TEST YOURSELF

Chapter 1: The Nature of Marketing

Essay Questions

1. Broadly speaking, marketing is all about matching producers’ output to customers’ activities. Explain what this means.

2. The text claims that “serving the needs of the customers is what business should be all about.” Given that business must be profitable to remain viable, is this statement realistic?

3. The TV test to consider local dilemmas involves a marketer asking, “Would I be able to justify what I’m doing on the 6 o’clock news?” Who is the marketer justifying his actions to with this test — himself, the media, his current and potential customers, or society in general?

4. Marketing is a core business function. List all of the core business functions and the primary responsibilities of each one, including marketing.

5. Explain the three characteristics of market-driven companies in your own words.

6. The text states that “a market-oriented strategy…can identify new opportunities and avoid nasty surprises as changes occur in the market.” Explain why a market-oriented business is better able to identify new opportunities than a product-oriented firm or a sales-oriented firm. Reference Figure 1.1, the summary of the different understandings of the key to organizational success, in your answer.
   

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