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MKT 301, Summer 2021

Homework 1, Chapter 1

What is the Purpose of Marketing?

As you have probably gathered, the word “marketing” is obviously related to the
word “market”. You should note that the word marketing is a verb, which means
that marketing is an active process of “going to market”.
But what does “going to market” mean? Think about a street market where there
are buyers and sellers. The sellers work together to attract large numbers of buyers,
but are also in competition with each other to win sales from the buyers. The buyers
are looking for a good deal and to buy products that they want to buy.
Your task in this exercise is to review the following list. To what extent, do you
think, that these goals reflect the purpose of marketing in a firm?

Purpose of Marketing Probably Definitely

Definitely Probably Unsure
in a Firm? not not

To add value for 

consumers
To meet customer 
needs

To win new customers

To retain existing 
customers
To outperform its 
competition
To work with 
competition to grow
the overall market
To maximize profits 
for a firm
To build a strong 
brand
To make a difference 
to society
To design and offer 
great products
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Homework 2: Marketing and Ethics?

1. As much as the above statements may be correct I certainly don’t think they are common

viewpoints. Rather the statements present very distinct attitudes on the lives of different

individuals. The main viewpoints from the statements is how people make money in their lives,

how they are willing to spend it, and their various cultures of consumption styles.

Although consumption and money are common viewpoints, not all people are similar that

is, their consumers’ expectations and lifestyles are so indifferent. Some individuals aren’t scared

to take massive loans, while others don’t think of taking loans. Some individuals earn more than

enough money but are not willing to have kids while others are devoted to spend money on their

families.

2. It is true to say that the world has entered into a century of consumption where humans are

producing products than are cheaper than ever before. As a result of cheaper products consumers

cannot stop themselves from buying more products. All this as a result of industrial revolution.

The real question remains what influences these purchasing behaviour. Well, with the sharp

changes in internet-based communication and the impact of globalization everyone is able to

utilize similar goods irrespective of where they are situated across the world.

In my opinion, it’s not only the marketing activities influencing consumers to buy more

products but also the change in consumer’s expectations and lifestyle have an impact. Therefore

one is right to say that the two variables have a similar impact in the modern world. For instance,

today, iPhone users are found in all nations globally but still it is inefficient to conclude that the

success of the company depends solely on changes in expectations and lifestyles. I believe that

iPhones’ marketing strategies have also played a vital part in its success.

3. Marketing may be defined as the process of developing/creating new consumer demands for

services and products. In this sense, it may influence consumers to buy even products that are

unnecessary. However, purchase of any service or product is a person’s final decision and may
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not be considered 100% marketing impact. I actually don’t think it is impossible to put blame

only on the firms for consumers purchasing products that aren’t necessary. Going by the above

statements, it’s quite evident that every customer’s expectations and lifestyles are different.

Homework 3

MKT301, summer 2021

To give you a little practice doing a SWOT analysis, please select one of your favorite local small

businesses. Perform a SWOT analysis for that business that includes at least three items under each

header.

Name of Business, Where They Are and What They Do:

The Malibu Restaurant is situated in Santa Clara, California, in the heart of the Silicon Valley, which is

among the Puesto restaurants prominent for its gourmet street tacos on blue corn tortillas. The

restaurant deals with take away foods and offers accommodation services.

Strengths:

 Friendly Staff- the employees know how to relate with their customers in a friendly manner.

 Quality Ingredients- the restaurant u

 Unique taste

 Excellent service

 Conducive overall atmosphere

Weaknesses:

 Low profits

 Competition offers more services

 No business website
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 High prices of goods

Opportunities:

 The business can implement loyalty programs

 It may expand to add pastries

 Market boom

 Deals with different food types

Threats:

 Negative reviews

 Drought

 Gluten-free societal trend.

 Poor Brand

 Inadequate marketing

Homework 4 Chapter 4

MKT 301, Summer 2021

Answer the following in two or three paragraphs:

What personal information are you willing to divulge to market researchers? Where do you draw

the line, and why?

Market research refers to the activity of gathering, analyzing then afterwards reporting marketing

data or information that may be utilized in solving problems or answering questions in order to improve

the activities of the organization. Although marketing research is not foolproof it may extract some of the

guess-work of decision making and therefore Organisations need to put in efforts to make it a success.
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Divulging personal information to market research has over the years proven to be useful in the

process of market research. Researchers commit themselves to gain as much personal information from

an individual as they can. However some people are reluctant about giving out their personal details to

researchers as they are trying to be wise to the various ways of fraudsters. Some may give a little piece of

information and withhold some of it for the reasons well known to them.

Personally I’m willing to give out some of my personal details to researchers. Sharing details

such as my official name, age, social media activity, marital status, purchasing power and my occupation

isn’t a big deal to me. This is because disclosing such information to researchers may not in any way

invade my privacy. On the other hand, irrespective of the type of market research conducted on me, I am

not ready to disclose information regarding my place of residence-this for security purposes, my health

status, my card’s pins and the amount I earn. While the information may be useful to the researchers,

divulging it will be a great invasion of my privacy.