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0/MM: Per million.
800 service: Inbound long-distance service that is free to the caller and paid for by the recipient.
80/20 rule: A rule-of-thumb that, for the typical product category, eighty percent of the products sold will be consumed by twenty percent of the customers.
Back to TopAA priori segmentation: A segmentation approach in which segmentation variables, such as age or income, are selected first and then customers are classified accordingly; the reverse of this is Post Hoc Segmentation in which, after data on existing customers are analyzed, segments based on similarities and differences are formed.
A/B split: A list division that generates two test groups, targeted with different offers, mailing packages, or other test variables.
A/V contractor: A supplier of audio/visual equipment and services.
A/V: Audio/visual support such as television monitors, VCRs, or taped music.
AA: Authors alterations, i.e., changes other than corrections made by a client after the proofing process has begun.
AAU: See awareness, attitude, and usage study.
Abandoned call: When a caller hangs up before his or her call is answered by an agent.
Abandonment rate (AR): The percentage of callers who hang up before their call is answered by a live agent or before they make a selection in an IVR unit. The Abandonment Rate can be calculated by dividing the number of calls abandoned (NCA) by the number of calls offered (NCO).
ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations): Audits and certifies magazine circulation.
ABC account classification: The classification of customer accounts within a sales territory or region into groups according to their size and potential, and, therefore, their importance, the classification is used primarily to determine call frequency.
ABC inventory analysis: The classification of goods held in inventory according to sales volume; the classification is used primarily to determine stock location within the warehouse.
ABC: Always be closing... sales tip.
Above the fold: The part of an email message or Web page that’s visible without scrolling.
Above-the-line advertising: Advertising which employs one of five main media - the press, television, radio, cinema and posters, see below-the-line advertising.
Absolute cost advantage: The cost advantage one company has over another if it has a cheaper source of raw materials, control of superior knowledge through patents, cheaper manufacturing or assembly costs, or similar benefit.
Absolute costs: The minimum costs that an organization must bear to remain in business, see absolute cost advantage.
Absolute product failure: A new product introduction whi ch does not manage to recover its production and marketing costs; the company incurs a financial loss.
Absolute unique visitors: Counts the number of visitors to your web site counting each visitor only once.
Absorbency: The capacity a paper has for accepting liquids, like the inks or water used to run offset lithographic presses.
Accelerated test marketing: Market testing of consumer goods using a simulated store technique rather than an actual test market; also referred to as Laboratory Test Markets and Purchase Laboratories.
Accelerator principle: The notion that an increase or reduction in consumer demand will affect several layers of demand in organizational markets; for example, an increase in consumer demand for soft drinks will lead to an increased demand by retailers for soft drinks, an increased demand by soft drink bottlers for aluminum cans, an increased demand by aluminum can manufacturers for aluminum sheet, an increased demand by aluminum sheet manufacturers for aluminum ore, and so on. See Derived Demand.
Acceptable price range: An expectation in the minds of consumers regarding price levels for a product category; consumers are reluctant to buy below the acceptable price range for fear that the product will be inferior, or above it because the expected benefit of the product is not worth the price.
Access barriers: Factors such as tariffs and legal restrictions which reduce the size of a market by preventing potential customers from purchasing a particular product.
Accessibility: One of the four major requirements (with actionability, measurability and substantiality) for useful market segmentation; accessibility expresses the notion that the segment targeted must be able to be reached and served adequately by the firm's promotion and distribution system. See Actionability; Measurability; Substantiality.
Accessory equipment: Goods and materials purchased by organizations for use in production, administrative, clerical or marketing activities, but not directly in the manufacture of finished products.
Accompaniment report: After an accompaniment visit the manager completes a report on the performance of the sales person, usually resulting in a follow-up action plan or additional training.
Accompaniment visit: Where a manager or trainer accompanies a sales person while meeting prospects or customers.
Accordion fold: Parallel folds that opens like an accordion.
Accordion insert: An ad inserted in a magazine folded with an accordion-style fold.
Account executive: Salesperson who manages services for a particular client (called an account).
Account manager: Vendor representative in charge of specific customers or partners.
Account objectives: The specific aims and sales goals to be achieved within a specified period by a salesperson for an account for which he or she is responsible.
Account opener: Premium given to customers as a reward or thank you for opening an account.
Account penetration ratio: A measure used to evaluate salespeople; the percentage of accounts from which orders are secured is calculated to provide a measure of whether the salesperson is working the territory in a systematic way or simply "milking" major accounts.
Account representative: A salesperson with direct responsibility for a specific major account or a group of major accounts.
Account strategies: Broad methods employed in achieving the objectives set by a salesperson for a particular account.
Account: A customer - (usually a B2B organization), the individual or company your are doing business with.
Accountants' marketing: A term sometimes used to describe an approach to marketing characterized by an emphasis on short-term sales results rather than on long-term survival and growth, and by a lack of innovation.
Achievement drive: A term coined by Harvard psychologist David McClelland, who believe this was one of the key factors in any successful accomplishment, Dr. McClelland suggests achievement drive does not add to an individual’s skills, it multiplies them, also known as ambition, drive, desire to excel, will to win, or competitive nature.
Achievers: A term used in the Values and Lifestyles (VALS) profiling scheme, developed by SRI International, to describe the most affluent and successful professional and businesspeople, the highest level of the nine psychographic segments identified in the U.S. population.
Acid test: A common ratio used to evaluate a firm's liquidity, calculated by dividing cash by current liabilities, se e current ratio and quick ratio.
Acid-free paper: Paper manufactured on a machine with the wet-end chemistry controlled to a neutral or slightly alkaline pH.
Acid-test ratio: One of three ratios commonly used to evaluate a firm's liquidity; calculated by dividing cash by current liabilities. See Current Ratio; Quick Ratio.
ACORN: A classification of residential neighborhoods according to age, composition, facilities, household size, income, marital status, mode of travel to work, occupation, ownership of car, ownership of home, etc. Based on areas of similar demographic and social characteristics tend to share common lifestyles and buying behavior.
Acquisition cost: The cost of creating or acquiring a new customer. The maximum allowable cost of a customer is usually based on their lifetime value, less the organization's profit goal.
Acquisition: The purchase by an organization of a competitor or new products, often to gain economies of scale that lead to lower costs, lower prices and increased competitiveness.
ACSI: Abbrev. American Consumer Satisfaction Index
Acting out: The activities in which consumers engage during their purchase decision-making, such as picking a product from a shelf to feel its weight, inspect its quality, or read instructions for use.
Action devices: Items and techniques used in direct mail to encourage positive response (e.g., tokens, scent strips).
Action plan: Detailed steps taken by an individual, unit, department or a team to achieve long or short-term objectives.
Action program: A detailed plan showing how major marketing tasks will be managed and implemented, who will do them, and when; also called an Action Plan.
Actionability: One of the major requirements (with accessibility, measurability and substantiality) for useful market segmentation; actionability expresses the notion that the segment targeted must be of an appropriate size for the company's resources to handle. See Accessibility; Measurability; Substantiality.
Active buyer (active customer): Customers whose latest purchase was made within the last 12 months. See also Buyer and Actives.
Active data: Information that is acquired by organizations when customers interact with their websites; the information is relayed to the organizations either by means of cookies – unique identifiers that allow organizations to know who has visited their websites and which pages visitors have viewed - or by the customers’ completion of application or enquiry forms . See Directed Data; Passive data.
Active listening: Listening that is more than passively hearing what the customer is saying; implies the need for a salesperson to think while listening and to evaluate what is being said.
Active member: Customer who is fulfilling the original commitment or who has fulfilled that commitment and has made one or more purchases in the last 12 months.
Active subscriber: Customer who has committed for regular delivery of magazines, books, or goods or services for a period of time still in effect.
Active value: The value a consumer gets from the actual use of a product, such as a lawn mower, sewing machine, or taxi; in other cases, such as watching a movie or visiting an art gallery, the value is reactive . See Reactive Value.
Actives: Customers who have made purchases within a prescribed time, usually one year; subscribers whose subscriptions have not expired.
Activity quota: A common form of sales assignment, goal or target used to measure a sales representative's performance in relation to his or her selling activities; activities used in this way include total calls made, total sales made, number of new accounts opened, number of displays set up, and so on. Other common forms of sales quotas are unit volume quotas, dollar volume quotas, gross margin quotas and net profit quotas. See Sales Quota.
Activity report: A report used by salespeople to provide details (such as number of calls made, new accounts opened, displays arranged, dealer sales meetings attended and so on) to management as a measure of their activity in a given period.
Activity stage model: The process in which the various tasks that need to be done to bring a new product to market are mapped out in sequential order. See New Product Development.
Actual product: The tangible features of a product, including styling, quality level, features, brand name and packaging; also called the Formal Product or Tangible Product. See Augmented Product; Core Product.
Actual response rate: The number of orders received in response to a direct mail campaign; the actual response rate is compared to the projected response rate to evaluate the success of the campaign. See Projected Response Rate.
Actual self: The concept, of self image, of what a person is now, as opposed to what he or she would like to become (that is, the ideal self). See Ideal Self.
Ad banner: Alternative term for banner (typically referring to web advertisements).
Ad click rate: The ad clicks/ad views ratio (can be multiplied by 100 to express the result as a percentage)
Ad hoc marketing research: Marketing research conducted in response to a specific, one-time-only need.
Ad hoc report: A summary of computer information conceived after the master files have been created, usually produced by an after-the-fact reporting system designed for the purpose.
Ad server: Computer system which stores, maintains and serves (uploads) advertising banners for one or more websites. Ad servers program, track, and report several statistics about website visitors which are used by advertisers to custom tailor ads and offers to suit different categories of visitors.
Ad slick: Ad slicks refers to the final, camera-ready advertisement. It gets its name from the glossy paper on which it is printed.
Ad specialty: A product imprinted with, or otherwise carrying, a logo or promotional message. Also called a promotional product.
Adaptation Approach to Pricing: An approach in global marketing in which an organization allows an affiliate or subsidiary to set the most desirable price, provided it is profitable, in its own region; also referred to as the Polycentric Approach. See also Extension Approach; Geocentric Approach.
Adapted marketing mix: In international marketing, a marketing strategy in which elements of the marketing program are adjusted for the target market in each country.
Adaptive control system: A system of marketing control which allows for changes to be made to marketing objectives during a planning period as well as to the performance to meet the objectives; a pro-active marketing control system. See After-the-Fact Control System; Marketing Control System; Reactive Marketing Control System; Steering Control System.
Adaptive selling: 1) a technique which calls for the salesperson to adapt his or her social style to that of the buyer in order to maximize effectiveness and buyer comfort. 2) the salesperson's ability to change directions during a call based on what happens during the call.
Adaptive strategies: Domestic marketing tactics, plans and methods which have been altered to suit local conditions in foreign markets.
Adaptivising: A planning philosophy implying a firm's intention to continue to maintain, and expand, its present operations, to do better things in the future than have been done in the past, see optimizing, and satisficing.
Added value: The increased worth of a firm's offering as a result of marketing; four factors which generate the additional value are features, quality, customer perception (or image) and exclusiveness.
Additions: New names, either of individuals or companies, added to a mailing list.
Add-on sale: Selling additional goods or services to a buyer of the company’s other goods and services.
Address Correction Requested: Endorsement printed in the upper left-hand corner of the address portion of the mailing piece (below the return address), which authorizes the U.S. Postal Service, for a fee, to provide the known new address of a person no longer at the address on the mailing piece.
ADI (Area of Dominant Influence): Geographic division of markets by Arbitron, based on preponderance of television viewing.
Administered channel arrangement: See Administered Vertical Marketing System.
Administered prices: Cost-oriented pricing in which a firm bases its prices on considerations within the firm rather than on customer considerations.
Administered vertical marketing system: A coordinated system of distribution channel organization in which the flow of products from producer to end-user is controlled by the power and size of one member of the channel system rather than by common ownership or contractual ties. See Contractual Vertical Marketing System; Conventional Marketing System; Corporate Vertical Marketing System; Vertical Marketing System.
Adopter category: The ranking into which adopters of a new product fall according to their willingness and speed to embrace a new product; adopter categories are normally listed as innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. See Diffusion of Innovation.
Adoption of Innovation Curve: A normal distribution curve illustrating the fact that customers vary widely in their willingness or readiness to purchase new products. See Diffusion of Innovation.
Adoption process: The series of stages, including awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and rejection or adoption, which consumers go through in their decision-making process; also called the Adoption Sequence.
Adoption rate determinants: Factors which influence the rate of adoption of a new product. See Communicability; Compatibility; Complexity; Divisibility; Relative Advantage.
Adoption sequence: See Adoption Process.
Adoption: The choice of one product over another.
Advance order: An order for services sent to the service contractor prior to the installation date. Compare with Floor Order.
Advance rates: Fees associated with advance orders, which typically include discounts when paid in advance.
Advantage matrix: See Boston Consulting Group Advantage Matrix.
Advantage: The aspect of a product or service that makes it better than another, the selling factor over the product or service of a competitor.
Adversarial shopper: A consumer whose shopping behavior is characterized by a determination to get good value at a low price; a bargain hunter; one who regards all prices as negotiable.
Advertiser (buyer): The company that buys the product from the distributor to use as promotional tool.
Advertising agency: A firm specializing in the creation, design and media placement of advertisements, and in the planning and execution of promotional campaigns. See Full-Service Advertising Agency; Limited-Service Advertising Agency.
Advertising allocation: See Advertising Budget.
Advertising allowance: 1) A discount given to a retailer by a supplier whose brand or product is featured in the store's newspaper, television or radio advertising or in catalogs, flyers or similar promotional pieces. See Allowances; Discounts. 2) Cooperative funds provided by a manufacturer to a distributor (or retailer) for the purpose of advertising a specific product or brands. Also called cooperative advertising or coop.
Advertising and promotion (A&P): Sometimes described as "above the line" (media advertising such as radio, TV, newspapers, magazines) or "below the line" (non-'media' methods such as brochures, direct-mail, exhibitions, telemarketing and public relations), advertising agencies generally receive a commission from the above the line media services, but not below the line services.
Advertising appropriation: See Advertising Budget.
Advertising banner: See Banner Advertising.
Advertising budget determination: Decisions pertaining to the amount to be allocated to advertising expenditure in a given period; common approaches to advertising budget determination include arbitrary allocation, percent of sales, competitive parity, objective and task and budgeting models. See All-We-Can-Afford Method; Percentage-of-Sales Method; Competitive Parity Budgeting; Objective and Task Method of Budgeting; Computer Modeling.
Advertising budget: The sum allocated in a particular accounting period for expenditure on advertising; also called an Advertising Allocation or an Advertising Appropriation.
Advertising campaign evaluation: The measurement of the success of a planned program of advertising in terms of sales, increased product awareness, wider distribution or other program objectives.
Advertising campaign: A planned program of advertising with particular objectives.
Advertising control - advertising copy: The content and context of a message contained in an advertisement.
Advertising effectiveness: The degree to which the objectives of an advertisement or advertising campaign have been achieved; the effectiveness is commonly gauged by measuring the effect on sales, brand awareness, brand preference, etc. See Communication Effect of Advertising; Sales Effect of Advertising.
Advertising elasticities: Measurements of the effect on other marketing variables of various levels of advertising expenditure; for example, measurement of the effect of high levels of advertising on consumer perceptions of price, or the measurement of the low levels of advertising on consumer perceptions of product quality.
Advertising elasticity: The relationship between a change in advertising budget and the resulting change in product sales.
Advertising exposure: One presentation of an advertisement to an audience; advertising managers must decide how many "exposures" will be required to achieve their goal or objective.
Advertising goal: A particular communication task to be accomplished with a specific target audience in a given period of time.
Advertising impact: See Impact.
Advertising media: Outlets or vehicles (for instance, newspapers and magazines, television, radio, cinema, posters, etc) used in communication between advertisers and customers. Note that advertising media is a plural term; its singular form is advertising medium.
Advertising medium: See Advertising Media.
Advertising message: The central, underlying idea or theme within an advertisement.
Advertising objectives: Specific aims or intentions of an advertisement (for example, to inform, to persuade, to remind).
Advertising plan: An outline of what goals an advertising campaign should achieve, how to accomplish those goals, and how to determine whether or not the campaign was successful in obtaining those goals.
Advertising planning process: The steps or stages taken in planning an advertising campaign; the steps include identifying the target market, establishing the advertising objectives, developing the advertising budget, developing the advertising strategies, selecting the appropriate media, and evaluating the advertising effectiveness.
Advertising platform: The basic issues or selling points that a company wishes to have included in an advertising campaign.
Advertising research: An outline of what goals an advertising campaign should achieve, how to accomplish those goals, and how to determine whether or not the campaign was successful in obtaining those goals.
Advertising schedule: List of advertisements booked by media showing details of sizes, timing, and costs.
Advertising specialty: Any product or item, such as a pen or key-ring, which is imprinted with a company’s name, brand name or logo, and given away as a gift.
Advertising Standards Council: A body comprising representatives from the retail trade, trade unions, academics, advertising agencies and the media established to administer voluntary advertising codes and to provide a vehicle for consumer complaints about advertising.
Advertising target: The entire market, or some part of it, which a firm wishes to attract with its advertisement.
Advertising wearout: See consumer wearout.
Advertising: Method used by a company to publicize and position its products and services to its chosen target markets, including product launches, image and brand building, press and public relations activities, merchandising, special offers, generating leads, and offering incentives to distributors, agents, and sales representatives.
Advertising-to-Editorial Ratio: The measure of the proportion of advertising space to editorial matter in a newspaper or magazine.
Advertising-to-Marketing Ratio: A marketing control measure used to determine whether the amount spent on advertising in a given period was excessive; total advertising expenditure is expressed as a percentage to total marketing expenditure.
Advertising-to-Sales Ratio: A marketing control measure used to determine whether the amount spent on advertising in a given period was excessive; total advertising expenditure is expressed as a percentage of total sales revenue.
Advertorial advertising: Advertising in which the sponsoring organization declares its position on a matter of public interest (usually of a controversial nature). See Advocacy Advertising.
Advertorial: An advertisement in which the advertiser expresses a point of view about a social or political issue or a matter of public interest. See Advertorial Advertising.
Adviser approach: A closing technique in which a salesperson specifies all that a customer will require to solve the problem at hand, and advises (or counsels) that the offer be accepted; also referred to as the Counselor Close. See Close.
Advocacy advertising: 1) A paid, overtly-sponsored communication or message which presents information or a point of view on a controversial public issue, idea or cause. See Advertorial Advertising. 2) Advertising that is specifically designed to induce, discourage or advocate some specific kind of action on the part of a corporate, social or government entity.
Advocate revenue: Sales influenced by word-of-mouth advertising.
Aesthetic needs: See Self-Actualization Needs.
Affiliate directory: A categorized listing of affiliate programs, also known as affiliate program directory, associate program directory.
Affiliate marketing: Revenue sharing between online advertisers/merchants and online publishers/salespeople, whereby compensation is based on performance measures, typically in the form of sales, clicks, registrations, or a hybrid model.
Affiliate network: A value-added facilitator that provides services, including aggregation, for affiliate merchants and affiliates. Affiliate networks offer tracking technology, reporting tools, payment processing, and access to a large base of affiliates. Affiliate networks offer such services as one-click application to new merchants, reporting tools, and payment aggregation to affiliates.
Affiliate: 1) A marketing partner that promotes your products or services under a payment-on-results agreement. (2) A website that will drive traffic to another site for a percentage of sales.
Affinity marketing: Marketing targeted at individuals sharing common interests related to a product. Also, a campaign jointly sponsored different organizations.
Affinity: 1) A logical connection between a mailer’s offer and the names/data on a list. (2) Relationships among customers and their purchases, lifestyles, etc. (e.g., People who travel internationally are often prospects for fine-dining, wine, or luxury goods.)
Affirmations: Words said to one’s self, aloud or silently, sometimes called self-talk, used by sales people to improve performance, the underlying psychology is if you repeat it often enough your mind will come to accept it as truth and the outcome will be achieved.
Affirmative consent: A demand of the Senate Commerce Committee Report for the CAN-SPAM Act which requires the recipient make some active choice or selection. Remaining passive, such as not un-checking a pre-checked box or other default Web form, is not sufficient.
Affordable method: See All-We-Can-Afford Method.
Aftermarket: The market, especially for automotive parts, accessories and equipment, after the new product has been purchased.
After-the-Fact Control System: A system of marketing control in which corrective action is taken at the end of a planning period when marketing performance does not meet expectations; changes are made in an attempt to rectify the situation for the next planning period. See Adaptive Control System; Marketing Control System; Reactive Marketing Control System; Steering Control System.
Against the grain: Folding paper at right angles to the grain of the paper; a sheet of paper will fold easily along the grain but will possibly crack when folded against the grain.
Age and Life-Cycle Segmentation: A demographic segmentation strategy in which a product-market is grouped into segments based on the basis of age so that the organization can more precisely target its offerings to the needs and wants of each stage of life of interest to it. In this way, an organization may develop different products and different marketing approaches for school children, teens, young married couples, mature adults, elderly citizens and so on.
Agency commission: The agency’s fee for designing and placing advertisements. Historically, this was calculated as 15 percent of the amount spent to purchase space or time in the various media used for the advertising. In recent years the commission has, in many cases, become negotiable, and may even be based on performance of the campaign’s success.
Agent: 1) A bona fide representative with proper credentials from the party represented. (2) A call center staff member handling outgoing or incoming calls. There are a variety of names that a call center agent may be known as such as CSR, operator, or communicator, to name just a few. See also: Manufacturer's agent.
Agile corporation: An organization that is flexible and able to move quickly in response to continuously changing market conditions, organizing its resources and adjusting its marketing strategies accordingly.
AID: (Automatic Interaction Detector)-A method of multivariate analysis often used in market segmentation studies.
AIDA concept: A formula used in selling to produce a favorable response from a customer. The assumption is that the salesperson must first make the potential customer aware of a product; foster interest; stimulate desire; and, finally, encourage action (to purchase). See Formula Selling.
AIDA selling system: The salesperson must1) first make the prospect aware of the product, (2) foster any interest shown, (3) stimulate the desire to buy and possess the product and, finally, (4) encourage action to purchase.
AIDA: Attention, interest, desire, action... "get the prospect's attention, gain their interest, create desire and encourage them to act by moving forward with the purchase."
AIDCA: Acronym for Awareness, Inter est, Desire, Conviction, Action; mental states which supposedly lead a potential customer to a buying decision. See Formula Selling.
Aided recall test: A method of post-testing the effectiveness of an advertisement or advertising campaign; respondents are shown products, brand names, trademarks, etc to assist their memories. See Unaided Recall Test.
AIO Statements: Expressions of a person's attitudes towards, interests in, and opinions of, a product. See Psychographics.
AIO: Acronym for activities, interests, opinions.
Air freight: Goods shipped via airplane.
Air waybill: A bill of lading that establishes the terms between a shipper and an air transportation company for the transport of goods from a given location to a given airport destination for a specified charge. Compare with Inland Bill of Lading, Ocean Bill of Lading, Through Bill of Lading.
Airbrush: Small pressure-gun shaped like a pencil that sprays paint by means of compressed air. Used to obtain tone or graduated tonal effects in artwork.
Airtime: Jargon term denoting the amount of actual transmission time available for an advertisement on television and radio.
Aisle carpet: Carpeting installed in trade show aisles.
Aisle signs: Signs, usually suspended, identifying exposition aisles by number or letter.
Aisle: A walkway intended for audience movement through an exposition or exhibit.
Algorithm: A sequence of instructions that describes how to solve a particular problem.
Alignment: The degree of agreement, conformance and consistency among organizational purpose, vision and values; structures, systems, and processes; and individual skills and behaviors.
Alliance partner: An organization which cooperates with one or more other firms or works together with them to achieve certain goals. See Alliance; Strategic Alliance.
Alliance: An agreement between one or more firms to cooperate in some business venture or to work together to achieve certain goals. See Str ategic Alliance.
Allowances: Amounts deducted from an invoice in return for prompt payment, large quantity purchase, special promotions etc of goods and services supplied. See Discount.
All-We-Can-Afford Method: A simple method of determining a budget (for advertising, etc) in which the amount allocated is the amount that can be afforded; also called the What-We-Can Afford Method, the Affordable Method and the Arbitrary Method. See Advertising Budget Determination.
Alternate close: A closing technique in which a salesperson presents two alternatives in an attempt to get a commitment for one of them from the buyer e.g. "do you wish to have it delivered on Thursday or Friday?"
Alternate delivery: Methods of delivering direct mail or sample products to households without using the United States Postal Service.
Alternative advertising: Advertising which uses media other than the traditional media; examples of alternative advertising include advertising signs on parking meters and supermarket shopping trolleys, in-store video screens, etc.
Alternative close: A closing technique in which a salesperson presents two alternatives in an attempt to get a commitment from the buyer to one, (e.g. "The red or the black?", "Cash or card?") See Close.
Alternative evaluation: The stage in the buying decision process in which the buyer uses information gathered to make a final choice between the products in the evoked set. See Evoked set.
Alternative media: Advertising outlets that do not fall under the standard definitions of broadcast, electronic, outdoor, print, and transit media. These include fliers, handouts, supermarket video displays, and yellow pages.
AMA: Abbrev. American Marketing Association
Ambience: The surroundings, including floor lay-out, indoor plants, furniture and furnishings, decor, color, advertising material, lighting and music, which give a retail outlet its distinctive look and appeal.
Ambient advertising: Signs, posters and other promotional material, often in unusual and unexpected places, inside a shopping centre or retail outlet to generate customer interest and stimulate purchasing.
Ambient media: A wide range of advertising and sales promotion material – including signs, posters, cut-outs, banners, flowers, ribbons, hot-air balloons and music – used in shopping malls retail outlets to generate interest and excitement and stimulate purchasing.
Ambush advertising: A form of promotional activity, usually considered unethical and sometimes illegal, in which an organization exploits some unrelated event such as a political rally or sporting contest by prominently displaying its advertising material; sometimes referred to as Guerrilla Marketing.
Ambush marketing: The act of marketing a product or service in conjunction with an event or other brand without paying for the right... typically used when an official sponsorship opportunity is available but a company doesn't wish to pay the fee for the sponsorship or another company has already purchased the sponsorship.
American Consumer Satisfaction Index: A U.S. system which tracks consumer satisfaction with a range of products and services across a wide group of industries; a joint initiative of the American Society for Quality Control and the Business School of the University of Michigan. Usually referred to as ASCI. Also known as the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
American Standard Code of Information Interchange (ASCII): Widely used computer code adopted by the American Standards Association for transmission of information.
Amiable (social style): One of four social styles (with analytical, driver and expressive) commonly used to classify salespeople and their customers in terms of their communication approach, amiables are characterized by high responsiveness and low assertiveness, see analytical, driver, expressive, assertiveness, responsiveness, and social style.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA): A method of analysis for determining the level of statistical significance of differences between two sets of data.
Analysis: The mathematical or statistical processing of data and presentation of the results.
Analytic modeling: A sophisticated, statistical technique, based on historical data related to sales levels, pricing levels, advertising and promotion, sales effort, competitive tactics and other variables, designed to determine an optimum price for current profit maximization.
Analytical (social style): One of four social styles (with Amiable, Driver and Expressive) commonly used to classify salespeople and their customers in terms of the responsiveness and assertiveness of their communication approach; Analyticals are characterized by low responsiveness and low assertiveness. See Amiable; Driver; Expressive; Assertiveness; Responsiveness; Social Style.
Anchor store: A popular, major retailer located within a shopping mall to attract mall patronage.
Anchor: The member of a news team who coordinates the reports
Annual plan: In strategic planning, a short-term marketing plan that describes the current marketing situation, marketing objectives, marketing strategies for the current year, action programs, budgets, and monitoring and control measures. See Strategic Planning.
ANOVA (Analysis of Variance): In research, the results of testing the impact of a variable upon the desired response. If more than one independent variable is tested, the approach is called a "two-way ANOVA."
Answering service: Call center service focused on taking calls on behalf of a person or business during break periods or after hours.
Anticipatory pricing: The practice of setting a somewhat higher price than would otherwise have been chosen in expectation of cost inflation, government price control, or similar environmental circumstance.
Anti-competitive pricing strategies: Methods of pricing – including predatory pricing, price-fixing, bid-rigging, and allocating customer groups to certain suppliers - which are designed to create barriers for, weaken or destroy rival firms; in most countries these pricing methods are illegal and can result in grave consequences for the firm and its top management; also referred to as Anti-Trust Pricing Strategies. See Bid-Rigging; Predatory Pricing, Price Fixing.
Anti-Dumping Laws: In international marketing, regulations which are designed to protect domestic firms from unfair competition resulting from below-cost products being imported from overseas and sold at unfair prices.
Anti-Monopoly Regulation: Laws passed to prevent anti-competitive and anti-monopoly practices in business. see Anti-Trust Legislation.
Anti-Trust Legislation: See Anti-Monopoly Regulation.
Anti-Trust Pricing Strategies: See Anti-Competitive Pricing Strategies.
AOS (average order size): The average amount of each customer order.
AOV (average order value): The average amount of each customer order.
Apathy: ;A ‘couldn’t care-less’ attitude of suppliers to customer complaints; a common cause of irritation to consumers who complain about poor product quality or service.
Application service provider (ASP): A company that provides a Web-based service wherein the clients don’t have to install software on their own computers. All tasks are hosted or performed on the ASP’s servers.
Applications: The way the product or service could be utilized by the customer.
Appointment: Personal sales visit to a prospect or customer, usually arranged by phone, can also be a scheduled time to discuss a pre-determined topic at a set time (i.e. weekly product meeting).
Approach: The initial step in the face-to-face sales call. It includes the introduction, icebreaking comments, finding other ways to relate to the buyer, and gaining attention via the making of initial benefit statements. In consultative sales calls, it includes the questioning phase wherein buyer needs are uncovered.
Approver: The person within an organization who has the ultimate decision for making purchases; sometimes referred to as the ‘decider’. See Business Buying Process.
Aqueous coating: A water-based coating applied after printing to give a gloss, dull or matte finish, and help prevent the ink from rubbing off.
Arbitrary method: See all-we-can-afford method.
Area market potential: An estimate of the amount of sales, in units and dollars, that might be possible in a given territory or region under a given level of industry marketing effort under given environmental conditions.
Area market specialist: A marketing manager, with good local knowledge, located in a high-volume, distinctive market to support the sales effort.
Area of Dominant Influence: The geographic region covered by a particular television station; also referred to as the station's Designated Marketing Area (DMA).
Area sampling: An approach to cluster sampling in which the clusters are geographically based. See Cluster Sampling.
Arm's-length price: The price which various governments force companies to charge to discourage "dumping" abuses; the arm's length price is the price charged by competitors for the same or similar product.
Arousal: An internal state of tension which motivates a consumer, providing the energy to act; a drive. See Drive.
ARS: Abbrev. Automatic Replenishment System.
Art paper: Paper coated with a mineral substance to produce a glossy surface.
Artwork: Finished layout consisting of draw%u2011ings, photographs, lettering, and copy.
ASC: Abbrev. Advertising Standards Council.
Asch phenomenon: A tendency, first recorded by the psychologist S.E.Asch, for an individual's purchase decisions to be influenced highly by reference groups and group norms. See Group Influences; Reference Group.
Aseptic packaging: A packaging method developed in Sweden in the 1950s; made of paper, foil and plastic aseptic packaging keeps foods bacteria-free for months without refrigeration. See Packaging; Primary Packaging; Secondary Packaging; Shipping Packaging.
ASP: Application service provider... a software solution used by the customer where the solution itself is developed, hosted and managed by an outside company.
Aspirational group: A sub-category of a reference group, consisting of individuals (not necessarily known personally) with whom a person desires to be associated. See Associational Group; Contactual Reference Group; Dissociative Reference Group; Membership Group; Reference Groups.
Assemblers: Wholesaling firms specializing in the buying of small quantities of farm produce to resell to other firms in bulk; also referred to as the Assembly Market.
Assembly market: See Assemblers.
Assembly: The process of erecting an exhibit from its components. Also called Installation, Set Up.
Assertiveness: 1) the human characteristic or quality which determines the degree to which individuals are directive and competitive in manner as opposed to non-directive and co-operative. 2) the degree to which you tend to ask or tell during interactions.
Asset transformation: The exchange by a firm of one type of asset for another. For instance, advances in computer and co mmunication technologies which allow organizations to gather information about customer demand rapidly and reliably have enabled them to reduce their inventories. In this way, assets in the form of finished product have been transformed into assets in the form of information.
Asset turnover: A ratio used to evaluate the profitability of a firm; net sales in a given period are divided by total assets.
Asset-based marketing: A marketing approach which uses the knowledge and skills a company has already developed as the basis for growth.
Assigned mailing dates: Dates by which the list user has to mail a specific list; no other date is acceptable without approval of the list owner.
Assignment editor: Staff member of a television or radio news team responsible for judging appropriateness of story ideas assigned to reporter for coverage
Associational group: A group, such as a club, society or trade union, or with which a consumer has some association, and which exerts an influence over buying behavior; the influence of an associational group is usually weaker than that of kinship groups which whom the consumer has closer and stronger ties. See Aspirational Group; Kinship Group; Membership Group; Reference Group.
Associative learning: The learning which occurs when consumers begin to attach certain qualities or characteristics to a brand. In this way, consumers might associate Singapore Airlines with safety, comfort, reliability and style in air travel but at a premium price.
Assorting: The practice of putting together a wide variety of produce in one location, as in a department store.
Assortment strategies: Options available to a reseller in determining the assortment of products and services to be carried. See Broad Assortment; Deep Assortment; Exclusive Assortment; Scrambled Assortment.
Assortment: The range of goods and services offered by a retailer.
Assumptive close: A closing technique in which a salesperson simply assumes that the purchaser has agreed to buy the product, and proceeds to write up the order, wrap the merchandise, etc. See Close.
Asterisk bills: State laws that require telephone companies to advise subscribers that they can have an asterisk placed in front of their names if they do not want to receive telemarketing calls.
ATC: See Average Total Cost.
At-Home TV Shopping: A form of non-store retailing in which products are shown on a television screen and presented enthusiastically by an announcer to stimulate impulse purchasing using credit card and telephone. See Non-Store Retailing.
Atmospheres: See Atmospherics.
Atmospherics: The combination of store decor, physical characteristics and amenities provided by a retailer to develop a particular image and attract customers.
Atomistic competition: See Pure Competition.
At-site: See On-site.
Attack strategy: In competitive situations, a means by which an organization in a market challenger position attempts to achieve an advantage by taking market share from the market leader. See By-Pass Attack; Encirclement Attack; Flanking Attack; Frontal Attack, Guerrilla Attack.
Attendees: Those persons who visit an event that are not exhibiting or connected with the event itself.
Attention: The mental application, awareness, consideration or concentration that a company seeks to induce in consumers when it promotes a product.
Attitude tracking: Measuring the degree of satisfaction with a product through an on-going study of consumer attitudes towards it.
Attitude: An enduring favorable or unfavorable feeling, emotion and action tendency towards an issue or subject.
Attitudinal data: Information collected by a company that measures the importance a consumer places on particular attributes of products or services.
Attitudinal loyalty: The loyalty displayed by consumers when they repeatedly buy brands they know and trust; their consistent attitudes result in habitual buying behavior. Also referred to as behavioral loyalty, routinized behavior, and habit buying, See Behavioral Loyalty; Habit Buying; Routinized Buying Behavior.
Attitudinal research: The gathering of data to measure consumers’ attitudes to a product or brand in terms of their knowledge and opinions to it (cognitive approach), their overall impressions of it (affect approach) and their degree of loyalty to it (behavioral approach).
Attractiveness-strength model: A two-dimensional matrix that portrays a company’s products or strategic business units, showing the market or industry attractiveness on one axis and business strength or ability to take advantage of business opportunities on the other. The position of each product or SBU on the matrix provides guidance as to which are best candidates for further investment and growth and which might be eliminated. General Electric’s Attractiveness-Strength Model is a well-known example.
Attribute: Characteristic, peculiarity, or distinctive feature of a product.
Attribute positioning: A company positions itself on some attribute or feature. Example, a company positions itself as the oldest in its business sector.
Attrition Model: A model that predicts which customers are most likely to leave. Usually expressed as a percentage of likelihood.
Attrition rate (ATTR): 1)The rate canceled sales agents make which get cancelled. The Attrition Rate is calculated by dividing the number of cancels by the number of sales. (2) The percentage of customers who are no longer active from one purchase period to the next.
Audience attention probability: The degree to which a target consumer is likely to pay attention to an advertisement in a particular media outlet; for example, the audience attention probability of an advertisement for a new shampoo is likely to be greater in a women's magazine than in a daily newspaper.
Audience profile, audience quality: A measure of the kind and quality of the target consumers likely to be exposed to the advertisement.
Audience research, audience tune-out: A phenomenon which occurs when relatively large groups of a radio or TV audience drop concentration, or stop listening altogether, for a period; audience tune-out may result from high clutter levels of commercial advertising or station or channel promotions in the non-programming time. See Clutter; Clutter Level.
Audience: 1) Total number of individuals reached by a promotion or advertisement. (2) The people you want to reach
Audiometer: A mechanical instrument or device for monitoring television usage and program choice (for ratings surveys, etc); colloquially called a people-meter or black box. See Single Source Data.
Audiotext: An alternative promotional medium in which an advertiser's recorded message is reached by an interested potential purchaser by telephone. See Alternative Media.
Audit: 1) A method for measuring sales in a store by counting beginning inventory, adding new shipments, and subtracting ending inventory. (2) Printed report of the counts involved in a particular list or file.
Augmented product: A product enhanced by the addition of related services and benefits, e.g. installation, warranty, maintenance and repair services, etc. See Core Product; Tangible Product.
Authentication: An automated process that verifies an email sender’s identity.
Authoritarian leadership style: A style of leadership characterized by an insistence upon obedience to authority. See Democratic Leadership Style.
Authorization: See Brand Authorization.
Auto answer greeting: Pre-recorded customized greeting played at the beginning of a call answered by the system. This greeting can be created by a call center staff member, or directly by the call center client, and played to the caller before the call is routed to an agent.
Automated warehouse: A modern, usually single-storied, computerized warehouse with advanced materials-handling technologies designed to reduce labor costs and improve inventory control.
Automatic call distributor (ACD): Equipment that automatically manages and controls incoming calls, sends calls to the telephone representative who has been idle the longest, answers and queues calls during busy periods, and plays recorded messages for waiting callers. It automatically sends overflow calls to a second group and provides management reports on the call activity. It can stand alone or be integrated with a PBX.
Automatic dialing recorded message player (ADRMP): Machine that dials preprogrammed telephone numbers, automatically plays a prerecorded message (normally a sales pitch), then records responses.
Automatic interaction detection (AID): 1) Program for segmenting a list from a heterogeneous to a homogeneous market. (2) A method of multivariate analysis
Automatic merchandising: The selling of goods by use of vending machines.
Automatic number identification (ANI): Call centers use ANI to keep track of phone numbers of people calling into the call center. This is useful for people who do crank calling or harass the call center staff.
Automatic redial: Telephone feature that permits the last number dialed to be automatically dialed again at the push of one button.
Automatic replenishment system: A computerized system that analyses inventory levels and lead times and re-orders stock to meet forecast sales needs.
Automatic response behavior: See routine response behavior.
Automatic route selection (ARS): Switching system that chooses the least costly path from available owned or leased circuits.
Automatic vending machine: A form of targeted communication in which an electronic device or technology dispenses, without direct human intervention in the process, commodity items such as stamps, combs, soft-drinks, chocolates and potato chips.
Automatic vending: See Automatic Merchandising.
Automation: A process that places a bar-code on your mailing package or piece.
Automation-compatible mail: Mail that can be scanned and processed by automated mail processing equipment such as a barcode sorter.
Autonomic decision: A purchase decision made by either spouse independently. See Syncratic Decision.
Auto-responders: An email software that automatically sends a reply to an email message. They are used to provide immediate feedback to a responder: to confirm a purchase or request; to confirm a subscription or unsubscribe request; posts, etc.
Available market: That part of the total market which professes an interest in a product, can afford to purchase it, and is not prevented by access barriers from reaching it. See Access Barriers; Market Entry Barriers.
Average cost pricing: A pricing method in which a mark-up for profit is added to the average cost of production. See Cost-Plus Pricing.
Average cost: The average cost per unit of production of a group of products, the total cost of production divided by the total number produced, the unit cost.
Average delay to abandon (ADA): The amount of time the average caller who abandoned the call waited before abandoning.
Average fixed cost: A measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total fixed cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Average handle time (AHT): Total time required to handle a single call, on average. In an inbound call center, includes AWT, ATT, and the amount of Outbound Time spent on the incoming call. An accurate calculation is: (TTT TWT TOT) / NCH = AHT
Average inventory cost: Average inventory cost is found by adding the beginning cost inventory for each month plus the ending cost inventory for the last month in the period. If calculating for a season, divide by 7. If calculating for a year, divide by 13.
Average out time (AOT): In inbound call centers, the average amount of time spent on each outbound call. This can be calculated by dividing the TOT by NOC.
Average Revenue: A measure used in price setting, calculated by dividing the total revenue by the number of units sold.
Average Speed of Answer (ASA): The time the average caller had to hold before having an agent answer. Callers who are answered immediately are factored into the calculation with a “0” ASA.
Average talk time (ATT): Average amount of time spent talking to customers for each call. This can be tracked in both Inbound / Outbound campaigns. It can be calculated by dividing TTT by NCH.
Average total cost: A measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Average variable cost: A measure of cost control, calculated by dividing the total variable cost of the goods produced by the number of units sold.
Average work time (AWT): Average time spent working on call related issues. While wrapping up the call and letting the customer go, the agent is still unavailable for calls while finishing up with the prior contact. It is calculated by dividing TWT by NCH.
Aversive factors: Qualities about people that turn others against them and may prevent the development of successful working relationships.
Award: Recognition merchandise, often personalize, used to acclaim performance or milestones, may be useful objects (paperweights, clocks) or for display only (plaques, trophies).
Awareness set: The brands of which a consumer is aware; normally, the awareness set will be less than the total set of brands. See Choice Set; Evoked Set; Inept Set; Inert Set.
Awareness. attitude, and usage (AAU) stud: A type of tracking study that monitors changes in consumer awareness, attitudes, and usage levels for a brand or product category.
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This marketing glossary is a comprehensive dictionary of business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and general marketing terms, as well as terms related to specific areas of marketing. Should you not find the term you are looking for, click here to contact us today and we will research the term and add it to this page.
