Question

If you were the director of new-product development for a national fast-food chain, what factors would you consider in choosing cities for test marketing a new sandwich? Would the place where you live be a good test market? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Answer:

1. I would want to consider the following;

• If the city has my target market

• If the purchasing pattern of consumers in the area is reflective of the general market condition

• If the cost of advertising is low.

• If it is not so exposed as to attract attention from competitors.

• If demographic factors such as age, and race would complement my product.

2. The place i live is not a good test market for this product. It is a rural area.

Explanation:

Test marketing is a new product development tool used in introducing a product to the market to ascertain consumers response to it. It is best used for fast moving goods.

In choosing the city I would want to check if;

• The city has my target market. This is important because it would be a waste of resources to test a product in an area where the people are not keen on the product.

• The purchasing pattern of consumers in the area should provide an idea of what it would be like in the real market.

• The cost of advertising and media coverage should be low so that resources can be properly managed during test marketing.

• The area should not attract undue attention from competitors who might take the idea.

• Demographic factors like age, sex, and race should be in tandem with the product.

2. I live in a rural area. This is not a good location for the test market because;

• Fast foods like Sandwiches are normally consumed by people in urban settlements who are always on the go. Rural dwellers would prefer home made meals. Therefore, this is not a good city for test marketing because the target market are not here.

• Secondly, the age group in this area is not fitting for the test marketing as they are mostly old people and women who are not really keen on fast foods. This means that the demographics is not right.