UNIVERSITY OF LIMPOPO

MEMORANDUM
STANDARD EXAMINATION

MODULE: CBMA031 MAY/JUNE 2020

(MARKETING MANAGEMENT)
COMPULSORY CASE STUDY
Question 1: Read the article below and answer the questions that follow

SONA 2020: The good, the bad and the ugly

It was a late finish in Cape Town, but that’s because we had all the fun of the fair to deal with. The
EFF stormed out after a lengthy delay, Parliament was temporarily suspended, and MPs were left to
reflect on a rolllercoaster evening for everyone involved. Here’s our summary of Cyril Ramaphosa’s
SONA 2020 speech:

The good:

A coherent plan for Eskom: Fair enough, Ramaphosa loves a good “promise”. He just struggles to
see a lot of them through. But his plan to increase the national grid’s dependence on Independent
Power Producers – and six other interventions – is a small step forward in the bid to banish load
shedding

Transparency and acocuntability: Ramaphosa told Parliament that he would be “signing

performance agreements with all Ministers” before the end of this month. If you ain’t pulling your
weight, you will be out the gate.

Investing in rail: The Central Line in the Western Cape and the Mabopane Line in Pretoria will have
R1.6 billion spent on them. New stations, better trains and upgraded rail-tracks have all been
earmarked.

Cutting business red tape: This is a proper good one, we’ll hand it to Cyril: He says that
applications for water licenses for businesses will be reduced to a 90 day window before being
processed – some can take up to five years as it stands. He also said at SONA 2020
that Bizportal will now process applications to start companies “within a day”, rather than the current
30-day limit.

Stronger toursim security: To support the growth of the tourism industry, SAPS will increase
visibility at identified tourist attraction sites. Tourism Safety Monitors will establish a reserve police
capacity to
focus on the policing of popular visitor areas.

Infrastructure boost: R700 billion will be spent on student accommodation, social housing,
independent water production, rail freight branch lines, embedded electricity generation, municipal
bulk infrastructure, and broadband roll-out over the next 10 years. Fill your boots.

The bad:

State capture: Ramaphosa said that he and his government have “acted decisively against state
capture and fought back against corruption” – a pill that’s hard to swallow, considering no-one
implicated at the Zondo Commission has been put behind bars at the time of SONA 2020, despite
mounting piles of evidence.

The budget speech will be tough: We can expect low levels of growth this year, which means that
we are not generating enough revenue to meet our expenses. Debt is heading towards

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“unsustainable levels”, and Cyril told SONA 2020 that this would be addressed by Tito Mboweni’s
budget speech. Gulp…

Uh-oh, another state bank is coming: The ANC are also proceeding with the establishment of a
state bank as part of their efforts to extend access to financial services to all South Africans. This is
controversial and unpopular even with their own party members.

Youth Employment figures: Of the 1.2 million young people who enter the labour market each year,
approximately two-thirds remain outside of employment, education or training before SONA 2020.

Land expropriation: This was very light on detail. All we learned was that the government have
released 44 000 hectares of state land for the settlement of land restitution claims, and will this year
release round 700 000 hectares of state land for agricultural production. We’re still on the dark
regarding some major issues.

One-sided NHI view: Cyril said there was “enthusiastic support from South Africans” during public
hearings
on the National Health Insurance, and claimed he is putting in place mechanisms for its
implementation following conclusion of the Parliamentary process. However, NHI is highly divisive
amongst SA citizens.

The ugly:

EFF drama: We had to wait 97 minutes for the president’s speech to start. The scenes caused by
Julius Malema and his colleagues were wholly unsavoury, and left a cloud of gloom over SONA 2020

Cyril’s still dreaming: As he did last June, Ramaphosa promised to build a new smart-city: He said
it was taking shape in Lanseria, which “350 000 to 500 000 people will call home within the next
decade”. It went down like a lead balloon last year, and again, critics have told him to focus on fixing
existing cities instead.

The sacrifices needed for our youth: Around 1% of all national expenditure, across all
departments, will need to be slashed to help find more jobs for our young workers. Great news on
paper, but cuts across the board generally lead to misery elsewhere. Damned if you do…

Too many municipalities failing: According to Cyril Ramaphosa, there are Section 139
interventions in 40 South African municipalities. These are imposed when major local governments
cannot sustain themselves, and this number is dreadfully high

REQUIRED

In marketing management, one of the responsibilities is to conduct environmental scanning through

analysis of the speeches by politicians. With notions indicated in the above report during the recent
State of the Nation Address (SONA 2020) provide an analysis of the macro-environment in South
Africa and the likely impact on the business environment.

 Technical presentation [12 marks]

 5 mark shall be awarded for the introduction
 5 marks for the argumentation and logical presentation
 2 mark for the conclusion
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 Identification of Theory and correct application/use of theory [13 marks]
 5 marks shall be awarded for correctly identifying and explaining at least 5 environmental
forces.
 5 marks shall be earned by students for describing the forces in light of the case provided.
 According to the specimen answer, students are expected to demonstrate ability to relate the
macro-environmental forces in the case provided. Inter alia, students can argue along the
following lines.
i. Economic forces-global recession, the presence of poverty and inequality, fiscal expansionary
budgetary strategy by government investments in nuclear projects. Load shedding and Eskom
problems, low growth rate and domestic contraints
ii. Global forces
 The decreasing rand value and recessions, unemployment
iii. Political forces- unstable and uncertain political landscape that may affect the image of South Africa.
Eff land grabs a scare to some industry sectors, continuous EFF bickering
iv. Demographic forces
 poverty and inequality
 the first group of the so-called 'born-free' generation quietly reached voting age in 2012.
v. Social forces-
 a move from non- to more- equitable and caring society,
where the predicative value of long-held beliefs are being challenged almost daily, one of the few enduring and
reliable pointers to the future of a country is the wellbeing of its young people

SECTION B: STRUCTURED QUESTIONS (ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS)

Question 2

(a) Describe the eight steps that should be followed when designing a (15 marks)
questionnaire.
8 mark for stating and 7 for explaining
1. Specify the information needed
2. Determine the type of questionnaire and method of administration
3. Determine the content of individual questions
4. Decide on question format and form of response
5. Decide on the phrasing of the individual questions
6. Decide on the sequencing of questions
7. Decide on the physical layout
8. Pretest the questionnaire
(b) Briefly describe any five sources of secondary data. (10 marks)
2 mark for each correctly explained point
• Internal information
• Market research firms
• Trade associations
• Universities, professional associations
• Commercial publications
• Government data
• Online databases or database packages

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 TOTAL [25]

Question 3
(a) Briefly discuss the stages involved in the consumer decision making process. (15 marks)
Model answer 3 marks per each step
The five steps in the consumer decision-making process are:
a. Problem recognition
Consumers realise that an unfulfilled need exists. Problem recognition occurs
when consumers are faced with a discrepancy between an actual state and a
desired state. A want exists when someone has an unfulfilled need and has
established that a particular good or service will satisfy the need.
Consumers recognise unfulfilled wants in various ways. The two most
common ways occur when a current product is not performing properly or
when the consumer is about to run out of something that is generally kept on
hand.
b. Information search
Consumers search for information about the various alternatives available to
satisfy their wants. An information search can occur internally, externally, or
both. Internal information search is the process of recalling information stored
in the consumer’s memory. This stored information stems largely from
previous experience with a product. An external information search seeks
information in the outside environment. There are two basic types of external
information sources: non-marketing-controlled and marketing-controlled.
c. Evaluation of alternatives
The consumer is now ready to make a decision. A consumer will use the
information stored in memory and obtained from outside sources to develop a
set of criteria. These standards help the consumer evaluate and compare
alternatives. One way to begin narrowing the number of choices in the evoked
set is to pick an important product attribute and then to exclude all products in
the set that do not have that attribute.
d. Purchase
Following the evaluation of alternatives, the consumer decides which product
to buy or decides not to buy a product at all. If he or she decides to make a
purchase, the next step in the process is an evaluation of the product after the
purchase.
e. Post-purchase behaviour
When buying products, consumers expect certain outcomes or benefits to
accrue from the purchase. How well these expectations are met determines
whether the consumer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the purchase. When
people recognise inconsistency between their values or opinions and their
behaviour, they tend to feel an inner tension or anxiety called cognitive
dissonance (post-purchase doubt). Typically consumers who experience this
dissonance or anxiety try to reduce this unpleasant feeling by justifying their
decision. They might seek new information that reinforces positive ideas
about the purchase (confirming that it was the right decision), avoid
information that contradicts their decision, or revoke the original decision by
returning the product.
(b) Consumer involvement refers to the amount of time and effort a buyer invests (10 marks)
in the search, evaluation, and decision processes of consumer behavior.
State and explain five factors that determine consumer involvement.

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 Answer 2 marks per each point correctly named and explained
• Previous experience
• Interest
• Perceived risk of negative consequences
• Situation
• Social visibility
TOTAL [25]

Question 4

(a) State and explain any five categories of new products. (10 marks)
2 mark for each correctly stated point
 new-to-the-world products
 new product lines
 additions to existing product lines
 improvements or revisions of existing products
 repositioned products
 lower-priced products
(b) There are several criticisms against marketing management. List the any (7 marks)
SEVEN discrepancies in the markets that marketing solves.

1 mark for each correctly listed point

• Discrepancy of quantity
• Discrepancy of assortment
• Spatial separation
• Separation in time
• Separation of information
• Separation in ownership
• Separation in value.

(c Discuss the four principles of the marketing concept.

2 mark for each correctly outlined point (8 marks)
 The principle of profitability
 The principle of consumer orientation
 The principle of social responsibility
 The principle of organisational integration
TOTAL [25]

Question 5.

a) Briefly describe any five important aspects that marketers must consider in [15]
order to have an understanding of current competitors

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 ANSWER: 3 marks for each attribute correctly described

 Size, growth and profitability

 Image and positioning strategy
 Competitor objectives and commitment
 Current and past strategies of competitors
 Competitor culture
 Cost structure
 Exit barriers

b) State any and explain any FIVE benefits of customer satisfaction. [10]

ANSWER: 2 marks for each attribute correctly stated

 Lower acquisition cost

 Base profit
 Revenue growth
 Cost savings
 Referrals
 Price premium.

TOTAL [25]

THE END

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