ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO recruitment · India · Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ICAR)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersGeneral marketing theory, from segmentation and the marketing mix to pricing, channels and communication, applied to food and agricultural products.
In the exams: agribusiness management PhD entrance and fellowship examinations, marketing (heavy); agricultural scientist eligibility tests (present)
How our questions for ASRB NET and ARS / SMS / STO recruitment spread across the units of Marketing Management. Difficulty: 1 easy, 66 medium, 35 hard.
| Pricing objectives, methods and strategies | 12 | |
| Product classification, product life cycle and new product development | 8 | |
| Marketing communications and IMC | 8 | |
| Demand forecasting | 8 | |
| Marketing environment | 7 | |
| Segmentation, targeting and positioning | 7 | |
| The marketing mix | 7 | |
| Branding, packaging and labelling | 7 | |
| Channels and middlemen | 6 | |
| Marketing costs and margins | 6 | |
| Customer relationship management | 6 | |
| Cause-related marketing | 6 | |
| Marketing information systems | 5 | |
| E-marketing | 5 | |
| Marketing philosophies | 4 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A food processor re-orders the same grade of edible oil from its approved supplier every month without review. In the buy-class framework this is a:
B. Straight rebuy
A routine reorder from an approved supplier is a straight rebuy. A modified rebuy changes specifications, price or supplier; a new task buys something for the first time.
Further reading: Robinson, Faris and Wind, Industrial Buying and Creative Marketing, 1967
In positioning, associations that a brand must share with competitors to be considered a legitimate member of the category are called:
A. Points of parity
Points of parity are necessary but not unique; points of difference are the attributes customers associate strongly with the brand and believe they cannot find to the same extent elsewhere.
Further reading: Kotler and Keller, Marketing Management
Which set gives the five SERVQUAL dimensions?
A. Reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, responsiveness
Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry reduced service quality to five dimensions, remembered as RATER. The other lists are invented or mix unrelated concepts.
Further reading: Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, Journal of Retailing, 1988
In the gaps model of service quality, the 'customer gap' between expected and perceived service is:
C. Gap 5, which is a function of Gaps 1 to 4
Gap 5 is the difference between expected and perceived service and results from the four provider gaps. Gap 1 concerns management's understanding of expectations.
Further reading: Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, Journal of Marketing, 1985
A seed company that already sells maize hybrids adds three more maize hybrids. In product-mix terms it has increased the mix's:
A. Depth and length
Adding variants within an existing line deepens it and adds to the total number of items (length). Width would rise only if a new product line, such as fertilisers, were added.
Further reading: Kotler and Keller, Marketing Management
A company sells three competing brands of cooking oil in the same category. This strategy is:
D. Multibranding
Multibranding introduces additional brands in the same category to occupy several positions, at the risk of each earning a small share.
Further reading: Kotler and Keller, Marketing Management
Which is the most likely reason a farm commodity such as undifferentiated wheat is hard to brand, while certified seed is easily branded?
B. Brands add value where they guarantee attributes the buyer cannot easily check, such as seed purity and germination
A brand is a promise that reduces the buyer's risk; this is valuable for credence and experience attributes like germination and purity. Commodities are close substitutes, and trademark law does not forbid branding them.
Further reading: Kotler and Keller, Marketing Management
A farm radio programme costs 150,000 for a slot reaching an audience of 500,000 listeners. What is the cost per thousand (CPM)?
C. 300
CPM = cost / audience x 1,000 = 150,000 / 500,000 x 1,000 = 300. 0.30 is the cost per single listener; 3,333 inverts the ratio. 3,000 multiplies by 10,000 instead of 1,000.
Further reading: Kotler and Keller, Marketing Management
Market share in kilograms sold is measured on which level of scale?
D. Ratio scale
Quantities sold have a true zero and equal intervals, so they are on a ratio scale. Interval scales lack a true zero; ordinal scales only rank.
Further reading: Kotler and Keller, Marketing Management
An agri-input website receives 40,000 visits from a campaign costing 150,000; 2.5 per cent of visits convert into orders. What is the cost per acquisition?
D. 150
Orders = 40,000 x 0.025 = 1,000. CPA = spend / customers acquired = 150,000 / 1,000 = 150. 3.75 is the cost per visit; 6,000 divides by 25 instead of 1,000. 15 converts 25 per cent of visits instead of 2.5 per cent.
Further reading: Kotler and Keller, Marketing Management
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