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GCE A/L Business Studies study materials
GCE A/L Business Studies study resources

GCE A/L Business Studies: Marketing Management

GCE A/L Business Studies · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Marketing Management

Marketing management

This domain tests how firms identify customer needs, research markets, segment demand and build a coordinated marketing mix. Expect calculations involving market share, price elasticity and the product life cycle.

Core rules and concepts

  • Market research is primary (collected first-hand: surveys, interviews, observation, trials) or secondary (existing data). Qualitative research explores reasons; quantitative research measures scale. Reliable samples and unbiased questions matter more than sample size alone.
  • Segmentation divides a market by demographics, geography, psychographics or behaviour. Targeting selects attractive segments; positioning creates a distinct place in customers' minds.
  • The marketing mix: product (features, branding, life cycle), price (skimming, penetration, cost-plus, competitive, dynamic), place (channels, retail, e-commerce) and promotion (advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, digital). Services add people, process and physical evidence.
  • Price elasticity of demand = percentage change in quantity demanded ÷ percentage change in price. If |PED| > 1, demand is elastic and a price cut raises revenue; if |PED| < 1, demand is inelastic and a price rise raises revenue.

Worked example

A streamer cuts its subscription from $10 to $8, a 20% fall. Subscriptions rise from 10,000 to 12,500, a 25% rise. PED = 25 ÷ −20 = −1.25, so demand is elastic. Revenue before = $100,000; after = $100,000. The cut did not raise revenue because the percentage rise in quantity only just offset the price fall. The firm should test whether the extra subscribers reduce churn and raise lifetime value; elasticity alone does not capture that.

Traps that cost marks

Do not confuse market share with market growth. Do not describe skimming as low launch pricing; skimming sets a high initial price to recover development costs from early adopters. Do not assume more advertising always works. Do not ignore the stage of the product life cycle when recommending a mix. In elasticity questions, use the correct denominator and sign.