ZIMSEC A Level · Business Studies · Form 5
Market research
- Primary (field) research: surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation – specific but costly.
- Secondary (desk) research: government statistics (ZIMSTAT), reports, internet – cheap but may be outdated.
- Sampling: random, quota, stratified, cluster and convenience sampling.
Market analysis
Market size, growth, share, segmentation (demographic, geographic, psychographic, behavioural) and positioning (perceptual maps).
The marketing mix (4Ps, plus 3 for services)
- Product: product life cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, decline) and extension strategies; Boston Matrix (stars, cash cows, question marks, dogs).
- Price: cost-plus, penetration, skimming, competitive, psychological and price discrimination. Price elasticity of demand guides pricing.
- Place: channels of distribution (direct, retailer, wholesaler, online).
- Promotion: above-the-line (mass media advertising) and below-the-line (sales promotion, PR, direct marketing, social media).
- People, process and physical evidence for services.
Marketing strategy
Mass vs niche marketing, product vs market orientation, and digital marketing (social media, mobile platforms, WhatsApp Business).
Worked example: A product's price rises from US$10 to US$11 and quantity demanded falls from 1 000 to 850 units. Find the price elasticity of demand.
%ΔQ = −15%; %ΔP = +10%; PED = −15 ÷ 10 = −1.5 (elastic, so revenue falls: 10 000 → 9 350)
Exam tip: Use the Boston Matrix to recommend which products need investment and which should be withdrawn.
Check yourself
- Give one advantage and one disadvantage of secondary research.
- Name the four stages of the product life cycle.
- What is a cash cow in the Boston Matrix?
Show answers
- Advantage: cheap/quick; disadvantage: may be outdated or not specific.
- Introduction, growth, maturity, decline.
- A product with high market share in a low-growth market, generating cash.
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