C-Type Response - a response to an advertisement or an advertising campaign
which is immediately obvious. See S-Type Response.
Call - a visit to a client or prospective buyer by a sales representative
to gather information, make a sales presentation, secure an order, etc.
Call Planning - the arrangement of a sales representative's visits to
buyers into an orderly sequence, the setting of objectives, and the formulation
of strategies for each call.
Call Report - a written record of sales calls made by a representative
for submission to a supervisor. See Call.
Call-Back Approach - making a second or subsequent attempt to sell to
a particular buyer, usually presenting the product from an entirely new
angle. See Call.
CALLPLAN - an interactive computer program for determining the optimal
number of calls to be made on each of a salesperson's accounts. See Call.
Canned Approach - see Stimulus-Response Approach.
Cannibalisation - the loss of sales of an existing product to a new
offering in the product line. See Planned Cannibalisation; Unplanned Cannibalisation.
Capital Items - long-lived business assets (buildings, plant and equipment,
etc) of a firm.
Capitalist System - see Free Market System.
Captioned Photograph - a photograph with a brief description of its
contents, frequently issued by public relations personnel with news releases
or feature articles.
Captive Product - a product made specifically to be used with another,
such as a refill with a ball-point pen, a blade with a razor, a battery
with a torch, etc.
Carload Freight Rate - a special rate offered to companies by railways
to encourage them to ship in carload (c.l.) rather than less-than-carload
(l.c.l.) quantities.
Carrying Costs - costs associated with maintaining inventory, such as
financing, storage, insurance and obsolescence.
Carryover Effect in Advertising - the rate at which the effectiveness
of an advertising campaign diminishes with the passing of time; for example,
an advertising campaign this month may have a carryover effect of .50 next
month.
Cartel - a group of firms (or nations) attempting to act as a monopoly
to control the market price.
Case Allowance - discount allowed on products sold to retailers to encourage
them to purchase in larger quantities. See Allowances.
Cash-and-Carry Wholesalers
Cash Cows - products or strategic business units within the organisation's
mix which are characterised by high market share and low market growth;
Cash Cows produce the revenue required to develop and support less successful
or newer products. See Boston Consulting Group Portfolio Analysis Matrix;
Dogs; Question Marks; Stars.
Cash Discount - a reduction in price offered to a buyer in return for
prompt settlement of account. See Discount.
Cash Flow - the money required by a company to meet expenses in a given
period.
Cash Rebate - money refunded to customers who buy merchandise from retailers
within a specified time; the rebate allows dealers to clear inventories
without cutting list price. For example, a new car dealer might announce
that everyone who purchases a certain vehicle in the current month at the
regular price of $25,000 will receive a cash rebate of $2,000.
Cash Refund Offers -
Casual Product Classes - broad classifications of products used to describe
markets in everyday terms, eg. the pet food market, the photocopier market,
the breakfast foods market, etc. See Standard Product Classes.
Catalogue Marketing - a form of direct marketing in which customers
order from catalogues which are sent to them by mail; the ordered goods
are shipped directly to them.
Catalogue Showroom - see Catalogue Retailer.
Catalogue Retailer - retailers who mail catalogues to their customers
and maintain showrooms where samples of the products for sale are displayed;
orders are filled from back-room warehouses. Also called Mail Order House.
Category Manager - an individual responsible for the marketing strategies
of all the brands in a product line; also referred to as a Product Line
Manager.
Causal Research - marketing research which examines the cause-and-effect
relationship among variables.
Caveat Emptor - a Latin term meaning "let the buyer beware".
The term implies that it is the customer's responsibility rather than
the seller's to ensure that the goods or services offered for sale are
able to deliver the desired satisfactions. Caveat Emptor is totally contrary
to the marketing concept. See Caveat Vendor.
CBD - abbrev. Central Business District.
Ceiling Price - see Price Ceiling.
Celebrity Endorsements - see Celebrity Testimonials.
Celebrity Testimonials - advertisements featuring endorsements of products
by well-known personalities from the field of entertainment, sport, politics,
etc.
Census - the collection of data from all possible sources in a population.
Central Business District - the region of a city where retail and other
businesses are concentrated, with a consequent high volume of traffic.
Centralised Exchange System - a system for the trading of goods which
utilises a central market. See Decentralised Exchange System.
Centre-of-Influence Method - a prospecting method based on referrals;
a salesperson uses influential people (bankers, solicitors, consultants,
etc) to obtain leads to potential buyers. See Key Influence People.
Cents-Off Deal - see Price Packs.
Chain Store - a group of retail stores, centrally owned and managed,
generally carrying the same kind of merchandise.
Channel - see Marketing Channels.
Channel Captain - a member of a marketing channel assuming a leadership
role in organising the system in order to lessen conflict, achieve economies
of scale and maximise business impact. See Marketing Channels.
Channel Conflict - discord among members in a marketing channel. See
Horizontal Channel Conflict; Inter-type Channel Conflict; Marketing Channels;
Vertical Channel Conflict.
Channel Flows - the flow of physical goods and services, title, promotion,
information and payment along a channel of distribution. See Marketing
Channels.
Channel Leadership - see Channel Captain.
Channel Length - the number of levels of marketing intermediaries used
in the channel of distribution. See Direct Marketing Channel; One Level
Channel; Two Level Channel; Zero Level Channel.
Channel Levels - see Channel Length.
Channel Mix - the degree of intensivity selected for the distribution
of a product. See Exclusive Distribution; Intensive Distribution; Selective
Distribution.
Channel of Distribution - see Marketing Channels.
Channel Power - the circumstances - economic or social - that allow
one channel member to control another. See Channel Captain.
Channel Strategy - decision-making related to the selection of the most
appropriate method of controlling the flow of goods or services from producer
to end-user.
Channel System - a method of linking customers and intermediaries by
means of an integrated communication network, providing instant ordering,
better cost analysis, better inventory control, etc.
Chlorofluorocarbons - chemical substances believed to deplete the protective
ozone layer of the earth's upper atmosphere; used until recently in refrigerants
and in numerous aerosol products.
Choice Set - the final set of brands from which a consumer makes a purchase
choice after some brands in the awareness set have been considered and
rejected. See Awareness Set.
CIF - abbrev. Cost, Insurance and Freight.
CIF Pricing - see Cost-Insurance-Freight Pricing.
Citizen Action Public - one of the several types of public which may
influence an organisation's decision-making; a group within a community
which may exert pressure on an organisation to act in a certain way; pressure
groups. See Pressure Group; Publics.
Class Rate - the standard charge for the shipment of goods by a carrier.
Classical Conditioning
Classified Advertising - print media advertising in which similar goods
and services are grouped together in categories under appropriate headings.
Clincher - an additional inducement offered to a potential buyer by
a salesperson in order to close a sale; inducements might include price
discounts, rebates, extended credit, reduced delivery charges, etc.
Close - the critical stage in the selling process when the salesperson
attempts to obtain the buyer's commitment to the purchase.
Closed Promotion - a sales promotion which is available only to a specific,
high-potential target; for example, a bank might wish to target graduating
university students and send coupons to them by mail. See Open Promotion.
Closed Territory - an exclusive territory assigned to a reseller by
a manufacturer; the reseller is required to sell only to customers within
the territory. Closed territories are generally illegal under the Trade
Practices Act.
Closed-End Question - a question which allows a respondent to choose
an answer from a given list. See Open-End Question.
Closing - the act of gaining a commitment to purchase from a buyer;
getting an order.
Closing Signals - see Buying Signals.
Closing Skill - the ability of a salesperson to obtain the buyer's
commitment to the purchase.
Closing Techniques - methods employed by a salesperson when asking for
an order and aimed at obtaining a favourable response from a buyer.
Cluster Analysis - a multivariate statistical technique used to identify
entities with similar characteristics from those without them.
Cluster Sample - a form of probability sample where respondents are
drawn from a random sample of mutually exclusive groups (usually geographic
areas) within a total population; also called an area sample. See Stratified
Sample.
Clutter - All non-programming time on radio and TV; this includes time
given to advertsing commercials, station or channel promotions, station
or channel identifications and program credits. Excessively high clutter
levels may result in audience tune-out. See Clutter Level; Audience Tune-Out.
Clutter Level - See Clutter; Audience Tune-Out.
Cognitive Dissonance - a doubt that surfaces when a buyer becomes aware
that an alternative product may offer more desirable benefits than the
one purchased. The buyer wonders whether the right choice has been made.
Cold Calling - making a sales call on a client without an appointment.
Cold Canvassing - see Cold Calling
Collusion - agreement between a group of companies to fix a common price.
See Cartel.
Combination Branding - emphasising a corporate or family name as well
as an individual brand name in product marketing. See Corporate Branding;
Family Brand.
Command System - see Planned Economy; Controlled Allocation System.
Commercial - a television advertisement .
Commercial Traveller - a late nineteenth century term of American origin
for a salesperson.
Commercialisation - the final stage of the new product development
process in which the decision is made to put the new product into full
scale production and to launch it. See New Product Development; Product
Launch.
Commission - a payment made to a salesperson based on a percentage of
the value of the goods sold.
Commission Override - a commission paid to a sales manager based on
a percentage of his or her salespeople's commissions.
Commodity Markets - markets typified by the homogeneity of products
and a virtual irrelevance of branding.
Commodity Product - a product that cannot be significantly differentiated
from competitors' products.
Commodity Rate - a rate which is applied in any situation where freight
is product specific rather than based on volume or weight; also called
a Special Rate.
Common Carrier - regular scheduled transportation services such as railways,
airlines and trucking lines, available to all users.
Common Market - a group of geographically associated countries limiting
trade barriers among member nations and applying common tariffs to products
from non-members; also known as regional trading blocks. See European
Common Market.
Communicability - the extent to which the benefits of a new product
are likely to be noticed and discussed by consumers; a major determinant
of the rate of new product adoption.
Communication Effect of Advertising - the influence that an advertisement
or some other form of promotional activity might have, is having, or has
had, on consumers or on the usage of a product advertised. See Advertising
Effectiveness.
Communication Process - the process by which a message, encoded by a
sender, is transmitted through a medium to a receiver, who encodes the
message and provides feedback.
Communications - see Marketing Communication.
Company Mission - see Corporate Mission.
Comparative Advertising - advertising in which a firm names a competitor's
product and compares it with its own; also called Comparison Advertising.
See Competitive Advertising.
Comparative Influence - one of three types of influence exerted on consumers
(with informational influence and normative influence) by reference groups;
comparative influence occurs when the reference group provides the means
by which consumers compare their beliefs, attitudes and behaviour - the
more similarity there is between a consumer's opinions and those of his
or her reference group, the greater the comparative influence of that group.
See Reference Group; Informative Influence; Normative Influence.
Comparison Advertising - see Comparative Advertising.
Comparison Pricing - a pricing method in which the price for a new product
is set by comparing the benefits it offers to those of other products in
the same category.
Compatibility - the extent to which a new product requires consumers
to adjust to unfamiliar methods of use; a major determinant of the rate
of new product adoption. See Adoption Rate Determinants.
Compensation - remuneration for work done on behalf of another.
Compensation Method - handling a buyer's objection by admitting the
validity of the objection but pointing out some advantage that compensates
for it. See Objections.
Compensation Systems - schemes for remunerating salespeople for tasks
performed; commonly used systems include straight salary, straight commission,
and a combination of salary and incentives.
Competition - see Competitors.
Competition-Oriented Pricing - a method of pricing in which a manufacturer's
price is determined more by the price of a similar product sold by a powerful
competitor than by considerations of consumer demand and cost of production.
See Cost-Plus Pricing; Target Return Pricing; Value Pricing.
Competitive Advantage - that which one firm can do better than another
to satisfy consumer needs and wants.
Competitive Advertising - advertising which points out features of a
brand which may not be available in other brands but does not directly
name a competitor. See Comparative Advertising.
Competitive Analysis - the assessment of the strengths and weaknesses
of competing firms.
Competitive Attack Strategies - options available for attacking a competitor;
these include a frontal attack (head-on), a flanking attack (attack at
a point of weakness), an encirclement attack (attack on several fronts
at once), a by-pass attack (attack by diversifying into new territories,
products or technologies) and a guerilla attack (attack by waging small,
intermittent skirmishes).
Competitive Bidding - a process in which buyers request potential suppliers
to submit quotations or tenders for a proposed purchase or contract.
Competitive Depositioning - attempting to change the beliefs of buyers
about the attributes of a competitor's product; the attempt may be especially
useful in cases where buyers generally have an inflated perception of the
quality of a competitor's product. See Market Positioning.
Competitive Environment - that part of the company's external environment
which consists of other firms vying for patronage of the same market.
Competitive Equilibrium - a market situation of relatively stable competitive
position and activity.
Competitive Myopia - marketing short-sightedness in regard to the activity
of competitors.
Competitive Niche - a segment in a market in which a company can compete
effectively.
Competitive Parity Budgeting - a method of allocating a promotion budget
based on matching the activity of a major competitor.
Competitive Position - an organisation's ranking in its industry by
size and business strength; hypothetically, each competitor may be classified
as a market leader, market challenger, market follower, or market nicher,
according to the market share it holds.
Competitive Scope - the breadth or narrowness of an organisation's focus
as measured horizontally by the range of industries, market segments, or
geographical regions it targets, or vertically by the degree to which it
is integrated.
Competitive Situation - the standing of an organisation in its markets,
relative to its competitors, when all players are described in terms of
their size, resources, capabilities, product range and quality, marketing
strategies, opportunities, goals, intentions, behaviour and similar variables.
See Competitive Position.
Competitive Strategy - planning intended to give a company a competitive
advantage over its competitors.
Competitors - firms vying for patronage of the same market. See Brand
Competitors; Enterprise Competitors; Generic Competitors; Product-Form
Competitors; Service-Form Competitors.
Complementary Product Pricing - the pricing of one product at the optimum
level, regardless of cost or profit considerations, so that the demand
for another product which is used with it will increase and so maximise
the profits from both products together.
Complete Segmentation - the division of a market into segments consisting
of individual customers and tailoring a product and marketing program for
each. See Custom Marketing; Customised Marketing Mix; Disaggregated Market.
Complex Decision Making - in consumer behaviour, buying which is associated
with the purchasing of high-involvement products which are important to
the consumer and therefore require considerable thought and effort. Also
referred to as Extensive Problem Solving. See High-Involvement Products.
Complexity - the degree of difficulty which a purchaser of a new product
has in understanding it; a major determinant of the rate of new product
adoption. See Adoption Rate Determinants.
Computer Modelling - constructing and manipulating computer-based simulations
of marketing situations to examine the consequences of alternative courses
of action; computer models, often developed from an analysis of historical
data, may be used to determine the optimum level of advertising and other
promotional expenditure, etc. See Advertising Budget Determination.
Concentrated Marketing - a marketing segmentation strategy in which
the firm concentrates its entire efforts and resources on serving one segment
of the market; also called Niche Marketing.
Concentrated Segmentation Strategy - one of four possible segmentation
strategies (with market segment expansion strategy, product line expansion
strategy and differentiated segmentation strategy); in a concentrated segmentation
strategy a firm targets one product to one segment of the market. See
Segmentation Strategies; Market Segment Expansion Strategy; Product Line
Expansion Strategy; Differentiated Segmentation.
Concentric Diversification - a growth strategy in which a company seeks
to develop by adding new products, also called convergent diversification,
to its existing product lines to attract new customers. See Conglomerate
Diversification; Horizontal Diversification.
Concept Development and Testing - a two-phase stage in the development
of a new product in which potential buyers are presented first with the
idea or description of the new product (concept testing) and later with
the product itself in final or prototype form (product testing), in order
to obtain their reaction. See Product Testing; New Product Development.
Conference Selling - a selling situation in which a salesperson enlists
the assistance of other people in the company (technicians, engineers,
etc.) in meeting with a group of buyers from different firms to explain
a new product or discuss problems and opportunities. See Group Selling;
Team Selling.
Conglomerate Diversification - a growth strategy in which a company
seeks to develop by adding totally unrelated products and markets to its
existing business. See Concentric Diversification; Horizontal Diversification.
Conjoint Analysis - a statistical technique used to determine the optimal
combination of variables.
Conjunctive Model (of Brand Evaluation) - the idea that consumers establish
minimum attribute levels which acceptable brands must possess; when about
to make a purchase, they will consider only those brands that exhibit a
conjunction of all the minimum requirements. Other models of brand evaluation
include the expectancy-value model, ideal brand model, disjunctive model,
lexicographic model and determinance model.
Consequence Probes - verbal tactics used by a salesperson to illustrate
the disadvantages to a buyer of not making a particular purchase.
Consideration Set - see Evoked Set.
Consultative Selling - an approach to personal selling emphasising the
role of the salesperson as consultant; the salesperson assists the buyer
to identify needs and find need-satisfactions in the product range, seeking
to build long-term customer relationships leading to repeat business.
See Relationship Selling.
Consumables - see Consumer Non-Durables.
Consumer Attitudes - see Attitudes.
Consumer Behaviour - the behaviour of individuals when buying goods
and services for their own use or for private consumption.
Consumer Credit - finance made available by leading companies to consumers
for purchases with arrangements having been made for the loan to be repaid
with interest.
Consumer Durables - a classification of consumer products consisting
of goods with a long useful life, such as cars, electrical appliances and
furniture. See Consumer Non-Durables.
Consumer Franchise - the understanding consumers have of a brand. See
Franchise-Building Sales Promotions.
Consumer Goods - items purchased by consumers for personal and household
use; consumer goods are classified as durables and non-durables. See Convenience
Goods; Shopping Goods; Specialty Goods; Unsought Goods.
Consumer Market - buyers and potential buyers of goods and services
for personal and household use.
Consumer Needs - Forces directed to specific goals that can be achieved by purchase behaviour. The motive force for directing to one brand or another.
Consumer Non-Durables - a classification of frequently purchased consumer
goods; non-durables are items which are consumed in one use or a few uses;
expendables. Consumer non-durables are further sub-divided into packaged
and non-packaged goods. See Consumer Durables; Packaged Goods; Non-Packaged
Goods.
Consumer Product Classes - categories of goods and services bought by
consumers for their personal use; classes include convenience goods, shopping
goods, specialty goods, unsought goods, and services.
Consumer Research - marketing research into the requirements, opinions,
attitudes, etc. of consumers.
Consumer Rights - fair entitlements due to consumers when buying from
producers and resellers.
Consumer Sales Promotion - promotional activity - excluding advertising,
personal selling and publicity - intended to motivate potential purchasers
of personal and household products to buy.
Consumer Wearout - a decrease in the effectiveness of an advertisement
or promotional campaign due to boredom and familiarity.
Consumerism - a social movement intended to safeguard the rights of
consumers.
Consummatory Advertising - advertising which stresses the benefits of
taking immediate action to purchase.
Contactual Reference Group - a group with which an individual has contact
and which influences the individual's purchase decisions. See Aspirational
Group; Dissociative Reference Group; Membership Group; Reference Groups.
Containerisation - the transportation of unitised and palletised goods
by means of large crates or containers. See Palletisation; Unitisation.
Contests - a form of sales promotion in which consumers are induced
to buy earlier, or in greater quantity, by the offer of prizes of cash
or merchandise to be won in a competition. See Sales Promotion.
Contingent Method - see "What if..." Method (of handling sales
objections.)
Continuity - the scheduling of media exposures of a particular advertisement
or campaign evenly within a given period. See Flighting; Pulsing.
Continuous Marketing Research - on-going marketing research (as opposed
to that conducted for a specific purpose.) See Ad Hoc Marketing Research.
Continuum of Planning - the idea that planning is a multi-level process,
beginning at the top with corporate planning and going downwards through
all divisions of the firm, with each subsequent level linked to the one
above it by the over-riding mission and objectives of the corporation.
Continuum of Sales Jobs - the idea that all kinds of sales jobs are
similar in some respects but vary in the degree of difficulty involved;
the difficulty is linked to the amount of creativity required in finding
new customers and persuading them to buy, and to the tangibility and complexity
of the product.
Contract Carrier - a transportation firm operating exclusively in one
industry and contracted to particular firms.
Contract Law - the body of law relating to contracts.
Contract Manufacturing - the production and marketing by agreement of
a company's product by an overseas firm.
Contract Rate - a charge negotiated between carrier and shipper for
the transportation of a commodity; sometimes called a Negotiated Rate.
Contractual Sales Force - salespeople who are not full or part-time
paid representatives of a company but who sell for it on a commission basis.
Contractual Vertical Marketing System - a form of vertical marketing
system in which independent firms at different levels of distribution are
tied together by contract to achieve economies of scale and greater sales
impact. See Administered Vertical Marketing System; Corporate Vertical
Marketing System; Vertical Marketing System.
Control-Oriented Pricing - a system of pricing in which a product's
price is controlled by government or by some regulating body.
Controlled Allocation System - see Planned Economy; Command System.
Convenience Goods - a category of consumer goods which are bought frequently,
quickly and with a minimum of emotional involvement; the category includes
staples, impulse goods and emergency goods. See Consumer Product; Emergency
Goods; Impulse Goods; Staples.
Convenience Product - a category of consumer product purchased frequently
and with little thought and effort.
Convenience Sample - a form of nonprobability sample in which the researcher
selects readily available respondents.
Convenience Store - a neighbourhood store which stocks frequently purchased
items such as milk, bread and cigarettes.
Convergent Diversification - Disversification into related businesses.
See Concentric Diversification; Divergent Acquisition; Diversification.
Conversional Marketing - marketing activity intended to get people to
change their ideas and attitudes about something they dislike.
Cooling-Off Period - a short period of time, usually a few days, in
which purchasers of a product may void a sale contract if they change their
minds about purchasing the goods offered.
Cooperative Advertising - advertising sponsored by two or more organisations
to promote the goods or services of each.
Copy Strategy Statement - a document prepared by advertising agency
executives as a guide for their creative staff in the preparation and execution
of an advertisement; the copy strategy statement describes the objectives,
content, support and tone of the desired advertisement.
Copy Testing - the pre-testing of advertising copy for print advertisements,
usually by giving respondents a portfolio of dummy advertisements in a
magazine format and asking them to recall copy points; or the post-testing
of advertising copy, usually by asking respondents to look through an actual
magazine and then comment on advertisements they remember.
Copycat Product - a product that has been designed, branded or packaged
to look exactly like that of a well-established competitor; a cheap imitation.
Copyright - protection in law afforded to authors, musicians, artists,
etc. in respect to the works they have created.
Core Product - the intangible benefit or service offered by a product;
for example, the core product offered to a purchaser of shampoo is clean,
healthy hair. See Actual Product; Augmented Product.
Corporate Advertising - a form of institutional advertising focussing
not on a particular product or product range but on the organisation itself;
the objective of corporate advertising may be patronage, image or issue.
See Corporate Image Advertising; Corporate Issue Advertising; Corporate
Patronage Advertising; Institutional Advertising.
Corporate Branding - associating the name of a corporation with the
individual brand name in product marketing, usually to ensure that new
product introductions will be more readily accepted; differs from family
branding in that corporate branding is used for all products of the company
or division rather than merely for a family of brands. See Family Brand;
Individual Brand; Individual Brand Name; Product Line Brand Name; Single
Brand Name.
Corporate Culture - the particular strategies, style, systems, environment
and shared values within an organisation which contribute to its individuality.
Corporate Family Name - see Family Brand.
Corporate Image - the identity or perception of itself that an organisation
attempts to convey to its publics, usually through corporate advertising.
See Corporate Advertising; Corporate Image Advertising.
Corporate-Image Advertising - advertising aimed at establishing an identity
for a firm in the public mind. See Corporate Advertising; Corporate Image.
Corporate-Issue Advertising - advertising in which an organisation states
publicly its position on a controversial issue. See Advocacy Advertising;
Corporate Advertising.
Corporate Logo - a mark, design, symbol, etc. used to identify, and
reflect an appropriate image of a company or organisation; a form of institutional
reminder advertising.
Corporate Mission Statement - the answer to the question "What
business are we in?"; the corporate mission statement, with a broad
focus and a customer orientation, provides management with a sense of purpose.
Corporate Objectives - specific, realistic and measurable goals which
an organisation plans to achieve within a given period of time.
Corporate-Patronage Advertising - advertising which encourages customers
to patronise the firm. See Corporate Advertising.
Corporate Planning - planning at the highest level in an organisation,
involving an analysis of the current situation, the setting of objectives,
the formulation of strategies and tactics, implementation and evaluation.
See Strategic Planning.
Corporate Sponsorship - a form of below-the-line advertising in which
a corporation offers funding to a group, association, sporting body, etc.
in return for a range of promotional opportunities. See Below-the-Line
Advertising.
Corporate Strategic Planning - see Strategic Planning.
Corporate Umbrella - a term used in reference to the use made of the
corporate name and corporate image as a shield for new product introductions,
etc.
Corporate Vertical Marketing System - a system of distribution channel
organisation in which the orderly flow of products from producer to end-user
is controlled by common ownership of the different levels of the system.
See Administered Vertical Marketing System; Contractual Vertical Marketing
System; Vertical Marketing System.
Corrective Advertising - advertising to correct erroneous claims or
misleading messages in previous promotional announcements.
Correlation Techniques - a range of statistical techniques used to discover
relationships between diverse elements in a marketing situation.
Cost Advantage - the competitive edge which can be gained by one company
over another by reducing production or marketing costs or both so that
it can offer cheaper prices or use excess profits to bolster promotion
or distribution. See Absolute Cost Advantage; Marketing Advantage.
Cost of Goods Sold - the price paid by a company for the goods it sells
to its customers.
Cost-Insurance-Freight Pricing - a pricing approach common in exporting;
the price quoted to the buyer includes "cost, insurance and freight".
Cost Leadership Advantage
Cost-Per-Thousand Criterion - a measure for comparing the cost effectiveness
of media vehicles, calculated by dividing the cost of an advertisement
in a particular medium by the number of thousands of its circulation.
Cost-Plus Pricing - a simple method of pricing in which a specified
amount or percentage, known as the standard mark-up, is added to the unit
cost of production of an item to determine its selling price. See Competition-Oriented
Pricing; Target Return Pricing; Value Pricing.
Cost/Profit Analysis - a sales management control measure involving
the calculation of expenditure incurred in making sales; profitability
analysis.
Counsellor Approach - see Adviser Close.
Counter Advertising - advertising sponsored by pressure groups in opposition
to certain products.
Counterfeiting - the copying of a competitor's well-known products.
Some counterfeit products are intended to look as much like the original
as possible, including the brand name; others are close, but not exact,
copies; still others are cheap and unconvincing imitations. Counterfeiting
is generally illegal.
Countermarketing - marketing activity intended to abolish interest in,
and demand for, a product.
Countertrade - a system of international trade based on bartering; such
transactions may or may not involve cash payments.
Coupon - a popular form of sales promotion, distributed on the package
of the product, by direct mail, or in newspaper and magazine advertisements;
the consumer is usually offered "cents-off" the next purchase
upon presentation of the coupon.
CPA - abbrev. Critical Path Analysis.
CPT - abbrev. Cost-Per-Thousand.
Creative Selling - an approach to selling in which salespeople aggressively
seek out customers and use well-planned strategies to secure orders.
Credit - the allowance of time in which to pay for a purchase. See
Consumer Credit.
Credit Card - a small card, usually of plastic, used to obtain consumer
products without immediate payment; the card is issued by a financial institution
on the understanding that the consumer repays sums spent against the card
with interest.
Credit Terms - conditions negotiated between seller and buyer relating
to the time within which the buyer is obliged to pay for the products purchased
and any discounts to be allowed by the seller for earlier payment or additional
services performed.
Critical-Path Analysis - a planning technique used to keep projects
on schedule; a flowchart shows time allotments and priorities for each
activity.
Cross Elasticity of Demand - a measure of the affect a change in the
price of one product will have on the demand for a substitute or complementary
product. See Elasticity of Demand.
Cross-Over Selling - see Cross-Selling.
Cross-Selling - selling by a salesperson of some part of the company's
total product range for which another division or salesperson has prime
responsibility.
Cues - an environmental entity (advertisement, sign, store display,
etc) which results in a specific response to satisfy a drive. See Learning.
Cultural Diversity - the range of different value systems existing in
a multicultural society.
Cultural Values - ideas, beliefs, attitudes, opinions, principles, etc
long cherished by members of a society.
Culture - the basic beliefs and values cherished by a society as a whole
and handed down from one generation to the next.
Cumulative Quantity Discount - a price reduction offered to a purchaser
in which the amount of the discount increases over time with the volume
purchased. See Non-Cumulative Quantity Discount.
Curbside Sales Training - informal coaching or training of a sales representative
by a supervisor in the field. See Buddy System; Formal Training; On-the-Job
Training.
Current Ratio - the commonest of three financial ratios used to evaluate
a firm's liquidity; current assets are expressed as a percentage of current
liabilities. See Acid-Test Ratio; Quick Ratio.
Curve Fitting - a method of analysing associative data in which a number
of possible curve shapes - straight lines, concave, convex, s-shaped etc
- are used with historical data to discover trends or relationships.
Custom Marketing - marketing activity in which a company attempts to
satisfy the unique needs of every customer; also called Market Atomisation
Strategy. See Disaggregated Market; Complete Segmentation; Customised
Marketing Mix.
Custom Publishing - the publishing of a magazine by an organisation
wishing to strengthen its bonds with its customers and to exercise greater
control over the editorial environment in which its advertisements appear;
a custom published magazine will usually carry outside advertisements as
well in order to defray the cost of the launch and lend an air of legitimacy.
Jenny Craig International, Mary Kay Cosmetics, the Benetton Group and
IBM Corp. have all launched magazines.
Customary Price - the traditional price; the price that consumers expect
to pay for a certain product.
Customer Orientation - see Customer-Oriented Management.
Customer Record - a card, slip or computer file on which is recorded
pertinent facts about a prospect or customer (name, address, account history,
etc.) as an aid to making a sale when next contacted by a salesperson.
Customer Relations Department - a division of an organisation with responsibility
for ensuring that customers are satisfied with the goods or services they
have purchased and with the way the organisation has served them.
Customer Retention - maintaining the existing customer base by establishing
good relations with all who buy the company's product.
Customer Service - a wide variety of activities intended to ensure that
customers receive the goods and services they require to satisfy their
needs or wants in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
Customer-Driven Distribution Systems - a system of distribution designed
with customer requirements rather than a company's convenience in mind.
Customer Need management
Customer Orientation - see
Customer-Oriented Management - a management philosophy or state-of-mind
in which it is recognised that the effective and efficient satisfaction
of customer needs and wants provides the surest means of achieving the
organisation's own goals.
Customer Panels - see Focus Group.
Customer Philosophy
Customer Retention
Customer Surveys -
Customer Training - training in the proper and efficient use of equipment
given by a vendor to its customer's employees; provision of training by
the vendor not only adds value to the product but also offers the vendor
a means of differentiating itself from suppliers of the same or similar
equipment.
Customer Value Analysis - an organisation's rating of the value it provides
to its customers relative to that provided by its competitors.
Customised Marketing Mix - in international marketing, a marketing program
uniquely designed for a particular country. See Complete Segmentation;
Custom Marketing; Disaggregated Market; Market Atomisation Strategy.