Baby Boomers - the generation of people born between 1946 and 1959,
a period of explosive population growth in Australia.
Baby Bouncers - the generation of people who are the children of the
"baby boomers"; also referred to as Yuppie Puppies. See Baby
Boomers.
Backward Integration - a strategy for growth in which a company seeks
ownership of, or some measure of control over, its suppliers. See Forward
Integration; Horizontal Integration.
Backward Invention - an product strategy in international marketing
in which a company produces a less complex version of its domestic product
for developing and less-developed countries.
Backward Marketing Channel - see Reverse Marketing Channel.
Bagman - an eighteenth century term of British origin for a salesperson.
Bait Advertising - an advertising practice, now illegal in Australia,
in which attractive, low-priced goods, few or any of which are actually
in stock, are advertised to attract purchasers to a store or selling place.
Bait and Switch Pricing - advertising an item at an unrealistically
low price as "bait" to lure customers to a store or selling place
and then attempting to steer them to a higher-priced item.
Bait Pricing - advertising an item at an unrealistically low price as
"bait" to lure customers to a store or selling place. See Bait
and Switch Pricing.
Balance of Payments - the difference between the payments made to foreign
nations and the receipts from foreign nations in a given period.
Balance of Trade - the difference between the value of the goods and
services sold to foreign nations (exports) and the value of the goods and
services bought from foreign nations (imports) in a given period.
Balance Sheet Close - a closing technique in which the salesperson assists
an indecisive prospect to list on paper the "arguments for" and
"arguments against" a particular product choice. Also known as
the Benjamin Franklin Close. See Close.
Balanced Product Portfolio - a product strategy in which a firm maintains
an even combination of new, growing and mature products. See Product Life
Cycle
Banded Offers - see Banded Pack.
Banded Pack - a consumer sales promotion in which two related product
items are banded together and sold at a special price. See Price Packs.
Bar Code - an arrangement of lines and spaces in code form used to identify
a product by style, size, price, quality, quantity, etc. The code, read
by a scanning device, is used in marketing decision-making, including stock
control and inventory level adjustment.
Bar Code Scanners - see Scanner Systems.
Bargaining Power - the strength or influence one party has in a business
negotiation; the capacity of one party to dominate by virtue of its size
or position or by a combination of personality and negotiating tactics.
Barriers to Entry - see Access Barriers; Market Entry Barrier.
Barter - an exchange in which one good is traded for another; money
is not involved.
Bartering - exchanging goods for others of equal value.
Base-Point Pricing - a pricing method in which customers are charged
freight costs from a base point; the base-point may be chosen arbitrarily,
but the location of one of the company's manufacturing plants is commonly
used. Also called Basing-Point Pricing. See Delivered Pricing; Phantom
Freight.
Basic Accounting Equation - the balancing relationship between a firm's
assets and the sum of its liabilities and equity.
Basic Stock - the level of inventory required to meet the desired service
standard taking into account the expected rate of depletion and the order
lead time.
Basing-Point Pricing - see Base-Point Pricing.
Batchelor Stage - the first stage of the family life cycle. See Family
Life Cycle.
Battle of the Brands - a term used in reference to the often intense
competition between manufacturers' brands, wholesalers' brands and retailers'
brands. See Distributor's Brand; Manufacturer's Brand.
Bayesian Decision Theory
BCG - abbrev. Boston Consulting Group.
Behaviouristic Segmentation - the division of a market into groups according
to their knowledge of, and behaviour towards, a particular product. Behavioural
dimensions commonly used to segment markets include benefits sought, user
status, usage rate, loyalty status and buyer readiness stage. See Segmentation
Bases.
Bells and Whistles - the optional features built into a basic product
to satisfy or impress as large as possible a number of buyers; the term
"plain vanilla" is an equivalent slang term used to describe
a product with only the most basic features.
Belongingness and Love Needs - the desire for love and affection from
others. See Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Below-the-Line Advertising - all advertising by means other than the
five major media - the press, television, radio, cinema and outdoors; below-the-line
advertising employs a variety of methods - direct mail, sponsorship, merchandising,
trade shows, exhibitions, sales literature and catalogues, and so on. See
Above-the-Line Advertising.
Benchmark -
Benchmarking -
Benefit Segmentation - the division of a market into groups or segments
on the basis of the particular benefit sought by each group from a product.
See Behaviouristic Segmentation.
Benefit-in-Reserve Close - see Incentive Close.
Benefits Sought - the specific advantages looked for in products when
buyers purchase them. See Behaviouristic Segmentation.
Benjamin Franklin Close - see Balance Sheet Close.
BEP - abbrev. Break-Even Point.
Better Mousetrap Fallacy - the mistaken notion that if a company produces
a technically better product than its competitors it will be more successful
in the marketplace.
Bias - see Interviewer Bias.
Bidding - a pricing method in which selling organisations bid for a
buyer's custom; the bid is the seller's price offer.
Billings - the amount of money spent on media buying by advertising
agencies on behalf of clients.
Bird Dogs - individuals, sometimes junior salespeople, who seek out
sales leads and prospects for more experienced salespeople. See Prospects;
Sales Leads; Spotters.
Birdyback - a system of transportation requiring the transfer of containers
from truck to aeroplane. See Fishyback; Piggyback.
Black Box - a colloquial term for an electronic TV audience measurement
system; an audiometer; a "people-meter".
Black Box Model (of Consumer Behaviour) - a model used in the study
of the buying behaviour of consumers; the model assumes that what takes
place in the consumer's "black box" of the consumer's mind can
be inferred from a study of observed stimuli and responses.
Blanket Branding - see Family Brand.
Blanket Contract - see Blanket Purchase Order.
Blanket Purchase Order - a purchase arrangement in which a buyer contracts
with a supplier to take delivery of an agreed quantity of goods at a specified
price over a fixed period of time; also called a Blanket Contract.
Blocked Markets - markets, especially in foreign countries, to which
entry permission is refused, or in which it is not possible to compete
on reasonable terms.
Blue Sky Laws - legislation intended to prevent sales to gullible investors.
Body Copy - the desriptive paragraphs in a print advertisement (as opposed
to the headlines.
Body Language - a nonverbal form of communication in which posture,
facial expressions, hand movements, etc, convey a message from sender to
receiver. See Nonverbal Communication; Kinesic Communication; Proxemic
Communication; Tactile Communication.
Bonus Plan - a scheme for additional payments to salespeople to be made
at the discretion of management for a particular sales achievement.
Boomerang Method - hurling a buyer's objection back as a reason for
buying. If, for example, a buyer objects that he or she cannot afford the
item, a salesperson might answer, "Yes, but can you afford not to
buy it?"; sometimes referred to as the Translation Method. See Objections.
Booz, Allen and Hamilton - a U.S. based marketing consulting firm, especially
recognised for its studies of failure rates in new product introductions.
Boredom Avoidance - a term used to describe an approach to new product
introduction or product differentiation; that is, a new variety of a product
may be introduced merely to give consumers more choice; useful when the
cost of introducing a new product is low.
Boston Consulting Group - a Harvard-based marketing consultancy, best
known for its portfolio analysis technique devised in 1970. See Boston
Consulting Group Portfolio Analysis Matrix.
Boston Consulting Group Advantage Matrix - a marketing planning tool
devised by the Harvard-based Boston Consulting Group; taking as its axes
economies of scale and opportunities for differentiation, it indicates
an organisation's optimal competitive strategy.
Boston Consulting Group Portfolio Analysis Matrix - a tool, devised
by the Harvard-based Boston Consulting Group, for use in product and strategic
business unit (SBU) planning; the matrix, based on the percentage rate
of market growth per annum and the market share relative to the market
leader, allows the planner to categorise each product or SBU as a "Cash
Cow", "Star", "Question Marks" (or "Problem
Child") or "Dog", and to develop marketing strategies appropriate
to each category's propensity to generate, or use, cash. See Cash Cows;
Dogs; Question Marks; Stars.
Bottom Line - a colloquial term meaning "profits".
Bottom-Up Approach to Planning - a participative approach to planning
in which there is involvement at all levels; plans are developed at the
lower levels of an organisation and funnelled up through consecutive levels
until they reach top management. See Top-Down Approach to Planning.
Bottom-Up Approach to Promotion Budgeting - an approach to promotion
budgeting which takes as its basis the tasks that are thought to be necessary
to achieve the specified promotion objectives; these tasks are costed and
the total cost, when approved by top management, is the budget. See Objective
and Task Budgeting; Top-Down Approach to Promotion Budgeting.
Bottom-Up Approach to Sales Forecasting - an approach to sales forecasting
which takes market conditions rather than the company's objectives as its
basis; sometimes referred to as the "build-up" method. See Top-Down
Approach to Sales Forecasting.
Boundary-Spanning Role - the difficult dual role played by sales managers
and senior account managers who, in developing close relationships with
clients, must provide the link between company and customer.
Brainstorming - an idea generating process commonly used in new product
development; the process encourages open communication and full participation
by group members, while withholding any criticism. Evaluation takes place
after all ideas have been expressed. See Idea Generation; New Product Development.
Brand - a name, sign, symbol or design, or some combination of these,
used to identify a product and to differentiate it from competitors' products.
Brand Acceptance - see Brand Loyalty.
Brand Advertising - the featuring of a particular brand in media vehicles
in order to build strong, long-term consumer attitudes towards it.
Brand Authorisation - the obtaining of distribution and display, usually
of a consumer packaged good, through a retail outlet.
Brand Awareness - see Brand Familiarity.
Brand Competitors - competing brands of products which can satisfy a
consumer's wants almost equally as well as each other. See Competitors.
Brand Concept - the image that the brand sponsor wants a particular
brand to have; the desired positioning of the brand in the market and in
the minds of consumers.
Brand Conviction - the strong attitude or attachment consumers have
towards a particular brand.
Brand Development Index - a ratio of brand consumption intensity to
population intensity by country, state, city, region, etc.
Brand Equity - a term used in reference to the value of a well-known
brand; brand equity can greatly affect the buyout price of a company.
Brand Establishment - the building-up of a brand in the introductory
stage of the product's life cycle; brand establishment involves developing
an effective distribution network for the product and convincing consumers
to buy it. See Introductory Stage of the Product Life Cycle.
Brand Extension - the use of a well-known brand name to launch a new
product, of an unrelated category, into the market; also called Franchise
Extension.
Brand Familiarity - the awareness consumers have of a particular brand.
Brand Family - See Family Brand.
Brand Franchise - the loyalty that attaches to a well-managed brand.
See Brand Extension.
Brand Harvesting - decreasing marketing expenditure on a brand to zero,
or to a minimal level, when sales and profits begin to decline, relying
on its purchase by loyal customers to sustain it; brand harvesting (which
often precedes total elimination of the brand) is usually undertaken to
free up cash with which to pursue new market opportunities.
Brand Identification Decisions - decisions relating to the type of brand
to give to a product; four brand identity alternatives are available -
single brand name ("Pal" dog food), product-line brand name (Sears'
Kenmore home appliance range), corporate brand name ("Kellogg's Sustain")
and corporate family name ("Heinz Baked Beans"). See Individual
Brand; Family Brand; Corporate Branding, Product-Line Brand Name; Single
Brand Name.
Brand Image - the feelings, moods, emotions and connotations evoked
by a brand.
Brand Insistence - the stage of brand loyalty where the buyer will accept
no alternative and will search extensively for the required brand. See
Brand Preference; Brand Recognition.
Brand Label - a label which gives the brand name of the product.
Brand Leveraging - broadening a company's product range by introducing
additional forms or types of products under a brand name which is already
successful in another category. Also called Product Leveraging, Brand Extension
and Franchise Extension.
Brand Licensing - the leasing of the use of a brand to another company.
Brand Life Cycle - a concept, building on the product life cycle concept,
which states that brands also have a life cycle - introduction, growth,
maturity, decline - and that particular brand management strategies are
appropriate at each stage. See Product Life Cycle.
Brand Loyalists - consumers who remain loyal to a brand over a long
period of time. See Brand Loyalty; Brand Promiscuity; Brand Switching.
Brand Loyalty - a measure of the degree to which a buyer recognises,
prefers and insists upon a particular brand; brand loyalty results from
continued satisfaction with a product considered important and gives rise
to repeat purchases of products with little thought but with high-involvement.
See High-Involvement Products.
Brand Manager - an individual given responsibility for planning and
co-ordinating the firm's marketing activities related to a single brand.
Brand Map - see Perceptual Mapping.
Brand Mark - the part of a brand which can be seen but not spoken; the
logo, symbol or design that forms part of the brand. See Brand Name.
Brand Monopoly - a circumstance in which a particular brand dominates
a market.
Brand Name - the part of a brand which can be spoken. It may include
words, letters or numbers. See Brand Mark.
Brand Personality - the feeling that people have about a brand as distinct
from what the product can actually do.
Brand Positioning Map
Brand Power - the force a particular brand has to dominate its category
through the magnitude of its recognition.
Brand Preference - the stage of brand loyalty at which a buyer will
select a particular brand but will choose a competitor's brand if the preferred
brand is unavailable. See Brand Insistence; Brand Recognition.
Brand Promiscuity - consumer buying behaviour marked by an absence of
brand loyalty. See Brand Loyalty.
Brand Protection - legislation forbidding other firms from using a company's
registered brand names or brand marks without permission.
Brand Recognition - the stage of brand loyalty at which the buyer is
aware of the existence of a particular brand but has no preference for
it. See Brand Insistence; Brand Preference.
Brand Reinforcement - activity associated with getting consumers who
have tried a particular brand to become repeat purchasers and with attracting
new users; brand reinforcement is a key objective of the growth stage of
the product's life cycle. See Growth Stage of the Product Life Cycle.
Brand Repositioning - changing the appeal of a brand in order for it
to attract new market segments; brand repositioning may or may not involve
modifying the product.
Brand Revitalisation - strategy employed when a brand has reached maturity
and profits begin to decline; approaches to revitalisation may include
one or all of market expansion, product modification or brand repositioning.
Brand Revival - the resurrection of a brand that is being harvested
or which has previously been eliminated; brand revival, where the brand
name is still strong, is often a less costly strategy than the creation
of a new brand and may provide a firm with a significant advantage in a
mature market.
Brand Sponsor - the manufacturer, wholesaler or retailer who owns the
brand. See Distributor's Brand; Generic Brand; Manufacturer's Brand.
Brand Strategies - decision-making for the effective handling of brands;
three general branding strategies are available - a single brand for all
of the organisation's products, family branding, or the use of individual
brand names for all products. See Corporate Branding; Family Brand; Individual
Brand Name.
Brand Switching - the changing of support and conviction for one brand
to a competing brand. See Brand Loyalty.
Breadth of Product Line - see Width of Product Line.
Break-Even - the point at which total revenue is equal to total cost.
Break-Even Analysis - a method of determining the number of units of
a product that must be sold at a given price in order to recover the total
cost of production.
Breakthrough Opportunities - opportunities that are seen by innovative
firms which develop hard-to-imitate marketing strategies that are very
profitable for a long time; less creative firms adopt risk-avoiding "me-too"
strategies. See Follow-the-Leader Strategy.
Brinkmanship - a term used in negotiating in which one party bluffs
or pushes the other to the very limit on price, terms, conditions, etc
and refuses to concede further; the second party must call the bluff at
the risk of losing the business.
Broad Assortment - an assortment strategy in which a reseller decides
to carry a wide range of related product lines. See Assortment Strategies;
Deep Assortment; Exclusive Assortment; Scrambled Assortment.
Broadening Concept - the extension of marketing as a business philosophy
to encompass the marketing activities of non-profit organisations. See
Non-Profit Marketing.
Broker - a marketing intermediary or middleman between buyer and seller;
an agent. See Agent.
Browngoods - a classification of consumer durables which includes television
sets, radios and hi-fi equipment. See Whitegoods.
Buddy System - an on-the-job sales training method in which an experienced
salesperson is responsible for the training of a new salesperson. See Curbside
Training; Formal Training; On-the-Job Training.
Budget Determination - see Advertising Budget Determination.
Budgeting - the process of financial planning of income and expenditure
for the firm's various activities - marketing, promotion, advertising,
personal selling, etc.
Budgeting Models - see Computer Modelling.
Build Strategy - decision-making aimed at increasing market penetration
of existing products into existing markets or new markets or both.
Bundled Pricing - see Bundling.
Bundling - the practice of offering two or more products or services
as a single package at a special price; also referred to as Bundled Pricing.
See Unbundling.
Burst Advertising Expenditure - a concentration of advertising expenditure
over a limited time period. - See Drip Advertising Expenditure.
Business Analysis - a stage in the new product development process in
which the information gathered in the screening, concept development and
testing and marketing planning stages is used to produce break-even and
return-on-investment projections. See New Product Development.
Business Cycles - historical patterns of prevailing economic conditions
- prosperity, recession, depression and recovery.
Business Guides - journals, periodicals, magazines etc. containing information
about the size, product range, personnel, etc. of companies.
Business Mix - the combination of businesses in which a firm is engaged.
Business Plan - a blueprint for building a company, containing a definition
of the company's mission, identified opportunities, objectives, strategies
and action plans and control and evaluation measures.
Business Portfolio Analysis Matrix - a tool used in business analysis
as a means of classifying a firm's products or business units for strategic
planning purposes. See Boston Consulting Group Portfolio Analysis Matrix;
General Electric Strategic Business Portfolio Planning Grid.
Business Strength - a measure of the ability a firm has to compete successfully
in a particular market.
Business-To-Business Marketing - see Industrial Marketing.
Buy Classes - buying situations categorised according to the prior experience
of the buyer with the product and supplier; buy classes can be classified
as straight rebuys, modified rebuys and new tasks. See Modified Rebuy;
New Task Buying; Straight Rebuy.
Buyer - the individual who handles the actual purchase in a buying decision;
a purchasing officer. See Buying Centre.
Buyer Action Theory - a traditional point of view holding that a prospect
buys after being guided through certain mental processes by a salesperson.
See AIDA Concept; Buyer Resolution Theory; Formula Approach.
Buyer Behaviour - the study of consumers and organisations in relation
to their purchase decisions. See Consumer Behaviour; Organisational Buying
Behaviour.
Buyer Dissonance - see Cognitive Dissonance.
Buyer Intention Forecast - a method of predicting future demand for
a product by asking potential buyers for their likely requirements.
Buyer Involvement - a measure of the time and effort a buyer is prepared
to devote to the purchase of a particular item. See High-Involvement Products;
Low-Involvement Products.
Buyer Readiness Stage - the state of preparedness or willingness in
which an individual consumer may be in regard to the purchase of a particular
product; the stages are commonly listed as awareness; knowledge; liking;
preference; conviction and purchase.
Buyer Resolution Theory - the idea that a buyer decides to purchase
only after mentally resolving five specific issues - need, product, source,
price, and timing.
Buyer's Market - a market in which there is an abundance of a particular
good or service for sale.
Buyer-Seller Dyad - the two-way flow of communication between buyer
and seller.
Buyer-Seller Interdependence - the close relationship between buyers
and sellers, especially in organisational markets, where buyers become
highly dependent on sellers for assured supply and delivery.
Buying Allowance - a trade sales promotion in which buyers are offered
a price reduction for each carton, case, etc. purchased during the period
of the promotion. See Allowances.
Buying Centre - everyone within an organisation who participates in
a buying decision; categories of participants within the buying centre
are commonly referred to as users, influencers, deciders, buyers and gatekeepers.
See Buyers; Deciders; Gatekeepers; Influencers; Users.
Buying Committee - a group within a retailing organisation or chain
which has responsibility for the purchase of merchandise for resale.
Buying Cycle - the time taken by an organisation to complete its decision
to buy.
Buying Power - the resources, especially financial, that customers have
at a given time.
Buying Signals - signs or indications, verbal or nonverbal, that tell
a salesperson that the buyer is ready to buy.
Buying Situations - see Buy Classes.
By-Product - a secondary product produced during the process of manufacturing
another.
By-Product Pricing - a pricing method used in situations where a saleable
by-product results in the manufacturing process. If the by-product has
little value, and is costly to dispose of, it will probably not affect
the pricing of the main product; if, on the other hand, the by-product
has significant value, the manufacturer may derive a competitive advantage
by charging a lower price for its main product.
