A Level Business: Marketing — Practice Questions (Cambridge 9609)

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, in the style and at the standard of the examination. They are not reproduced past-paper questions — Cambridge International holds copyright in its own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Marketing study guide and revision notes

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Section A

1. Distinguish between product orientation and market orientation. [2]

2. Name the three named methods of market segmentation. [3]

3. State one advantage and one disadvantage of primary research compared with secondary research. [2]

Section B

4. A long-established car manufacturer is planning to launch a genuinely new type of vehicle with no direct competitors yet on the market.

(a) Recommend a pricing method for the launch, and justify your recommendation. [4] (b) Explain how the Boston Matrix might help the manufacturer decide how to allocate marketing resources across its wider vehicle range once the new model has been launched. [4]

5. A small business wants to find out what proportion of local residents would be interested in a new product before investing in it.

(a) Identify a primary research method the business could use, and justify your choice. [3] (b) Explain why sampling, rather than surveying the entire local population, might be necessary, and state one limitation of sampling. [3]

6. A company selling a well-established, mass-market snack food is considering demographic segmentation of its customer base.

(a) Explain what is meant by demographic segmentation, with an example relevant to this product. [3] (b) Suggest one advantage this approach offers over treating the whole market as a single, mass market. [2]

7. A business selling a niche, specialist product decides to target only serious enthusiasts of that product rather than the wider general public. Explain one advantage and one disadvantage of this niche marketing approach compared with mass marketing. [4]

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Answers

1. Product orientation means a business starts from what it is able to make and then tries to sell it [1]; market (customer) orientation means a business starts from identifying what customers want and then produces to meet that need [1].

2. Geographic, demographic, psychographic [3].

3. Advantage of primary research: data is collected specifically for the business’s own purpose, so it is directly relevant and current [1]. Disadvantage: it is typically more time-consuming and expensive to collect than secondary research, which already exists [1].

4. (a) Price skimming is the most suitable recommendation [1], because the vehicle is genuinely novel with no direct competitors yet, allowing the manufacturer to set a high initial price to maximise revenue from customers willing to pay for the new technology before competitors enter the market [2]. As competition eventually emerges, the price can then be lowered to broaden the customer base [1]. (b) The Boston Matrix classifies products by market share and market growth (as “stars,” “cash cows,” “question marks,” or “dogs”) [1–2], allowing the manufacturer to identify which existing models in its range are generating cash to reinvest (cash cows) and which are underperforming and might need to be discontinued or redesigned (dogs), helping to decide where the new model’s expected marketing investment should be balanced against the rest of the portfolio [2].

5. (a) A questionnaire or survey of local residents would be an appropriate primary research method [1], because it directly asks the specific target population about their interest in the new product, generating data tailored exactly to the business’s question rather than relying on pre-existing secondary sources [2]. (b) Surveying the entire local population would be too costly and time-consuming for a small business to carry out [1–2]; sampling instead selects a smaller, representative group to give a reasonably accurate picture at a manageable cost [1]. Limitation: a sample may not perfectly represent the whole population, introducing a risk of sampling error or bias if the sample is not genuinely representative [1].

6. (a) Demographic segmentation divides a market based on measurable population characteristics such as age, income, gender, or family size [1–2]; for a snack food, this might mean segmenting between, for example, children, young adults, and older consumers, who may have different preferences for flavour, packaging size, or price point [1]. (b) Segmenting demographically allows the company to tailor its marketing mix (for example, product variations, pricing, or promotional messaging) to each specific group’s preferences, which is likely to be more effective than a single mass-marketing approach that does not account for these differences between groups [2].

7. Advantage: niche marketing allows the business to tailor its product and marketing mix precisely to the specific needs of a well-understood, dedicated customer group, potentially building strong customer loyalty and allowing for premium pricing since enthusiasts are likely to value the specialism highly [2]. Disadvantage: the potential customer base is much smaller than a mass market, which limits the maximum scale of sales and revenue the business can achieve compared with targeting the whole market [2].

A note on exam technique for this topic

Question 4 illustrates the connection the study guide highlights between 3.1’s concepts, 3.2’s research methods, and 3.3’s marketing-mix tools: a strong pricing recommendation is justified by referring back to the specific market condition described (a genuinely novel product with no competitors yet), not stated as a generic definition of price skimming. The same applies to Boston Matrix and product life cycle questions — connecting the two frameworks, rather than treating them as separate, unrelated tools, is exactly the kind of applied reasoning this topic rewards at AS and A Level.