TEST BANK

Principles of Marketing

01/12/23 1
Principles of Marketing

Chapter 6
Test Bank Questions
Marketing Research and Market Intelligence

Multiple Choice Questions

1. For many companies, including LEGO, what is considered their most significant competitive
advantage?
A. Brand identification
B. Sustainable marketing
C. Marketing research*
D. Qualified buyers
Solution: C. Data compiled during market studies forms the foundation of customer
understanding and relationship development.
Section 6.1 LO1 Easy 1-2 minutes
2. _______ allow(s) marketers to listen to and assess the needs of the market and to discover
ways to satisfy the unmet needs of customers, target markets, and prospective clients.
A. Marketing research*
B. Marketing listening tools
C. Community conversations
D. Collaboration and ethical behavior
Solution: A. Research connects marketers and markets by asking for and conveying important
information.
Section 6.1 LO1 Moderate 3-5 minutes
3. Marketing intelligence is essential to businesses trying to identify _______ in the external
environment.
A. sustainable variables
B. on-trend company products
C. opportunities and threats*
D. internal data
Solution: C. Marketing intelligence helps to determine a company’s strengths and weaknesses
while also evaluating the external environment’s opportunities and threats.
Section 6.1 LO2 Moderate 3-5 minutes

01/12/23 2
Principles of Marketing

4. Many companies struggle to collect and analyze big data. Which of the following represents
the three defining properties of big data, known as the three Vs?
A. Verity, variables, and vicinity
B. Vivid, valid, and visionary
C. Viable, vacuum, and vertical
D. Volume, velocity, and variety*
Solution: D. Volume, velocity, and variety describe how much data is generated, how quickly it
amasses, and the variety of data that can be collected.
Section 6.1 LO3 Moderate 3-4 minutes
5. Market research analysts are charged with many responsibilities across industries, but the
most important role is the ability to do what?
A. Make informed marketing decisions*
B. Use Stata or SPSS software
C. Communicate findings occasionally
D. Understand all business financial reports
Solution: A. Market research analysts sort and examine data the company has gathered over
time and use that data to make marketing decisions on a regular basis.
Section 6.1 LO3 Moderate 3-4 minutes
6. Businesses collect and keep important internal data to reflect and allow querying of
historical sales, promotional effectiveness, pricing, product launch details, research and
development, customer details, and logistics information. These internal data are usually
stored in _______.
A. individual computers
B. databases*
C. external servers
D. libraries
Solution: B. Databases store important internal information that can be accessed, compared,
and otherwise used to reveal marketing insights.
Section 6.2 LO1 Easy 1-2 minutes
7. How might marketers ethically gather external data to use in intelligence analysis?
A. Combine social media, publications, and subscription services*
B. Surreptitiously rifle through trash gathered from competitors’ dumpsters
C. Use the dark web
D. Mine data from internal databases
Solution: A. Competitors’ websites, news sources, social media, journal articles, and paid
subscription services are examples of external data that is useful to marketers.
Section 6.2 LO1 Easy 1-3 minutes

01/12/23 3
Principles of Marketing

8. What is one simple way marketing analysts can compare competitive product pricing?
A. Have secret shoppers check prices in retail locations*
B. Hire analysts away from their competitors
C. Copy the competitors’ distribution channel
D. Go in an opposite direction of competitors in developing promotional efforts
Solution: A. Checking prices of competitors’ products helps ensure the business is competitively
pricing its products.
Section 6.2 LO2 Easy 1-3 minutes

Figure 6.3 The Marketing Research Plan (attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY 4.0 license)
9. Of the seven steps in the market research process, shown in Figure 6.3, which is the most
important?
A. Designing the sample
B. Developing the research plan
C. Analyzing and interpreting the data
D. Defining the problem*
Solution: D. To have a successful research outcome, the researcher should start with an
understanding of the problem in the current situational environment.
Section 6.3 LO1 Moderate 3-5 minutes

01/12/23 4
Principles of Marketing

10. What is the major difference between primary and secondary data?
A. Primary data is unique information that is collected by the specific researcher with the
current project in mind, and secondary data already exists somewhere.*
B. Secondary data from internal documents is always reviewed first, and primary data
collection builds on those findings.
C. Secondary or syndicated data must be purchased, and primary data collection is free.
D. Primary data can be collected and accessed quickly, while secondary data is more
difficult to compile and analyze.
Solution: A. Primary and secondary data are usually opposite: secondary data may be outdated,
while primary data gathered specifically is timely, and secondary data is usually inexpensive to
acquire and may be accessed quickly, while primary data is more expensive to plan and gather.
Section 6.3 LO1 Easy 1-2 minutes
11. Which of the following statements is true about qualitative and quantitative data?
A. Only measurable data, or quantitative data, is useful in understanding consumer
behavior.
B. Quantitative research is used most frequently to understand marketing information.
C. Qualitative research deals with words and concepts, and quantitative research deals
with numbers and statistics.*
D. Qualitative research is used most frequently in marketing research.
Solution: C. The type of data collected and analyzed, whether it is quantitative and/or
qualitative data, depends on the problem marketers are trying to understand.
Section 6.3 LO2 Easy 1-2 minutes
12. Zelda works at a large breakfast cereal company in Battle Creek, Michigan. Sales have fallen
for Zelda’s brand, and she wonders which family member does the cereal purchasing in
store so she can design a promotion to reach that family remember. Zelda has access to
historic sales data but determines the best way to collect data that most accurately
addresses her main question is to _______.
A. observe purchases for several days in 50 grocery store locations throughout her sales
territory*
B. use mechanical observation by counting the number of shoppers who enter 50 grocery
store locations throughout her sales territory
C. host a focus group of 8–12 people in Chicago, Illinois, one of the largest markets in her
sales territory
D. email a survey to the grocery store managers in 50 locations throughout her sales
territory
Solution: A. Observational research is the collecting of data based on actions taken by those
observed. Many data observations do not require the researched individuals to participate in
the data collection effort to be highly valuable. Some observation requires an individual to
watch and record the activities of the target population through personal observations.
Section 6.3 LO2 Moderate 3-4 minutes

01/12/23 5
Principles of Marketing

13. Market researchers often turn to individual or group interviews to gather insights into
consumer thinking and behavior. What are two benefits of pulling together a focus group
rather than conducting individual interviews?
A. Saving money by recruiting participants who will contribute for free and letting strong
personalities lead feedback
B. Changing the questions for every focus group and recording feedback through two-way
video cameras
C. Recruiting individuals who are knowledgeable about your product and have strong
opinions against competitors
D. Saving time and creating synergy among participants*
Solution: D. One of the benefits of a focus group over individual interviews is that synergy can
be generated when a participant builds on another’s ideas. Additionally, for the same amount
of time, a researcher can hear from multiple respondents instead of just one.
Section 6.3 LO2 Moderate 3-5 minutes
14. Mariana and Deion are collecting information for a marketing class project involving their
client, the Humane Society. Neither one of them lives in the city where their university is
located, and they do not have personal transportation. So, Mariana and Deion write a
survey asking about preferences in animal adoption and email it to members of their class.
They are using a nonprobability sample that is also a _______ sample.
A. judgement
B. stratified random
C. simple random
D. convenience*
Solution: D. Just like it sounds, a convenience sample is when the researchers find a group
through a nonscientific method by picking potential research participants in a convenient
manner.
Section 6.4 LO2 Easy 1-2 minutes
15. Statistics reveal important information not only to marketing research analysts, but also to
your marketing professor. Your professor is likely to use statistics to generate and reveal the
mean exam scores in the class. How will your professor use this information?
A. To design a more difficult final exam containing questions students routinely missed
B. To decide how to construct the next exam
C. To fail students who didn’t study for the exam
D. To determine the average level of student understanding of exam content*
Solution: D. Understanding the mean can help to determine, with one number, the weight of a
particular value.
Section 6.3 LO2 Easy 1-2 minutes

01/12/23 6
Principles of Marketing

16. As a marketing research analyst, Marley finds it helpful in her job to display statistical
information to the C-suite team by combining data, design, and a story. A(n) _______ is also
a useful online tool that conveys data in an easily digested format.
A. frequency graph
B. cross tabulation
C. infographic*
D. verbatim
Solution: C. Research results are often shown in a graphical format, called an infographic, which
allows data to be analyzed quickly.
Section 6.3 LO3 Moderate 3-4 minutes
17. D’Andre has collected masses of information in his quest to understand how his company’s
technical products can be modified to be more user-friendly. He is excited to share his
findings with product designers. What is D’Andre’s next step?
A. Share information and analyze it in a research report*
B. Provide the data in spreadsheets to the design team
C. Compile data into bullet points and email it to the design team for their response and
reaction
D. Run cross tabulations to understand what his data says in terms of older and younger
consumers
Solution: A. Collecting reams of information isn’t useful to the company unless the researcher
analyzes what the data means and how it answers the original problem statement.
Section 6.3 LO3 Moderate 3-4 minutes
18. Research reports generally examine customer awareness, customer satisfaction, cost of
customer acquisition, and _______.
A. transaction equality
B. leverage opportunity
C. problem solution
D. customer effort score*
Solution: D. It is important to measure the ease of service experience. Making a purchase online
should be easy, or the consumer will not return.
Section 6.3 LO3 Moderate 3-4 minutes

01/12/23 7
Principles of Marketing

19. According to its website, the Insights Association exists to “protect and create demand for
the evolving insights and analytics industry by promoting the indisputable role of insights in
driving business impact.” According to its code of standards, the researcher should make
every effort to separate the selling of products from the ________.
A. salesperson
B. research*
C. benefits
D. company
Solution: B. One deceptive practice is called sugging, which represents something as research
when it is really an attempt to sell a product. Sugging happens when an individual identifies
themselves as a researcher, collects some data, and then uses the data to suggest specific
purchases.
Section 6.4 LO1 Easy 1-2 minutes
20. Research shows consumers are leery about sharing their private information with
researchers for fear they will be harmed and their confidential information will be _______.
A. fabricated for other uses
B. sold to other businesses*
C. tied to them and tracked across websites
D. used for bait-and-switch schemes
Solution: B. Consumers have expressed concern that search engines will collect and sell their
information to other businesses. The Insights Association calls this “tangible and material injury
(such as physical injury or financial loss), intangible or moral damage (such as damage to
reputation or goodwill), unsolicited personally targeted marketing messages, or excessive
intrusion into personal life.”
Section 6.4 LO1 Easy 1-2 minutes
21. Researchers have many responsibilities and duties of care while conducting their work.
According to the Insights Association, these responsibilities extend not only to clients and
participants (especially children and vulnerable individuals), but to what other group?
A. Taxpayers
B. Marketing professionals*
C. Law enforcement
D. Competitors
Solution: B. Marketing research analysts driving business impact, but not at the expense of the
profession’s respect.
Section 6.4 LO2 Easy 1-2 minutes

01/12/23 8
Principles of Marketing

Short Answer Questions

Note: Responses to open-ended questions will vary. The sample answers provide some
elements or themes that a student might consider.
1. Collecting primary data through surveys is especially valuable because of its versatility. Of
the four types of survey delivery—mail, phone, in-person, and electronic—which has the
lowest response rate? Why?
[Solution: While electronic surveys are less time intensive and less expensive, they may be
construed as spam and have the lowest response rate. Mail surveys are expensive and result in
time delays. Phone surveys are time intensive, and the do-not-call registry or unknown
numbers may cause possible respondents to refuse to answer. In-person surveys are delicate to
administer when respondents are afraid of illness or don’t want to speak with strangers.]
Section 6.3 LO1 Difficult 7-9 minutes
2. Singh is a marketing research analyst for MidState University. Singh discovered an insight
when she reviewed national data indicating that public universities located in cities with
populations of 200,000 or more recruit an average of 10 percent of the high school
graduates who grew up in the university’s home city. When Singh reviewed internal data
showing that MidState has traditionally recruited only 6 percent of its city’s high school
graduates, her insight led to a change in admissions counselors’ recruitment focus. As a
marketer for MidState, what would you choose to do with this marketing insight?
[Solution: Host focus groups with current college students who grew up in MidState’s city,
develop a survey to email to a sample of students who grew up in MidState’s city, adjust the
proportion of social media messages for students living in MidState’s community, organize
more on-campus events for local high school students, schedule more frequent college fairs at
local high schools, etc.]
Section 6.2 LO2 Moderate 5-6 minutes
3. What are the most compelling reasons for a business to invest in statistical packages, data
collection efforts, and hiring marketing research analysts?
[Solution: Statistics can help marketing professionals understand markets, make decisions
about advertising strategy, set prices, and respond to changes in consumer demand. Statistical
analysis uses various forms of analytics to reveal relationships in data.]
Section 6.3 LO3 Moderate 4-5 minutes

01/12/23 9
Principles of Marketing

This file is copyright 2023, Rice University. All Rights Reserved.

01/12/23
10