Marketing Principles: Pricing, Environment, Consumer Behavior Analysis

This marketing assignment delves into various aspects of marketing principles. It begins by examining and contrasting three pricing tactics, followed by an analysis of macro environmental forces influencing a luxury brand like Rolex. The assignment then explores the debate between market penetration and customer loyalty for brand growth, supported by examples. It proceeds to compare and contrast television and internet advertising, providing a suitable example for each. The assignment also critiques Maslow's hierarchy of needs, lists and explains market coverage decisions, and proposes market research for a new dental product. Furthermore, it outlines processes for successful marketing implementation and compares consumer good classifications. Finally, it explains situational influences on consumer behavior using a retail t-shirt purchase as an example. The assignment provides a comprehensive overview of essential marketing concepts and strategies.

Marketing Principles

Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
1 Compare and contrast any three pricing tactics that you have come across in the recent past..................5
2 List the six macro environmental forces that a business should scan and monitor on a regular basis.
Imagine you are a marketing manager of a Luxury brand Rolex watches. Discuss two macro
environmental forces that you think will have greater influence on business and marketing of your brand?
.................................................................................................................................................................... 6
3 To what extent do you agree with the statement “In order to grow brand (i.e. increase market share),
marketers should focus on increasing market penetration rather than customer loyalty”? Discuss using
examples and research work........................................................................................................................7
4 Choose two advertising media options (e.g. television versus the internet). Compare the advantages and
disadvantages for each advertising media option. Provide an example where one of the options is more
suitable than the other..................................................................................................................................8
5 Critique Maslow’s hierarchy of needs concept using examples................................................................9
6 There are three levels of distribution when considering market coverage decisions. List all three and
explain two using examples.......................................................................................................................10
7 Your company has come up with an idea of developing a new product i.e “all-in-onedental” which is a
combination of toothpaste, toothbrush and tongue cleaner in one product. What type of market research
would you propose to conduct in order to understand the adaptability of the product in a market?...........11
8 Explain three processes a company can consider to maximise the chances of succeeding at the
implementation phase of marketing...........................................................................................................12
9 Compare and contrast the following consumer good classifications: shopping products,
convenience products, speciality products and unsought products. Use examples in your discussion.....13

10 List and explain situational influences on consumer behaviour. In your answer, use the example
of a customer purchasing a new t-shirt in a retail store to explain how the situational influences apply to
consumer behaviour..................................................................................................................................14
References-................................................................................................................................................15

Introduction
Marketing principles refers to the principles related to marketing that help in creating product promotion
strategies. Every organization has a separate department for marketing that basically focus upon the
marketing strategies and implementation of the same. Most of the organization adopts a mix of more than
one marketing principle to enhance the performance of existing product and to launch a new product in
the market.

1 Compare and contrast any three pricing tactics that you have come across in
the recent past.
The three pricing tactics I have come across in recent past are-
1. Competition Pricing- Competition pricing is a very common pricing strategy that can be seen
easily in any of the organization. There are some products that have so many competitors in the
market. So, it is very important for them to compare the prices with the competitors in order to
get more customers. In competition pricing, proper analysis has been done on the strategies, costs
and prices of the competitors and it has been known and the major criteria of judgement to decide
the price of the product. Marketing mix has also been considered as a factor in deciding
competition pricing.
2. Customer value based pricing- In this pricing strategy, major focus has been done on the
customers, their perception regarding the product and the value of the product in their eyes. Every
product can be purchased by a customer by giving some value (money in return. So, the value
must be accordance with the benefits of the products. If the price of the product is same with the
value of the product, then only customer will opt for the same product (Melnick, Shen and Wu,
2008).
3. Cost based pricing- In value based pricing, the main focus is on the customers but in cost based
pricing, the emphasize has been given to the seller. In this pricing, the price of the product has
been decided according to the costing of the product. There should be a fair profit also so the
price has been decided by adding some margin to earn profits. There are many companies like
Walmart or Ryanair that uses cost based pricing strategies (Wave kinematics and environmental
forces, 2011).

2 List the six macro environmental forces that a business should scan and
monitor on a regular basis. Imagine you are a marketing manager of a
Luxury brand Rolex watches. Discuss two macro environmental forces that
you think will have greater influence on business and marketing of your
brand?
There are different environmental forces that create a major impact on the business. These environmental
factor needs to be monitor on regular basis to get the best outcome. Every organization wants a strong
customer base that helps them in earning higher profits. It is necessary to involve environmental factors at
the time of taking decisions related to marketing. Two macro environmental factors that can create a
greater influence on Rolex watches are-
1. Political Factors- It basically includes all the rules and policies formulated by the government.
Rolex watches has its manufacturing unit in Switzerland so all the policies created by Singapore
government create an impact on this. There are some import policies also that affect the success
of the Rolex brand. After the introduction of Globalization, the situation has become little
smoother in terms of government policies (Capon and Khan, 2015).
2. Technological factors-Technology creates a big impact on the product like electronics and
watches. Rolex brand it known for the latest and innovative designs it launched in the market.
They always keep a watch on the latest trends and make the product accordingly. This is one of
the main reasons for the success of Rolex (Grüner, 2016).
3. Social Factors- Social factors here refers to the prevailing trends in the society. It is very
important to know the taste and preferences of the customers. Fashion and trends are kept on
changing so it is necessary to keep a track on them. Modern societies are usually attracted to the
products like Rolex watches. The people who possess a sense of fashion and who always want to
go for the innovative products are the major customers of Rolex. There are some ethical concerns

also like Rolex use blood diamond in some of its watches and according to some states it is
consider as a sin to wear blood diamonds.
3 To what extent do you agree with the statement “In order to grow brand
(i.e. increase market share), marketers should focus on increasing market
penetration rather than customer loyalty”? Discuss using examples and
research work.
I agree with this statement “In order to grow brand (i.e. increase market share), marketers should focus on
increasing market penetration rather than customer loyalty”. Customer Loyalty also helps in the growth of
the brand but at some particular extent and after that Market penetration helps the brand for the growth
and success. Market penetration helps in taking the advantage of low prices in order to increase the
demand of the product that ultimately leads in increase the market share. It directly results in increasing
the demand as customer can be easily ready to buy the same product in low prices. As demand increase,
organization gets a chance to save money on the production cost of the product because of high volume of
production. Although market penetration strategy is not suitable for each kind of product so some
companies use some different marketing strategies that are more beneficial for them. (Doyle and Von
Windheim, 2014).
Customer loyalty basically helps in retaining the customer for a long time period. Market penetration
helps in the fast organizational growth as it leads to increase in the number of customers. It also helps in
facing the market competition as there are so many competitors in the market that focus on stealing
customers. So, for earning higher profits, it is necessary to adopt marketing penetration strategy. There
are so many examples like Nestle and Tesco Club card that has adopted market penetration strategy and
got a higher growth and an increase in the market share. These are the major things that proves marketing
penetration strategy is more helpful in increasing market share (Schaefer, 2012).

4 Choose two advertising media options (e.g. television versus the internet).
Compare the advantages and disadvantages for each advertising media
option. Provide an example where one of the options is more suitable than the
other.
There are different advertising options that are essential to create awareness about the product in the
market. Two of the methods of advertising are Television and Internet. These two methods are totally
different from each other because of their own advantages as well as disadvantages. Television is
considered as an old medium that was mainly used for advertisement. Advertisement on television was
considered as the most beneficial method but now with the technological advancement internet has taken
the place of television (Freiberg, Schwarz and Khoury, 2016). There are different advantages and
disadvantages of television and Internet. Television is present in urban areas as well as rural areas and
there is no education and competency required to see an advertisement on television but in case of
internet there should be availability of internet at remote places as well as rural areas. For watching an
advertisement on internet, a person should know how to use internet and he must have knowledge
regarding internet. There is some advantage of internet as internet can help in making an advertisement
popular in a short span of time (Giant and Beddoe, 2013). There is a wide usage of internet all over the
world now a days and an advertisement can create a big impact on customers with the help of internet.
Internet also helps in assessing the information according to the choice of customers like young people
can search advertisement related to gadgets or something in which they are interested. In television, a
person can only view the advertisement that display on the television. There is some adult product
advertisement that has been displayed on the advertisement that is not good for the children. In case of
advertisement of chocolates, television has been proved as successful because this product is not for a
particular market segment so advertisement on television provides the awareness to every segment of the
market (Lee and Cho, 2016).

5 Critique Maslow’s hierarchy of needs concept using examples.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is basically refers to a theory related to psychology that has been proposed
by Abraham Maslow in 1943. It is known as the theory of motivation; it has described the major needs
that an individual requires to motivate him. It shows the human innate curiosity (Ranchhod and Gurău,
2007). It describes all the stages of growths in humans. Maslow hierarchy of need theory includes five
criteria-
1. Physiological needs- These are the basic biological needs of an individual that are important for
the survival. Examples of physiological needs are food, water, shelter and clothing. Maslow has
described that without the fulfilment of these needs, a human body cannot able to work properly.
He explained that this is the primary needs of any individual in comparison to the other needs.
2. Safety needs- Safety need refers to the needs that can create a feeling of safety for an individual.
It includes security, law, stability and freedom from fear (Lefebvre, 2004).
3. Love and Belongingness needs- This is known as the third level of the needs of an individual as
every individual needs a feeling of belongingness. There is a high need of interpersonal
relationships that helps in improving the behaviour. Examples of the needs are love, friendship,
family and trust (Faisal, 2016).
4. Esteem needs- Esteem needs means the needs that helps in the fulfilment of esteem for oneself as
well as the respect from other people. Maslow showed that there is a need of respect from the
children and the other people to create the dignity or self-esteem.
5. Self- Actualization needs- It is the need that helps in realizing personal potential, self –fulfilment,
personal level of growth and the peak experiences. It can help a person to become a better human
being (FRAM brand aims to increase Champion's market penetration, 2013).

Maslow has given a hierarchal structure related to human needs but every human has his own
perception and different purpose of motivation, as per the passage of time environmentally condition
also keep some changing so as the demographic and socio cultural environment. There are some critics
and Maslow’s hierarchy theory. If we take an example of an army person, we can observed that this
theory does not apply to them because generally physiological need should be on top most propriety
like: hunger & thrust but in case on army people, hunger and thrust does not matter as they are fully
dedicated to the country. According to the Maslow’s, self-actualization theory, any person how wants to
do something comes after all other needs. But in case of artist musicians and painters, they do what
they like the most and for them this is the process of self-actualization. Maslow’s stricter is not
applicable to the people who have cultural differences as they belong to different culture and norms. So
we can say that Maslow’s hierarchal structure is not applicable in case of each and every person.
6 There are three levels of distribution when considering market coverage
decisions. List all three and explain two using examples.
There are three level of distribution at the time of considering the market coverage decisions.
1. Mass Coverage- It is also known as intensive distribution. In this distribution, the product has
been delivered to all the nearby location where such products are sold. It is basically suitable for
the products that are low in price and have high market demand. These products are available on
the common grocery shops and the cost of distribution of such products is quite high. Example of
such product is Coca Cola. Coca cola is easily available in the market and it is a cheap product
that has a very high demand.
2. Selective Coverage- In this type of distribution, product has been supply to some specific
locations according to the requirement of the customers. These products are known for smaller
market size. Example of this distribution is Rolex Watches. Rolex watches are not meant for each

market segment and they are very costly so these watches are supplies to the specific parts of the
market (Social media, content marketing and engagement strategies in B2B, 2018).
3. Exclusive coverage- Exclusive coverage is known for the products that has small target market.
These products are purchased by the customers very often and satisfy the needs of the customers
with high quality. For these kind of products, special customer service is required that can help
the customer to know more about the product. Example of these products is washing machines.
7 Your company has come up with an idea of developing a new product i.e
“all-in-onedental” which is a combination of toothpaste, toothbrush and
tongue cleaner in one product. What type of market research would you
propose to conduct in order to understand the adaptability of the product in a
market?
In the above mentioned case, when my company has has come up with an idea of developing a new
product i.e. “all-in-one dental” which is a combination of toothpaste, toothbrush and tongue cleaner in
one product then in that case I will chose the primary methods of marketing research. For this product, it
is important to conduct a survey that helps in analyzing the first expression of the customers after
knowing about the product (Cohen, 2013). It is an innovative product so we cannot predict the behavior of
the people in the market. Surveys help a lot in knowing acceptance of the product by the customers.

Afterwards I will create focus groups that basically involve a group of people together and try to find out
their views about the product. All the participants in such cases are compensated by providing a gift
voucher or free coupon to them Focus groups help in knowing some unknown things that cannot be come
to the knowledge with the help of surveys only (Kacowicz, 2013). Interviews will be taken after that in
which there is an involvement of one participant and one moderator. It helps in creating a wide
knowledge and exploratory research. Experiments and field trials have been done after the interviews that
basically test the product. Testing the product gives a clear picture about the thoughts of the customers.
The last step for this research will be observation in which an observation will be done on the actual
behavior of the customers after using the product (Kotler, 2017).
8 Explain three processes a company can consider to maximise the chances of
succeeding at the implementation phase of marketing.
The three processes a company can consider maximising the chances of succeeding at the implementation
phase of marketing are-
1. Facts- at the time of implementation of a marketing phase, it is important to know all the facts
that describes who, when, where and how of reaching the objectives and goals of the business. It
is a vast process and involves the whole organization. These facts really help in the successful
implementation of the strategy and leads to growth. Marketing implementation consist of
marketing design, execution and to schedule the development of the same.
2. Needs- In the implementation phase, it is necessary for some aspects to be successful. There must
be trained people who possess unique skills and capabilities in order to implement the different

elements of the plan. There should be sufficient time and money allocated to the project. There
should be a responsible management to take care of several things (Iacobucci, 2018).
3. Pitfalls- There ae some very common mistakes that usually everyone do in the implementation
phase. These mistakes are mostly related to the lack of communication, insubstantial plan, hassle
tasks and no ownership. Some companies implement the strategies without clear planning that
creates a very negative impact. The improper planning leads to the pitfalls that hampers the
implementation of strategies.
9 Compare and contrast the following consumer good classifications:
shopping products, convenience products, speciality products and
unsought products. Use examples in your discussion.
1. Shopping products- Shopping products refers to the product that a customer can buy so frequently
and he compares the price and attributes of the product with the other available product.
Consumer spends a lot of time and effort in buying shopping product as they need to compare
different alternatives and then choose the best option. Examples of such products are clothes, cars
and furniture (Singh, 2010).
2. Convenience products- Convenience products are brought very frequently by the customers.
Customers purchased these products without doing any comparison and they do not waste their

time and efforts while purchasing these products. These products are food items, detergents,
soaps, sugar and magazines.
3. Speciality products- Speciality products are the products that have some unique features and
advantages. These are different from the regular products. It is meant for a significant group of
buyers who are willing to make special efforts for these products. These products are luxury cars,
designer clothes and a high priced camera.
4. Unsought products- These products are those products that a consumer does not know about or
unaware about the features of the product. Customer does not think about such products
normally. These products are funeral services and insurance services (Taormina and Gao, 2013).
10 List and explain situational influences on consumer behaviour. In
your answer, use the example of a customer purchasing a new t-
shirt in a retail store to explain how the situational influences
apply to consumer behaviour.
There are different situational influences that can change the consumer behaviour in an easy way. Some
situational influences are-
1. Physical surroundings- Situational factors refer to the marketer’s geographical location, the
sounds, lighting and weather. It also includes the design of the outlet.

2. Social surroundings- It refers to the society in which people are living. People usually attract
towards a product if everyone in the society is buying the same.
3. Buyers mood- Sometimes, it just depend upon the mood of the customer whether he buys a
product or not (Du Plessis, Strydom and Jooste, 2012).
4. Purchasing reason- If a customer has a particular purchasing reason then he should buy that
product for sure (Spears, Amos and Yazdanparast, 2015)
A customer purchasing a t- shirt in a retail shop can easily get convinced by the shopkeeper if he
can explain some of the good examples of the experiences of the customers using the t -shirt.
While purchasing the t shirt, if any customer comes in the same retail shop to buy the same t-
shirt and purchased a high number of t- shirt then the other customer can get easily influences.
Marketing consists of the influence technique that basically helps in selling the product by
impressing the customers. Holidays can also be a good reason that can easily influence a person
to buy a t-shirt. If a person is going on a holiday then the retail shopkeeper can easily convince
him to but the product.
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