A-Level Business — Marketing to Global Strategy

The market

• Businesses succeed by meeting customer needs and adding value. Mass vs niche markets; market size, share and growth; dynamic markets (online, innovation, changing tastes) require adaptation.
• Competition and the degree of market power; the risks and rewards of enterprise; opportunity cost in decisions.

Market research

• Primary (surveys, focus groups, observation - specific but costly) vs secondary (existing data - cheap but general); qualitative (why - depth) vs quantitative (how many - measurable).
• Sampling and the risk of bias; the value and limitations of research; using data to reduce risk and inform decisions.

Segmentation, positioning and demand

• Segmentation (demographic, geographic, behavioural) and market mapping to find gaps and position a brand.
• Demand and the factors shifting it; price and income elasticity of demand guide pricing (inelastic goods can raise price to raise revenue) and forecasting.

Digital influence

• Technology and data have transformed research and how firms understand customers.

Link research and segmentation to reducing risk and meeting a target market's needs, and use elasticity to judge pricing and revenue decisions.

Diagram