GLOBAL MARKETING ENVIRONMENT

Answer the following questions and then press 'Submit' to get your score.

Question 1
Which of the following is not part of the external marketing environment? a) Political. b) Legal. c) Product. d) Socio-cultural.

Question 2
Tobacco advertising is now virtually banned in all marketing communication forms in many countries around the world. This can be explained as an influence of: a) technological environment. b) legal environment. c) economic environment. d) ecological environment.

Question 3
A firm has decided to alter its pricing and promotional strategies in response to slower than expected job growth and declining personal incomes. The firm is responding to changes in its: a) socio-cultural environment. b) political environment. c) economic environment. d) competitive environment.

Question 4
Robert is a marketer for a global consumer products company. He is working on the promotional campaign designed to reach a target audience in a new international market. Robert is working hard to make sure that the promotional campaign is clearly understood by the nation's consumers and doesn't offend anyone. Which of the factors in the external environment is he being influenced by?

a) Socio-cultural environment. b) Competitive environment. c) Economic environment. d) Legal environment.

Question 5
The process of collecting information about the external marketing environment is: a) environmental management. b) environmental scanning. c) marketing management. d) marketing research.

Question 6
The six dimensions usually considered to constitute the external marketing environment include all of the following except: a) political considerations. b) suppliers c) socio-cultural aspects. d) economics issues.

Question 7
Marketing decision makers in a firm must constantly monitor competitors' activities - their products, prices, distribution, and promotional efforts - because: a) the competitors may be violating the law and can be reported to the authorities. b) the actions of competitors may threaten the monopoly position of the firm in its industry. c) the actions of competitors may create an oligopoly within an industry. d) new product offerings by a competitor with the resulting competitive variations may require adjustments to one or more components of the firm's marketing mix.

Question 8
The phenomenon that customers are happy to work with companies and organizations to solve problems is referred as:

a) crowd-sourcing. b) communication-sourcing. c) customer co-creation. d) mass-sourcing.

Question 9
New technology results in new goods and services, and it can also: a) lower the quality of existing products. b) lower the available level of customer service. c) reduce prices through new production and distribution methods. d) bring back products that were considered obsolete.

Question 10
Toyota's Prius and Honda's hybrid Civic are examples of technological products inspired by: a) style considerations in the Japanese automobile industry. b) social pressure to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles with fewer dangerous emissions. c) the desire of many engineers to simply make interesting products. d) the realization that Japanese people didn't need large, high-speed cars.

Question 11
_____ is the collection and interpretation of information about forces, events, and relationships that may affect the organization. a) Environmental scanning b) Stakeholder analysis c) Market sampling d) Opportunity analysis

Question 12
The differentiation of a firm's products or services is underlined to promote environmental responsibility. One of the examples includes Marks and Spencer's Plan A initiative. This strategy is referred to as: a) Eco-efficiency

b) Eco-branding c) Beyond compliance leadership d) Environmental cost leadership

Question 13
Marketing managers cannot control _____________ but they can at times influence it. a) where advertising is placed b) how products or services are delivered c) the external environment d) how products are priced

Question 14
As technology continues to offer more different methods for shopping online, manufacturers and traditional retailers are finding themselves in direct competition with each other. In this case, unless marketing managers understand ________, retailers cannot intelligently plan for the future. a) their competitors' strategies b) the economic conditions which influence the growth of technology c) changing social attitudes towards technology d) their competitors' strategies, the economic conditions which influence the growth of technology and changing social attitudes towards it

Question 15
The external environment: a) can be controlled in much the same manner as the internal marketing mix. b) does not change over time. c) does not have an impact on Fortune 500 companies. d) must be continually monitored by marketing managers.

Question 16
The differentiation of a firm's products or services to promote environmental responsibility is referred to as: a) social branding.

b) eco-branding. c) me-too branding. d) brand personality.

Question 17
Which of the following elements is not part of Porter's Five Forces model for industry competitiveness? a) Threat of substitutes. b) Threat of suppliers. c) Power of buyers. d) Threat from government.

Question 18
Which of the following characteristics would usually make a market less competitive? a) High barriers to entry. b) Lots of potential substitutes exist. c) Strong bargaining power among buyers. d) Strong bargaining power among suppliers.

Question 19
To evaluate an organization's Strategic Business Units (SBU), the Boston Consulting Group developed a portfolio performance framework that characterizes some of the SBUs as: a) question marks. b) quick winners. c) charging bulls. d) cash outs.

Question 20
The quadrant of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix that represents both a high market share and a high rate of market growth includes the: a) cash cows. b) question marks. c) stars.

d) dogs.

Which of the following is not part of the external marketing environment? You did not answer the question. Correct answer: c) Product. Feedback: In order to make sense of the external environment we use a framework known as PESTLE. This is by far the easiest and one of the most popular frameworks with which to examine the external environment. This technique was formerly referred to as PEST analysis but the recent rise in concern and awareness attached to ecological and climatic issues has impacted on most organizations. PESTLE therefore stands for the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Ecological environments. Page reference: 37

Question 2
Tobacco advertising is now virtually banned in all marketing communication forms in many countries around the world. This can be explained as an influence of: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: b) legal environment. Feedback: Here we can see how the legal environment has influenced advertising certain products. The legal environment covers every aspect of an organization's business. Laws and regulation are enacted in most countries ranging from the transparency of pricing, the prevention of restrictive trade practices, minimum wages and business taxes, product safety, good practice in packaging and labelling, the abuse of a dominant market position, to codes of practice in advertising. As such it is very important for marketers to understand the implications that the law, and changes in the law, can have on marketing activities. Page reference: 45

Question 3
A firm has decided to alter its pricing and promotional strategies in response to slower than expected job growth and declining personal incomes. The firm is responding to changes in its:

You did not answer the question. Correct answer: c) economic environment. Feedback: The firm is responding to changes in the economic environment. Companies and organizations have to develop an understanding of the economic environment in which they operate and trade. This is not least because a country's economic circumstances have an impact on what economists term factor prices within a particular industry for a particular firm or organization. These factors could include raw materials, labour, building and other capital costs, or indeed any other input to a business. Page reference: 39-40

Question 4
Robert is a marketer for a global consumer products company. He is working on the promotional campaign designed to reach a target audience in a new international market. Robert is working hard to make sure that the promotional campaign is clearly understood by the nation's consumers and doesn't offend anyone. Which of the factors in the external environment is he being influenced by? You did not answer the question. Correct answer: a) Socio-cultural environment. Feedback: Robert is influenced by the country's socio-cultural environment. Lifestyles are constantly changing and consumers are constantly shifting their preferences over time. Companies that fail to recognize changes in the socio-cultural environment, and change their goods/service mix accordingly, typically fail. Page reference: 41

Question 5
The process of collecting information about the external marketing environment is: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: b) environmental scanning. Feedback:

To understand how the external environment is changing, organizations need to put in place methods and processes to inform them of developments. The process of doing this is known as environmental scanning. Environmental scanning is the process of gathering information about a company's external events and relationships, to assist top management in its decision making, and so develop its future course of action (Aguilar, 1967). Page reference: 49

Question 6
The six dimensions usually considered to constitute the external marketing environment include all of the following except: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: b) suppliers Feedback: The external marketing environment uses the PESTLE acronym, which includes the following factors: political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, and ecological. It is important to note that some of these factors are more important than others in any particular industry. The acronym is used to identify possible macroenvironmental factors impacting upon any particular organization at a given time. Page reference: 60

Question 7
Marketing decision makers in a firm must constantly monitor competitors' activities - their products, prices, distribution, and promotional efforts - because: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: d) new product offerings by a competitor with the resulting competitive variations may require adjustments to one or more components of the firm's marketing mix. Feedback: Competitors are part of an organization's performance environment and can directly influence the success of our marketing activities. In analysing the competitors within an industry, we are interested in different types of goods and services that competitors offer in different market sectors. Clark and Montgomery (1999) call this process of identification of competitors the supply-based approach because it considers those firms who supply the same sorts of goods and services as your own firm. Hence it is imperative to constantly monitor competitor's activities to ensure we have differential advantages in our operations. Page reference: 55

Question 8
The phenomenon that customers are happy to work with companies and organizations to solve problems is referred as: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: a) crowd-sourcing. Feedback: Whitla (2009) suggests that the role and process of crowd-sourcing is to identify a task, or group of tasks, which are currently conducted in-house. These activities are then released to a 'crowd' of outsiders who are invited to perform the task on behalf of the company for a fee or prize. This new approach can help marketers gain insights into both new product/service development and marketing communications. Page reference: 43-44

Question 9
New technology results in new goods and services, and it can also: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: c) reduce prices through new production and distribution methods. Feedback: The emergence of new technologies can substantially affect not only high-technology businesses but non-technology businesses. Examples include aspects of technology that impact upon productivity and business efficiency (e.g. changes in energy, transportation, information, and communication technologies). New technology is increasingly changing the way that companies go to market through moves towards more email and web-based marketing, and greater efficiency in direct and database marketing techniques (Sclater, 2005). Page reference: 42

Question 10
Toyota's Prius and Honda's hybrid Civic are examples of technological products inspired by: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: b) social pressure to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles with fewer dangerous emissions.

Feedback: In the 1990s, companies became concerned with the concept of 'green' marketing, and later in the 2000s with the concept of marketing sustainability. Increasingly, consumers are worried about the impact of organizations on their ecological environments. They are demanding products that are more ecologically friendly. They are also keen to ensure that companies are not damaging the environment themselves or causing harm to consumers. Page reference: 47

Question 11
_____ is the collection and interpretation of information about forces, events, and relationships that may affect the organization. You did not answer the question. Correct answer: a) Environmental scanning Feedback: To understand how the external environment is changing, organizations need to put in place methods and processes to inform them of developments. The process of doing this is known as environmental scanning. Environmental scanning is the process of gathering information about a company's external events and relationships, to assist top management in its decision making, and so develop its future course of action (Aguilar, 1967). Page reference: 49

Question 12
The differentiation of a firm's products or services is underlined to promote environmental responsibility. One of the examples includes Marks and Spencer's Plan A initiative. This strategy is referred to as: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: b) Eco-branding Feedback: Eco-branding-the differentiation of a firm's products or services to promote environmental responsibility. Examples include Marks and Spencer's Plan A initiative, the Thai King Bhumibol's Golden Place brand, or Renault's ZE electric car range. Page reference: 49

Question 13

Marketing managers cannot control _____________ but they can at times influence it. You did not answer the question. Correct answer: c) the external environment Feedback: The external environment is characterized in two main ways. In the first, the elements do not have an immediate impact on the performance of an organization, although they might do in the longer term. In the second, although the elements can influence an organization, it is not possible to control them. The external environment is basically uncontrollable, but the other three answers are part of the marketing mix. Page reference: 37

Question 14
As technology continues to offer more different methods for shopping online, manufacturers and traditional retailers are finding themselves in direct competition with each other. In this case, unless marketing managers understand ________, retailers cannot intelligently plan for the future. You did not answer the question. Correct answer: d) their competitors' strategies, the economic conditions which influence the growth of technology and changing social attitudes towards it Feedback: By understanding all elements of the marketing environment to considering the degree to which an organization can influence the various forces acting on it. The external environment, for example, consists of the political, social, and technological influences, and organizations have relatively little influence on each of these. The performance environment consists of the competitors, suppliers, and indirect service providers who shape the way an organization achieves its objectives. Here, organizations have a much stronger level of influence. The internal environment concerns the resources, processes, and policies that an organization manages in order to achieve its goals. Page reference: 51

Question 15
The external environment: You did not answer the question. Correct answer:

d) must be continually monitored by marketing managers. Feedback: To understand how the external environment is changing, organizations need to put in place methods and processes to inform them of developments. The process of doing this is known as environmental scanning. Environmental scanning is the process of gathering information about a company's external events and relationships, to assist top management in its decision making, and so develop its future course of action (Aguilar, 1967). Page reference: 49

Question 16
The differentiation of a firm's products or services to promote environmental responsibility is referred to as: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: b) eco-branding. Feedback: This is eco-branding. This is the differentiation of a firm's products or services to promote environmental responsibility. Examples include Duchy Originals, the British Prince of Wales' food brand, the Thai King Bhumibol's Golden Place brand, or the Toyota Prius labelled as 'mean but green'. Another example is BP (formerly British Petroleum) who changed their logo to a green and yellow flower petal and sun synthesis called the Helios, and changed their slogan to 'beyond petroleum'. This reflected their intended shift to meeting the world's energy requirements using more sustainable sources. Page reference: 49

Question 17
Which of the following elements is not part of Porter's Five Forces model for industry competitiveness? You did not answer the question. Correct answer: d) Threat from government. Feedback: Porter suggests that competition in an industry is a composite of five main competitive forces. These are the level of threat that new competitors will enter the market, the threat posed by substitute products, and the bargaining power of both buyers and suppliers. These in turn affect the fifth force: the intensity of rivalry between the current competitors. Porter

called these variables the Five Forces of Competitive Industry Analysis. Page reference: 52

Question 18
Which of the following characteristics would usually make a market less competitive? You did not answer the question. Correct answer: a) High barriers to entry. Feedback: Porter suggests that competition in an industry is a composite of five main competitive forces. These are the level of threat that new competitors will enter the market, the threat posed by substitute products, and the bargaining power of both buyers and suppliers. These in turn affect the fifth force: the intensity of rivalry between the current competitors. Porter called these variables the Five Forces of Competitive Industry Analysis. An organization needs to determine a competitive approach that will allow it to influence the industry's competitive rules, protect it from competitive forces as much as possible, and give it a strong position from which to compete. Page reference: 52

Question 19
To evaluate an organization's Strategic Business Units (SBU), the Boston Consulting Group developed a portfolio performance framework that characterizes some of the SBUs as: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: a) question marks. Feedback: One of the popular methods for assessing the variety of businesses or products that an organization has involves the creation of a two-dimensional graphical picture of the comparative strategic positions. This technique is referred to as a product portfolio or portfolio matrix. In the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix, question marks (also known as 'problem children') are products that exist in growing markets but have low market share. As a result there is negative cash flow and they are unprofitable. Page reference: 56-57

Question 20

The quadrant of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix that represents both a high market share and a high rate of market growth includes the: You did not answer the question. Correct answer: c) stars. Feedback: One of the popular methods for assessing the variety of businesses or products that an organization has involves the creation of a two-dimensional graphical picture of the comparative strategic positions. This technique is referred to as a product portfolio or portfolio matrix. In the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix, stars are most probably market leaders but their high growth and market share has to be financed through fairly heavy levels of investment. Page reference: 56-57