MAR001-1 Marketing Exam Paper: Analysis of Veg.co Marketplace in Paris

This document presents the MAR001-1 Principles of Marketing main examination paper from the academic year 2017-18, Semester 1. The exam, coordinated by Sallie Phillips, is a two-hour assessment consisting of two sections: Section A features multiple-choice questions covering core marketing concepts such as the marketing concept, CIM's description of marketing, pricing strategies, relationship marketing, marketing communications, loss leaders, consumer decision-making, segmentation, customer perceived value, psychological pricing, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, service characteristics, reference groups, packaging, brand salience, and value propositions. Section B provides a mini-case study focused on Veg.co, a food application serving the Parisian market, and requires analysis of the marketplace, segmentation approach, customer persona, business idea, pricing strategy, and the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The case study explores how Veg.co caters to vegetarian and vegan tourists and locals, addressing segmentation, pricing, and consumer behavior within the context of the evolving food industry. This exam paper offers a comprehensive evaluation of marketing principles and their application in a real-world scenario.

MAR001-1 exam paper
MAR001-1
PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
MAIN EXAMINATION PAPER
ACADEMIC YEAR 2017-18 SEMESTER 1
Date of Exam:
Start Time:
Time Allowed: 2 hours
Unit Coordinator: Sallie Phillips
______________________________________________________________
Instruction to, and information for, candidates
Please answer all questions in section A and all in section B
You should answer Section A by circling the options in this exam paper.
Hand it in at the end of the exam attached to your exam answer booklet.
Write your Student ID number here…………………………………………
PLEASE DO NOT OPEN UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO BY THE STAFF
MEMBER IN CHARGE
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Section A – Multiple Choice Questions (25%). Select your answers on
this booklet. Attach the booklet to your exam answer booklet at the end
of the examination.
1. As explored in your first lecture, the term “The Marketing Concept”
refers to:
a. Gratifying customer needs, predictably, in a driving environment
b. Satisfying customer needs, profitably, in a dynamic environment
c. Meeting customer needs, precisely, in a changing environment
d. Identifying customer needs, accurately, in a progressive
environment
Answer- (b)
2. Marketing is alternatively described by the CIM as “the management
process responsible for ……………………customer requirements
profitably”
a. creating, developing and exploiting
b. influencing and satisfying
c. predicting trends in
d. identifying, anticipating and satisfying
Answer- (d)
3. According to the lecture on pricing, there are three approaches to
pricing setting: market-led, cost-plus and _______?
a. Supplier-based
b. Retailer indicated
c. Going rate
d. none of the above
Answer- (a)
4. According to the textbook, relationship marketing is about
a. Talking to individual customers and adjusting elements of the
marketing programme in light of how each customer reacts to
the marketing mix
b. Exchanging value
c. Creating networks of customers who sell goods or services
for you
d. Achieving more sales with new customers
Answer- (a)
5. In marketing communications, a push campaign is where:
a. A product is given an extra big push
b. Advertising to consumers encourages them to make a purchase
c. Retailers are given incentives to encourage consumers to buy
d. A press release is pushed out to journalists
Answer- (b)
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6. A loss leader is:
a. A product that is sold at or below cost in order to sell
additional products or services
b. The product that has the highest costs
c. A product that is sold at a lower price in order to increase
market share
d. The product that makes you the biggest loss
Answer- (c)
7. The consumer Decision Making Unit (DMU) consists of:
a. User, Influencer, Buyer, Initiator, Decider
b. Buyer, Expert, User, Decoder, Advisor
c. Consultant, Dependent, Decider, Engager, Buyer
d. None of the above
Answer- (a)
8. Charles Revson of Revlon observed: “In the factory, we make
cosmetics; in the store, ________.”
a. we make profits
b. we sell quality
c. we sell hope
d. we implement ads
Answer- (c)
9. Which of the following is not part of the Consumer Buying Decision
Process?
a. Need recognition
b. Information search
c. Purchase decision
d. Product specification
Answer- (d)
10. In the lecture on Segmentation four approaches to segmenting the
marketplace were given. They were:
a. Demographics, geodemographics, lifestyle & benefits
b. Demographics, topography, habits & advantages
c. Demographics, geography, sociocultural & features
d. Demographics, physiography, sociocultural & technical
Answer- (d)
11. ________ is the difference between the prospective customer’s
evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering.
a. Customer perceived value
b. Perceived usefulness
c. Failure avoidance rate
d. Report rating
Answer- (a)
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12. Charging £4.99 for an item is an example of
a. customer value pricing
b. going rate pricing
c. psychological pricing
d. cost plus pricing
Answer- (c)
13. If the price of a product is raised a lot with relatively little fall in sales
then demand for that product is price inelastic.
a. True
b. False
Answer- (a)
14. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs consists of physiological, safety, love and
belonging, esteem and which other set of needs?
a. Self-certification
b. Self-analysis
c. Self-awareness
d. Self-actualisation
Answer- (d)
15. The four key features of a service identified by Kotler are
1. Congruity, intangibility, perishability, integrity
2. Heterogeneity, intangibility, perishability, inseparability
3. Divergence, intangibility, durability, consonance
4. Similitude, intangibility, persistence, construction
Answer- (2)
16. According to your textbook, a person’s ________ consist(s) of sets of
people that a consumer wants to please or imitate.
a. reference groups
b. perception
c. psychographics
d. demographics
Answer- (a)
17. Packaging is sometimes referred to as
a. The silent salesman
b. The product summary
c. The forgotten product element
d. The additional cost constituent
Answer- (a)
18. Visual Merchandising is
a. A display of sunglasses
b. Floor and display plans
c. Selling things using pictures
d. Electronic tills that show the customer the price being charge
Answer- (b)
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19. What is brand salience?
a. How much your brand is thought about or noticed in a buying
situation
b. The coherence of your brand across different promotional
activities
c. The associations that consumers have with your brand
d. The consistency of products across a brand range
Answer- (a)
20. A value proposition is
a. An internal accounting term that indicates products with growth
potential
b. A statement that places the product against the competition
c. A promise to the customer about what a product will do
d. Two products bundled to offer better value for money
Answer- (c)
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Section B – Mini case (75%)
Analysis of the marketplace
Food applications have expanded their horizons after the Covid – 19
pandemic, people have started ordering food online along with starting eating healthy,
which has helped the food applications in experiencing a tremendous growth. Veg.co
is a food application which helps tourists and locals of Paris to spot vegetarian
restaurants in the Parisian markets(Dixit 2019). Foods plays a major role in the
representation of the country's culture, well it can also become tough for many to
serve in foreign lands without having the food they usually eat that when the Veg.co
comes into play and helps individuals in finding the right place which serves the right
food to its customers.
Its evident in most of the cases that the culture and the beliefs of one nation
doesn't aligns with the tourist which are visiting the place, and hence food plays a
major part in the culture, can cause discomfort to the people with different beliefs. In
the recent years Paris has become more vegetarian and vegan friendly as people are
becoming and health conscious and prefer having food which will the people survive
more. Because of which Parisian market is the ideal market place for an app like
Veg.co which help people in finding discounts and locating perfect vegetarian and
vegan restaurants in their preferred locations.
Segmentation Approach
Food industries have segmented their menu on the basis of the basis of the
customer needs. Segmentation has significantly helped business in the food industry
in effectively executing their business processes. Food apps such as Veg.co has
adapted the strategies on which the business models of the restaurants are based by
which, they will too be able to categorise restaurants on the basis of these divisions.
The factors that Veg.co has included for the segmentation of the products includes.
 Price- The price range available on the app varies from the lowest to the
highest depending on customer feedbacks and the value the restaurants are
providing with the price they are charging.
 Cuisine - Depending on the type of cuisine the customer wants to enjoy
determines the segmentation factor on the app. As all the restaurants are not
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good with all the cuisines they serve, there's when the Veg.co comes into
play, as it filters the restaurant on the basis of the cuisines the customer wants
to enjoy.
 Customer Reviews – The primary factor that the customers uses to select a
restaurant for the meal is on the basis of the feedback the company has
received form the previous customers that they have served.
Customer Persona
 Who are they - The food application targets for the people who have come to
visit the country as tourist or for employment purposes along with the
individuals who believes in vegan lifestyle. As it is not easy for tourist to
survive in a foreign land, without the food of their preference which creates a
huge problem for the tourist (.Schösler, and de Boer 2018). Veg.co has
significantly helped in resolving the issue of finding restaurants which serve
vegetarian and vegan food, so that people don't have to compromise with their
choices.
 Sample Question - “ I'm a vegetarian and I love to travel as most of the
countries serve and focus on the non – vegetarian food, it become tough to
spot the restaurants which serve quality vegetarian food in foreign lands”
 Gain and pain points – Many people face the issue of not knowing the
restaurants in their localities or the places they wish to have their meals which,
in turn is a gain point for the application as it gives an edge to the business for
serving such kind of facilities. The major issues that the application faces is
that the people tend to take the services which are provided free of cost by the
company and do not take the services which the company charges a price for
which in turn is a pain point for the company, because of which the
application is not able to make the determined profits.
 Purchasing Decisions - The application is able to execute its function in the
market because the people trust them and the information the company is
providing through its application, the trust within the application derives the
purchasing decisions of individuals(.De Lanauzeand Dominguez, , 2021).At
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points the application faces difficult times in building the trust within its
customers which diminishes the factors which are associated with the
purchasing decisions of individual .
Business Idea & Model
The Veg.co application serves in meeting the issues which occurs while
searching vegetarian or vegan restaurant sin the Parisian market. This is done through
the GPS technology that the application has adopted along with the listing of
restaurants situated in the Parisian market which serves quality food while delivering
the quality of money (Fraux, and et.al, 2021). The motive of the application is to
reduce the efforts of people to search for vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Paris
and provide food to them at an affordable rate by providing offers and discounts for
the same. The brand name itself, consists the essence of the service that they provide,
“Veg.co”,
The reason by which the application will be successful in the business market
id because of the post affects of Covid- 109 which has motivated people to live a
sustainable and healthy life, for which people have adapted vegan and vegetarian
lifestyles which allows them a sustainable and healthy way of living. In the mindset of
making right choice when its comes to eating healthy and clean, Veg.co will play a
major role as it will help individual in continuing their paths on the lifestyle they have
chosen to adopt (Issock, and Roberts-Lombard 2021). The application also plans to
add on features which will ease out the home delivery processes.
Pricing strategy implied
The application uses competitive pricing strategies which helps the application
to derive its revenue from the same. As the restaurants charges reasonable prices for
its services which helps them to generate revenue which sufficiently helps them in
paying their bills and help investing back in the business, which the application can
take advantage of, as the restaurants are not charging high amount for the services
they are offering, the application is able to charge add- on which helps the company in
generating revenue (Space2021). Along with the basic services, the application
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provide service of paying the bills of the order they have placed through the
application, on which they provide offers in the initial day which helps them in
generating the revenue which is needed for the survival along with the expansion of
the company.
The company needs to stick with the competitive pricing strategies as the application
have competition in the market, which gives the customers the low switching cost,
and with the availability of the high value information, the customers will not take
much time to switch to other platforms which are providing the same services at
reasonable rates will be not be favourable of the application under any scenarios
whatsoever.
Marketing communication proposals
The marketing communication proposal of the organisation has helped the
application to present its business model in front of the individuals who will be using
it, with the effective marketing communication strategies the trust among the
individuals could be built, the marketing mix of the company includes several factors
which helps in determining the major aspect of the business model of the company.
Which helps in providing a clear view to the people and the ways by which they can
run their functions to make their business a success (Lahtinen. and Rundle-Thiele,
2020). The factors mentioned in the communication proposal of the business includes;
 Product: The application initially is delivering the service of spotting
vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the Parisian market along with it provides
offers and discounts on the purchase the customers make through the
application. Along with the application provides home delivers from the
choice of their restaurant. Critical analysis of the products and service of the
company helps in providing a wholesome vie which helps in predetermining
the performance of the application in the competitive market.
 Price: The business model uses competitive pricing strategy to sustain its
position in the competitive market, while providing quality service to its
customers along with take care of making enough revenue which will help the
company in sustaining and expanding. The determined prices should be
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reasonable for the customers as when the services are not affordable to the
customers, the sales will be decreased which will result in the failure of the
application.
 Promotion: The promotion of the application could be done on various
platforms depending on the targeted audience. The promotions will take place
on the platform which is mostly used by the audience that has been targeted by
the application, as they will be the potential customers of the organisation. The
marketing strategize should clearly portray the objective of the company
which could bring the desired motives to the company. The company need to
experiment with the several ways by which they can market their products and
bring the desired results in the company.
 People: The people involved in the business operation should be given the
outmost priority as they are the ones who hold the company together and helps
them achieve the predetermined objective (Purohit, and Mishra,2021). Many
companies fail because they devote their entire focus on the other elements
while completely ignoring the people of the company. The people of the
organisation in many ways derives the sales of the company, as they represent
the work ethics of the company.
As far as various marketing commutation activities are concerned, there is a Gantt
chart which has been formulated below which keeps track of all the activities by
attaching them to a valid time frame.
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References
Dixit, S.K., 2019. Gastronomic tourism: A theoretical construct. In The Routledge
handbook of gastronomic tourism (pp. 13-23). Routledge.
Schösler, H. and de Boer, J., 2018. Towards more sustainable diets: Insights from the
food philosophies of “gourmets” and their relevance for policy strategies. Appetite,
127, pp.59-68.
De Lanauze, G.S., Sirieix, L. and Dominguez, E.S., 2021. Eating together, yes, But
without meat! Social influences related to vegetarianism and veganism.
Fraux, C., and et.al, 2021, March. French People’s Views Regarding
Xenotransplantation. In Transplantation Proceedings (Vol. 53, No. 2, pp. 529-538).
Elsevier.
Space, N.G., 2021. Fashioning K-Food. Gender and Food in Transnational East Asias:
Toward a New Dialogue Across Boundaries, p.223.
Lahtinen, V., Dietrich, T. and Rundle-Thiele, S., 2020. Long live the marketing mix.
Testing the effectiveness of the commercial marketing mix in a social marketing
context. Journal of Social Marketing.
Purohit, S., Paul, J. and Mishra, R., 2021. Rethinking the bottom of the pyramid:
Towards a new marketing mix. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 58,
p.102275.
Issock, P.B.I., Mpinganjira, M. and Roberts-Lombard, M., 2021. Investigating the
relevance of the traditional marketing mix across different stages of change: empirical
evidence from household recycling. Journal of Social Marketing.
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