Introduction to Marketing Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is marketing? What is its importance?
Answer:
Marketing means a set of all those activities which help to transfer the goods from the producer to the consumer.

Importance of marketing:

Marketing activities help to increase in national income of the nation.
A reduction in the cost of marketing is a direct benefit to the society.
Marketing process will brings new variety of goods to the society.
Scientific marketing has a stabilizing effect on the price level.
It helps for the improvement of productive efficiency.
It gives goods service to customers.
It provides employment opportunities to large number of people in the society.
It helps to increase the standard of living of the people.
It helps for better utilization of available resources of the nation.
It contributes to the development of entrepreneur and management class of people.
It achieves economic stability.
It helps to supply goods to all class at consumers.
It makes goods available to all geographical location.
It improves transport and communications.
It establishes and improves better relationship between the buyer and seller:
It achieves a balance between mass production and mass consumption through mass distribution.
It increases revenue of government.
It enables to increase profit.
It helps the manufacturer decide what to produce when to produce and how to sell a product.
It helps the top management to manage product innovation.
It helps in creation of utilization.

Question 2.
Discuss different classes of retail stores?
Answer:
(a) Departmental stores:
It is a large scale retail organization carries a wide range of product lines each product line is operated in a separate department and this is managed by specialist.

(b) Supermarket:
It is a large scale retail organization for wide variety of food, textile and daily needs. In this retail stores consumer buy the goods usually at low rates.

(c) Specialty stores:
It is a large scale retail organization carries very few product line with a deep assortment. Eg. Furniture house, sports shop, bookstores etc.,

(d) Convenience stores:
It is a small shop located near to residential area. It usually carries a limited line of high turnover convenience goods.

(e) Super bazaar:
It is a large retail store for food item and non food item. It sells goods which are needed to customers in their day to day life. Routinely used goods are offered to customer in supper bazaar, therefore there is a possibility of good customer relationship management.

(f) Factory outlet:
Manufacture opens this type of retail stores to sell his product customers.

(g) Chain stores:
It is a retail business in which two or more branches are opened at different places to sell goods to customer through the head office or main branch.

Question 3.
Discuss recent developments in the field of marketing?
Answer:
(1) E- Business:
E-Business means using the internet or related technologes for any of your normal business operation.

(2) M- Business:
M-Business is mobile business. Mobile business is commonly reffered to as m-business which means being able to pay for merchandise service or information through mobile phone. Wireless application protocol (WAP) is enabling the technologies to bring the internet content & service to mobile phones & other wireless terminals. These days mobile a-e available with every one, at all time so M-Business can be done used for any kind of transaction.

(3) Tele Marketing:
The telephone is a powerful sales instruments. Most of the activities traditionally performed by a travelling representative can now be done by phone or their remote means. Video-tapes, models, samples can effectively replace face to face demonstrations of a new product.

(4) Virtual Marketing:
It is something which is responsible for the design of series of ground-breaking web-Projects in the low contry & countries to guide the area in innovative & affordable web sites. It is known for creating the local website segment with introduction of its widely successful product. This “Virtual Marketing” concept is to create low cost service for broadening the base of quality design & graphics a web-site online provides.

The different types of Retailing business are:
(1) Department store Retailing:
Departmental stores are large retailing institutions that carry wide variety of merchandise lines under single roof. They provide (A-Z) product requirements under one shelter. These are also called as variety stores.

(2) Speciality store Retailing:
Speciality store retailers specialize in the merchandise or service they offer a consumer. Thus, single line speciality stores offer only one or a very closely related products, such as Jewellery, Shoes etc.

(3) Chain stores retailing:
In retailing, the term chain is used in a variety of ways. As commonly used, a chain stores is any retail organisation that operates multiple outlets, Technically, any retail organisation that operates more than one unit can be called as chain stores.

(4) Discount store Retailing:
A discount store is a retailing institution that sells a wide variety of merchandise at less than traditional retail prices.

(5) Off-price Retailing:
Off price retailers are those speciality retailers who sell both soft & hard goods at price levels below 20 to 60% of regular retail price.

(6) Super market Retailing:
There is no university accepted definition of the term ‘Super Market’ But word is generally used to describe a self-service, departmentalised food store with a minimum sale of one million US dollers.

(7) Convenience store Retailing:
As name suggests, the convenience store offers customers a convenient place in shop. The modern version is comer “Mona & Pop” grocery store. It offers time convenience by being open longer & during the inconvenient early morning & late night hours & place convenience by being a small, compact fast service operation that is close to consumer especially.

(8) Franchised Retailers;
Of late partly, large share of retail marketing is conducted through franchise system which is a form of retailing in which a parent organisation (Franchise) obtains distribution of its products, services or methods through a network of contractually affillicated dealers (franchisees).

(9) Warehouse Retailing:
A warehousing retailing involves some combination of warehouses & showroom facilities. In some cases, these facilities are located in a seperate but adjucent areas, in others, the warehouse & showroom are combined into are large physical structure. Generally, a warehouse retailer uses warehouse principles to reduce operating expenses & thereby offer discount prices as a prime customer appeal.

(10) Hyper market:
Hyper market is a general merchandise warehouse retail unit that stocks & sells food products & a wide variety of both hard & soft-goods, operating out of a warehouse, the hyper market displays offerings in wire basekets, metal racks, wooden bins & simple stocks of merchandise that normally reach a height of 12 to 15 feet.

(11) Mail order Retailing:
Mail order business is an established form of non- store retailing where those retailing units contact the prospective customers by mail, receives orders by. mail & deliveries are made by mail back to customers.

(12) Electronic Retailing:
Electronic Retailing can be rightly called as the innovative stage of the retail life cycle. Infact, the elecronic retailers have good many options at present & yet many will come to light because of new technologies covering up in a big way. At present, electronic retailers have focussed their attention on most commonly accepted options namely videotex, video disc, video logs & interactive cable television.

Question 4.
What is meant by an approach to the study of marketing? Explain ail the marketing approaches.
Answer:
An approach to the study of marketing means the view-point that can be used to describe the marketing system. The different approaches that are commonly used to describe the marketing system are commodity approach, functional approach, institutional approach, decision making approach, system approach, etc.

Seven basic approaches are commonly used to describe the marketing systems.

Commodity opproach
Functional opproach
Institutional opproach
Managerial (or) Decision making approach
System approach
Economic approach.
Legal approach.

(1) Commodity approach:
Under the commodity approach, we study the flow of a certain commodity & its journey from the original producer right upto the final customers. In such a study, we can locate the centre of production. People engaged in buying & setting of the product, mode of transportation, problems of selling & advertising the product, problems of financing it, problem arising out of its storages & so on. Through such an approach, we can find out the different types of commodities. Thus, we can have complete picture of the field marketing. Marketing of agricultural products such as cotton, wheat, jute represent the commodity approach.

(2) Functional approach:
Under the functional approach, we concentrate, our attention on the specilised services or functions or activities performed by marketers, the study of marketing functions like buying, selling storing, risk bearing, transport financing & providing information represents the functional approach to the marketing system.

(3) Institutional approach:
Under this institutional approach, our main interst centres around the marketing institutions or agencies such as wholesalers, retailers, transport undertakings, r banks, insurance companies etc.,who participate in discharging this marketing responsibilities during the movement of distribution of goods. We try to find out
how these various business institutions. & agencies work together to form a total marketing system.

(4) Managerial or Decision making approach:
This approach which is of recent origin combines certain features of the commodity institution & functional approaches. In this approach, the focus of marketing study is on the decision making process. The study encompasses discussion of the different underlying concepts decision influencing factors, alternative strategies & techniques & methods of problem solving.

(5) The systems approach:
A system is a set of interacting or interdepadant groups co-ordinated to form a unified & organised to accomplish a set of objectives. In the model of system approach we have objectives, inputs, processor, output & feedback, the objective direct the process. Controls monitors the process.

Information feed back gives information from internal & external sources & it is the basis for future change in the system. An open system has its own environment giving the inputs & accepting the output inputs are processed, producing outputs to meet the meet the objections, the twin objectives of marketing systems are customer satisfaction and profitability.

(6) The economic Approach:
Under this approach, the problems of demand, supply, prices are studied. It is the true that demand, supply & value are important factors in marketing. But such a narrow approach alone cannot give the whole picture of marketing. This approach is more relevant at the level.

(7) The legal Approach:
The focus of this approach is on the regulatory aspects of marketing such as the effect on transfer of title in a legal way. That is a narrow approach. However, in India this approach has some relevance because laws influence marketing. The sale of goods Act. the essential commodities Act, the weight & measure Act. The contract Act, the consumer protection Act are some of these laws.

Question 5.
What is Net-working Marketing? State the merits and demerits of it.
Answer:
Meaning of Net-work Marketing:
Network marketing or multi-level marketing is the most powerful and effective marketing or distribution system. It is about sales and distribution. Network marketing is a marketing system or method which helps in building a huge business not only for the company, but also for every distributor in the network marketing by getting customers through word-of-mouth recommendation.

In network marketing a distributor will buy use and recommend a product or service of another person and that person will buy that product or service and recommend it to some other person and so on, and as a result, there will arise an organization of distributors for the company product or service. The rewards here come from not just one’s own sales but include a percentage of the sales of the entire downline.

Merits of Network Marketing:
The merits of network marketing are –
(i) It offers flexibility of working hours as most of the network marketing business are designed such that they, can be full-time or part time.

(ii) Net work marketing can be done by people of all ages as they can easily operate from home. It can be done by students, old peoples, housewives etc.

(iii) Network marketing does not require much investment. Usually, the cost to purchase a sample kit and some business supplies to start the business.

(iv) Network marketing companies provides good incentives to their recruits for achieving a certain level of sales.

(v) Network marketing is a smart way to build a business.

(vi) As the word-of-mouth advertising in involved in network marketing the multi-level companies can cut their advertising costs by utilizing the important distributors.

(vii) It follows an easy and low-risk entrepreneurial opportunity.

(viii) Network marketing does not require specific educational qualifications to be-come a network marketer.

(ix) Network marketing gives an individual right to control his destiny.

Demerits of Network Marketing:
The demerits of network marketing are –

Network marketing may be affected by other companies offering equivalent products at the same price.
Network marketing products face competition, from equivalent products in traditional retail markets.
Network marketing tends to ignore advertising as it don’t have the means to advertise.
There are also fears of people moving out of the network causing breakage and losses.
Word-of-mouth recommendation is the key driver of this business and it takes a long time to build its goodwill and recognition in the market.

Question 6.
State the differences between traditional and modern concept of marketing.
Answer:
Traditional concept of Marketing:
According to traditional concept of marketing, it consists of all those activities or operations which help the flow of goods from the producers or manufacturers to the ultimate consumers. Thus, the various activities that help in the creation of place, time and possession utilities and help the flow of goods from centres of production to the centres of consumption or use constitute the subject matter of traditional marketing.

In short, marketing is a mere physical process or set activities connected with the exchange of goods. According to Tousley, Clark and Clark, “Marketing consists of those efforts which effect transfer in ownership of goods and care for their physical distribution.”

Modern Concept of Marketing:
According to modern concept of marketing, it includes all those activities connected with identifying the needs of the consumers, and then, organizing the business accordingly to meet the needs of the consumers. It analyses the needs of the consumers before products are produced and offered to them.

In the words of W. J. Stanton, “Marketing is a total system of interacting business activities designed to plan, price, promote and distribute want satisfying products and services to the present and potential customers.

According to Philp Kotter, “Marketing is specifically concerned with how transactions are created, stimulated, facilitated and valued. Some of the important differences between traditional and modern concept of marketing are as follows –

Traditional concept:

Sellers focus is on product only.
It is short term oriented
It aims at aggressive selling.
It is profit oriented.
Here, there is no scope for professionalism.
It is a narrow concept.
It is a disintegrated marketing phenomenon.
It does not includes or includes very less promotional activities.

Modem concept:

Sellers focus is on customer’s needs and wants
It is long term oriented.
It aims at establishing customer relationship.
It aim at customer satisfaction and is delight oriented.
Here, there is ample scope for professionalism.
It is a broader and comprehensive concept.
It is an integrated marketing approach.
It is includes lot of promotional activities.