Here is the 12 Marks Sample Answer – A Level Business & IGCSE Business Studies students for Cambridge, Edexcel & AQA.
Do you know most of the students are very good in attempting their 8 marker questions. When it comes to the knowledge point, giving analysis or further analysis and even application of the question is not a big deal for them. But when it comes to the evaluation part, this is where most of the students face issues & that is where the Grade Drops.
If you are not good at evaluation, you are not going to get a good grade but if you get the art of evaluating an answer, business becomes a piece of cake for you. That is why I keep on discussing these 12 marker evaluation based questions with the students every other month in the free online sessions for the IGCSE and A level business studies students. Therefore if you are looking for getting maximum marks in 12 marker evaluation based questions feel free to contact me.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for a multi-product business like mobile manufacturer of using product life cycles to help make effective marketing decisions. [12]
[Def] It’s the stages where the product passes through from an introduction stage, to growth, maturity & decline which devises the whole life cycle of each product.
Do you know; Definition is important as if we are giving the definition it shows the examiner that we are aware of the basic terms used and it helps examiner understanding the vague portions of our analysis as well since we have developed a good first impression for our 12 marks sample answer.
Yes, I believe product life cycle helps in making the effective marketing decisions. Let’s jump into the analysis.
Opening statement shows what side we are going to choose, this helps examiner to look for the points in favour of the opening statement and later look for the balancing points (however) for the same.
[KN] It helps in devising the advertising strategy for a business, since each stage of a product life cycle tells which type of advertisement is desired.
[AN+APP] For instance, at introduction stage business use informative advertising like new features introduced in new model, at growth stage (persuasive, to push more people buying the mobiles by using an influencer) and at maturity a reminder advertisement works. Business design the advertisements & set their marketing objectives according to the product stage.
[AN+] The business can allocate the budgets to each product separately, for instance the product at growth stage is earning good & the product at the maturity is earning max. Therefore, we can utilize this information to develop our cash flows from one product to another. Like products at maturity stage can help in investing for advertisement of products at introduction stage.
The first part of KN (Knowledge), AN (Analysis), APP (Application) & AN+ (Further Analysis) gives in depth approach to the analysis of the evaluation based questions in our 12 marks sample answer series.
[KN] It helps in devising the sales promotion strategy. For instance, products at growth stage / maturity stage use sales promotions to keep/enhance sales whereas products at introduction stage uses promotions to penetrate into the markets.
[AN+APP] Helps in setting objectives for the sales department, developing sense of accountability and appraisal systems (how to monitor the progress of employees). For instance, if we are offering free addons with our mobile phones, this will help the sales team to promote & upsell the products. The ones who use this offer creatively will be able to upsell more mobile phones against others thus receiving perks/benefits.
[AN+] Develops effectiveness & productivity in the business.
Once both KN points are developed, now comes the “Balancing of Argument” which is started with the word “However” to give examiner an understanding that now he/she shall look for another side of the story.
However,….
[KN] Marketing decisions depends on many other factors like quality of the product, the pricing and the placement of it. Most importantly, how much the brand image has been developed already.
[AN+APP] For instance, if the pricing of the mobiles are way above than the income levels of target consumers, plus we were not able to develop a premium brand image, investing in product at introduction stage, growth stage may not be fruitful anymore.
[AN+] In such situation not only the new product will fail, it will also deprive the brand image of the company.
Now comes the most crucial part of the question, that is its evaluation. It normally starts with the solution to the problems stated earlier in the however or other parts deliberately in order to make our evaluation look charming at the start. 😉 Once done, we will give the external factors which may change our decision.
EVALUATION (4 Marks)
[Solutions; STS/LTS] The quality of the product must match /better than the current competitive mobile phones. Plus, while devising the pricing strategy we must conduct a detailed marketing research about current consumer spending patterns. This will help offering the right product at the right time!
[External Factors] It depends on the current internet & telecom infrastructure that if we are introducing a high end mobiles for corporate sector & in the infrastructure isn’t supportive enough, we won’t be able to apply any strategy effectively. It also depends on the current economical trend of a country, if its moving towards a recession or recovering from it.
If you are looking for more sample answers, feel free to join our Student’s Forum Board where you will get most of the solutions. Plus, it is just one 12 marks sample answer the more you practice with these questions the more grip you will have in these. I would highly recommend you to follow any structure given to you by any of the business expert, all formats and styles are fine in theory. This style is developed after many years of trainings with Cambridge trainers, book authors and seeing the ease of students as well. I hope you will like this one, & if you want more stuff related to Business feel free to follow me at Instagram
