Exam 11: Developing and Managing Goods and Services

Morgan is interested in upgrading to a new sofa for her apartment. She browses the Internet to check new models of her favorite sofa brand and gets information on the style and color of couches. However, she can't actually sit on a new model of sofa to determine its comfort level. Morgan is able to evaluate the modifications to the sofa, but not the modifications.

Flo is a fictional character depicted in Progressive Insurance's TV commercials. She symbolizes friendliness, reliability, and knowledge about the company's products. The part Flo plays in the promotion is designed to address the characteristic of the service.

Marketers begin to make decisions about labeling, packaging, branding, pricing, and promotion during the phase of the new-product development process.

Scenario 11.1 Use the scenario to answer the questions. Cheetos Fat-free Crunchies is a product developed through continuous innovation. Cheetos engineered a technique for making low-fat snacks that taste delicious and also remain fresh for a longer duration. It introduced Fat-free Crunchies in limited markets in 2012 and began nationwide distribution in 2013. About 18 months later, a series of ads by Cheetos' competitors was aired to counterclaim that Cheetos Crunchies actually contained 1.5 grams of fat along with some percentage of preservatives and additives. Research showed that Cheetos Crunchies was not well-received by certain groups of customers. To retain its consumer base, Cheetos reduced the remaining fat of Chrunchies to 0 grams, took out the preservatives, and improved the taste. -Refer to Scenario 11.1. In 2012, which of the following phases of the new-product development process was Cheetos in?

Outback Steakhouse, a restaurant chain, wants to expand its range of dishes on its menu. The restaurant managers conduct surveys on customers to determine the dishes that would appeal to the customers. Outback is currently in the phase of the new-product development process.

After building a prototype of his new device, Brad is asked to conduct rigorous functional testing to examine whether the device meets performance and safety qualifications. This is part of the phase of the new- product development process.

Scenario 11.1 Use the scenario to answer the questions. Cheetos Fat-free Crunchies is a product developed through continuous innovation. Cheetos engineered a technique for making low-fat snacks that taste delicious and also remain fresh for a longer duration. It introduced Fat-free Crunchies in limited markets in 2012 and began nationwide distribution in 2013. About 18 months later, a series of ads by Cheetos' competitors was aired to counterclaim that Cheetos Crunchies actually contained 1.5 grams of fat along with some percentage of preservatives and additives. Research showed that Cheetos Crunchies was not well-received by certain groups of customers. To retain its consumer base, Cheetos reduced the remaining fat of Chrunchies to 0 grams, took out the preservatives, and improved the taste. -Refer to Scenario 11.1. Cheetos produces several cheese-based snacks and is keen on developing a new brand of crackers. This new Cheetos product would most likely be an example of a(n):

Venture teams work outside of established organization divisions.

Explain the concept of product deletion. List and explain the ways in which a product can be deleted.

As Justin works on the prototype of a new action-oriented computer game, he is engaging in the phase of the new-product development process.

The education a student derives from attending a class is an example of intangibility of services.

Marketers of a particular brand of ice cream have decided to delete their line of ice cream bars. They intend to do so by letting the product decline without changing their current marketing scheme. This method of deletion is called:

Scenario 11.4 Use the scenario to answer the questions. Kaycee is looking for a new company to prepare her tax returns this year. She explores the yellow pages of her phone book, and browses the Internet to find information about tax preparers in the area. She finds the names and contact details of several accountants, as well as popular tax preparation companies such as H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. Since Kaycee is currently short of money, she decides to approach an accountant rather than the two popular companies. She finds the contact details of three accountants on the Internet, and visits their respective offices. The first office is located in an impoverished part of the town, but has an attractive interior and also a friendly receptionist. The second office is situated in an affluent locality, but does not have any employee other than the accountant himself. Moreover, the interiors of the office are shabby. The third office that Kaycee visits, is overall in a better condition with pleasant interiors and well-groomed staff. The accountant seems well-disposed, so Kaycee selects him for preparing her tax returns. -Refer to Scenario 11.4. The accountant whom Kaycee selects to prepare her taxes will most likely require her to schedule an appointment due to the characteristic of the service. If Kaycee schedules an appointment during the month of February, the accountant will most likely use when charging for the service.

Demand-based pricing relies on information concerning peak demand and off-peak demand of a particular service.

Test marketing is conducted by companies of all sizes, primarily because of the perceived risk of product failure on open market and the associated consequences.

Providers of services must deal with the challenge of balancing supply and demand and plan for times of peak and off-peak demand. Which of the following characteristics of services creates these challenges?

Explain the roles of "promises" and "trust" in successful marketing of a service.

Goods can be defined in terms of their physical attributes but services cannot because they are intangible.

A suggested approach to deleting products, in which each product is evaluated periodically to determine its impact on the overall effectiveness of a firm's product mix, is called a(n):

A product manager of an organization is responsible for the development of new products that may be aimed at new markets.