MS 06 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment - Discuss Product Life Cycle concept and elaborate on the importance of PLC

Question.3) (b) Discuss Product Life Cycle concept and elaborate on the importance of PLC as a tool for monitoring and nurturing a  the brand. Illustrate with suitable examples.

Ans :    First referenced in the 1920s, the product life cycle applies biological knowledge to products. In nature, a seed is planted, begins to sprout, becomes an adult then eventually withers away and dies. The product life cycle focuses on introduction (seed), growth (sprout), maturity (tree) and decline (death) phases. Each phase has its own marketing mix strategy and implications regarding product, price, distribution and promotion.

Life Cycle Length and Incubation Period

Sometimes, the life cycle concept applies to a brand or category of product. Fad items have a cycle of a few months, but some categories, such as the gasoline automobile, will be around for at least a century. During its incubation period, the product is developed and perfected. There are no sales during this preparatory period, but the manufacturer prepares for the product’s introduction into the marketplace.

Introduction Stage

You can expect sales to be low while you perform introductory marketing to create awareness. Your primary goal during this stage is not to make a profit. Instead, you want to let customers know what your product does, and why it is special. Typically, you will introduce one product at a time, keeping the price either high for skim pricing--the most common--or low for penetration pricing. Initial distribution is selective, but broadens gradually based on your distribution plan. Early efforts focus on promotion and recognition. Until customers know about the product, they will not buy it.

Growth Stage

The growth stage is all about increasing sales and gaining consumer loyalty. Competitors usually appear during the end of the growth phase. Increased advertising builds brand preferences. Continuing to roll out new product features, improvements or upgrades keeps your customers wanting more. If demand for your product remains high, you can respond by keeping the price at a high level or reducing the price to broaden your market share. Distribution should be intensive during this phase to get the product out to your entire consumer base.

Maturity Stage

If your product survives the first two stages, it will spend the most time in this phase. During the maturity stage, you will seek to maintain market share and extend your product's life cycle. Tweaking your product to make it unique helps it stand out from competitors. Keeping an eye on the competition and pricing your product accordingly conserves market share, while avoiding price wars. Widen distribution and offer incentives to sellers to keep your product on the shelf. Finally, promoting brand loyalty and offering consumer incentives spurs customers to switch to your brand.

Decline Stage

During the decline stage, demand for your product decreases along with both price and profit margin. Now, you have three choices: maintain the product and hope competitors do not, harvest the product and continue making profit as long as possible, or discontinue the product. Reducing the number of products, and refreshing the packaging can make them look new again. Lowering prices helps liquidate inventory, but if your product continues to serve a niche market, maintaining prices keeps profits coming in. Phasing out less successful distribution channels and focusing promotions on brand image for future products is a good strategy.

MS 06 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment - Who is a consumer? Define consumer behavior and discuss why a knowledge of consumer behavior in essential for Marketers

Question.3)(a)Who is a consumer? Define consumer behavior and discuss why a knowledge of consumer behavior in essential for Marketers

Ans :

A ‘consumer’ is defined as a person who buys goods or avails services against payment.
Goods may include consumable goods (like wheat flour, salt, sugar, fruits, etc.) or durable consumer goods (like television, refrigerator, toaster, mixer, bicycle, etc.). Services that are paid for may include electricity, telephone, transport, theatre / cinema, postal / courier, etc.
It is interesting to know that a beneficiary is also a ‘consumer’. For example, Sandeep sent an important medicine by courier to his sister, Sunitha, who was ill. The courier reached late by 4 days due to which Sunitha’s health condition worsened. She had to be taken to a city hospital for treatment and incurred heavy expenses. Later, being the beneficiary, she took up the issue with the courier company.
A person who purchases goods for resale or for any commercial purpose does not come under the definition of ‘consumer’. However, when a selfemployed person’s livelihood depends on his business, then he is considered a ‘consumer’.

What is Consumer Behaviour ?

Consumer Behaviour is a branch which deals with the various stages a consumer goes through before purchasing products or services for his end use.

Why do you think an individual buys a product ?

§  Need

§  Social Status

§  Gifting Purpose

Why do you think an individual does not buy a product ?

§  No requirement

§  Income/Budget/Financial constraints

§  Taste

When do you think consumers purchase products ?

§  Festive season

§  Birthday

§  Anniversary

§  Marriage or other special occasions

There are infact several factors which influence buying decision of a consumer ranging from psychological, social, economic and so on.

The study of consumer behaviour explains as to:

§  Why and why not a consumer buys a product ?

§  When a consumer buys a product ?

§  How a consumer buys a product ?

During Christmas, the buying tendencies of consumers increase as compared to other months. In the same way during Valentines week, individuals are often seen purchasing gifts for their partners. Fluctuations in the financial markets and recession decrease the buying capacity of individuals.

In a layman’s language consumer behaviour deals with the buying behaviour of individuals.

The main catalyst which triggers the buying decision of an individual is need for a particular product/service. Consumers purchase products and services as and when need arises.

According to Belch and Belch, whenever need arises; a consumer searches for several information which would help him in his purchase.

Following are the sources of information:

§  Personal Sources

§  Commercial Sources

§  Public Sources

§  Personal Experience

Perception also plays an important role in influencing the buying decision of consumers.

Buying decisions of consumers also depend on the following factors:

§  Messages, advertisements, promotional materials, a consumer goes through also called selective exposure.

§  Not all promotional materials and advertisements excite a consumer. A consumer does not pay attention to everything he sees. He is interested in only what he wants to see. Such behaviour is called selective attention.

§  Consumer interpretation refers to how an individual perceives a particular message.

§  A consumer would certainly buy something which appeals him the most. He would remember the most relevant and meaningful message also called as selective retention. He would obviously not remember something which has nothing to do with his need.

§  the study of Marketing Management, the "Consumers" or the "Customers" play a very critical role as these are the people who finally BUY the goods & services of the organisation, and the firm is always on the move to make them buy so as to earn revenue. It's crucial from both the points of view as given below :

§  From the customers' point of view : Customers today are in a tough spot. Today, in the highly developed & technologically advanced society, the customers have a great deal of choices & options (and often very close & competing) to decide on.

§   

§  They have the products of an extreme range of attributes (the 1^st P - Product),

§  they have a wide range of cost and payment choices (the 2^nd P - Price),

§  they can order them to be supplied to their door step or anywhere else (the 3^rd P - Place),

§  and finally they are bombarded with more communications from more channels than ever before (the 4^th P - Promotion).

§  How can they possibly decide where to spend their time and money, and where they should give their loyalty ?

§  From the marketers' point of view : "The purpose of marketing is to sell more stuff to more people more often for more money in order to make more profit". This is the basic principle of requirement for the marketers in earlier days where aggressive selling was the aim. Now it can't be achieved by force, aggression or plain alluring. For the customers are today more informed, more knowledgeable, more demanding, more discerning. And above all there is no dearth of marketers to buy from. The marketers have to earn them or win them over.

§ 

§  The global marketplace is a study in diversity, diversity among consumers, producers, marketers, retailers, advertising media, cultures, and customs and of course the individual or psychological behaviour. However, despite prevailing diversity, there also are many similarities. The object of the study of consumer behaviour is to provide conceptual and technical tools to enable the marketer to apply them to marketing practice, both profit & non-profit. 

The study of consumer behaviour (CB) is very important to the marketers because it enables them to understand and predict buying behaviour of consumers in the marketplace; it is concerned not only with what consumers buy, but also with why they buy it, when and where and how they buy it, and how often they buy it, and also how they consume it & dispose it. Consumer research is the methodology used to study consumer behaviour; it takes place at every phase of the consumption process: before the purchase, during the purchase, and after the purchase. Research shows that two different buyers buying the same product may have done it for different reasons, paid different prices, used in different ways, have different emotional attachments towards the things and so on

MS 06 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment - What are the various elements of marketing mix?

Question. 2)  (a) What are the various elements of marketing mix? Explain each of there elements and their importance in the marketing planning process of a consumer durable company manufacturing room air conditioner.

Ans :

        Marketing Mix - A mixture of several ideas and plans followed by a marketing representative to promote a particular product or brand is called marketing mix. Several concepts and ideas combined together to formulate final strategies helpful in making a brand popular amongst the masses form marketing mix.

Elements of Marketing Mix

The elements of marketing mix are often called the four P’s of marketing.

Product

Goods manufactured by organizations for the end-users are called products.

Products can be of two types - Tangible Product and Intangible Product (Services)

An individual can see, touch and feel tangible products as compared to intangible products.

A product in a market place is something which a seller sells to the buyers in exchange of money.

Price

The money which a buyer pays for a product is called as price of the product. The price of a product is indirectly proportional to its availability in the market. Lesser its availability, more would be its price and vice a versa.

Retail stores which stock unique products (not available at any other store) quote a higher price from the buyers.

Place

Place refers to the location where the products are available and can be sold or purchased. Buyers can purchase products either from physical markets or from virtual markets. In a physical market, buyers and sellers can physically meet and interact with each other whereas in a virtual market buyers and sellers meet through internet.

Promotion

Promotion refers to the various strategies and ideas implemented by the marketers to make the end - users aware of their brand. Promotion includes various techniques employed to promote and make a brand popular amongst the masses.

Promotion can be through any of the following ways:

·         Advertising

Print media, Television, radio are effective ways to entice customers and make them aware of the brand’s existence.

Billboards, hoardings, banners installed intelligently at strategic locations like heavy traffic areas, crossings, railway stations, bus stands attract the passing individuals towards a particular brand.

Taglines also increase the recall value of the brand amongst the customers.

·         Word of mouth

One satisfied customer brings ten more customers along with him whereas one dis-satisfied customer takes away ten more customers. That’s the importance of word of mouth. Positive word of mouth goes a long way in promoting brands amongst the customers.

Lately three more P’s have been added to the marketing mix. They are as follows:

§  People - The individuals involved in the sale and purchase of products or services come under people.

§  Process - Process includes the various mechanisms and procedures which help the product to finally reach its target market

§  Physical Evidence - With the help of physical evidence, a marketer tries to communicate the USP’s and benefits of a product to the end users

Four C’s of Marketing Mix

Now a days, organizations treat their customers like kings. In the current scenario, the four C’s has thus replaced the four P’s of marketing making it a more customer oriented model. Koichi Shimizu in the year 1973 proposed a four C’s classification.

§  Commodity - (Replaces Products)

§  Cost - (Replaces Price) involves manufacturing cost, buying cost and selling cost

§  Channel - The various channels which help the product reach the target market.

§  Communication - (Replaces Promotion)

Robert F. Lauterborn gave a modernized version of the four C’s model in the year 1993. According to him the four C’s of marketing are:

Consumer
Cost
Convenience
Communication

MS 06 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment - Discuss the concept of service and report on the reasons for the growth of the service sector.

Question. 1)(b) Discuss the concept of service and report on the reasons for the growth of the service sector.

Ans :

In recent times the service sector is increasing at a very fast pace. After the liberalization in the year 1991, the contribution of service sector is continuously increasing in the growth of our economy. However, agriculture is still dominating the Indian economy. Service sector are growing not only in volume but also in sophistication and complexity. The growth of service industry is the result of combination of several reasons, they are,

REASONS FOR THE GROWTH OF SERVICES IN INDIA:
1. Economic affluence: One, of the key factors for the growth of demand for services is the economic affluence. According to the NCAER study the size of the middle income consumer is raising fast and the percentage of the very poor household’s declining. The rural households in the upper income category is growing at a much faster pace than the urban households in the corresponding categories. The Economic liberalisation Process has had a positive impact on the Indian households. Their income as well as their expenditure has been pushed, creating a demand for many goods and services.

2. Changing Role of Women: Traditionally the Indian woman was confined to household activities. But with the changing time there has been a change in the traditional way of thinking in the society. Women are now allowed to work. They are employed in defence services, police services, postal services, software services, health services, hospital services, entertainment industries, Business Process Outsourcing and so on.
The percentage of working women has been growing rapidly. The changing role of women has created a market for a number of product and services. Earning women prefer to hire services in order to minimise the innumerable roles that they are required to perform. The demand by woman is forcing service organisations to be more innovative in their approach.

3. Cultural Changes: Change is the underlying philosophy of culture place of change in Indian culture is not uniform. However, during the last century the factors of change are prominent. The emergence of the nuclear family system in place of the traditional joint family system creates a demand for a host of services like education, health care, entertainment, telecommunication, transport, tourism and so on. There has’ been a marked change in the thought Processes relating to investment, leisure time perception and so on which has created a huge demand for services.

4. I.T. Revolution: For the last 15 years India’6aste,en occupying a vital position in the area of Information Technology. IT became one of the key service businesses of the country. India has the largest software skilled population in the world. The domestic market as well as the international market has grown substantially. Realising the potential for this area many state governments have made IT as their most, prioritized segment states such as Karnntnka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra and Delhi have already achieved substantial progress in Information Technology the In Ile years to come ‘Lille IT enabled se Aces will have a bright future. The growth. of’ population, industrialisation and indiscriminate consumptions have affected the, natural resources, environment and the ecological balance. Due to this there is an imbalance of the ecology various service organisations have been promoted in order to take up social marketing. Thousands of crores of rupees are being spent on safeguarding the rare animals and birds, water pollution, conservation of oil & energy and research to develop new technologies that can promote effective use of natural resources and safeguard the environment.

5. Development of Markets: During the last few decades the wholesaler and the retailer population has grown in the country. Urban India has become a cluster of wholesaling and retailing business. In the Semi – urban areas, retailing has spread to the nooks and corners of the streets and in the rural areas retail business is significantly present. A new breed of organisations, offering marketing services has come up. The government also offers marketing services to the small-scale agricultural farmers, artisans and other traditional business sectors such ‘as promotion of regulated markets, export promotion councils, development boards etc.

6. Market orientation: The changing competitive situation and demand supply positions has forced the manufacturing organisation to shift their philosophy from production orientation to market orientation. Market is a service function that has been added in the organisation. The pressures in the market has further forced the manufacturing organisations to have marketing research, accounting, auditing, financial management, human resource management and marketing research divisions – all of which are services functions.

7. Health-Care Consciousness: In India, the healthcare market has grown substantially. The increased life expectancy is the result of the consciousness of the people regarding the health issues. The growth of fitness clubs, diagnostic centres, medical counselling, health-related information sites are the reflections of the growing demands for health care services. The government as well as the social organisations have taken up the mass campaigns in order to create awareness among the illiterate persons and the rural population on health service. Hence, the growth of health related services.

8. Economic liberalisation: The economic liberalisation of the 1991 has brought many changes in the Indian scenario. With the Disinvestment and the Privatisation policies the state owned monopolies in many service areas came to an end Multinationals were permitted to enter the Indian market. Liberal lending policies and lower interest rates motivated many people to become self-employed. Different sectors like Banking, Insurance, Power projects, Telecommunication, Hospitality sector, Health Services, Entertainment, Air transport, and Courier services witnessed intense competition, due to the entry of multinationals. The flow of time-tested service technology from various parts of the world changed the attitude of the Indian consumer towards sources.

9. Rampant migration: One of the important reasons for the growth of services in India is the rampant migration of rural to semi-urban and urban areas. Migration to urban areas for the want of jobs and livelihood has resulted in the expansion of cities and townships due to which businesses like real estates, rentals, transportation and infrastructure services are rapidly expanding.

10. Export potential: India is considered to be a Potential source for services. There are a number of services that India offers to various parts of the world like banking, insurance, transportation co data services, accounting services, construction labour, designing, entertainment, education, health services, software services and tourism. Tourism and software services are among the major foreign exchange earners of the country and that the growth rate is also very high as compared to the other sectors.

11. Service tax: The growth in the service sector attracted the attention of the government as a tax generating source. Over the years, the number of services brought under service tax has increased- Service tax is levied on hotels and restaurants, transport, storage and communications, financial services, real states, business services and social and personal services.

Thus, above mentioned factors are responsible to the increase in the growth of the service sector

MS 06 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment - Marketing in the performance of business activities that directs the flow

Question. 1)  (a) “Marketing in the performance of business activities that directs the flow

of goods and services from the produces to consumers”. Discuss the above statement by

taking two suitable examples of your choice.

Ans:

Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer or user."

The above definitions are based on the economic approach of marketing. Marketing embraces all the business activities involved in getting goods and services , from the hands of producers into the hands of final consumers. The business steps through which goods progress on their way to final consumers is the concern of marketing.

Consumer's Approach of Marketing 

According to Star et al. (1977) - "Marketing is that process through which a business enterprise, institution, or organisation 1. selects target customers or constituents, 2. assesses the needs or wants of such target customers, and 3. manages its resources to satisfy those customer needs or wants."

The above definition is based on the consumer's approach of marketing. According to this approach marketing consists of four general activities:-

1.      Identifying and selecting the type of  customer, understanding their needs and desires;

2.      Designing product or services that suits the customers' desires;

3.      Persuading customers to buy at the firm's offerings; and

4.      Storing, moving, and displaying goods after they leave the production site.

Societal Approach of Marketing 

According to Mazur (1947) - "Marketing is the delivery of a standard of living to society."

This definition is based on the societal approach of marketing. According to Cunningham and Cunningham (1981) societal marketing performs three essential functions:-

1.                  Knowing and understanding the consumer's changing needs and wants;

2.                  Efficiently and effectively managing the supply and demand of products and services; and

3.                  Efficient provision of distribution and payment processing systems.

Managerial or Systems Approach

According to Eldridge (1970) - "Marketing is the combination of activities designed to produce profit through ascertaining, creating, stimulating, and satisfying the needs and/or wants of a selected segment of the market."

The above definition is based on the managerial or systems approach of marketing. According to this approach the emphasis is on how the individual organisation processes marketing and develops the strategic dimensions of marketing activities.

A Broader Approach of Marketing

According to Kotler (2000) - "A societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others."

According to AMA (2004) - "Marketing is an organisational function and set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing relationships in a way that benefits both the organisation and the stakeholder."