Quiz on Marketing Aptitude for bank exams - 2010

1. The choice between high markups and high volume is part of which of the following retailer marketing decisions?
(a) Target market decisions
(b) Product assortment and services decisions
(c) Pricing decisions
(d) Promotion decisions

2. All of the following factors can affect the attractiveness of a market segment EXCEPT? 
(a) the presence of many strong and aggressive competitors
(b) the likelihood of government monitoring
(c) actual or potential substitute products
(d) the power of buyers in the segment

3. The type of sales force structure in which the sales force sells along product lines is called a ______?
(a) territorial sales force
(b) product sales force
(c) customer sales force
(d) retail sales force

4. Technological advances, shifts in consumer tastes, and increased competition, all of which reduce demand for a product are typical of which stage in the PLC?
(a) decline stage
(b) introduction stage
(c) growth stage
(d) maturity stage
5. Costs that do not vary with production or sales levels are called _____? 
(a) fixed costs
(b) variable costs
(c) standard costs
(d) independent costs

6. The advantages of audience selectivity, no ad competition and personalization apply to which type of media?
(a) Newspapers
(b) Television
(c) Direct Mail
(d) Radio

7. If your company were to make a product such as a suit of clothes and sold that product to a retailer, your company would have sold to the _______market?
(a) reseller
(b) business
(c) government
(d) service

8. The shrinking of distances due to technological advance such as computer and fax connections by telephone, are one characteristic of what new challenge to marketing?
(a) Rapid globalization
(b) The changing world economy
(c) The call for more socially responsible marketing
(d) The micro-chip revolution
9. The goal of the marketing logistics system should be to provide ______? 
(a) a targeted level of promotional support.
(b) a targeted level of customer service at the least cost.
(c) a targeted level of transportation expense ratio.
(d) a targeted level of field support.
10. The practice of going after a large share of a smaller market or subsets of a few markets is called _____? 
(a) undifferentiated marketing
(b) differentiated marketing
(c) concentrated marketing
(d) turbo marketing

11. _____ has the advantage of being high in selectivity; low cost, immediacy, and interactive capabilities?
(a) Direct Mail
(b) Outdoor
(c) Online
(d) Radio

12. Marketers are sometimes accused of deceptive practices that lead consumers to believe they will get get more value than they actually do. ____ includes practices such as falsely advertising “factory” or “wholesale” prices or a large price reduction from a phony high retail price?
(a) Deceptive promotion
(b) Deceptive packaging
(c) Deceptive pricing
(d) Deceptive cost structure

13. Each salesperson is assigned to an exclusive area in which to sell the company’s full line of products or services in which type of sales force structure?
(a) Territorial sales force
(b) Product sales force
(c) Customer sales force
(d) Hybrid sales force

14. Setting the promotion budget so as to match the budgets of the competition is characteristic of which of the following budget methods?
(a) Affordable method
(b) Percentage-of-Sales method
(c) Competitive-and-parity method
(d) Objective -and-task method

15. ____ is screening new-product ideas in order to spot good ideas and drop poor ones as soon as possible.
(a) Idea generation
(b) Concept development and testing
(c) Idea screening
(d) Brainstorming

16. A company is in the _____ stage of the new product development process when the company develops the product concept into a physical product in order to assure that the product idea can be turned into a workable product?
(a) product development
(b) commercialization
(c) marketing strategy
(d) business analysis

17. If a government uses barriers to foreign products such as biases against a foreign company’s bids, or product standards that go against a foreign company’s product features, the government is using ____?
(a) protectionism
(b) exchange controls
(c) exchange facilitators
(d) non-tariff trade barriers

18. When personal interviewing involves inviting six to ten people to gather for a few hours with a trained interviewer to talk about a product, service, or organization, the method is called ______? 
(a) selective sponsorship
(b) probing
(c) focus group interviewing
(d) the Delphi method

19. The most logical budget setting method is found in the list below. Which is it?
(a) Affordable method
(b) Percentage-of-Sales method
(c) Competitive-parity method
(d) Objective-and-task method

20.One common misuse of marketing research findings in contemporary business is the tendency for marketing research to _______? 
(a) become a vehicle for pitching the sponsor’s products
(b) become a vehicle for discriminating in the marketplace
(c) become a means for raising prices
(d) become a means for unfair competition

SBI PO Exam Pattern 2010

Pattern for the SBI PO exam which is going to held on 18-04-2010.

It consists of two phases:

Phase I: Written Examination consists of objective and descriptive test:

1)Objective Test:

Sr. No	Name of the Test	No. of Questions	Max. Marks
1.	Reasoning(High Level)	50	50
2.	Data Analysis & Interpretation	50	50
3.	GK/Marketing/Computer	50	50
4.	English	50	50

Note: Total of 200 questions are there in objective test with a composite time of 120 minutes. For every right answer you will get 1 mark and for every wrong answer you will lose 0.25 marks. All sections are taken for the merit ranking including English.

How many questions should I attempt in each section?

The below table shows you an example of how many questions should be attempted in order to clear the objective test.

Sr. No	Name of the Test	No. of Questions	Time
1.	Reasoning(High Level)	35	35
2.	Data Analysis & Interpretation	35	35
3.	GK/Marketing/Computer	40	20
4.	English	30	30

If you follow the above table you must maintain 100% accuracy. If you’re perfect with the third section then you can attempt 40 questions in 20 minutes, bcoz you don’t need to solve the questions.

2)Descriptive Test:

It would consist of four types of questions namely:

i)Comprehension(1Q)

ii)Letter Writing(1Q)

iii)Essay Writing(2Q)

iv)Precis Writing(1Q)

Total of 5 questions each carries 10marks and total of 50marks for descriptive. You will be given 60 minutes.

Note: You have to score a minimum of 40% in both the test (Objective (in each and every section) & Descriptive) for a general candidate. You have to pass both the tests to qualify for the GD/interview round. The Pattern is same for both PO and PO(Rural Business) and same as SBI Associates PO.

Phase II: GD and Interview.

After successfully qualified in the written exam you will have both GD and Interview. The Marks allocated for GD and Interview is 20 and 30 marks respectively, and for the PO (Rural) the marks are allocated as GD – 10marks, Experience – 10marks and for Interview – 30marks.  In this phase also you have to score a minimum of 40% marks for General candidates. Based on the marks of written examination and GD & Interview your selection is made.

Banking and Finance terms in India - 2010

·        What is Open Market operations(OMO)?

The buying and selling of government securities in the open market in order to expand or contract the amount of money in the banking system by RBI. Open market operations are the principal tools of monetary policy.

·        What is Micro Credit?

It is a term used to extend small loans to very poor people for self-employment projects that generate income, allowing them to care for themselves and their families.

·        What is Liquidity Adjustment Facility(LAF)?

A tool used in monetary policy that allows banks to borrow money through repurchase agreements. This arrangement allows banks to respond to liquidity pressures and is used by governments to assure basic stability in the financial markets.

·        What is RTGS System?

The acronym 'RTGS' stands for Real Time Gross Settlement. RTGS system is a funds transfer mechanism where transfer of money takes place from one bank to another on a 'real time' and on 'gross' basis. This is the fastest possible money transfer system through the banking channel. Settlement in 'real time' means payment transaction is not subjected to any waiting period. The transactions are settled as soon as they are processed. 'Gross settlement' means the transaction is settled on one to one basis without bunching with any other transaction.

·        What is Bancassurance?

It is the term used to describe the partnership or relationship between a bank and an insurance company whereby the insurance company uses the bank sales channel in order to sell insurance products.

·        What is Wholesale Price Index(WPI)?

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the index used to measure the changes in the average price level of goods traded in wholesale market. A total of 435 commodity prices make up the index. It is available on a weekly basis. It is generally taken as an indicator of the inflation rate in the Indian economy. The Indian Wholesale Price Index (WPI) was first published in 1902, and was used by policy makers until it was replaced by the Producer Price Index (PPI) in 1978.

·        What is Consumer price Index(CPI)?

It is a measure estimating the average price of consumer goods and services purchased by households.

·        What is Venture Capital?

Venture capital is money provided by an outside investor to finance a new, growing, or troubled business. The venture capitalist provides the funding knowing that there’s a significant risk associated with the company’s future profits and cash flow. Capital is invested in exchange for an equity stake in the business rather than given as a loan, and the investor hopes the investment will yield a better-than-average return.

·        What is a Treasury Bills?

Treasury Bills (T-Bills) are short term, Rupee denominated obligations issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on behalf of the Government of India. They are thus useful in managing short-term liquidity. At present, the Government of India issues three types of treasury bills through auctions, namely, 91-day, 182-day and 364-day. There are no treasury bills issued by State Governments.

·        What is Banking Ombudsmen Scheme?

The Banking Ombudsman Scheme enables an expeditious and inexpensive forum to bank customers for resolution of complaints relating to certain services rendered by banks.

The Banking Ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in certain banking services.

The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was first introduced in India in 1995, and was revised in 2002. The current scheme became operative from the 1 January 2006, and replaced and superseded the banking Ombudsman Scheme 2002.

·        What is Subsidy?

A subsidy is a form of financial assistance paid to a business or economic sector.  Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or to encourage it to hire more labor.

·        What is a Debenture? How many types of debentures are there? What are they?

A debenture is basically an unsecured loan to a corporation. A type of debt instrument that is not secured by physical asset. Debentures are backed only by the general creditworthiness and reputation of the issuer. 

i)Convertible Debentures: Any type of debenture that can be converted into some other security or it can be converted into stock..

ii)Non-Convertibility Debentures(NCB): Non Convertible Debentures are those that cannot be converted into equity shares of the issuing company, as opposed to Convertible debentures. Non-convertible debentures normally earn a higher interest rate than convertible debentures do.

·        What is a hedge fund?

‘Hedge’ means to reduce financial risk.

A hedge fund is an investment fund open to a limited range of investors and requires a very large initial minimum investment. It is important to note that hedging is actually the practice of attempting to reduce risk, but the goal of most hedge funds is to maximize return on investment.

·        What is FCCB?

A Foreign Currency Convertible Bond (FCCB) is a type of convertible bond issued in a currency different than the issuer’s domestic currency.  In other words, the money being raised by the issuing company is in the form of a foreign currency. A company may issue an FCCB if it intends to make a large investment in a country using that foreign currency.

·        What is Capital Account Convertibility(CAC)?

It is the freedom to convert local financial assets into foreign financial assets and vice versa at market determined rates of exchange. This means that capital account convertibility allows anyone to freely move from local currency into foreign currency and back.

The Reserve Bank of India has appointed a committee to set out the framework for fuller Capital Account Convertibility.

Capital account convertibility is considered to be one of the major features of a developed economy. It helps attract foreign investment. capital account convertibility makes it easier for domestic companies to tap foreign markets.

·        What is Current Account Convertibility?

It defines at one can import and export goods or receive or make payments for services rendered. However, investments and borrowings are restricted.

·        What is Arbitrage?

The opportunity to buy an asset at a low price then immediately selling it on a different market for a higher price.

·        What is Capitalism?

Capitalism as an economy is based on a democratic political ideology and produces a free market economy, where businesses are privately owned and operated for profit; in capitalism, all of the capital investments and decisions about production, distribution, and the prices of goods, services, and labor, are determined in the free market and affected by the forces of supply and demand.

·        What is Socialism?

Socialism as an economy is based on a collectivist type of political ideology and involves the running of businesses to benefit the common good of a vast majority of people rather than of a small upper class segment of society.

For more banking and finance terms visit this link.