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  3. • Read the following article about the four Ps of the marketing mix and the questions that follow. • For each Question 15-20, ma

• Read the following article about the four Ps of the marketing mix and the questions that follow. • For each Question 15-20, ma

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问题 • Read the following article about the four Ps of the marketing mix and the questions that follow.
• For each Question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
     The variety of smaller market segments within the consumer and business market is enormous, and the firm that is good at target marketing will have a valuable edge over its competitors. But identifying the market is only part of the task. The other basic element in any total marketing program is the marketing mix.
     The marketing mix can be defined as the blend of product, price, promotion, and placement (or distribution) that satisfies the demands of the chosen market segment. The four Ps have to fit closely together. And, as we shall see, the key to effective marketing is the ability to adjust each of the four factors in response to the demands of the target market.
Product
     A businessperson’s first marketing decision concerns the products or services that will attract customers in the target market. The key is to determine consumers’ needs and wants and translate them into desirable products and services. Rising crime rates, for example, have created a target market among small businesses for a growing number of security services. Similarly, the rapid increase in the number of working women has inspired clothing manufacturers to include more high-priced ladies’ suits in their overall product mix: many women have discovered they need to "dress for success" just the way men do.
      Changing conditions require the continuous reevaluation of product lines. At Procter & Gamble, alert executives saw rising detergent costs as a threat to continued high-volume usage of their products in the home and added to their list of products a number of cloth substitute paper products, including Pampers disposable baby diapers. Pampers now outsell P & G’s Tide detergent.
After picking the products to be developed businesspeople make other marketing decisions about each one. These include selecting a brand name, designing a package and establishing a product guarantee.
Price
      Having made the basic decisions about the product line, the marketing manager must decide how the company should price its products. Perhaps a policy based on low prices will increase profits to the greatest possible amount. Supermarkets have used this tactic successfully on two levels. Most offer unbranded, so-called generic products at the lowest price and offer their own brand, usually at a slightly higher price, in addition to the highest-price commercial brands. On the other hand, the desirability of some products depends on a high-quality image, which a high price helps to confer. Curtis Mathes brand televisions are advertised as the "the most expensive television set in America and worth it," and come with a four year limited warranty.
Promotion
      Very often the most important decision a marketing manager makes is how the manufacturer should inform prospective customers about its products. This involves promotion, which includes the sales approach. Some marketing strategists, like those at Avon Products, may decide to emphasize direct selling and spend most of their promotion dollars to train and pay salespeople. Others, like producers of soap and headache remedies, promote their products through advertising, primarily on television. Department stores also spend heavily on advertising, but they choose newspapers as the most effective medium. The alternatives are many and the choice may determine the success of a marketing effort.
Placement
     The fourth element in the marketing mix is placement (or distribution): how the manufacturer gets its products to the customers. Transportation is the major factor here, but placement also entails decisions about distribution outlets. Tupperware, for example, distributes directly to the consumer through its party approach. Most apparel companies, on the other hand, sell to retailers, who resell to consumers. In short, there are many ways of distributing goods.
The Right Combination
Finding the best mix of product, price, promotion, and placement has become an increasingly complex task for most businesses. Marketing directors have found that even the most subtle changes--in the shape or color of packaging, for instance, or the way the product is displayed in a store--can have a decisive impact on a product’s success, quite apart from its actual quality. In effect, you may have built a better mousetrap, but unless you package it well, set up good distribution, target your advertising appropriately, and offer a good warranty, the world won’t necessarily take notice.
Indeed, it has become more common to reverse the process and go to the market for new ideas rather than go into production with an untested idea and then attemp to find a market for it.  
From the first two paragraphs we can learn that the most important element of effective marketing is ____
选项 A、to make the top quality products that satisfy the demands of the chosen market segment
B、to combine and adjust the four factors in such a way that they meet the demands of the target market
C、to sell goods at the lowest prices so as to satisfy the demands of the target market
D、to make good use of all kinds of media to advertise the goods and attract more consumers
答案B
解析
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