), and Legal factors.

What is 'demography' as a marketing environment force?

The study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, and other statistics. It is important because markets are made up of people.

What are the four components of a SWOT analysis, classified by internal/external?

Internal: Strengths and Weaknesses. External: Opportunities and Threats.

List the five stages of the consumer buyer decision process.

1) Need recognition, 2) Information search, 3) Evaluation of alternatives, 4) Purchase decision, 5) Post-purchase behavior.

What four sets of factors influence consumer buying behavior?

Cultural, Social, Personal, and Psychological factors.

Name the components of the Cultural and Social factors influencing consumers.

Cultural: culture, subculture, social class. Social: reference groups, family, roles and status.

Name the four psychological factors influencing consumer behavior.

Motivation, Perception, Learning, and Beliefs and attitudes.

What is 'cognitive dissonance' in consumer behavior?

Post-purchase buyer discomfort caused by uncertainty or conflict after a purchase (doubts about whether the right choice was made); a form of post-purchase conflict.

List Maslow's hierarchy of needs from lowest to highest.

Physiological, Safety, Social (belongingness/love), Esteem, and Self-actualization needs.

Name the four types of buying decision behavior (Assael).

1) Complex buying behavior, 2) Dissonance-reducing buying behavior, 3) Habitual buying behavior, 4) Variety-seeking buying behavior — varying by involvement level and degree of brand differences.

How does business (B2B) buying behavior differ from consumer buying?

B2B has fewer but larger buyers, more derived demand, more inelastic and fluctuating demand, professional/more involved purchasing, more buying participants, and closer buyer-seller relationships.

List the eight stages (buyphases) of the business buying process.

1) Problem recognition, 2) General need description, 3) Product specification, 4) Supplier search, 5) Proposal solicitation, 6) Supplier selection, 7) Order-routine specification, 8) Performance review.

What are the three types of business buying situations (buyclasses)?

Straight rebuy, modified rebuy, and new task.

What is the 'buying center' in business marketing, and name its roles.

All individuals participating in a B2B buying decision. Roles: Users, Influencers, Buyers, Deciders, and Gatekeepers.

What is a Marketing Information System (MIS)?

People and procedures dedicated to assessing information needs, developing the needed information, and helping decision makers use it to generate and validate actionable customer and market insights.

List the four steps of the marketing research process.

1) Defining the problem and research objectives, 2) Developing the research plan, 3) Implementing the research plan (collecting and analyzing data), 4) Interpreting and reporting the findings.

Distinguish primary data from secondary data.

Primary data: information collected for the specific purpose at hand (surveys, observation, experiments). Secondary data: information that already exists, collected for another purpose (internal records, government data, commercial sources).

Name the three types of research by objective.

Exploratory research (gather preliminary info/define problems), Descriptive research (describe markets, demographics, attitudes), and Causal research (test cause-and-effect hypotheses).

What are the four major bases for segmenting consumer markets?

Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic, and Behavioral segmentation.

Give examples of variables used in demographic segmentation.

Age and life-cycle stage, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, ethnicity, family size, and generation.

What does behavioral segmentation divide buyers by?

Knowledge, attitudes, uses, or responses to a product — e.g., occasions, benefits sought, user status, usage rate, and loyalty status.

What are the requirements for effective market segmentation?

Segments must be Measurable, Accessible, Substantial, Differentiable, and Actionable (MASDA).

Name the three (four) market targeting strategies.

Undifferentiated (mass) marketing, Differentiated (segmented) marketing, Concentrated (niche) marketing, and Micromarketing (local/individual).

What is concentrated (niche) marketing?

A market-coverage strategy in which a firm goes after a large share of one or a few smaller segments or niches, rather than a small share of a large market.