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IV. Render the text in English:

Как известно, деньги, данные взаймы на условиях, что они будут возвращены или частями, или единовременно и в согласованные сроки, являются займом. Обычно заемщик платит кредитору согласованную процентную ставку, за исключением случаев беспроцентного займа. Существует теория ссу д- ных фондов (loanable-funds theory ), согласно которой процентные ставки должны подниматься или падать до тех пор, пока объем денег, который заемщики желают получить в кредит, не совпадет точно с объемами фондов, которые кредиторы хотят в этот период предложить взаймы.

V. Give a summary of the text.

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MARKET RES EARCH

Businesses need information if they are to make good decisions. One way of gaining that information is by carrying out market research. There are various types of market research. Businesses need to decide which market research methods are mostly likely to give them the information they need.

M any businesses are product orientated. This means that they design and make a product, and then try to convince consumers to buy it. An example might be a drug company, like Glaxo, developing a product to help consumers with an illness and then advertising it.

Businesses can also be market orient аted. This is where they try to find out what consumers want before making the final product. In 1993 Pepsi Cola launched Pepsi M ax, a sugar free cola drink d esigned to taste like the original. Before the product was sold, Pepsi tried to find out the type of product consumers wanted. Finding out about what consumers want and need, and what makes them buy, is called market research.

Businesses which are mainly product orientated risk spending a large amount of resources launching a product which proves to be a failure. Researching the market helps reduce this risk. It should focus research and design effort onto products which have a chance of success in the market place. When the product is launched, a carefully researched product stands less chance of failing.

The stages of market research are:

–what is the question which the business wants to find an answer to?

–what information is needed to answer this question?

–what method of market research will be used?

–collect the data;

–analyze the data, draw conclusions and make recommendations.

M arket research attempts to find the answers to questions a business might have about its market. For example, in 1991 the marketing department of Pepsi-Cola started with this question: would launching a new product increase total sales of its products? The market researcher must then decide what information might help answer this question. Pepsi-Cola wanted information about the existing pattern of sales in the market and how the market had changed. It hoped to be able to identify a segment of the market which it could sell to. Pepsi also wanted consumers to tell it about the sort of new product they would like to buy. The market researcher then decided how best to collect this information. There are two ways of doing this: desk research and field research. Pepsi-Cola used both. The information is then collected

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and analyzed. Finally, the business has to make a decision about what to do in the light of the information formed. Pepsi-Cola decided to launch a new product, Pepsi M ax.

Desk research involves the use of secondary data. This is information which is already available, both within and outside the business.

Information within the business. Businesses collect information routinely. Invoices, for instance, will tell them how much they sell and who they are selling to. Accounts will give information about the value of sales and costs of production. Pepsi knew, for instance, that sales of ordinary Pepsi were far higher t han sales of Diet Pepsi.

Information from outside the business. Businesses can also collect information which is available from sources outside the business. Some of these sources are:

–government – published statistics, such as consumer spending figures; reports such as M onopolies and M ergers Commission Reports;

–the media – reports in newspapers, magazines, on radio and on television;

–trade associations;

–research organizations – reports prepared by specialist market research organizations such as M intel or M ori; articles published in academic jour-

nals.

Pepsi was able to use market research reports about the soft drink market.The results showed that both in the USA and outside North America Diet Pepsi and Regular Pepsi sales were less compared to its main rival, Coca Cola. Pepsi used this information to ask a market research question: how could Pepsi be changed so that sales increased?

Field research involves the collection of primary data – information which no one has yet collected. It is collected specially for the particularly piece of research. Primary data is collected through direct investigation, usually in one of three ways – observation, survey and experiment.

Observation. Looking at and recording what people do and how they behave can be important. For instance, a supermarket may find that sales in one aisle in the store are very poor. By observing people, it would be possible to see whether, for instance, the problem was that people were not going down the aisle at all, or whether there was reasonable traffic down the aisle but customers weren’t buying. However, observation can’t tell the supermarket anything about why shoppers are behaving in this way.

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Survey. A survey usually involves asking question of respondents – people or organizations reply to the questions asked. Pepsi surveyed consumers outside the USA about Diet Pepsi. What it found was that Diet Pepsi had two problems. Firstly, drinking Diet Pepsi left many consumers with a slightly bitter after-taste which was caused by the use of artificial sweeteners. Secondly, many consumers, particularly in Latin American countries, had a negative image of diet products. They saw them as effeminate or linked them with people who had problems such as diabetes or being overweight.

There are different ways of conducting surveys. A postal survey, where questionnaires are sent through the post, or a newspaper survey, which readers are invited to fill in and return, are cheap. Telephone surveys, personal interviews and consumers’ panels are more expensive because an interviewer has to be employed to interview customers. However, only a fraction of customers sent a postal survey will respond. A much larger proportion of those approached will take part in telephone and personal interviews. The interviewer can also help the respondents understand what questions mean and how they should be answered.

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If the interview is in a person’s home, products, packaging, etc. can also be shown so that reaction can be recorded. A consumer panel, where a group of people meet together, allows researchers to see how people react in a group situation to a product or idea.

Surveys can only be useful for market research purposes if the questions asked are appropriate. For instance, the name of Pepsi’s new product, M ax, came from asking consumer panels in a number of countries to choose the best name out of 13 suggested (a closed question because there is a definite answer). Pepsi would have learnt less if they had simply asked the panels to invent a name (an open question because there are so many possible answers). This is because it is unlikely that two panels would have come up with the same name. Pepsi would not then have known which was the most popular.

S ampling. A survey cannot ask every customer for his opinion. Only a fraction or sample of customers can be surveyed. To be useful, the sample chosen must be representative of all consumers (the population).

In a random sample, every potential respondent has an equal chance of being chosen. Random numbers can be used to do this or it can be done by “picking people out of a hat”. A small random sa mple, however, may not be representative. This means a large sample to be taken, which is costly and takes time. To reduce the length of time, a systematic sample can be used. This is where every 100th or 1000th person on a list like a telephone directory or the electoral re gister is chosen. In a quota sample, the sample is broken down (or stratified). For instance, Pepsi might know that one out of ten people who bought diet colas were aged 0-14, seven out of ten 15-24 and the rest were over 25 years old. So out of a sample of 100, Pepsi would ask 70 people (7 out of 10) aged 15-24 to complete a survey. One problem with a quota sample is that any people who fit the description can be asked to complete the survey. So Pepsi, wanting to find seventy people aged 15-24 to complete a survey, could ask the first seventy 15-24 year olds who came out of a M cDonalds in London. This may not be very representative of all 15-24 year olds. A stratified random sample may get round this problem. It is a quota sample where all the representatives, the people being interviewed, must be chosen at random. For the sample to be random, Pepsi would have to find some way of selecting 70 young people through pure chance.

Experiment. M arket researchers can use experimental techniques. To launch a new product is often very costly. Instead, products could be tested on groups of consumers to see whether they are acceptable and likely to sell well. For

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instance, Pepsi tried out its new formula diet Pepsi M ax with consumer panels. They gave a favorable response. If they hadn’t, Pepsi would have gone back and produced another formula. The next stage was to test market M ax in two countries, Italy and the UK. These two countries were chosen because British and Italian consumers have different tastes. If the product was a success in both countries, then it was likely that it would be successful throughout the world.

Decisions. The purpose of market research is to help a business come to a decision. Pepsi thought that there was a potentially large market for a new diet coke by looking at market sales figures. It found out what consumers didn’t like about its existing product and designed a new product. Consumer trials showed t hat the new product was well liked. Finally, Pepsi decided to launch Pepsi M ax in some countries.

TAS KS

I.Answer the following questions:

1.What is the difference between a market orientated and product orientated bus i- ness?

2.What is the purpose of market research?

3.What are the stages of market research?

4.What sources of information are available to someone undertaking desk research?

5.What are field research and desk research?

6. A shopping center wants to find out how many shoppers visit the cent er. How could it gather this information?

7. What differences are there between a postal survey and personal interviews in surveys?

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8.A business wants to take a random sample of people in the Perm area. How could it do so?

9.A chocolate manufacturer wants to find out if a new bar of chocolate is going to sell well. How could it find this out without having to go to the expense of launching the product nationally?

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III. Fill in the gaps with the following words: characteristics, acceptance, market segment, analysis, carry out, techniques, products, surveys, observation, research, panels, questionnaires, desk:

M arket research is the systematic and objective classification, collection,

_______ and reporting of information about a particular marketing problem. M arket research uses a variety of ______ such as in-depth interviews and group _____

which can be used primarily for motivational _____; in addition, field studies can be undertaken using ______ and interviews, and _____ research of records and data, these being used primarily for marketing intelligence. Finally, techniques such as consumer _____, market experiments and _____ may be used to gain information about existing ____. Businesses _____ market research to enable them to identify market tends; to find out about market _____; to forecast market potential; to analyze market share; to find a _____ ______; to test consumer _____ of new and existing products.

IV. Render the text in English:

Практически любой компании требуются детальные и точные знания о своих потенциальных клиентах и характере их потребностей и з апросов. Сбор, обработка и объяснение этой информации – изучение рынка – стало настоящей индустрией, где работает множество специализированных фирм, использу ю- щих новейшие научные методики и информационные технологии. Для мелких фирм такие агентства слишком дороги, и они проводят свое собственное изучение рынка (когда и где им это необходимо), посылая вопросники клиентам. Более крупные фирмы часто поручают провести изучение рынка специалистам. В этом случае применяются различные методы:

кабинетное исследование, включающее использование в ну тренней и внешней информации;

полевое (экспедиционное) исследование, включающее наблюдение, выборочное исследование, эксперимент, опрос (почтовый опрос, газетный опрос, телефонный опрос, личную беседу, работу групп, изучающих реакцию потребителей на новые изделия).

VI. Give a summary of the text.

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MARKETING

The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives.

or?

A business function (and a function of non-business enterprises) that often includes elements of sales, advertising, product development, research, pricing and other activities… i.e., organizational tasks.

or?

Any activity which supports the primary purpose of any organization – to gain and maintain a satisfactory customer base, or more broadly, to gain and maintain the support of important stakeholder groups.

or?

A force within the organization that encourages socially and ethically responsible behavior in the market place.

or?

A management orientation that suggests the objective of an enterprise is to identify and satisfy customer values better than competitors can or will do. This characterization of marketing implies that all organizations compete for markets (customers) and/or resources and that a major objective is to favorably differentiate your organization from that of your competitors.

There is little universal agreement on the best or right definition of marketing, although academics, particularly economists favor the first one, as a process. Concepts of management and organization evolve and change over time, and have more or less value depending upon a particular organizations circumstances. This is also true of marketing. From simple exchange processes that served the needs of ancient civilizations to the enormously complex processes of today, the foundation of exchange is creating or adding value for the buyer. And what is of value to a buyer is very often far from clear. There are a few rules which can help us identify marketing values, and to compete for customers more effectively.

Values are derived and influenced by what buyers think they know about the economy, technology, competitive offerings, and experience if any, with our firm as a supplier.

Buyers learn from experience and their values change. Think about your first home purchase, airline flight or automobile, and what was important to you then and what is important to you now as a buyer.

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The process, functions, activities and forces of marketingprovide a business with an enormous (and untapped) array of weapons, tools and techniques that are potential sources of competitor advantage.

In his book Marketing to Win (Harper&Row, 1999), Frank K. Sonnenherg, national director of marketing in Ernst&Young’s management-consulting group, writes about dramatic developments in the world marketplace that predicate deep changes in the way we manage and market our goods and services. “The bottom line”, he challenges, “is if you don’t change now, you may as well start filling your scrap-book with memories of today. It is unlikely you will have much to show for tomorrow”.

Two companies that excel in their marketing stances are Microsoft Corp. and Alcoa. Both of them recognized and mastered a leading-edge marketing mentality years ago, which propelled them into the world-class arena and to the top of their respective industries.

In a truly world-class organization, marketing is a conduit through which superior processes turn out innovative products to a worldwide audience. That channel operates in two directions. Initially, it transports valuable information about market needs and deficiencies into the company, where it is translated into superior products and service. These, in turn, are released into the marketplace.

The key to surviving the politically and geographically fluid markets of t o- morrow is to understand that the only universal is change. Companies must be astute enough to realize that there is no one “right way”, and to be agile enough to respond responsibly and effectively to changing dynamics.

What links companies such as M icrosoft and Alcoa, jettisoning them into the world-class elite, is their continuing tradition of exploring frontiers. Both are mavericks not content to sit complacently atop their respective kingdoms, but are driven, as overachievers, to push past the boundary of what we know, of what sells now, and of what is safe.

On the face of it, M icrosoft and Alcoa appear to have little, if anything, in common. The former is an upstart pioneer and top performer in the young world of high tech. And the latter is as familiar as an old friend in a mature, heavy - manufacturing industry whose byproducts have been a part of American life for as long as most of us can remember.

Yet each is a dynamic industry leader and innovator, wholly responsible for nudging at the boundaries that define their businesses. It is this unique ability to

“grow” the marketplace that makes these companies world-class marketing entities

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