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Early Adopters- the group in a market second only to innovators in the speed with which they adopt a new product. .

Early Majority - the group in a market who are more deliberate than the innovators and the early adopters in making purchase decisions, but less conservative than the late majority and laggards. 

Economic Environment - factors in the economy, such as inflation, unemployment, interest rates, etc., that influence the buying decisions of consumers and organizations.

Economic Forecast - a prediction of the likely impact on the business environment of factors such as inflation, interest rates, unemployment, government and consumer spending, etc.

Economic Utility - the ability of a good or service to satisfy a customer's needs or wants; the five kinds of economic utility are form utility, time utility, place utility, information utility and possession utility.

Economies of Scale - reductions in the price per unit of marketing or manufacturing a product as the quantity marketed or produced increases.

Effective Buying Income - an individual's disposable income, consisting of salary and wages, dividends, interest, profits, etc., less all government taxes. 

Ego States - a proposition in transactional analysis that every person has three mental conditions - parent ego state, child ego state and adult ego state, and that at any particular time one of these states is dominant in the personality.

Ego Drive - the need of one individual to persuade another to a particular point of view and feel satisfaction in having done so.

Elaboration Probes - questions posed by salespeople when positively encouraging prospects to provide additional information about their needs.

Elasticity of Demand - a measure of the degree to which any change in the price of a product will affect the demand for it. 

Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale - a system commonly used in retailing in which a consumer pays for purchases by means of an electronic transfer of funds from his or her bank account to that of the store.

Electronic Retailing - the use by customers of computer terminals in conveniently located shopping kiosks to call up product information and then to place orders using credit cards.

Embargo - a total restriction on a particular good leaving or entering a county; any restriction imposed in the release of information, advertising, etc before a given date.

Embedding - a form of subliminal advertising; the concealing of imagery in various products and advertisements to appeal to the subconscious drives of potential customers. 

Emotional Appeals in Advertising - advertising messages, usually based on imagery rather than information, which attempt to achieve the advertiser's objectives by evoking strong emotional feelings (fear, anger, passion, etc) rather than by a rational appeal. 

Emotional Close - a closing technique in which the salesperson attempts to get a favourable response from a buyer by appealing to his or her fear, pride or similar emotion. 

Emotional Risk - the concern or uncertainty felt by a prospective buyer that he or she will feel bad about the purchase afterwards; also called Psychological Risk. 

Empathy - the ability of an individual to project his or her own personality into a situation and understand it; a quality deemed desirable in salespeople who must be able to see the product from the buyer's point of view.

Employee Poaching - the act of enticing key employees from one competing firm to another.

Empty Nesters - those in the stage of the family life cycle where the children have all grown up and left home; typically, empty nesters are at the peak of their earning potential, and are an excellent market for travel, leisure and sporting goods, and home improvement merchandise. .

Encirclement Attack - a competitive strategy used by a strong challenger to attack the market leader; the market challenger launches an attack on several fronts at once in an attempt to break the leader's grip on the market.

Encoding - the translation of a message into code by a sender so that it can be relayed through a medium to a receiver. 

Encouragement Probes - question posed by salespeople to get additional information from a prospective buyer.

Endless Chain Method - a prospecting method in which a salesperson asks each customer called upon to suggest the names of other likely purchasers of the same product. 

Endorsements - recommendations to purchase a particular brand of product made in advertisements by well-known personalities or experts.

Enterprise Competitors - firms of similar type vying for a consumer's business. S

Entertainment Marketing - promotion of a product by means of movie tie-ins, endorsement by entertainment industry celebrities, or similar. S

Environmental Forecasting - attempting to predict the nature and intensity of the micro-environmental and macro-environmental forces that are likely to affect a firm's decision making and have an impact upon its performance in a given period.

Environmental Scanning - the process of examining the internal and external factors which influence the firm's operations and decision making in order to identify market opportunities and threats.

Error Rate - the percentage of errors (wrong items, wrong quantity, wrong address, etc.) made in shipping merchandise to customers.

Escalator Clause - a clause in a contract which allows a tenderer to adjust the final amount charged to take account of price rises in component parts between acceptance of the bid and completion of the delivery, installation, etc.

Esteem Needs - the desire to feel important in the eyes of others. 

Evaluative Criteria - features of a supplier, product, etc. considered by a buyer when choosing between alternatives; evaluative criteria may be objective or subjective.

Evaluative Probes - questions posed by salespeople to help their understanding of a prospective customer's feelings on a subject.

Evoked Set - brands that a buyer is aware of, and thinks well of, when considering a purchase ; also called the Consideration Set. 

Exchange - the transfer of an object, idea, service, etc. from one person or organization to another in return for something desired. 

Exclusive Agreements - agreements between manufacturers and middlemen in which the latter are granted sole rights to distribute a product within a defined territory.

Exclusive Assortment - an assortment strategy in which a reseller decides to carry the product line of only one manufacturer. 

Exclusive Dealing Agreement - an arrangement in which a manufacturer prohibits a marketing intermediary from carrying competitors' products.

Exclusive Distribution - restricting the availability of a product to one particular outlet. 

Exclusive Sales Territory - a region in which a distributor has been given sole rights to a manufacturer's product.

Expectancy-Value Model (of Brand Evaluation) - a model used in the study of consumer decision processes to evaluate alternative brands. In this model, brand attributes are weighted; a consumer's beliefs about each brand's attributes are multiplied by the respective weights to produce a preference ranking of the alternatives..

Expected Return Model - a forecasting technique used to predict future profits where firms bid for business in an uncertain situation; a method of determining the expected value of a set of alternative outcomes. Total expected return in a given period is the sum of the profit from each job bid for, after each profit has been reduced by a factor corresponding to the degree of probability of the bid being accepted. 

Expense Quota - the amount budgeted for a salesperson for expenses associated with making sales in a territory; used as a cost control measure by sales managers.

Experience Curve Pricing - the pricing of a product at a lower than average-cost level on the basis that costs will decrease as production experience increases.

Experimental Research Method- a systematic and scientific approach to marketing research in which the research manipulates one or a number of variables and measures any change in other variables.

Experimental Variables - the variables a researcher manipulates in conducting an experiment; also called Explanatory Variables. 

Expert Forecasting Survey - a sales forecasting method in which outside specialists or industry experts - economists, academics, management consultants, advertising executives, etc. - are asked to assist in the preparation of the sales forecast.

Exploratory Research - desk research undertaken before primary research is commenced in a marketing research study, including an informal search for material from internal, external and secondary sources, interviews and discussions with informed sources, etc. 

Exponential Smoothing - a quantitative technique for sales forecasting using historical data weighted to favour the most recent information.

Export-Import Agent - an independent marketing intermediary bringing together buyers and sellers from different countries and taking a commission on sales.

Express Warranty - a manufacturer's guarantee, stated in written or spoken words, that the product offered for sale will satisfactorily perform the task for which it is intended, and to the buyer's reasonable expectations. 

Expressive (Social Style) - one of four social styles (with Amiable, Analytical and Expressive) commonly used to classify salespeople and their customers; Expressives are characterized by high assertiveness and high responsiveness.

Extension Approach to Pricing - an approach to global pricing in which a firm sets the same price for its product around the world and expects purchases to pay whatever additional freight and import costs apply. 

Extensive Problem Solving - buying situations which require considerable effort because the buyer has had no previous experience with the product or suppliers; also called Extensive Decision Making. 

External Marketing Environment - relatively uncontrollable factors outside the firm which influence its decision making. .

External Stimuli - advertisements, posters, coupons, point-of-purchase materials, store displays, etc which give rise to a drive.

Extrinsic Rewards - rewards for doing a job which are external to the individual, such as wages, bonuses, incentives, fringe benefits, job promotions, and so on. See Intrinsic Rewards.

Eye Pupil Dilation Test - a physiological method of objectively pre-testing advertisements in which involuntary eye pupil dilation is used to measure the level of interest shown by a particular consumer.

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Face Validity - the apparent plausibility of the results of marketing research, which on the basis of logic and common sense, seems to be correct.

Face-to-Face Selling - selling situations in which salesperson and buyer meet together (rather than use telephone or mail, for instance) to conduct their business.

Facilitating Channel Institution - an agency or organization, such as a bank, transport company or insurance agency, which provides specialized assistance to members of a marketing channel; the facilitating channel institution does not take title to the goods.

Factor Analysis - a statistical procedure for trying to discover the basic factors that may underlie and account for the correlations among a larger number of variables. 

Factory Outlet - a retail store that sells the products of one manufacturer, usually at very low prices.

Fad - a product, especially a fashion, that comes quickly to the attention of an eager public, achieves peak sales in a relatively short time, and rapidly declines in popularity; that is, a popular product with a particularly short life cycle. 

Fake Interview - a job interview held when a company advertises a non-existent position in its firm hoping to attract personnel from competing firms; the aim of this unethical tactic is usually, to obtain competitive information.

Familiarity Scale - a scaling device for measuring a target audience's awareness and knowledge of a company or its products. Responses are commonly recorded on a five-stage scale: 1. Never Heard of It; 2. Heard of It; 3. Know a Little; 4. Know a Fair Amount; 5. Know It Well. 

Family Brand - a brand name used for a number of products in the same line, such as Revlon cosmetics or Heinz canned foods; also referred to as a Blanket Brand. 

Family Life Cycle - a series of stages through which the typical family passes, including bachelor stage, young married, full nest, empty nest and sole survivor.

Fashion - a product that is popular at the moment; fashions tend to follow recurring life cycles.

Fast Moving Consumer Goods - a term used in reference to frequently purchased consumer goods, such as foodstuffs, toiletries, etc.

Favourability Scale - a scaling device for measuring a target audience's feelings or attitudes towards a company or its products. Responses are commonly recorded on a five-stage scale: 1. Very Unfavourable; 2. Somewhat Unfavourable; 3. Indifferent; 4. Somewhat Favourable; 5. Very Favourable. 

Fear Appeals in Advertising - advertising messages which use fear as their focus; often employed in public service announcements, such as those seeking to discourage smoking, reduce the road toll, warn of the dangers of hard drugs, etc. S

Feature Modification - a change made to any feature of a product in order to make it safer, more useful or more valuable to a purchaser; also called Functional Modification.

Features - prominent or distinctive characteristics of a product's use, construction or design; also referred to as Attributes.

Features and Benefits Selling - a selling style in which a salesperson is careful to relate each feature of the product being presented to a particular benefit which the feature will deliver to the buyer.

Feedback - the mechanism in the communication process which allows the sender to monitor and evaluate the receiver's response to a message. 

Fictitious Pricing - the unethical, possibly illegal, practice of announcing a price reduction (eg. "now $20, formerly $49") when, in fact, there has been no reduction at all.

Field Sales Manager - a sales manager whose prime responsibility is for the supervision of the sales force in its outside selling activities; generally, the field sales manager will have only minimal involvement in the internal, administrative sales management operations.

Field Selling - face-to-face sales calls made by company representatives on customers in their homes or places of business.

Fighting Brand - a low-priced manufacturer's brand sold with minimal advertising and promotional expenditure; the brand is used to compete with dealers' brands and generics. Also called a Price Brand.

Financial Leverage - a measure of the extent to which a firm uses debt in its total capital structure; the higher the component of debt the more leveraged is the firm. Leverage is calculated by dividing total assets by equity.

Financial Resources - the availability of money in the form of cash, securities, creditors, loan facilities, etc possessed by an organization.

Financial Risk - concern in the buyer's mind that the product being considered for purchase is too expensive, or will be a waste of money. See Risk.

Flag - an area on a product label which interrupts the design to announce a special offer or similar promotion.

Flanker Brand - a brand introduced into a market by a company which already has an established place in order to increase overall market share in a product category.

Flanking Attack - a competitive marketing strategy in which one company attacks another in a weak spot, commonly by paying maximum attention to either a geographic region or a market segment in which the rival is under-performing.

Flanking Defence - a competitive marketing strategy in which the market leader attempts to identify and strengthen its own weak points, commonly geographic areas or market segments in which it is under-performing, before a smaller rival can mount an attack against it.

Flexible Pricing - a pricing method in which the price charged for some consumer shopping goods and specialty goods and for many industrial products is open to negotiation between buyer and seller; also known as Multiple Pricing and Variable Pricing.

Flighting - scheduling advertising campaigns in irregular bursts followed by periods of relative or complete inactivity. 

Fluctuating Demand - demand in the industrial sector which rises and falls sharply in response to changing economic conditions and consumer spending patterns.

Flyer - a promotional leaflet or mailing piece.

FOB Pricing - see Free-on-Board Pricing.

Focus Group - a qualitative marketing research technique in which an independent moderator interviews a small group of consumers from the target market in an informal setting to get an immediate market reaction to a new product or brand name, to generate new product ideas, etc. Also referred to as a Customer Panel. 

Follow-the-Leader Strategy - decisions and actions taken by a firm which chooses to follow the market leader as an alternative to challenging it; essentially reactive, follow-the-leader strategies, also known as "me-too" strategies, minimize the risk of retaliation which might result from an attack, direct or indirect, on the market leader's share.

Follow-the-Leader Pricing Strategy - a pricing strategy adopted by firms which copy the market leader's prices.

Follow Up - the vital final stage in the selling process; the salesperson's call-back upon a client after the ordered goods have been supplied to check that all has been handled to the buyer's satisfaction.

Forecasting - predicting future variables, such as the level of sales in a given period, the environmental factors that will influence the firm's performance, etc.

Foreground Radio - a term used in reference to pre-recorded or live radio programs featuring music and commercial announcements broadcast direct to stores where the advertised merchandise is available.

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate - the price of one country's currency expressed in terms of the currency of another country.

Foreign Market Entry - expansion by entering an overseas market; the four possible ways of entry an overseas market are by exporting, licensing, joint venturing or direct ownership.

Form Utility - the value given to a product by virtue of the fact that the materials and components which comprise it have been combined to make the finished product. 

Formula Approach - an approach to selling in which the salesperson uses a formula such as AIDA - awareness, interest, desire, action - as a guide to taking the buyer from one stage of the buying process to the next.

Formula Marketing - a term used to describe an approach to marketing practice which relies heavily on conventional wisdom and spurns anything innovative.

Forward Buy - the placement of an inventory purchase order earlier than required in order to take advantage of a special price offer, or similar.

Forward Integration - a strategy for growth in which a company develops by seeking ownership of, or some measure of control over, its distribution systems. 

Four Ps - the four major controllable variables of the marketing mix - product, price, promotion and place.

Franchise-Building Sales Promotions - consumer sales promotions which impart a selling message along with the deal, as in the case of free samples or premiums related to the product. Consumer sales promotions which are not "franchise-building" include price-off packs, contests and sweepstakes, and premiums not related to the product. 

Franchising - an arrangement in which a supplier grants a dealer the right to sell a product in return for some percentage of the total sales; typically, the supplier provides buildings and equipment, management advice and marketing assistance to the franchisee, who agrees to operate according to the franchisor's general rules.

Free Associations - a method of collecting qualitative marketing research data in which respondents are asked to supply the word or idea which first comes to mind in response to a word or phrase given to them by a researcher; the technique is used to further understand shopping, advertising, branding, etc.

Free Market - a market place which has minimum direct involvement of government in market decisions.

Free Merchandise - a type of trade sales promotion in which resellers are given a certain quantity of merchandise free of charge in return for an order of a specified size. 

Free-alongside-Ship Pricing - a pricing approach in which the manufacturer pays the freight cost to the wharf; costs associated with loading and shipping are borne by the purchaser. 

Free-Form Presentation - a selling approach which does not rely upon any set formula or method. 

Free-in-Store Pricing - a pricing method in which the producer is responsible for all freight and delivery costs; the ordered goods are delivered freight free to the customer. 

Free-In-The-Mail Premium - a type of sales promotion in which consumers are offered a gift which is sent to them by post in return for proof of purchase of the product.

Free-on-Board Pricing  -a pricing method in which a producer bears only the costs involved of delivery of goods "free-on-board" to a local carrier's despatch point; at that time, title for the goods passes to the purchaser, who is responsible for the remainder of the freight charge. 

Free-Standing Inserts - brochures, leaflets and similar advertising material distributed with magazines and newspapers as loose inserts.

Free-Standing Retailer - a retail store, not located in a shopping complex with other retailers, having its own premises and parking area.

Freight Absorption Pricing - a pricing method in which the manufacturer bears some or all of the freight costs involved in transporting the goods to the customer. 

Freight Charges - transportation costs involved in shipping goods from producer to customer.

Freight Forwarders - firms specializing in the supply of transportation services; by buying large volumes of land, sea, air and pipeline transportation at low rates, they are able to offer attractive rates to small businesses whose products they combine into large shipments.

Frequency - the number of times the target consumer will be exposed to the message during the specified period of the campaign.

Freudian Motivation Theory - the theory that a consumer's buying preferences are dictated by unconscious motives, and that visual, auditory and tactile elements of a product may evoke emotions which stimulate or inhibit purchase. 

Fringe Benefits - benefits enjoyed by employees as part of a total remuneration or compensation package.

Front-of-Counter - the prime and most sought after position for impulse goods. 

Full Nesters - a term used to describe the stage in the typical family life cycle in which the household consists of parents and growing children.

Full-Cost Pricing - a pricing strategy in which all relevant variable costs and a full share of fixed costs directly attributable to the product are used in setting its selling price. 

Full-Line Department Store - a department store which offers many different lines of products, including clothing, sporting goods, food, furniture, electrical goods, etc., and many different services, including wrapping, delivery and credit. 

Full-Line Strategy - the decision by a producer to offer a large number of product variations in a product line. 

Full-Service Advertising Agency - an advertising agency offering a complete range of services including marketing research; media planning; creative design of packaging and advertisements, etc. 

Full-Service Research Supplier - a marketing research firm which can offer a client a complete range of services, including problem definition or conceptualization, research design, data collection and analysis, and reporting. 

Full-Service Wholesaler - a wholesaler offering a complete range of services including buying, selling, storage, transporting, sorting, financing, providing market feedback and risk-taking; also called a Full-Function Wholesaler. 

Functional Costs - costs associated with a specific business activity, such as selling, advertising, marketing research, etc.

Functional Discount - a price allowance given to a firm performing some part of the marketing function for other members of the channel of distribution; also called Trade Discount.

Functional Organization - the organization of a firm's business activities so that a separate division is responsible for each business function - production, finance, personnel, marketing, etc; the organization of a firm's marketing activities so that a separate division is responsible for each marketing function - planning, research, sales, advertising, distribution, new product development, etc. 

Functional Wholesalers - agents, brokers, commission merchants, etc. who facilitate exchanges between producers and resellers and receive commissions for their services; also referred to as Functional Middlemen.

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Galvanic Skin Response - a physiological testing technique in which the electrical conductivity of the skin is measured to check the level of arousal caused by an advertisement.

Galvanometer - a scientific instrument used in marketing research to measure the reaction of a subject in a study to an advertisement; the instrument measures the perspiration that accompanies the subject's interest or arousal. 

Gap Analysis - the determination of the methods and techniques used to fill the "gap" between corporate sales and financial objectives and the current long-range forecasts of the sales team.

Gatekeepers - people within organizations who can control the flow of information to members of the buying centre. See Buying Centre.

General Public - all of the people in the society in which a firm operates; within the general public there may be some who view its actions favourably and some who view them unfavourably. See Publics.

Generic Advertising - advertising a category or class of product rather than a particular brand, as in "Butter is good for you!".

Generic Brand - a "no-name" brand; a product that does not carry a brand name.

Generic Competitors - products which are all different in type but are capable of satisfying the same basic want of the prospective purchaser. For example, the consumer may want to buy some new kitchen appliances but must choose between a dishwasher, a refrigerator and a microwave oven.

Generic Products - unbranded products identified only by product category.

Geocentric Approach to Pricing - an approach to global pricing in which affiliate or subsidiary companies supply information about local market conditions and the corporation then sets prices accordingly to maximize profits in each national market. 

Geographic Deployment - the deployment of a sales team on a regional or district basis as opposed to a product-type or customer-type basis.

Geographic Market Concentration - a distinctive characteristic of the industrial market; the industrial market tends to be more geographically concentrated than the consumer market.

Geographic Organization - the organization of firm's marketing activities so that a separate division is responsible for each of its major geographic markets. 

Geographic Segmentation - the division of a total, heterogeneous market into relatively homogeneous groups on the basis of area, district, region, state, etc. 

Geographic Variables - area or regional differences used to segment a market.

Geographical Pricing - a pricing method in which customers bear the freight costs from the producer's location to their own; examples of geographical pricing include FOB pricing, base-point pricing and zone pricing. See FOB Pricing; Base-Point Pricing; Zone Pricing.

Global Brands - brands sold to world markets with essentially the same promotion.

Global Marketing - marketing the same or very similar products to world markets with essentially the same promotion; also commonly referred to as International Marketing.

GNP - abbrev. Gross National Product

Go Error - a failure at any stage (but especially at the screening stage) in the new product development process when a decision is made to proceed with a product which, in hindsight, should have been abandoned. 

Goals - aims of a broad, long-term nature as opposed to objectives which are more explicit and relate to a specified time period. 

Goods-Services Continuum - the idea that products contain elements of both goods and services in varying degrees.

Goodwill - the difference between the value of a business as a going concern and the sum of the value of its assets if taken separately.

Government Markets - federal, state and local government departments and agencies which buy goods and services needed to conduct their operations.

Grade Label - a tag, sticker, label, letter, mark or symbol which identifies the quality or grade of a product offered for sale

Green Marketing - the marketing of "environmentally friendly" products; marketing which takes into account environmental issues such as wastefulness of the earth's resources, pollution, the release of toxins into the atmosphere, etc.

Gross Margin Quota - a common form of sales assignment, goal or target used to measure a salesperson's performance; a gross margin quota is used to urge a salesperson to sell a healthy portion of higher-profit items which are usually higher in price and often harder to sell. Other commonly used types of sales quotas are unit volume quotas, dollar volume quotas, net profit quotas and activity quotas. 

Gross National Product - the total market value of goods and services produced by a nation in a year.

Gross Profit - the amount left when selling costs and operating expenses are deducted from total revenue; also called Gross Margin.

Gross Rating Points - a ratio measuring the value of a media schedule in advertising, calculated by multiplying reach by frequency. 

Gross Sales - the total revenue from all sales to customers in a specified period.

Group Influences - members of a family, peers, opinion leaders, etc. who have an effect on a consumer's spending or purchase behaviour. 

Group Prospecting - finding new customers by displaying and demonstrating merchandise at functions, clubs, home parties, etc..

Group Selling - a selling situation in which a salesperson presents a product or product range to a group of buyers from one company or to a buying committee.

Growth Stage of Product Life Cycle - the second stage (after the introductory stage) in the life cycle of a successful product; sales revenues increase steadily as the product finds market acceptance, prices generally remain high despite increasing competitive threats and profit margins are at peak level.

Growth Strategies - the means by which an organization plans to achieve its objective to grow in volume and turnover. Four broad growth strategies are available - market penetration, product development, market development and diversification.

Guarantee - a written assurance by the manufacturer that a product will be replaced or repaired to the customer's satisfaction if it is found to be defective or does not perform as intended.

Guaranteed Price - an assurance given by a manufacturer to a marketing intermediary that if the wholesale price of a product is lowered while the intermediary is still holding stocks, the difference will be refunded; the purpose of the guaranteed price is to encourage the intermediary to order a large quantity of the product with confidence.

Guided Dreams - a method of collecting qualitative marketing research data in which respondents are asked to imagine they are dreaming or fantasizing; whilst in this state, a researcher seeks their emotional reactions to particular products and brands. 

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Last modified: November 21, 2007