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

Simple Definitions of Taxes in India

       1. Direct Tax: Direct Tax is the tax paid to the government directly by the assessee like the Income Tax or the Capital Gains Tax. All the collections of the direct taxes in India like the Corporate Tax, Personal Income Tax, Securities Transaction Tax, Banking Cash Transaction Tax, and the Fringe Benefit Tax have been going through a healthy ascent.

       2. Indirect Tax: Indirect Tax or the tax that is levied on goods or services rather than on persons or organizations are of different types in India like Excise Duty, Customs Duty, Service Tax (VAT), and Securities Transaction Tax.

       3. Income Tax: It is a tax imposed by the Government of India on any body who earns income in India. Income Tax in India includes all income except the agricultural income that is levied and collected by the central government. Any Individual or group of Individual or artificial bodies who/which have earned income during the previous years are required to pay Income tax on it. When Companies pay taxes under the Income tax Act it is called Corporate tax.

      4. Excise Tax: An excise or excise tax (sometimes called an excise duty) is a type of tax charged on goods produced within the country (as opposed to custom duties, charged on goods from outside the country). It is a tax on the production or sale of a good. Typical examples of excise duties are taxes on gasoline tobacco and alcohol(sometimes referred to as sin taxes).

       5. Value Added Tax: This is the tax that a manufacturer needs to pay while purchasing raw materials and a trader needs to pay while purchasing goods. VAT is eventually expected to replace Sales Tax. All goods and services provided by business individuals and companies come under the ambit of VAT.

       6. Sales Tax: A sales tax is a consumption tax charged at the point of purchase for certain goods and services. The tax is usually set as a percentage by the government charging the tax.

       7. Fringe Benefit Tax: Fringe benefit tax will apply to foreign companies if it has employees based in India. Fringe benefit tax will apply to liaison offices of foreign companies in India if the liaison offices have employees based in India - CBDT Circular No. 8/2005 dated 29-8-2005.

       8. Minimum Alternative tax: The concept of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) was introduced in the direct tax system to make sure that companies having large profits and declaring substantial dividends to shareholders but who were not contributing to the Govt by way of corporate tax, by taking advantage of the various incentives and exemptions provided in the Income-tax Act, pay a fixed percentage of book profit as minimum alternate tax.

       9. Goods and service Tax: Goods and Service Tax is a tax on goods and services, which is leviable at each point of sale or provision of service, in which at the time of sale of goods or providing the services the seller or service provider can claim the input credit of tax which he has paid while purchasing the goods or procuring the service.GST is an indirect tax and ultimate burden of the GST has to be taken by the last customer.