Deck 2: Defining the Competitive Set

Question 1

Many product managers tend to define "competition" too narrowly.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Competition can exist for customers in terms of their budgets, when they use a product and benefits sought.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

A product's value is defined as the presence (or absence) of a characteristic or attribute.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Product category competition is typically composed of other firms in the product manager's industry.

Question 5

Product form competition is outward oriented and its competitors are defined by looking outside the firm to the customers.

Question 6

Each level of competition requires the firm to perform the same set of tasks at progressively higher levels of intensity so that a product can be successful in the market.

Question 7

Since obtaining and retaining customers is essential, product form and category competition is the most crucial form of competition for most firms.

Question 8

Relying exclusively on external sources of information that solely define competition based on physical product similarities, will overlook both generic and budget competitors.

Question 9

Electronic scanners provide fast, reliable data in consumer purchase behavior.

Question 10

Since consumers are rarely consciously aware of all the factors underlying their purchases, consumer judgments should not be used in efforts to analyze competition.

Question 11

All of the following are customer oriented bases of competition, EXCEPT

A) Budgets
B) When customers use a product
C) Benefits sought
D) Theme / copy strategy
E) Why customers use the product

Question 12

Resource oriented competition is more likely to involve which of the following?

A) Theme / copy strategy
B) Employees
C) Media
D) Distribution
E) Price

Question 13

Which of the following types of competition faced by a product manager is most likely to be intentional?

A) Competition within a company
B) Price competition
C) Geographic competition
D) Distribution competition
E) Foreign competition

Question 14

A product's _____ is / are defined as the presence-or absence-of a characteristic or attribute.

A) Value
B) Features
C) Price
D) Prestige
E) Market share

Question 15

Natures Best Cornflakes and Natures Best LowCal Cornflakes are both crunchy flakes of corn, have a vanilla flavor and are sweet. However LowCal Cornflakes has fewer calories and is artificially sweetened. Here, Natures Best Cornflakes and Natures best LowCal Cornflakes have

A) Entirely different features
B) Identical values
C) Different values of some of the features
D) All the same features and values
E) Totally different values as well as features

Question 16

Which of the following provides the NARROWEST perspective of competition because it considers only those products that "look" the same as the product or service in question?

A) Product category competition
B) Generic competition
C) Product form competition
D) Product share competition
E) Budget competition

Question 17

Identify the INCORRECT statement regarding product form competition.

A) It is a narrow view of competition
B) It only considers products that "look" the same as the product or service in question
C) It provides the best perspective for a longer-run view of competition
D) It is a convenient definition of competition
E) It provides the set of the closest competitors in a product feature sense

Question 18

This level of competition is based on products or services with similar features and is the "traditional" approach to determining the composition of a competitive set.

A) Product form
B) Generic competition
C) Budget competition
D) Market share
E) Product category

Question 19

Which of the following levels of competition is longer term and focuses on substitutable product categories?

A) Generic competition
B) Product form competition
C) Product type competition
D) Product category competition
E) Brand category competition

Question 20

Generic competition

A) Is the narrowest view of competition
B) Only considers products that "look" the same as the product or service in question
C) Defines the market as consisting of those products and services fulfilling the same customer need
D) Is the most convenient definition of competition
E) Provides an extremely short term focus

Question 21

This is the broadest view of competition.

A) Generic competition
B) Budget competition
C) Product category competition
D) Product form competition
E) Brand form competition

Question 22

This view of competition considers all products and services competing for the same customer dollar as forming a market.

A) Product category
B) Product form
C) Market share
D) Generic
E) Budget

Question 23

Budget competition

A) Is very difficult to implement strategically
B) Is the narrowest view of competition
C) Is defined as consisting of those products and services fulfilling the same customer need
D) Is based on those products or services with similar features
E) considers only those products that "look" the same as the product or service in question

Question 24

Web-based _____ seek(s) to bundle disparate services that fulfill a customer's needs for a particular transaction.

A) Segmentation
B) Stratification
C) Metamediaries
D) Super-sites
E) Conglomerates

Question 25

Travelmate is an online travel solutions website. Its most direct competitors are travel agents. This site also offers links to financing, insurance and other services bringing in competitors from other categories. Travelmate can be BEST considered as a(n)

A) Metamediary
B) Network service
C) Internet service provider
D) Server
E) Market segment

Question 26

At the product form competitive level, the product manager must convince customers that the _____ is / are better than others in the product form.

A) Generic benefits
B) Product category
C) Product form
D) Brand
E) Product features

Question 27

Identify the level of competition where the product management task involves convincing customers that their product category is the best way to satisfy needs.

A) Product category
B) Product form
C) Brand
D) Generic
E) Budget

Question 28

At the _____ level of competition, the product manager must convince customers that the generic benefits are the best way to spend their discretionary income.

A) Budget
B) Product form
C) Product category
D) Generic
E) Consumer

Question 29

Generic competition is most critical when

A) Competition is focused on rival brands in the same category
B) Competition is focused on rival product forms
C) A totally new product category is introduced
D) The market has reached maturity
E) The market is saturated

Question 30

As a firm moves from product form to budget competition

A) The focus upon brand name competition intensifies
B) The marketing budget is typically reduced
C) It faces a similar competitor pool
D) Customer targets tend to change
E) The needs to be satisfied become more specific

Question 31

The managerial judgment approach, to assessing the set of competitors is most likely to use all of the following to develop judgments about the sources of present and future competition, EXCEPT

A) Experience
B) Salesperson call reports
C) Distributors
D) Company sources
E) Commercial data services

Question 32

Identify the two alternative approaches to assessing the set of competitors.

A) Market determined parameters and Standardization
B) Managerial judgment and Customer-based evaluation
C) Regulatory definitions and Market determined parameters
D) Benchmarking and Standardization
E) Managerial judgment and Sales definitions

Question 33

External sources of information, such as commercial data services and the Standard Industrial Classification code used by the U. S. government, define competition based on

A) Physical product similarities
B) Managerial judgment
C) Customer-based evaluation
D) Behavioral attributes
E) Customer judgments

Question 34

The use of predefined categories for defining competitive sets, provided by commercial data services and / or the US government, could completely overlook

A) Product form competitors
B) Product category competitors
C) Generic and budget competitors
D) Product feature competitors
E) Product value competitors

Question 35

A key source of purchase data used in consumer packaged goods applications is data collected from

A) Web cameras
B) Document scanners
C) Monitors
D) Electronic scanners
E) Social networks

Question 36

Identify the INCORRECT statement pertaining to electronic scanners "reading" UPC codes at the point-of-purchase.

A) They provide fast, accurate behavioral data
B) They are best used for gathering data on infrequently purchased infrastructural goods
C) They are used to estimate sales and market shares for brands
D) They are useful for identifying patterns of repeat brand purchases and brand switching
E) They are widely used in the consumer packaged goods industry

Question 37

All of the following are problems with using purchase data to understand product form and category competition EXCEPT that

A) Brand switches occur across complements as well as substitutes
B) They represent what consumers actually do, not what they might do
C) The data collected are often at the household level
D) Brand switch for variety may be mistakenly inferred as switch due to substitutability
E) Observed brand switching could be due to different household members' preferences

Question 38

If a cross-elasticity with respect to price is positive, then the two brands or products in question are considered to be

A) Competitive
B) National brands
C) Home brands
D) Accommodative
E) Monopolistic

Question 39

This approach of estimating competition from customer judgments, asks customers to take a large set of products and divide them into groups of items that can be substituted for one another and then to judge the similarity of the products in each group.

A) Judged overall similarity
B) Similarity within consideration sets
C) Product deletion sets
D) Substitution in use sets
E) Perceptual mapping

Question 40

The usefulness of the consideration set concept is limited because of all of the following reasons, EXCEPT:

A) Due to sets changing from one purchase occasion to another
B) By variability across customers
C) By variability across distribution channels
D) By the fact that such sets are dynamic over time
E) Because of the static nature of these sets

Question 41

This approach to defining competition is based on customer reaction to product unavailability.

A) Judged overall similarity
B) Similarity within consideration sets
C) Product deletion
D) Substitution in use
E) Perceptual mapping

Question 42

In the early growth stages of a product, particularly a new technology, _____ competition must be defined since a large part of the marketing task is to convince customers to substitute a new product for an existing one that was previously satisfying their needs.

A) Product form
B) Generic
C) Budget
D) Product category
E) Product feature

Question 43

In mature markets, the focus should generally be on _____ competitors to best assess whether or not to stay in a market.

A) Product form
B) Generic
C) Budget
D) Nonspecific
E) Broad

Question 44

Ultimately products and services do not compete against one another; companies do. This firm versus firm competition is best known as

A) Generic competition
B) Enterprise competition
C) Product form competition
D) Category competition
E) Budget competition

Question 45

Identify the various criteria that can be used for defining competitors. Why must the product / brand manager be concerned with competition within the firm as well as outside it?

Question 46

How should the firm define its competition? Why is this decision critical to success?

Question 47

BREIFLY describe the four basic perspectives that may be used to define competition.

Question 48

What different set of tasks must be accomplished at each level of competition for a product to be successful in the market?

Question 49

Describe the various methods for determining competitors. Analyze their usefulness.