Marketing dictionary - A
A Priori Segmentation
A segmentation approach in which segmentation variables, such as age or income, are selected first and then customers are classified accordingly; the reverse of this is Post Hoc Segmentation in which, after data on existing customers are analysed, segments based on similarities and differences are formed.
AANA
Australian Association of National Advertisers.
AARDS
Australian Advertising Rate and Data Service.
ABC Account Classification
the classification of customer accounts within a sales territory or region into groups according to their size and potential, and, therefore, their importance; the classification is used primarily to determine call frequency.
ABC Inventory Analysis
the classification of goods held in inventory according to sales volume; the classification is used primarily to determine stock location within the warehouse.
ABN
Australian Business Number.
Above-the-Line Advertising
advertising which employs one of five main media - the press, television, radio, cinema and posters. See Below-the-Line Advertising.
ABS
Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Absolute Cost Advantage
the cost advantage one company has over another if it has a cheaper source of raw materials, control of superior knowledge through patents, cheaper manufacturing or assembly costs, or similar benefit.
Absolute Costs
the minimum costs that an organisation must bear to remain in business. See Absolute Cost Advantage.
Absolute Product Failure
a new product introduction which does not manage to recover its production and marketing costs; the company incurs a financial loss.
ACCC
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Accelerated Test Marketing
market testing of consumer goods using a simulated store technique rather than an actual test market; also referred to as Laboratory Test Markets and Purchase Laboratories.
Accelerator Principle
the notion that an increase or reduction in consumer demand will affect several layers of demand in organisational markets; for example, an increase in consumer demand for soft drinks will will lead to an increased demand by retailers for soft drinks, an increased demand by soft drink bottlers for aluminium cans, an increased demand by aluminium can manufacturers for aluminium sheet, an increased demand by aluminium sheet manufacturers for aluminium ore, and so on. See Derived Demand.
Acceptable Price Range
an expectation in the minds of consumers regarding price levels for a product category; consumers are reluctant to buy below the acceptable price range for fear that the product will be inferior, or above it because the expected benefit of the product is not worth the price.
Access Barriers
factors such as tariffs and legal restrictions which reduce the size of a market by preventing potential customers from purchasing a particular product.
Accessibility
one of the four major requirements (with actionability, measurability and substantiality) for useful market segmentation; accessibility expresses the notion that the segment targeted must be able to be reached and served adequately by the firm's promotion and distribution system. See Actionability; Measurability; Substantiality.
Accessories
see Accessory Equipment.
Accessory Equipment
goods and materials purchased by organisations for use in production, administrative, clerical or marketing activities, but not directly in the manufacture of finished products.
Account Executive
see Account Manager.
Account Manager
a sales representative responsible for a major customer account or group of major accounts; also referred to as an account executive.
Account Objectives
the specific aims and sales goals to be achieved within a specified period by a salesperson for an account for which he or she is responsible.
Account Penetration Ratio
a measure used to evaluate salespeople; the percentage of accounts from which orders are secured is calculated to provide a measure of whether the salesperson is working the territory in a systematic way or simply "milking" major accounts.
Account Representative
a salesperson with direct responsibility for one specific major account or a group of major accounts.
Account Strategies
broad methods employed in achieving the objectives set by a salesperson for a particular account.
Accountants' Marketing
a term sometimes used to describe an approach to marketing characterised by an emphasis on short-term sales results rather than on long-term survival and growth, and by a lack of innovation.
Achievers
a term used in the Values and Lifestyles (VALS) profiling scheme, developed by SRI International, to describe the most affluent and successful professional and businesspeople, the highest level of the nine psychographic segments identified in the U.S. population.
Acid-Test Ratio
one of three ratios commonly used to evaluate a firm's liquidity; calculated by dividing cash by current liabilities. See Current Ratio; Quick Ratio.
Acquisition
the purchase by an organisation of a competitor or new products, often to gain economies of scale that lead to lower costs, lower prices and increased competitiveness.
ACSI
American Consumer Satisfaction Index
Acting Out
the activities in which consumers engage during their purchase decision-making, such as picking a product from a shelf to feel its weight, inspect its quality, or read instructions for use.
Action Plan
see Action Program.
Action Program
a detailed plan showing how major marketing tasks will be managed and implemented, who will do them, and when; also called an Action Plan.
Actionability
one of the major requirements (with accessibility, measurability and substantiality) for useful market segmentation; actionability expresses the notion that the segment targeted must be of an appropriate size for the company's resources to handle. See Accessibility; Measurability; Substantiality.
Active Data
information that is acquired by organisations when customers interact with their websites; the information is relayed to the organisations either by means of cookies – unique identifiers that allow organisations to know who has visited their websites and which pages visitors have viewed - or by the customers’ completion of application or enquiry forms . See Directed Data; Passive data.
Active Listening
listening that is more than passively hearing what the customer is saying; implies the need for a salesperson to think while listening and to evaluate what is being said.
Active Value
the value a consumer gets from the actual use of a product, such as a lawn mower, sewing machine, or taxi; in other cases, such as watching a movie or visiting an art gallery, the value is reactive . See Reactive Value.
Activity Quota
a common form of sales assignment, goal or target used to measure a sales representative's performance in relation to his or her selling activities; activities used in this way include total calls made, total sales made, number of new accounts opened, number of displays set up, and so on. Other common forms of sales quotas are unit volume quotas, dollar volume quotas, gross margin quotas and net profit quotas. See Sales Quota.
Activity Report
a report used by salespeople to provide details (such as number of calls made, new accounts opened, displays arranged, dealer sales meetings attended and so on) to management as a measure of their activity in a given period.
Activity Stage Model
the process in which the various tasks that need to be done to bring a new product to market are mapped out in sequential order. See New Product Development.
Actual Product
the tangible features of a product, including styling, quality level, features, brand name and packaging; also called the Formal Product or Tangible Product. See Augmented Product; Core Product.
Actual Response Rate
the number of orders received in response to a direct mail campaign; the actual response rate is compared to the projected response rate to evaluate the success of the campaign. See Projected Response Rate.
Actual Self
the concept, of self image, of what a person is now, as opposed to what he or she would like to become (that is, the ideal self). See Ideal Self.
Ad Hoc Marketing Research
marketing research conducted in response to a specific, one-time-only need.
Adaptation Approach to Pricing
an approach in global marketing in which an organisation allows an affiliate or subsidiary to set the most desirable price, provided it is profitable, in its own region; also referred to as the Polycentric Approach. See also Extension Approach; Geocentric Approach.
Adapted Marketing Mix
in international marketing, a marketing strategy in which elements of the marketing program are adjusted for the target market in each country.
Adaptive Control System
a system of marketing control which allows for changes to be made to marketing objectives during a planning period as well as to the performance to meet the objectives; a pro-active marketing control system. See After-the-Fact Control System; Marketing Control System; Reactive Marketing Control System; Steering Control System.
Adaptive Selling
a technique in selling which calls for the salesperson to adapt his or her social style to that of the buyer in order to maximise effectiveness. See Social Style.
Adaptive Strategies
domestic marketing tactics, plans and methods which have been altered to suit local conditions in foreign markets.
Adaptivising
a planning philosophy implying a firm's intention to continue to maintain, and expand, its present operations; to do better things in the future than have been done in the past. See Optimising; Satisficing.
Added Value
the increased worth of a firm's offering as a result of marketing; four factors which generate the additional value are features, quality, customer perception (or image) and exclusiveness.
ADI
See Area of Dominant Influence.
Administered Channel Arrangement
see Administered Vertical Marketing System.
Administered Prices
cost-oriented pricing in which a firm bases its prices on considerations within the firm rather than on customer considerations.
Administered Vertical Marketing System
a co-ordinated system of distribution channel organisation in which the flow of products from producer to end-user is controlled by the power and size of one member of the channel system rather than by common ownership or contractual ties. See Contractual Vertical Marketing System; Conventional Marketing System; Corporate Vertical Marketing System; Vertical Marketing System.
Adopter Category
the ranking into which adopters of a new product fall according to their willingness and speed to embrace a new product; adopter categories are normally listed as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. See Diffusion of Innovation.
Adoption
the choice of one product over another.
Adoption of Innovation Curve
a normal distribution curve illustrating the fact that customers vary widely in their willingness or readiness to purchase new products. See Diffusion of Innovation.
Adoption Process
the series of stages, including awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and rejection or adoption, which consumers go through in their decision-making process; also called the Adoption Sequence.
Adoption Rate Determinants
factors which influence the rate of adoption of a new product. See Communicability; Compatibility; Complexity; Divisibility; Relative Advantage.
Adoption Sequence
see Adoption Process.
Advance Australia Foundation
a partly government-funded organisation, established in 1979 as Project Australia, formed to promote the sale of Australian-made products.
Advantage
see Competitive Advantage.
Advantage Matrix
see Boston Consulting Group Advantage Matrix.
Adversarial Shopper
a consumer whose shopping behaviour is characterised by a determination to get good value at a low price; a bargain hunter; one who regards all prices as negotiable.
Advertising
the paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers. See Promotion.
Advertising Agency
a firm specialising in the creation, design and media placement of advertisements, and in the planning and execution of promotional campaigns. See Full-Service Advertising Agency; Limited-Service Advertising Agency.
Advertising Allocation
see Advertising Budget.
Advertising Allowance
a discount given to a retailer by a supplier whose brand or product is featured in the store's newspaper, television or radio advertising or in catalogs, flyers or similar promotional pieces. See Allowances; Discounts.
Advertising Appropriation
see Advertising Budget.
Advertising Banner
see Banner Advertising.
Advertising Budget
the sum allocated in a particular accounting period for expenditure on advertising; also called an Advertising Allocation or an Advertising Appropriation.
Advertising Budget Determination
decisions pertaining to the amount to be allocated to advertising expenditure in a given period; common approaches to advertising budget determination include arbitary allocation, percent of sales, competitive parity, objective and task and budgeting models. See All-We-Can-Afford Method; Percentage-of-Sales Method; Competitive Parity Budgeting; Objective and Task Method of Budgeting; Computer Modelling.
Advertising Campaign
a planned program of advertising with particular objectives.
Advertising Campaign Evaluation
the measurement of the success of a planned program of advertising in terms of sales, increased product awareness, wider distribution or other program objectives.
Advertising Control - Advertising Copy
the content and context of a message contained in an advertisement.
Advertising Effectiveness
the degree to which the objectives of an advertisement or advertising campaign have been achieved; the effectiveness is commonly gauged by measuring the effect on sales, brand awareness, brand preference, etc. See Communication Effect of Advertising; Sales Effect of Advertising.
Advertising Elasticities
measurements of the effect on other marketing variables of various levels of advertising expenditure; for example, measurement of the effect of high levels of advertising on consumer perceptions of price, or the measurement of the low levels of advertising on consumer perceptions of product quality.
Advertising Exposure
one presentation of an advertisement to an audience; advertising managers must decide how many "exposures" will be required to achieve their goal or objective.
Advertising Federation of Australia
an association representing the interests of Australian advertising agencies.
Advertising Goal
a particular communication task to be accomplished with a specific target audience in a given period of time.
Advertising Impact
see Impact.
Advertising Institute of Australia
an association representing the interests of individuals within the advertising industry in Australia.
Advertising Media
outlets or vehicles (for instance, newspapers and magazines, television, radio, cinema, posters, etc) used in communication between advertisers and customers. Note that advertising media is a plural term; its singular form is advertising medium.
Advertising Medium
see Advertising Media.
Advertising Message
the central, underlying idea or theme within an advertisement.
Advertising Objective
the specific aim or intention of an advertisement (for example, to inform, to persuade, to remind).
Advertising Planning Process
the steps or stages taken in planning an advertising campaign; the steps include identifying the target market, establishing the advertising objectives, developing the advertising budget, developing the advertising strategies, selecting the appropriate media, and evaluating the advertising effectiveness.
Advertising Platform
the basic issues or selling points that a company wishes to have included in an advertising campaign.
Advertising Research
research done to test the effectiveness of advertising; this may include the pre-testing and post-evaluating of specific advertisements and campaigns. Communication-effect research attempts to measure whether the advertising communicates effectively; sales-effect research attempts to measure whether it produces the desired level of sales.
Advertising Site
Advertising Space
Advertising Speciality
any product or item, such as a pen or key-ring, which is imprinted with a company’s name, brand name or logo, and given away as a gift.
Advertising Standards Council
a body comprising representatives from the retail trade, trade unions, academics, advertising agencies and the media established to administer voluntary advertising codes and to provide a vehicle for consumer complaints about advertising.
Advertising Target
the entire market, or some part of it, which a firm wishes to attract with its advertisement.
Advertising Testing
Advertising-to-Editorial Ratio
the measure of the proportion of advertising space to editorial matter in a newspaper or magazine.
Advertising-to-Marketing Ratio
a marketing control measure used to determine whether the amount spent on advertising in a given period was excessive; total advertising expenditure is expressed as a percentage ot total marketing expenditure.
Advertising-to-Sales Ratio
a marketing control measure used to determine whether the amount spent on advertising in a given period was excessive; total advertising expenditure is expressed as a percentage of total sales revenue.
Advertising Wearout
see Consumer Wearout.
Advertorial
an advertisement in which the advertiser expresses a point of view about a social or political issue or a matter of public interest. See Advertorial Advertising.
Advertorial Advertising
advertising in which the sponsoring organisation declares its position on a matter of public interest (usually of a controversial nature). See Advocacy Advertising.
Adviser Approach
a closing technique in which a salesperson specifies all that a customer will require to solve the problem at hand, and advises (or counsels) that the offer be accepted; also referred to as the Counsellor Close. See Close.
Advocacy Advertising
a paid, overtly-sponsored communication or message which presents information or a point of view on a controversial public issue, idea or cause. See Advertorial Advertising.
Aesthetic Needs
see Self-Actualisation Needs.
AFA
Advertising Federation of Australia.
AFAMI
Associate Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.
AFCO
Australian Federation of Consumer Organisations.
Affordable Method
see All-We-Can-Afford Method.
AFMA
Associate Fellow of the Marketing Association of Australia and New Zealand.
Aftermarket
the market, especially for automotive parts, accessories and equipment, after the new product has been purchased.
After-the-Fact Control System
a system of marketing control in which corrective action is taken at the end of a planning period when marketing performance does not meet expectations; changes are made in an attempt to rectify the situation for the next planning period. See Adaptive Control System; Marketing Control System; Reactive Marketing Control System; Steering Control System.
Age and Life-Cycle Segmentation
A demographic segmentation strategy in which a product-market is grouped into segments based on the basis of age so that the organisation can more precisely target its offerings to the needs and wants of each stage of life of interest to it. In this way, an organisation may develop different products and different marketing approaches for school children, teens, young married couples, mature adults, elderly citizens and so on.
Agent
an intermediary or middleman who facilitates the flow of goods and services from producer to end-user, but who, unlike other members of the distribution channel, does not take title to them.
Agile Corporation
an organisation that is flexible and able to move quickly in response to continuously changing market conditions, organising its resources and adjusting its marketing strategies accordingly.
Agribusiness
the marketing of food and fibre products.
Agricultural Cooperative
an organisation formed by a group of farmers to achieve some or all of the advantages of large-scale marketing.
Agricultural Substitute
a product that is manufactured from farm produce but which is a substitute for a more traditional farm commodity. For example, soy-protein steaks are a substitute for beef steaks.
AIA
Advertising Institute of Australia.
AIDA Concept
a formula used in selling to produce a favourable response from a customer. The assumption is that the salesperson must first make the potential customer aware of a product; foster interest; stimulate desire; and, finally, encourage action (to purchase). See Formula Selling.
AIDCA
acronym for Awareness, Interest, Desire, Conviction, Action; mental states which supposedly lead a potential customer to a buying decision. See Formula Selling.
Aided Recall Test
a method of post-testing the effectiveness of an advertisement or advertising campaign; respondents are shown products, brand names, trademarks, etc to assist their memories. See Unaided Recall Test.
AIM
Australian Institute of Management.
AIO Statements
expressions of a person's attitudes towards, interests in, and opinions of, a product. See Psychographics.
All-We-Can-Afford Method
a simple method of determining a budget (for advertising, etc) in which the amount allocated is the amount that can be afforded; also called the What-We-Can Afford Method, the Affordable Method and the Arbitrary Method. See Advertising Budget Determination.
Alliance
an agreement between one or more firms to cooperate in some business venture or to work together to achieve certain goals. See Strategic Alliance.
Alliance Partner
an organisation which cooperates with one or more other firms or works together with them to achieve certain goals. See Alliance; Strategic Alliance.
Allowances
amounts deducted from an invoice in return for prompt payment, large quantity purchase, special promotions etc of goods and services supplied. See Discount.
Alternative Advertising
advertising which uses media other than the traditional media; examples of alternative advertising include advertising signs on parking meters and supermarket shopping trolleys, in-store video screens, etc.
Alternative Close
a closing technique in which a salesperson presents two alternatives in an attempt to get a commitment from the buyer to one, (eg. "The red or the black?", "Cash or card?") See Close.
Alternative Evaluation
the stage in the buying decision process in which the buyer uses information gathered to make a final choice between the products in the evoked set. See Evoked set.
Alternative Media
media vehicles, apart from the traditional ones, which are available for promotional purposes; examples of newer alternative media are video catalogs and audiotext. See Video Calalog; Audiotext.
Ambience
the surroundings, including floor lay-out, indoor plants, furniture and furnishings, decor, colour, advertising material, lighting and music, which give a retail outlet its distinctive look and appeal.
Ambient Advertising
signs, posters and other promotional material, often in unusual and unexpected places, inside a shopping centre or retail outlet to generate customer interest and stimulate purchasing.
Ambient Media
a wide range of advertising and sales promotion material – including signs, posters, cut-outs, banners, flowers, ribbons, hot-air balloons and music – used in shopping malls retail outlets to generate interest and excitement and stimulate purchasing.
Ambush Advertising
a form of promotional activity, usually considered unethical and sometimes illegal, in which an organisation exploits some unrelated event such as a political rally or sporting contest by prominently displaying its advertising material; sometimes referred to as Guerrilla Marketing.
Ambush Marketing
see Ambush Advertising.
Amiable (Social Style)
one of four social styles (with Analytical, Driver and Expressive) commonly used to classify salespeople and their customers in terms of their communication approach; Amiables are characterised by high responsiveness and low assertiveness. See Analytical; Driver; Expressive; Assertiveness; Responsiveness; Social Style.
Analysis
the mathematical or statistical processing of data and presentation of the results.
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
a technique used in research to determine the statistical difference between three or more sample means.
Analytic Modelling
a sophisticated, statistical technique, based on historical data related to sales levels, pricing levels, advertising and promotion, sales effort, competitive tactics and other variables, designed to determine an optimum price for current profit maximisation.
Analytical (Social Style)
one of four social styles (with Amiable, Driver and Expressive) commonly used to classify salespeople and their customers in terms of the responsiveness and assertiveness of their communication approach; Analyticals are characterised by low responsiveness and low assertiveness. See Amiable; Driver; Expressive; Assertiveness; Responsiveness; Social Style.
Anchor Store
a popular, major retailer located within a shopping mall to attract mall patronage.
Annual Plan
in strategic planning, a short-term marketing plan that describes the current marketing situation, marketing objectives, marketing strategies for the current year, action programs, budgets, and monitoring and control measures. See Strategic Planning.
ANOVA
Analysis of Variance
Ansoff Matrix
a tool, devised by Igor Ansoff (1918-2002), to provide a logical framework for the understanding and development of marketing objectives; the basis of the matrix is the degree of newness of the products to be sold and of the markets to be targeted.
Anticipatory Pricing
the practice of setting a somewhat higher price than would otherwise have been chosen in expectation of cost inflation, government price control, or similar environmental circumstance.
Anti-Competitive Pricing Strategies
methods of pricing – including predatory pricing, price-fixing, bid-rigging, and allocating customer groups to certain suppliers - which are designed to create barriers for, weaken or destroy rival firms; in most countries these pricing methods are illegal and can result in grave consequences for the firm and its top management; also referred to as Anti-Trust Pricing Strategies. See Bid-Rigging; Predatory Pricing, Price Fixing.
Anti-Dumping Laws
in international marketing, regulations which are designed to protect domestic firms from unfair competition resulting from below-cost products being imported from overseas and sold at unfair prices.
Anti-Monopoly Regulation
laws passed to prevent anti-competitive and anti-monopoly practices in business. see Anti-Trust Legislation.
Anti-Trust Legislation
see Anti-Monopoly Regulation.
Anti-Trust Pricing Strategies
see Anti-Competitive Pricing Strategies.
APEC
Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation.
APEC Forum
A loose grouping of nations which work together to facilitate economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Formed as an initiative of Australia in 1989, it had grown by 2007 to encompass 21 members - Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand, United States and Viet Nam. Spanning four continents, APEC represents the most economically dynamic region in the world, accounting for approximately 40 per cent of the world's population, 56 per cent of world GDP and 48 per cent of world trade.
Approach
the stage in the selling process in which a salesperson contacts a potential customer to make an appointment or to present a product.
Approver
the person within an organisation who has the ultimate decision for making purchases; sometimes referred to as the ‘decider’. See Business Buying Process.
Arbitrary Method
see All-We-Can-Afford Method.
Area Market Potential
an estimate of the amount of sales, in units and dollars, that might be possible in a given territory or region under a given level of industry marketing effort under given environmental conditions.
Area Market Specialist
a marketing manager, with good local knowledge, located in a high-volume, distinctive market to support the sales effort.
Area of Dominant Influence
the geographic region covered by a particular television station; also referred to as the station's Designated Marketing Area (DMA).
Area Sampling
an approach to cluster sampling in which the clusters are geographically based. See Cluster Sampling.
Arm's-Length Price
the price which various governments force companies to charge to discourage "dumping" abuses; the arm's length price is the price charged by competitors for the same or similar product.
Arousal
an internal state of tension which motivates a consumer, providing the energy to act; a drive. See Drive.
ARS
Automatic Replenishment System.
ASC
Advertising Standards Council.
Asch Phemonenon
a tendency, first recorded by the psychologist S.E.Asch, for an individual's purchase decisions to be influenced highly by reference groups and group norms. See Group Influences; Reference Group.
Aseptic Packaging
a packaging method developed in Sweden in the 1950s; made of paper, foil and plastic aseptic packaging keeps foods bacteria-free for months without refrigeration. See Packaging; Primary Packaging; Secondary Packaging; Shipping Packaging.
Aspirational Group
a sub-category of a reference group, consisting of individuals (not necessarily known personally) with whom a person desires to be associated. See Associational Group; Contactual Reference Group; Dissociative Reference Group; Membership Group; Reference Groups.
Assemblers
wholesaling firms specialising in the buying of small quantities of farm produce to resell to other firms in bulk; also referred to as the Assembly Market.
Assembly Market
see Assemblers.
Assertiveness
the human characteristic or quality which determines the degree to which individuals are directive and competitive in manner as opposed to non-directive and co-operative. See Social Style.
Asset Transformation
the exchange by a firm of one type of asset for another. For instance, advances in computer and communication technologies which allow organisations to gather information about customer demand rapidly and reliably have enabled them to reduce their inventories. In this way, assets in the form of finished product have been transformed into assets in the form of information.
Asset Turnover
a ratio used to evaluate the profitability of a firm; net sales in a given period are divided by total assets.
Asset-Based Marketing
a marketing approach which uses the knowledge and skills a company has already developed as the basis for growth.
Associational Group
a group, such as a club, society or trade union, or with which a consumer has some association, and which exerts an influence over buying behaviour; the influence of an associational group is usually weaker than that of kinship groups which whom the consumer has closer and stronger ties. See Aspirational Group; Kinship Group; Membership Group; Reference Group.
Associative Learning
the learning which occurs when consumers begin to attach certain qualities or characteristics to a brand. In this way, consumers might associate Singapore Airlines with safety, comfort, reliability and style in air travel but at a premium price.
Assorting
the practice of putting together a wide variety of produce in one location, as in a department store.
Assortment
the range of goods and services offered by a retailer.
Assortment Strategies
options available to a reseller in determining the assortment of products and services to be carried. See Broad Assortment; Deep Assortment; Exclusive Assortment; Scrambled Assortment.
Assumptive Close
a closing technique in which a salesperson simply assumes that the purchaser has agreed to buy the product, and proceeds to write up the order, wrap the merchandise, etc. See Close.
At-Home TV Shopping
a form of non-store retailing in which products are shown on a television screen and presented enthusiastically by an announcer to stimulate impulse purchasing using credit card and telephone. See Non-Store Retailing.
ATC
see Average Total Cost.
ATM
Automatic Telling Machine.
Atmospheres
see Atmospherics.
Atmospherics
the combination of store decor, physical characteristics and amenities provided by a retailer to develop a particular image and attract customers.
Atomistic Competition
see Pure Competition.
Attack Strategy
in competitive situations, a means by which an organisation in a market challenger position attempts to achieve an advantage by taking market share from the market leader. See By-Pass Attack; Encirclement Attack; Flanking Attack; Frontal Attack, Guerrilla Attack.
Attention
the mental application, awareness, consideration or concentration that a company seeks to induce in consumers when it promotes a product.
Attitude Tracking
measuring the degree of satisfaction with a product through an on-going study of consumer attitudes towards it.
Attitude
an enduring favourable or unfavourable feeling, emotion and action tendency towards an issue or subject.
Attitudinal Loyalty
the loyalty displayed by consumers when they repeatedly buy brands they know and trust; their consistent attitudes result in habitual buying behaviour. Also referred to as behavioural loyalty, routinised behaviour, and habit buying, See Behavioural Loyalty; Habit Buying; Routinised Buying Behaviour.
Attitudinal Research
the gathering of data to measure consumers’ attitudes to a product or brand in terms of their knowledge and opinions ot it (cognitive approach), their overall impressions of it (affect approach) and their degree of loyalty to it (behavioural approach).
Attractiveness-Strength Model
A two-dimensional matrix that portrays a company’s products or strategic business units, showing the market or industry attractiveness on one axis and business strength or ability to take advantage of business opportunities on the other. The position of each product or SBU on the matrix provides guidance as to which are best candidates for further investment and growth and which might be eliminated. General Electric’s Attractiveness-Strength Model is a well-known example.
Attribute
see Feature.
Audience
the intended receivers of an advertiser's message.
Audience Attention Probability
the degree to which a target consumer is likely to pay attention to an advertisement in a particular media outlet; for example, the audience attention probability of an advertisement for a new shampoo is likely to be greater in a women's magazine than in a daily newspaper.
Audience Profile, Audience Quality
a measure of the kind and quality of the target consumers likely to be exposed to the advertisement.
Audience Research, Audience Tune-Out
a phenomenon which occurs when relatively large groups of a radio or TV audience drop concentration, or stop listening altogether, for a period; audience tune-out may result from high clutter levels of commercial advertising or station or channel promotions in the non-programming time. See Clutter; Clutter Level.
Audimeter
a mechanical instrument or device for monitoring television usage and program choice (for ratings surveys, etc); colloquially called a people-meter or black box. See Single Source Data.
Audiotext
a relatively new, alternative promotional medium in which an advertiser's recorded message is reached by an interested potential purchaser by telephone. See Alternative Media.
Audimeter
an electronic device to record which particular television channel is tuned to by a household; marketing research firms use audimeters attached to a sample of TV sets to measure national exposure to TV advertisements; commonly referred to as a "peoplemeter" or "black box". See Advertising Effectiveness.
Audit
see Marketing Audit.
Augmented Product
a product enhanced by the addition of related services and benefits, eg. installation, warranty, maintenance and repair services, etc. See Core Product; Tangible Product.
Austrade
the name given to the Australian Trade Commission, the Government’s trade and investment development agency. Through a global network of offices, and with representatives in more than 60 countries, Austrade attempts to assist Australian businesses with trade and investment overseas and promotes foreign investment into Australia.
Australian Advertising Rate and Data Service
a popular media reference guide (commonly called AARDS) subscribed to by advertising agencies, public relations consultancies, etc; the service provides regularly up-dated information on media companies, rates, technical specifications, circulations, readership profiles, etc.
Authorisation
see Brand Authorisation.
Automated Warehouse
a modern, usually single-storeyed, computerised warehouse with advanced materials-handling technologies designed to reduce labour costs and improve inventory control.
Automatic Merchandising
the selling of goods by use of vending machines.
Automatic Replenishment System
a computerised system that analyses inventory levels and lead times and re-orders stock to meet forecast sales needs.
Automatic Response Behaviour
see Routine Response Behaviour.
Automatic Telling Machine
an electronic device, often located at banks and in shopping malls, for dispensing and depositing cash, transferring money from one account to another or checking an account balance; usually referred to as an ATM.
Automatic Vending
see Automatic Merchandising.
Automatic Vending Machine
A form of targeted communication in which an electronic device or technology dispenses, without direct human intervention in the process, commodity items such as stamps, combs, soft-drinks, chocolates and potato chips.
Autonomic Decision
a purchase decision made by either spouse independently. See Syncratic Decision.
Available Market
that part of the total market which professes an interest in a product, can afford to purchase it, and is not prevented by access barriers from reaching it. See Access Barriers; Market Entry Barriers.
Average Cost
the average cost per unit of production of a set or group of products; the total cost of production divided by the total number produced; the Unit Cost. See Long-Run Average Cost; Short-Run Average Cost.
Average Cost Pricing
a pricing method in which a mark-up for profit is added to the average cost of production. See Cost-Plus Pricing.
Average Fixed Cost
a measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total fixed cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Average Revenue
a measure used in price setting, calculated by dividing the total revenue by the number of units sold.
Average Total Cost
a measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Average Variable Cost
a measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total variable cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Aversive Factors
qualities about people that turn others against them and may prevent the development of successful working relationships.
Awareness
see Attention.
Awareness Set
the brands of which a consumer is aware; normally, the awareness set will be less than the total set of brands. See Choice Set; Evoked Set; Inept Set; Inert Set.
A segmentation approach in which segmentation variables, such as age or income, are selected first and then customers are classified accordingly; the reverse of this is Post Hoc Segmentation in which, after data on existing customers are analysed, segments based on similarities and differences are formed.
AANA
Australian Association of National Advertisers.
AARDS
Australian Advertising Rate and Data Service.
ABC Account Classification
the classification of customer accounts within a sales territory or region into groups according to their size and potential, and, therefore, their importance; the classification is used primarily to determine call frequency.
ABC Inventory Analysis
the classification of goods held in inventory according to sales volume; the classification is used primarily to determine stock location within the warehouse.
ABN
Australian Business Number.
Above-the-Line Advertising
advertising which employs one of five main media - the press, television, radio, cinema and posters. See Below-the-Line Advertising.
ABS
Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Absolute Cost Advantage
the cost advantage one company has over another if it has a cheaper source of raw materials, control of superior knowledge through patents, cheaper manufacturing or assembly costs, or similar benefit.
Absolute Costs
the minimum costs that an organisation must bear to remain in business. See Absolute Cost Advantage.
Absolute Product Failure
a new product introduction which does not manage to recover its production and marketing costs; the company incurs a financial loss.
ACCC
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Accelerated Test Marketing
market testing of consumer goods using a simulated store technique rather than an actual test market; also referred to as Laboratory Test Markets and Purchase Laboratories.
Accelerator Principle
the notion that an increase or reduction in consumer demand will affect several layers of demand in organisational markets; for example, an increase in consumer demand for soft drinks will will lead to an increased demand by retailers for soft drinks, an increased demand by soft drink bottlers for aluminium cans, an increased demand by aluminium can manufacturers for aluminium sheet, an increased demand by aluminium sheet manufacturers for aluminium ore, and so on. See Derived Demand.
Acceptable Price Range
an expectation in the minds of consumers regarding price levels for a product category; consumers are reluctant to buy below the acceptable price range for fear that the product will be inferior, or above it because the expected benefit of the product is not worth the price.
Access Barriers
factors such as tariffs and legal restrictions which reduce the size of a market by preventing potential customers from purchasing a particular product.
Accessibility
one of the four major requirements (with actionability, measurability and substantiality) for useful market segmentation; accessibility expresses the notion that the segment targeted must be able to be reached and served adequately by the firm's promotion and distribution system. See Actionability; Measurability; Substantiality.
Accessories
see Accessory Equipment.
Accessory Equipment
goods and materials purchased by organisations for use in production, administrative, clerical or marketing activities, but not directly in the manufacture of finished products.
Account Executive
see Account Manager.
Account Manager
a sales representative responsible for a major customer account or group of major accounts; also referred to as an account executive.
Account Objectives
the specific aims and sales goals to be achieved within a specified period by a salesperson for an account for which he or she is responsible.
Account Penetration Ratio
a measure used to evaluate salespeople; the percentage of accounts from which orders are secured is calculated to provide a measure of whether the salesperson is working the territory in a systematic way or simply "milking" major accounts.
Account Representative
a salesperson with direct responsibility for one specific major account or a group of major accounts.
Account Strategies
broad methods employed in achieving the objectives set by a salesperson for a particular account.
Accountants' Marketing
a term sometimes used to describe an approach to marketing characterised by an emphasis on short-term sales results rather than on long-term survival and growth, and by a lack of innovation.
Achievers
a term used in the Values and Lifestyles (VALS) profiling scheme, developed by SRI International, to describe the most affluent and successful professional and businesspeople, the highest level of the nine psychographic segments identified in the U.S. population.
Acid-Test Ratio
one of three ratios commonly used to evaluate a firm's liquidity; calculated by dividing cash by current liabilities. See Current Ratio; Quick Ratio.
Acquisition
the purchase by an organisation of a competitor or new products, often to gain economies of scale that lead to lower costs, lower prices and increased competitiveness.
ACSI
American Consumer Satisfaction Index
Acting Out
the activities in which consumers engage during their purchase decision-making, such as picking a product from a shelf to feel its weight, inspect its quality, or read instructions for use.
Action Plan
see Action Program.
Action Program
a detailed plan showing how major marketing tasks will be managed and implemented, who will do them, and when; also called an Action Plan.
Actionability
one of the major requirements (with accessibility, measurability and substantiality) for useful market segmentation; actionability expresses the notion that the segment targeted must be of an appropriate size for the company's resources to handle. See Accessibility; Measurability; Substantiality.
Active Data
information that is acquired by organisations when customers interact with their websites; the information is relayed to the organisations either by means of cookies – unique identifiers that allow organisations to know who has visited their websites and which pages visitors have viewed - or by the customers’ completion of application or enquiry forms . See Directed Data; Passive data.
Active Listening
listening that is more than passively hearing what the customer is saying; implies the need for a salesperson to think while listening and to evaluate what is being said.
Active Value
the value a consumer gets from the actual use of a product, such as a lawn mower, sewing machine, or taxi; in other cases, such as watching a movie or visiting an art gallery, the value is reactive . See Reactive Value.
Activity Quota
a common form of sales assignment, goal or target used to measure a sales representative's performance in relation to his or her selling activities; activities used in this way include total calls made, total sales made, number of new accounts opened, number of displays set up, and so on. Other common forms of sales quotas are unit volume quotas, dollar volume quotas, gross margin quotas and net profit quotas. See Sales Quota.
Activity Report
a report used by salespeople to provide details (such as number of calls made, new accounts opened, displays arranged, dealer sales meetings attended and so on) to management as a measure of their activity in a given period.
Activity Stage Model
the process in which the various tasks that need to be done to bring a new product to market are mapped out in sequential order. See New Product Development.
Actual Product
the tangible features of a product, including styling, quality level, features, brand name and packaging; also called the Formal Product or Tangible Product. See Augmented Product; Core Product.
Actual Response Rate
the number of orders received in response to a direct mail campaign; the actual response rate is compared to the projected response rate to evaluate the success of the campaign. See Projected Response Rate.
Actual Self
the concept, of self image, of what a person is now, as opposed to what he or she would like to become (that is, the ideal self). See Ideal Self.
Ad Hoc Marketing Research
marketing research conducted in response to a specific, one-time-only need.
Adaptation Approach to Pricing
an approach in global marketing in which an organisation allows an affiliate or subsidiary to set the most desirable price, provided it is profitable, in its own region; also referred to as the Polycentric Approach. See also Extension Approach; Geocentric Approach.
Adapted Marketing Mix
in international marketing, a marketing strategy in which elements of the marketing program are adjusted for the target market in each country.
Adaptive Control System
a system of marketing control which allows for changes to be made to marketing objectives during a planning period as well as to the performance to meet the objectives; a pro-active marketing control system. See After-the-Fact Control System; Marketing Control System; Reactive Marketing Control System; Steering Control System.
Adaptive Selling
a technique in selling which calls for the salesperson to adapt his or her social style to that of the buyer in order to maximise effectiveness. See Social Style.
Adaptive Strategies
domestic marketing tactics, plans and methods which have been altered to suit local conditions in foreign markets.
Adaptivising
a planning philosophy implying a firm's intention to continue to maintain, and expand, its present operations; to do better things in the future than have been done in the past. See Optimising; Satisficing.
Added Value
the increased worth of a firm's offering as a result of marketing; four factors which generate the additional value are features, quality, customer perception (or image) and exclusiveness.
ADI
See Area of Dominant Influence.
Administered Channel Arrangement
see Administered Vertical Marketing System.
Administered Prices
cost-oriented pricing in which a firm bases its prices on considerations within the firm rather than on customer considerations.
Administered Vertical Marketing System
a co-ordinated system of distribution channel organisation in which the flow of products from producer to end-user is controlled by the power and size of one member of the channel system rather than by common ownership or contractual ties. See Contractual Vertical Marketing System; Conventional Marketing System; Corporate Vertical Marketing System; Vertical Marketing System.
Adopter Category
the ranking into which adopters of a new product fall according to their willingness and speed to embrace a new product; adopter categories are normally listed as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. See Diffusion of Innovation.
Adoption
the choice of one product over another.
Adoption of Innovation Curve
a normal distribution curve illustrating the fact that customers vary widely in their willingness or readiness to purchase new products. See Diffusion of Innovation.
Adoption Process
the series of stages, including awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and rejection or adoption, which consumers go through in their decision-making process; also called the Adoption Sequence.
Adoption Rate Determinants
factors which influence the rate of adoption of a new product. See Communicability; Compatibility; Complexity; Divisibility; Relative Advantage.
Adoption Sequence
see Adoption Process.
Advance Australia Foundation
a partly government-funded organisation, established in 1979 as Project Australia, formed to promote the sale of Australian-made products.
Advantage
see Competitive Advantage.
Advantage Matrix
see Boston Consulting Group Advantage Matrix.
Adversarial Shopper
a consumer whose shopping behaviour is characterised by a determination to get good value at a low price; a bargain hunter; one who regards all prices as negotiable.
Advertising
the paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers. See Promotion.
Advertising Agency
a firm specialising in the creation, design and media placement of advertisements, and in the planning and execution of promotional campaigns. See Full-Service Advertising Agency; Limited-Service Advertising Agency.
Advertising Allocation
see Advertising Budget.
Advertising Allowance
a discount given to a retailer by a supplier whose brand or product is featured in the store's newspaper, television or radio advertising or in catalogs, flyers or similar promotional pieces. See Allowances; Discounts.
Advertising Appropriation
see Advertising Budget.
Advertising Banner
see Banner Advertising.
Advertising Budget
the sum allocated in a particular accounting period for expenditure on advertising; also called an Advertising Allocation or an Advertising Appropriation.
Advertising Budget Determination
decisions pertaining to the amount to be allocated to advertising expenditure in a given period; common approaches to advertising budget determination include arbitary allocation, percent of sales, competitive parity, objective and task and budgeting models. See All-We-Can-Afford Method; Percentage-of-Sales Method; Competitive Parity Budgeting; Objective and Task Method of Budgeting; Computer Modelling.
Advertising Campaign
a planned program of advertising with particular objectives.
Advertising Campaign Evaluation
the measurement of the success of a planned program of advertising in terms of sales, increased product awareness, wider distribution or other program objectives.
Advertising Control - Advertising Copy
the content and context of a message contained in an advertisement.
Advertising Effectiveness
the degree to which the objectives of an advertisement or advertising campaign have been achieved; the effectiveness is commonly gauged by measuring the effect on sales, brand awareness, brand preference, etc. See Communication Effect of Advertising; Sales Effect of Advertising.
Advertising Elasticities
measurements of the effect on other marketing variables of various levels of advertising expenditure; for example, measurement of the effect of high levels of advertising on consumer perceptions of price, or the measurement of the low levels of advertising on consumer perceptions of product quality.
Advertising Exposure
one presentation of an advertisement to an audience; advertising managers must decide how many "exposures" will be required to achieve their goal or objective.
Advertising Federation of Australia
an association representing the interests of Australian advertising agencies.
Advertising Goal
a particular communication task to be accomplished with a specific target audience in a given period of time.
Advertising Impact
see Impact.
Advertising Institute of Australia
an association representing the interests of individuals within the advertising industry in Australia.
Advertising Media
outlets or vehicles (for instance, newspapers and magazines, television, radio, cinema, posters, etc) used in communication between advertisers and customers. Note that advertising media is a plural term; its singular form is advertising medium.
Advertising Medium
see Advertising Media.
Advertising Message
the central, underlying idea or theme within an advertisement.
Advertising Objective
the specific aim or intention of an advertisement (for example, to inform, to persuade, to remind).
Advertising Planning Process
the steps or stages taken in planning an advertising campaign; the steps include identifying the target market, establishing the advertising objectives, developing the advertising budget, developing the advertising strategies, selecting the appropriate media, and evaluating the advertising effectiveness.
Advertising Platform
the basic issues or selling points that a company wishes to have included in an advertising campaign.
Advertising Research
research done to test the effectiveness of advertising; this may include the pre-testing and post-evaluating of specific advertisements and campaigns. Communication-effect research attempts to measure whether the advertising communicates effectively; sales-effect research attempts to measure whether it produces the desired level of sales.
Advertising Site
Advertising Space
Advertising Speciality
any product or item, such as a pen or key-ring, which is imprinted with a company’s name, brand name or logo, and given away as a gift.
Advertising Standards Council
a body comprising representatives from the retail trade, trade unions, academics, advertising agencies and the media established to administer voluntary advertising codes and to provide a vehicle for consumer complaints about advertising.
Advertising Target
the entire market, or some part of it, which a firm wishes to attract with its advertisement.
Advertising Testing
Advertising-to-Editorial Ratio
the measure of the proportion of advertising space to editorial matter in a newspaper or magazine.
Advertising-to-Marketing Ratio
a marketing control measure used to determine whether the amount spent on advertising in a given period was excessive; total advertising expenditure is expressed as a percentage ot total marketing expenditure.
Advertising-to-Sales Ratio
a marketing control measure used to determine whether the amount spent on advertising in a given period was excessive; total advertising expenditure is expressed as a percentage of total sales revenue.
Advertising Wearout
see Consumer Wearout.
Advertorial
an advertisement in which the advertiser expresses a point of view about a social or political issue or a matter of public interest. See Advertorial Advertising.
Advertorial Advertising
advertising in which the sponsoring organisation declares its position on a matter of public interest (usually of a controversial nature). See Advocacy Advertising.
Adviser Approach
a closing technique in which a salesperson specifies all that a customer will require to solve the problem at hand, and advises (or counsels) that the offer be accepted; also referred to as the Counsellor Close. See Close.
Advocacy Advertising
a paid, overtly-sponsored communication or message which presents information or a point of view on a controversial public issue, idea or cause. See Advertorial Advertising.
Aesthetic Needs
see Self-Actualisation Needs.
AFA
Advertising Federation of Australia.
AFAMI
Associate Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.
AFCO
Australian Federation of Consumer Organisations.
Affordable Method
see All-We-Can-Afford Method.
AFMA
Associate Fellow of the Marketing Association of Australia and New Zealand.
Aftermarket
the market, especially for automotive parts, accessories and equipment, after the new product has been purchased.
After-the-Fact Control System
a system of marketing control in which corrective action is taken at the end of a planning period when marketing performance does not meet expectations; changes are made in an attempt to rectify the situation for the next planning period. See Adaptive Control System; Marketing Control System; Reactive Marketing Control System; Steering Control System.
Age and Life-Cycle Segmentation
A demographic segmentation strategy in which a product-market is grouped into segments based on the basis of age so that the organisation can more precisely target its offerings to the needs and wants of each stage of life of interest to it. In this way, an organisation may develop different products and different marketing approaches for school children, teens, young married couples, mature adults, elderly citizens and so on.
Agent
an intermediary or middleman who facilitates the flow of goods and services from producer to end-user, but who, unlike other members of the distribution channel, does not take title to them.
Agile Corporation
an organisation that is flexible and able to move quickly in response to continuously changing market conditions, organising its resources and adjusting its marketing strategies accordingly.
Agribusiness
the marketing of food and fibre products.
Agricultural Cooperative
an organisation formed by a group of farmers to achieve some or all of the advantages of large-scale marketing.
Agricultural Substitute
a product that is manufactured from farm produce but which is a substitute for a more traditional farm commodity. For example, soy-protein steaks are a substitute for beef steaks.
AIA
Advertising Institute of Australia.
AIDA Concept
a formula used in selling to produce a favourable response from a customer. The assumption is that the salesperson must first make the potential customer aware of a product; foster interest; stimulate desire; and, finally, encourage action (to purchase). See Formula Selling.
AIDCA
acronym for Awareness, Interest, Desire, Conviction, Action; mental states which supposedly lead a potential customer to a buying decision. See Formula Selling.
Aided Recall Test
a method of post-testing the effectiveness of an advertisement or advertising campaign; respondents are shown products, brand names, trademarks, etc to assist their memories. See Unaided Recall Test.
AIM
Australian Institute of Management.
AIO Statements
expressions of a person's attitudes towards, interests in, and opinions of, a product. See Psychographics.
All-We-Can-Afford Method
a simple method of determining a budget (for advertising, etc) in which the amount allocated is the amount that can be afforded; also called the What-We-Can Afford Method, the Affordable Method and the Arbitrary Method. See Advertising Budget Determination.
Alliance
an agreement between one or more firms to cooperate in some business venture or to work together to achieve certain goals. See Strategic Alliance.
Alliance Partner
an organisation which cooperates with one or more other firms or works together with them to achieve certain goals. See Alliance; Strategic Alliance.
Allowances
amounts deducted from an invoice in return for prompt payment, large quantity purchase, special promotions etc of goods and services supplied. See Discount.
Alternative Advertising
advertising which uses media other than the traditional media; examples of alternative advertising include advertising signs on parking meters and supermarket shopping trolleys, in-store video screens, etc.
Alternative Close
a closing technique in which a salesperson presents two alternatives in an attempt to get a commitment from the buyer to one, (eg. "The red or the black?", "Cash or card?") See Close.
Alternative Evaluation
the stage in the buying decision process in which the buyer uses information gathered to make a final choice between the products in the evoked set. See Evoked set.
Alternative Media
media vehicles, apart from the traditional ones, which are available for promotional purposes; examples of newer alternative media are video catalogs and audiotext. See Video Calalog; Audiotext.
Ambience
the surroundings, including floor lay-out, indoor plants, furniture and furnishings, decor, colour, advertising material, lighting and music, which give a retail outlet its distinctive look and appeal.
Ambient Advertising
signs, posters and other promotional material, often in unusual and unexpected places, inside a shopping centre or retail outlet to generate customer interest and stimulate purchasing.
Ambient Media
a wide range of advertising and sales promotion material – including signs, posters, cut-outs, banners, flowers, ribbons, hot-air balloons and music – used in shopping malls retail outlets to generate interest and excitement and stimulate purchasing.
Ambush Advertising
a form of promotional activity, usually considered unethical and sometimes illegal, in which an organisation exploits some unrelated event such as a political rally or sporting contest by prominently displaying its advertising material; sometimes referred to as Guerrilla Marketing.
Ambush Marketing
see Ambush Advertising.
Amiable (Social Style)
one of four social styles (with Analytical, Driver and Expressive) commonly used to classify salespeople and their customers in terms of their communication approach; Amiables are characterised by high responsiveness and low assertiveness. See Analytical; Driver; Expressive; Assertiveness; Responsiveness; Social Style.
Analysis
the mathematical or statistical processing of data and presentation of the results.
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
a technique used in research to determine the statistical difference between three or more sample means.
Analytic Modelling
a sophisticated, statistical technique, based on historical data related to sales levels, pricing levels, advertising and promotion, sales effort, competitive tactics and other variables, designed to determine an optimum price for current profit maximisation.
Analytical (Social Style)
one of four social styles (with Amiable, Driver and Expressive) commonly used to classify salespeople and their customers in terms of the responsiveness and assertiveness of their communication approach; Analyticals are characterised by low responsiveness and low assertiveness. See Amiable; Driver; Expressive; Assertiveness; Responsiveness; Social Style.
Anchor Store
a popular, major retailer located within a shopping mall to attract mall patronage.
Annual Plan
in strategic planning, a short-term marketing plan that describes the current marketing situation, marketing objectives, marketing strategies for the current year, action programs, budgets, and monitoring and control measures. See Strategic Planning.
ANOVA
Analysis of Variance
Ansoff Matrix
a tool, devised by Igor Ansoff (1918-2002), to provide a logical framework for the understanding and development of marketing objectives; the basis of the matrix is the degree of newness of the products to be sold and of the markets to be targeted.
Anticipatory Pricing
the practice of setting a somewhat higher price than would otherwise have been chosen in expectation of cost inflation, government price control, or similar environmental circumstance.
Anti-Competitive Pricing Strategies
methods of pricing – including predatory pricing, price-fixing, bid-rigging, and allocating customer groups to certain suppliers - which are designed to create barriers for, weaken or destroy rival firms; in most countries these pricing methods are illegal and can result in grave consequences for the firm and its top management; also referred to as Anti-Trust Pricing Strategies. See Bid-Rigging; Predatory Pricing, Price Fixing.
Anti-Dumping Laws
in international marketing, regulations which are designed to protect domestic firms from unfair competition resulting from below-cost products being imported from overseas and sold at unfair prices.
Anti-Monopoly Regulation
laws passed to prevent anti-competitive and anti-monopoly practices in business. see Anti-Trust Legislation.
Anti-Trust Legislation
see Anti-Monopoly Regulation.
Anti-Trust Pricing Strategies
see Anti-Competitive Pricing Strategies.
APEC
Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation.
APEC Forum
A loose grouping of nations which work together to facilitate economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. Formed as an initiative of Australia in 1989, it had grown by 2007 to encompass 21 members - Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People's Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; The Republic of the Philippines; The Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand, United States and Viet Nam. Spanning four continents, APEC represents the most economically dynamic region in the world, accounting for approximately 40 per cent of the world's population, 56 per cent of world GDP and 48 per cent of world trade.
Approach
the stage in the selling process in which a salesperson contacts a potential customer to make an appointment or to present a product.
Approver
the person within an organisation who has the ultimate decision for making purchases; sometimes referred to as the ‘decider’. See Business Buying Process.
Arbitrary Method
see All-We-Can-Afford Method.
Area Market Potential
an estimate of the amount of sales, in units and dollars, that might be possible in a given territory or region under a given level of industry marketing effort under given environmental conditions.
Area Market Specialist
a marketing manager, with good local knowledge, located in a high-volume, distinctive market to support the sales effort.
Area of Dominant Influence
the geographic region covered by a particular television station; also referred to as the station's Designated Marketing Area (DMA).
Area Sampling
an approach to cluster sampling in which the clusters are geographically based. See Cluster Sampling.
Arm's-Length Price
the price which various governments force companies to charge to discourage "dumping" abuses; the arm's length price is the price charged by competitors for the same or similar product.
Arousal
an internal state of tension which motivates a consumer, providing the energy to act; a drive. See Drive.
ARS
Automatic Replenishment System.
ASC
Advertising Standards Council.
Asch Phemonenon
a tendency, first recorded by the psychologist S.E.Asch, for an individual's purchase decisions to be influenced highly by reference groups and group norms. See Group Influences; Reference Group.
Aseptic Packaging
a packaging method developed in Sweden in the 1950s; made of paper, foil and plastic aseptic packaging keeps foods bacteria-free for months without refrigeration. See Packaging; Primary Packaging; Secondary Packaging; Shipping Packaging.
Aspirational Group
a sub-category of a reference group, consisting of individuals (not necessarily known personally) with whom a person desires to be associated. See Associational Group; Contactual Reference Group; Dissociative Reference Group; Membership Group; Reference Groups.
Assemblers
wholesaling firms specialising in the buying of small quantities of farm produce to resell to other firms in bulk; also referred to as the Assembly Market.
Assembly Market
see Assemblers.
Assertiveness
the human characteristic or quality which determines the degree to which individuals are directive and competitive in manner as opposed to non-directive and co-operative. See Social Style.
Asset Transformation
the exchange by a firm of one type of asset for another. For instance, advances in computer and communication technologies which allow organisations to gather information about customer demand rapidly and reliably have enabled them to reduce their inventories. In this way, assets in the form of finished product have been transformed into assets in the form of information.
Asset Turnover
a ratio used to evaluate the profitability of a firm; net sales in a given period are divided by total assets.
Asset-Based Marketing
a marketing approach which uses the knowledge and skills a company has already developed as the basis for growth.
Associational Group
a group, such as a club, society or trade union, or with which a consumer has some association, and which exerts an influence over buying behaviour; the influence of an associational group is usually weaker than that of kinship groups which whom the consumer has closer and stronger ties. See Aspirational Group; Kinship Group; Membership Group; Reference Group.
Associative Learning
the learning which occurs when consumers begin to attach certain qualities or characteristics to a brand. In this way, consumers might associate Singapore Airlines with safety, comfort, reliability and style in air travel but at a premium price.
Assorting
the practice of putting together a wide variety of produce in one location, as in a department store.
Assortment
the range of goods and services offered by a retailer.
Assortment Strategies
options available to a reseller in determining the assortment of products and services to be carried. See Broad Assortment; Deep Assortment; Exclusive Assortment; Scrambled Assortment.
Assumptive Close
a closing technique in which a salesperson simply assumes that the purchaser has agreed to buy the product, and proceeds to write up the order, wrap the merchandise, etc. See Close.
At-Home TV Shopping
a form of non-store retailing in which products are shown on a television screen and presented enthusiastically by an announcer to stimulate impulse purchasing using credit card and telephone. See Non-Store Retailing.
ATC
see Average Total Cost.
ATM
Automatic Telling Machine.
Atmospheres
see Atmospherics.
Atmospherics
the combination of store decor, physical characteristics and amenities provided by a retailer to develop a particular image and attract customers.
Atomistic Competition
see Pure Competition.
Attack Strategy
in competitive situations, a means by which an organisation in a market challenger position attempts to achieve an advantage by taking market share from the market leader. See By-Pass Attack; Encirclement Attack; Flanking Attack; Frontal Attack, Guerrilla Attack.
Attention
the mental application, awareness, consideration or concentration that a company seeks to induce in consumers when it promotes a product.
Attitude Tracking
measuring the degree of satisfaction with a product through an on-going study of consumer attitudes towards it.
Attitude
an enduring favourable or unfavourable feeling, emotion and action tendency towards an issue or subject.
Attitudinal Loyalty
the loyalty displayed by consumers when they repeatedly buy brands they know and trust; their consistent attitudes result in habitual buying behaviour. Also referred to as behavioural loyalty, routinised behaviour, and habit buying, See Behavioural Loyalty; Habit Buying; Routinised Buying Behaviour.
Attitudinal Research
the gathering of data to measure consumers’ attitudes to a product or brand in terms of their knowledge and opinions ot it (cognitive approach), their overall impressions of it (affect approach) and their degree of loyalty to it (behavioural approach).
Attractiveness-Strength Model
A two-dimensional matrix that portrays a company’s products or strategic business units, showing the market or industry attractiveness on one axis and business strength or ability to take advantage of business opportunities on the other. The position of each product or SBU on the matrix provides guidance as to which are best candidates for further investment and growth and which might be eliminated. General Electric’s Attractiveness-Strength Model is a well-known example.
Attribute
see Feature.
Audience
the intended receivers of an advertiser's message.
Audience Attention Probability
the degree to which a target consumer is likely to pay attention to an advertisement in a particular media outlet; for example, the audience attention probability of an advertisement for a new shampoo is likely to be greater in a women's magazine than in a daily newspaper.
Audience Profile, Audience Quality
a measure of the kind and quality of the target consumers likely to be exposed to the advertisement.
Audience Research, Audience Tune-Out
a phenomenon which occurs when relatively large groups of a radio or TV audience drop concentration, or stop listening altogether, for a period; audience tune-out may result from high clutter levels of commercial advertising or station or channel promotions in the non-programming time. See Clutter; Clutter Level.
Audimeter
a mechanical instrument or device for monitoring television usage and program choice (for ratings surveys, etc); colloquially called a people-meter or black box. See Single Source Data.
Audiotext
a relatively new, alternative promotional medium in which an advertiser's recorded message is reached by an interested potential purchaser by telephone. See Alternative Media.
Audimeter
an electronic device to record which particular television channel is tuned to by a household; marketing research firms use audimeters attached to a sample of TV sets to measure national exposure to TV advertisements; commonly referred to as a "peoplemeter" or "black box". See Advertising Effectiveness.
Audit
see Marketing Audit.
Augmented Product
a product enhanced by the addition of related services and benefits, eg. installation, warranty, maintenance and repair services, etc. See Core Product; Tangible Product.
Austrade
the name given to the Australian Trade Commission, the Government’s trade and investment development agency. Through a global network of offices, and with representatives in more than 60 countries, Austrade attempts to assist Australian businesses with trade and investment overseas and promotes foreign investment into Australia.
Australian Advertising Rate and Data Service
a popular media reference guide (commonly called AARDS) subscribed to by advertising agencies, public relations consultancies, etc; the service provides regularly up-dated information on media companies, rates, technical specifications, circulations, readership profiles, etc.
Authorisation
see Brand Authorisation.
Automated Warehouse
a modern, usually single-storeyed, computerised warehouse with advanced materials-handling technologies designed to reduce labour costs and improve inventory control.
Automatic Merchandising
the selling of goods by use of vending machines.
Automatic Replenishment System
a computerised system that analyses inventory levels and lead times and re-orders stock to meet forecast sales needs.
Automatic Response Behaviour
see Routine Response Behaviour.
Automatic Telling Machine
an electronic device, often located at banks and in shopping malls, for dispensing and depositing cash, transferring money from one account to another or checking an account balance; usually referred to as an ATM.
Automatic Vending
see Automatic Merchandising.
Automatic Vending Machine
A form of targeted communication in which an electronic device or technology dispenses, without direct human intervention in the process, commodity items such as stamps, combs, soft-drinks, chocolates and potato chips.
Autonomic Decision
a purchase decision made by either spouse independently. See Syncratic Decision.
Available Market
that part of the total market which professes an interest in a product, can afford to purchase it, and is not prevented by access barriers from reaching it. See Access Barriers; Market Entry Barriers.
Average Cost
the average cost per unit of production of a set or group of products; the total cost of production divided by the total number produced; the Unit Cost. See Long-Run Average Cost; Short-Run Average Cost.
Average Cost Pricing
a pricing method in which a mark-up for profit is added to the average cost of production. See Cost-Plus Pricing.
Average Fixed Cost
a measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total fixed cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Average Revenue
a measure used in price setting, calculated by dividing the total revenue by the number of units sold.
Average Total Cost
a measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Average Variable Cost
a measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total variable cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Aversive Factors
qualities about people that turn others against them and may prevent the development of successful working relationships.
Awareness
see Attention.
Awareness Set
the brands of which a consumer is aware; normally, the awareness set will be less than the total set of brands. See Choice Set; Evoked Set; Inept Set; Inert Set.
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