generic advertising
- An approach to preparing advertising messages that concentrates on the customer benefits that apply to all brands in a product category, as opposed to benefits that are unique to specific brands.
See also: primary advertising
generic brand
- A product that is named only by its generic class (e.g., drip-grind coffee, barber shop). Other products have both an individual brand and a generic classification (Maxwell House drip-grind coffee, Maurice's barber shop). Generic brand products are often thought to be unbranded, but their producer or reseller name is usually associated with the product, too. This approach is usually associated with food and other packaged goods, but many other consumer and industrial products and services are marked as generics.
See also: brand, brand generic, branded merchandise,
geocentric orientation
- A management orientation based upon the assumption that there are similarities and differences in the world that can be understood and recognized in an integrated world strategy. The geocentric orientation or world orientation is a synthesis of the ethnocentric orientation (home country) and polycentric orientation (host country).
See also: regiocentrism orientation
geodemography
- An availability of demographic consumer behavior and life style data by arbitrary geographic boundaries that are typically quite small.
georeference classification
- For analysis purposes, the data covering such things as sales, customers, product, and demographics are often classified on a geographical basis. Distribution of such data by individual markets provides the geographical structure of demand that must be serviced. The most useful geographical classification structures for logistical modeling are customer point locations, county, standard metropolitan statistical area, economic trading area, ZIP code, and grid structure.
global brand
- A brand that is marketed according to the same strategic principles in every part of the world.
See also: local brand
global marketing
- 1. (global marketing definition) A marketing strategy that consciously addresses global customers, markets, and competition in formulating a business strategy. 2. (consumer behavior definition) An approach to international strategy that argues for marketing a product in essentially the same way everywhere in the world.
global strategy
- A strategy that seeks competitive advantage with strategic moves that are highly interdependent across countries. These moves include most or all of the following: a standardized core product that exploits or creates homogenous tastes or performance requirements, significant participation in all major country markets to build volume, a concentration of value-creating activities such as R&D and manufacturing in a few countries, and a coherent competitive strategy that pits the worldwide capabilities of the business against the competition.
See also: multidomestic strategy
good(s)
- A product that has tangible form, in contrast to services that are intangible.
See also: product hierarchy
gravity model
- A theory about the structure of market areas. The model states that the volume of purchases by consumers and the frequency of trips to the outlets are a function of the size of the store and the distance between the store and the origin of the shopping trip.
See also: central place theory, concentric zone theory, dialectic process, natural selection theory, retail accordion theory, retail life cycle, wheel of retailing theory,
gray market good
- Merchandise that possesses a valid U.S. registered trademark and is made by a foreign manufacturer, but is imported into the United States without permission of the U.S. trademark owner.
green marketing
- 1. (retailing definition) The marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. 2. (social marketing definition) The development and marketing of products designed to minimize negative effects on the physical environment or to improve its quality. 3. (environments definition) The efforts by organizations to produce, promote, package, and reclaim products in a manner that is sensitive or responsive to ecological concerns.
gross leasable area (GLA)
- The area of a shopping plaza that is assigned to stores, excluding exits, corridors, and open space.
gross margin of profit
- The difference between net sales and total cost of goods sold.
See also: gross cost of merchandise sold
gross national product (GNP)
- 1. The money value of a nation's entire output of final commodities and services in a given period. 2. Personal consumption expenditures plus gross private domestic investment plus net exports of goods plus government purchases of goods and services. The U.S. Department of Commerce has published continuously the national income statistical series since 1947. In former years gross national product was emphasized by politicians, the press, etc.; in more recent years gross domestic product has been emphasized.
See also: net national product
gross rating point (GRP)
- A measure of the total amount of the advertising exposures produced by a specific media vehicle or a media schedule during a specific period of time. It is expressed in terms of the rating of a specific media vehicle (if only one is being used) or the sum of all the ratings of the vehicles included in a media schedule. It includes any audience duplication and is equal to the reach of a media schedule multiplied by the average frequency of the schedule.
growth strategy
- Market share expansion is the prime objective under this strategy, even at the expense of short-term earnings. The firm may seek to expand market share through a number of alternative routes. First, the firm may seek new users who may previously have been loyal to other brands, or tended to switch, or were not users of the category at all. The second way in which the firm can expand its market share is to expand usage by current users: for instance, by identifying and promoting new uses.
See also: growth objectives and market penetration
guerilla marketing
- Unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources.
habitual decision making
- The choices or decisions made out of "habit" without much deliberation or product comparison.
See also: extensive problem solving
hard goods
- As compared with soft goods, which have a textiles base, these goods mainly comprise hardware, home furnishings, and furniture and appliances. These goods are usually also durable goods.
harvesting strategy
- The maximization of short-run cash flow from a business in expectation of a deterioration of market share and eventual withdrawal from the market. The cash flow raised is directed toward other areas of business where it is needed.
See also: divest strategy, investment strategy, portfolio analysis,
hedonistic consumption
- A focus on the sensory pleasures or hedonic benefits provided by interaction with products or services.
See also: conspicuous consumption
heuristic
- 1. (consumer behavior definition) A proposition that connects an event with an action. Heuristics usually simplify decision making. For example, "buy the cheapest brand" is a choice heuristic that would simplify purchase. 2. (consumer behavior definition) The simplified "rules of thumb" by which decisions are made.
hierarchy of effects model
- 1. A concept related to the manner in which advertising supposedly works; it is based on the premise that advertising moves individuals systematically through a series of psychological stages such as awareness, interest, desire, conviction, and action. 2. An early model that depicted consumer purchasing as a series of stages including awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, and purchase.
See also: low involvement hierarchy, AIDA,
hierarchy of needs
- A theory proposed by Maslow (1943) concerning the specific order of the development of needs. He proposed that needs develop in an individual in a sequential order from lower to higher needs, ranging from physiological needs to safety needs (security, order) to belongingness and love needs. Then esteem needs (prestige, respect) and self-actualization (self- fulfillment) follow. Higher order needs emerge as lower order ones are more or less satisfied.
horizontal integration
- 1. (environments definition) The expansion of a business by acquiring or developing businesses engaged in the same stage of marketing or distribution. The most common approach is to buy out competitors. It is also known as horizontal expansion. 2. (channels of distribution definition) The combination of two or more separate enterprises at the same stage in the channel through ownership, including mergers or acquisitions.
See also: integration
human ecology
- The application of the concepts of plant and animal ecology to human collective life to seek knowledge about the structure of social systems and the way in which structures develop, paying attention to spatial configurations. It is the human population's adaptation to the natural environment.
hypermarket
- An unusually large, limited service combination discount store, supermarket, and warehouse under a single roof. Typically it sells both food and nonfood items at 10 to 15 percent below normal retail prices and stacks much reserve stock merchandise in the sales area. The hypermarket is an innovation of European origin.
impulse buying
- A purchase behavior that is assumed to be made without prior planning or thought. Often, it is claimed, impulse buying involves an emotional reaction to the stimulus object (product, packaging, point-of-purchase display, or whatever) in addition to the simple acquisition act.
See also: planned buying vs. unplanned buying
impulse product
- A convenience product (good or service) that is bought on the spur of the moment, without advance planning or serious consideration at the time, and often by the stimulus of point-of-sale promotion or observation.
See also: consumer product, emergency product, shopping product, specialty product, staple good,
impulse purchase
- 1. (consumer behavior definition) A purchase typically made in-store with little or no decision making effort. 2. (retailing definition) An unplanned purchase by a customer.
in-store marketing
- The marketing dollars spent inside the store in the form of store design, merchandising, visual displays, or in-store promotions.
income effect
- 1. (economic definition) The change in patterns of consumption for a product given consumers have an increase in real income. 2. (environment definition) The increase or decrease in a consumer's real income as a result of the change in the price of a good or service.
individual brand
- The brand identity given to an individual product, as separate from other products in the market and from other items in the product's own line. A trademark.
See also: brand extension, branding, individual, family brand, generic brand, product life cycle,
industrial market
- The industrial market (also called the producer market or business market) is the set of all individuals and organizations that acquire goods and services that enter into the production of other products or services that are sold, rented, or supplied to others. The major types of industries making up the industrial market (business market) are agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; mining; manufacturing; construction and transportation; communication and public utilities; banking, finance, and insurance; and services.
See also: organizational market
industrial market segmentation
- The process of separating an industrial market (business market) into groups of customers or prospects such that the members of each resulting group are more like the other members of that group than they are like members of other segments.
infant industry
- An industry that justifies a national policy of protection from global competition on the grounds that it needs time to get established. Infant industry protection is always temporary.
information search
- 1. (industrial definition) The process by which a buyer seeks to identify the most appropriate supplier(s) once a need has been recognized. The information search process may vary based upon variables such as organizational size and buying situation. 2. (consumer behavior definition ) Intentional exposure to information. Before buying a camera, for example, the consumer might be attracted to and seek out advertisements for cameras, read articles in photography magazines, and turn to Consumers' Reports. Seeking the advice of an expert, knowledgeable acquaintance, or salesperson can be involved.
See also: buyclasses and buying center
innovation
- In the marketing literature, innovation implies the introduction of a new product, idea, or service into the market place. According to Robertson, it involves a new product that is very different from the established products or at least perceived to be different by consumers in the relevant market segment. New products can be referred to as continuous innovations such as Crest spearmint toothpaste or Michelob light beer. Or they can be discontinuous innovations, a completely new product such as the electric light bulb or perhaps the computer.
integrated marketing communications
- A planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time.
intermodal transportation
- The movement of goods that combines two or more modes of transportation such as truck and rail to maximize the benefits of both modes while minimizing their drawbacks. For example, the combination of rail and motor carriage utilizes the flexibility of motor carriers and the low line-haul cost of rail.
See also: container-on-flatcar, piggyback, trailer-on-flatcar,
internal marketing
- Marketing to employees of an organization to ensure that they are effectively carrying out desired programs and policies.
international product cycle
- A model developed by Professor Raymond Vernon that shows the relationship of production, consumption, and trade over the life cycle of a product. Based on empirical data for the pre-1967 era, the model showed how the location of production shifted from the United States to other advanced countries and then to less developed countries.
See also: international trade product life cycle and product trade life cycle
international trade product life cycle
- A trade cycle model that suggests that many products go through a cycle in which high income, mass consumption countries are initially exporters, then lose their export markets, and finally become importers of the product.
See also: international product cycle and product trade life cycle
inventory control
- The procedures used to ensure that desired inventory levels are maintained. Most procedures are based on either perpetual or periodic review.
inventory turnover
- 1. (physical distribution definition) The number of times average inventory is sold during a specified time period (usually one year). 2. (retailing definition) The number of times per year the retailer sells its average inventory.
See also: stock turnover
involvement
- The degree of personal relevance a consumer perceives a product, brand, object, or behavior to have. High involvement products are seen as having important personal consequences or as useful for achieving important personal goals. Low involvement products are not linked to important consequences or goals.
item merchandising
- The special planning and control effort employed to discover and take advantage of the sales opportunities afforded by items that are in greater consumer demand.
just-in-time (JIT)
- An inventory management system based upon the philosophy that well-run manufacturing plants do not require the stockpiling of parts and components. Instead, they rely upon receiving necessary inventory in the exact quantity and at a specified time to support manufacturing schedules.
keiretsu
- A Japanese interbusiness alliance or enterprise group.
knowledge
- Consumers' meanings or beliefs about products, brands, stores, etc., that are stored in memory.
See also: adoption process, AIDA, hierarchy of effects model, opinion,
knowledge function of attitudes
- A function of attitudes that serves the individual in understanding the environment. The knowledge function aids the individual in organizing information into an understandable or cohesive whole. It is one of the functions of attitudes proposed by the functional theory of attitudes.
See also: ego-defensive function of attitudes, instrumental function of attitudes, value-expressive function of attitudes,
Luce's Choice Axiom
- A statement that the relative odds of an individual's choosing one particular item (e.g., brand A) over another (e.g., brand B) are unaffected by the presence or absence of other items (e.g., brand C, brand D, etc.) as potential choices. The property is also known as independence from irrelevant alternatives or IIA (Luce 1977; Yellott 1977). The logit model possesses this property (which is sometimes seen as a liability), while the probit model and other brand choice models can avoid it.
See also: brand choice models and Elimination-By-Aspects model
law of demand
- 1. (popular definition) The law that, other things being equal, consumers will buy more of a product at a low price than at a high price. 2. (economic definition) The law that, under the same conditions of demand, the amount of product taken by a market varies inversely with its price.
law of diminishing marginal utility
- A situation in which consumption of an additional unit of a good adds less to total satisfaction than the preceding unit.
See also: diminishing marginal utility, diminishing utility, marginal utility,
law of diminishing return
- After a certain point has been reached, each successive application of a factor of production will add less to total output than before
learning curve
- Typically, this is a graph of the amount of material learned, plotted against time or number of trials. Many learning situations lead to an S-shaped curve.
life style
- 1. (consumer behavior definition) In general, this is the manner in which the individual copes and deals with his/her psychological and physical environment on a day-to-day basis. More specifically, it is used by some theorists as a phrase describing the values, attitudes, opinions, and behavior patterns of the consumer. 2. (consumer behavior definition) The manner in which people conduct their lives, including their activities, interests, and opinions.
See also: AIO, psychographic analysis, psychographic segmentation,
