Unit 2: Marketing

Topics in this unit

• 2.1 Marketing to Customers

  Why and how marketers collect customer data; market segmentation to identify target customers and build customer profiles; tactics that build customer relationships and lifetime value; privacy and security risks created by customer data collection.

• 2.2 Consumer Behavior

  Why and how consumers make buying decisions — personal, psychological, social, and situational factors; how legal and technological factors shape purchasing patterns; Cialdini's principles of influence (scarcity, authority, consensus, liking, reciprocity, consistency, unity) and the sales tactics that draw on them.

• 2.3 Market Research

  Why businesses conduct market research; secondary-source research to assess market opportunity and PESTEL factors; primary-source research methods (surveys, focus groups, interviews, A/B testing, experiments, observations) to test hypotheses about customers and preferences; data visualizations (bar, stacked bar, line, pie) to communicate findings.

• 2.4 Product

  The six stages of product development (ideation, validation, design, messaging, production, launch); developing a minimum viable product (MVP), value proposition, and branding/brand identity; how marketing strategies adapt across the product life cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, decline).

• 2.5 Price

  Pricing strategies (value-based, competitive, cost-based, penetration); how market conditions and price elasticity of demand affect pricing power; legal constraints on pricing including collusion, price gouging, and price discrimination.

• 2.6 Place and Channels

  Marketing channels available to businesses (B2C vs B2B, direct vs indirect); how businesses select channels by weighing cost, profitability, customer experience, control, reach, and access to target customers.

• 2.7 Promotion and Marketing Communications

  Developing a marketing campaign using the promotional mix — media advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, direct marketing, and public relations; how digital marketing tools (websites, email, social media, mobile apps) have transformed customer reach, personalization, and big-data feedback loops.