The Selling Process & Differentiation
A shopper buys a slightly more expensive vacuum cleaner because it comes with a longer warranty and better reviews for durability. Which differentiation factor is this?
Value for money as value for money includes buying the "good value" option that costs more upfront but lasts longer, not just the cheapest option.
What term describes the process of gathering information about consumers and the market before making business decisions?
Market Research
Name three factors a business could use to define its target market.
Any three of: age, gender, income, interests/lifestyle, location
What is the term for a paid form of communication used to promote a product to a target audience?
Advertising
A business sells one product to as many people as possible with a single broad message. Name the marketing approach AND one example.
Mass marketing — e.g. Coca-Cola, Colgate, McDonald's
A teenager buys a hoodie because "everyone at school has one," even though a cheaper, near-identical hoodie is available elsewhere. Which factor is this, and what makes it different from a purely ethical buying decision?
Social factor
A business wants firsthand opinions from real potential customers before changing a product's flavour. Which type of research should they use, and why is it more useful here than using existing industry reports?
Primary research (e.g. a focus group) — because it gives direct, specific feedback on their exact product, rather than general information that already exists and may not be specific enough
A cereal brand available in every supermarket runs one universal ad campaign. Explain ONE risk this business takes on by using mass marketing instead of niche marketing.
The message may feel too generic to stand out, and the brand faces high competition from many other mass-market cereal brands trying to appeal to the same broad audience
What are the 3 main things promotion aims to do?
Inform
Persuade
Remind
A shoe company sponsors an athlete AND runs national TV ads featuring them. Name BOTH promotional strategies being used,
Product endorsement and advertising
A business claims it competes on "convenience," but its stores are only open 9am–5pm on weekdays. Explain why this claim may not hold up for its target market.
Convenience means being readily available when customers need it — if the target market works during those hours, the product isn't actually convenient to them.
A business runs a focus group but only invites people who already love the brand. Explain the problem with this approach and what it risks for the product launch.
The feedback will be biased/unrepresentative of the wider target market. The business risks launching a product that fails with the broader target market.
A niche business finds that demand for its small product is shrinking as trends change. Explain why this is a bigger threat for a niche business than for a mass-market business.
A niche business depends on one small segment, so if that segment shrinks there's no fallback audience. A mass-market business serves a broad base and is less exposed to changing preferences
A stadium is renamed after its major sponsor, and commentators say the name every time they mention the venue. Which promotional strategy is this?
Event sponsorship/naming rights as the brand name gets repeated in media coverage continuously
What is guerilla marketing?
Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional advertising strategy that relies on surprise, low budgets, and high creativity to promote a product or brand in everyday public spaces
A business is losing customers to a competitor on price but refuses to lower its prices. Describe TWO other differentiation factors it could compete on instead, and explain how each would work in practice.
e.g. convenience (more locations, longer hours, faster delivery); social/ethical factors (fair trade sourcing, ethical labour practices); environmental factors (sustainable packaging, carbon-neutral shipping) —
Explain why a focus group of 10 people might give a business better information than a survey of 500 people, in some situations.
A focus group allows in-depth discussion, follow-up questions, and observation of real reactions, revealing why people feel a certain way. A survey gives broader but shallower data without the reasoning behind answers.
Two razor brands sell nearly identical products, but one is marketed in pink packaging at a higher price "for women." Explain why this pricing strategy is controversial, and name the term sometimes used to describe it.
The 'pink tax' is controversial because it charges more for an essentially identical product based on gender, rather than any real difference in the product.
A small business with a limited budget wants to compete with a major sponsor at a big sporting event without paying for official rights. Which strategy should they use, and what is the main risk of this approach?
Guerilla marketing — the main risk is it can be seen as opportunistic, may damage the event organiser's relationship with the business
A business invents a new energy drink and wants to know if teenagers will like the flavour before spending money on national advertising. Describe the full sequence of steps they should realistically take, in order.
Answer: Conduct market research, run a focus group with people from the target market , adjust the product based on feedback, THEN launch the promotional/advertising campaign
Explain how a single product could appeal to BOTH environmentally conscious consumers and value-for-money consumers at the same time.
E.g. a refillable/reusable product that costs more upfront but saves money long-term while reducing waste, satisfying both factors simultaneously
A business has a limited budget and must choose between conducting market research OR spending that money on advertising. Argue which they should prioritise, and justify your answer.
Research first, because advertising a product nobody wants wastes the entire budget, whereas research reduces the risk of that
A business defines its target market as "everyone aged 15–65 who likes music." Explain why this definition is too broad to be useful, and rewrite it as a properly defined target market.
It's too broad because it spans multiple age groups with very different incomes, habits, and platforms, so no single message or channel would reach them effectively.
A better definition would narrow age, income, specific interests, and habits (e.g. "16–24 year olds who attend live music festivals, follow artists on Instagram/TikTok, and have discretionary spending money")
A skincare brand pays an Instagram influencer to feature their product in a "get ready with me" video, without directly saying "advertisement." Explain the ethical issue this raises.
Extra 100: Name an influencer who does get ready with me videos
The ethical issue is a lack of transparency/disclosure, since viewers may not realise it's a paid promotion, which can be misleading to the target audience
A niche business is offered a deal to stock its product in every major supermarket nationwide. Explain TWO reasons it might turn this down.
It may lose its specialist reputation and loyal customer base; it may not have production capacity to meet demand; supermarket pricing pressure could force margins down; the mass market may not value what makes the product special