Customers, Marketing & Competition (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Business)

Exam Questions

2 hours18 questions
14 marks

Case Study

Pamela is a sole trader. She started her successful photography business 30 years ago. She specialises in taking pictures of people and places for use in posters, calendars and fashion magazines. It is a niche market. Pamela uses cost-plus pricing as part of her marketing mix. Offering a high quality service is important to Pamela and her 2 employees.

Outline two reasons why offering a high-quality service might be important for Pamela’s business.

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24 marks

Case Study

Economic growth in country X has created many opportunities for new businesses such as TGH. TGH manufacture a range of personalised mobile (cell) phone cases using job production. Quality assurance is important to all 8 employees. TGH operate in a niche market. The Marketing Manager uses e-commerce as TGH’s channel of distribution. She is considering ways to build customer relationships.

Outline two reasons why building customer relationships might be important to TGH.

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32 marks

Identify two ways of segmenting a market.

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42 marks

Identify two reasons why some markets can become more competitive.

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52 marks

Identify two benefits to a business of using market segmentation.

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62 marks

Identify two advantages to a business of maintaining customer loyalty.

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72 marks

Define ‘mass market’.

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16 marks

Do you think that more advertising is a better way for a business to respond to increased competition than introducing new products and services? Justify your answer.

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26 marks

Case Study

Elton is a sole trader. He sells specialist clothing and equipment for sports, including baseball and hockey. It is a niche market. Elton started his business 5 years ago and it has remained small. A wide range of inventory is important. Elton has been looking at the financial performance of his business. The profit margin for 2018 was 35%. An extract of the accounts is shown in the below table.

Revenue and cost information for Elton’s business for 2018 and 2019 ($)

2018

2019

Revenue ($)

24 000

25 000

Cost of sales ($)

7 200

Y

Gross profit ($)

16 800

18 000

Expenses ($)

8 400

10 000

Profit ($)

X

8 000

Explain one advantage and one disadvantage to Elton of operating in a niche market.

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36 marks

Do you think operating in a niche market will help a small business have a better chance of success than operating in a mass market? Justify your answer.

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46 marks

Do you think it is a good idea for a business to have only one customer? Justify your answer.

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56 marks

Do you think offering good customer service is the best way for a small business to build customer relationships? Justify your answer.

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66 marks

Case Study

Pamela is a successful entrepreneur. She is the owner of a gift shop selling celebration cards, toys and candy (sweets). When Pamela started her business 30 years ago she had no help to manage the shop. She now has 5 employees. Pamela knows maintaining customer loyalty is important. She uses competitive pricing. Most of her marketing budget is spent on sales promotion. Pamela does not use e-commerce.

Explain two methods Pamela’s business can use to maintain customer loyalty.

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76 marks

Explain two ways a retail business could respond to increased competition. Which would be the best way to use? Justify your answer.

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86 marks

Do you think maintaining customer loyalty should be more important to a business than attracting new customers? Justify your answer.

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96 marks

Do you think entering a growing market where there is a lot of competition is the best way for a business to expand? Justify your answer.

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112 marks

Consider the following three roles of marketing for ET.

  • Identifying customer needs

  • Satisfying customer needs

  • Maintaining customer loyalty

Which role will be the most important for ET to be successful? Justify your answer.

Refer to the following insert when answering the question

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212 marks

Consider how the following three factors could affect HealthyMunch's marketing strategy.

  • Changing customer needs

  • Increased competition

  • Use of market segmentation

Which factor is likely to have the greatest impact on HealthyMunch's future success? Justify your answer.

Refer to the following insert when answering the question

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