Key terms

• Sales volume

  • The number of units of a product sold in a given time period.
• Market size


  • The total value or volume of sales in a market.
• Market growth

  • The percentage increase in the size of a market over time.
• Market share

  •  A company’s sales as a percentage of total market sales.
• Brand loyalty

  • When customers repeatedly buy a particular brand rather than switching to competitors.
• Customer satisfaction

  • The extent to which customers are happy with a product or service.
• Brand recognition 


  • The ability of consumers to identify a brand from its logo, slogan, packaging, etc.
• Primary market research

  • Data collected first-hand for a specific purpose (e.g. surveys, focus groups).
• Secondary market research

  • Data that already exists, collected by others (e.g. reports, government stats).
• Qualitative data

  • Non-numerical data that gives insights into opinions, motivations, and feelings.
• Quantitative data

  • Numerical data that can be statistically analysed.
• Sampling

  • Using a subset of a population to gather data
• Random sampling

  • Every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.
• Stratified sampling

  • Population divided into subgroups and sampled proportionally.
• Quota sampling

  • Researcher selects a specific number of people from each group.
• market segmentation

  • Dividing a market into groups with similar characteristics or needs.
• Market mapping

  • A diagram showing how products are positioned in the market based on two variables (e.g. price vs quality).
• Price elasticity of demand

  • Measures how much demand changes in response to a change in price.
  • Formula: % change in quantity demanded ÷ % change in price.
• Income elasticity of demand

  • Measures how much demand changes in response to a change in income.
  • Formula: % change in quantity demanded ÷ % change in income.
• Demographic

  • Age, gender, income, 
• Geographic

  • Region, climate, country.
• Behavioural

  • Spending habits, product usage, brand loyalty
• Mass marketing

  • Targeting the whole market with one product.
• Niche marketing

  • Targeting a small, specific segment of the market.
• Differentiated marketing

  • Offering different products for different segments.
• Positioning

  • Creating a distinct image or identity for a product in the minds of consumers.
• Competitive advantage

  •  A unique feature or benefit that makes a business stand out from rivals.
• USP

  • A feature that makes a product different from and better than competitors.
• Market positioning map

  •  A visual representation of how products are perceived relative to competitors, based on key criteria (e.g. price, quality).
• Product lifecycle

  • The stages a product goes through: Introduction, Growth, Maturity, Decline.
• Boston matrix

  •  A portfolio analysis tool categorising products into: Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks, Dogs.
• Extension strategy

  • Methods to prolong a product’s life (e.g. rebranding, new uses).
• product differentiation

  • Making a product stand out from others (through quality, design, features).
• Branding

  • Creating a name, symbol, or image to identify and differentiate a product.
• Cost plus pricing

  • Adding a fixed percentage (mark-up) to the cost of making a product.
• Skimming 


  High initial to low
• penetration

  low to high
• Competitive pricing

  Set price based on rivals
• Psychological pricing

  Set prices appearing cheaper
• Dynamic pricing

  • Changing prices based on real-time demand and supply (common in e-commerce).