DICTIONARY OF MARKETING third edition DICTIONARY OF MARKETING third edition A. Ivanovic MBA P.H. Collin BLOOMSBURY A BLOOMSBURY REFERENCE BOOK Originally published by Peter Collin Publishing Third edition published 2003 Second edition published 1996 First edition published 1989 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 38 Soho Square London W1D 3HB © Copyright A. Ivanovic & P H Collin 1989, 1996 This edition © copyright Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2003 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the publishers British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0-7475-6621-6 eISBN-13: 978-1-4081-0213-8 Text computer typeset by Bloomsbury Publishing Printed in Italy by Legoprint PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION This dictionary provides the user with a comprehensive vocabulary of terms used in marketing. It covers such aspects of the subject as market research, advertising, promotional aids and selling techniques. The main words are explained in simple English, and, where appropriate, examples are given to show how the words are used in context. Quotations are also given from various magazines and journals, which give an idea of how the terms are used in real life. The Supplement at the back of the book gives some further information which may be of use to the user. We are particularly grateful to Margaret Jull Costa and Stephen Curtis for valuable comments which they made on the text. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION Business terminology changes rapidly, and this second edition includes a variety of new terms and expressions which have come into use since the first edition was published. We have also included new examples and quotations from recent magazines. Also included is a pronunciation guide for the main entry words. PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION This third edition of the dictionary takes into account the many new terms that have come into marketing with the growth of e-commerce and the Internet. The supplement at the back of the book has also been comprehensively updated. We are grateful to the following for their valuable comments on the text: Ian Linton, Georgia Hole, Dinah Jackson and Sandra Anderson. Pronunciation The following symbols have been used to show the pronunciation of the main words in the dictionary. Stress has been indicated by a main stress mark ( ) and a secondary stress mark ( ). Note that these are only guides as the stress of the word changes according to its position in the sentence. Vowels Consonants back b buck ɑ harm d dead ɒ stop ðother a type d jump aυ how f fare aə hire gold aυə hour h head ɔ course j yellow ɔ annoy k cab ehead l leave eə fair m mix e make n nil eυ o s save word ʃ shop i keep t take i happy tʃ change ə about θ theft fit v value ə near w work u annual x loch u pool measure υbook z zone υə tour shut A ABC method / e bi si meθəd / noun a sales method, where the cus- tomer’s attention is attracted, the sales- person then shows the benefits of the product to the customer, and finally closes the deal. Full form attention, benefit, close ABCs abbr Audit Bureau of Circulations above-the-fold / əbv ðə fəυld / noun the part of a webpage which is seen first without having to scroll, and so is preferred for advertising above-the-line advertising / əbv ðə lan dvətazŋ / noun advertising for which a payment is made and for which a commission is paid to the ad- vertising agency, e.g. an advertisement in a magazine or a stand at a trade fair. Compare below-the-line advertising ( NOTE : as opposed to direct marketing) absenteeism / bs(ə)ntiz(ə)m / noun staying away from work for no good reason ć the rate of absenteeism or the absenteeism rate always in- creases in fine weather ć Low produc- tivity is largely due to the high level of absenteeism. ć Absenteeism is high in the week before Christmas. ‘…but the reforms still hadn’t fundamentally changed conditions on the shop floor: absenteeism was as high as 20% on some days’ [Business Week] absolute / bsəlut / adjective com- plete or total absolute advantage / bsəlut əd- vɑntd / noun an advantage enjoyed by an area of the world which can pro- duce a product more cheaply than other areas ć For climatic reasons, tropical countries have an absolute advantage in that type of production. absolute cost / bsəlut kɒst / noun the actual cost of placing an adver- tisement in a magazine or other adver- tising medium absolute monopoly / bsəlut mə- nɒpəli / noun a situation where only one producer or supplier produces or supplies something ć The company has an absolute monopoly of imports of French wine. ć The supplier’s absolute monopoly of the product meant that cus- tomers had to accept his terms. absorb / əbzɔb / verb to take in a small item so as to form part of a larger one ˽ overheads have absorbed all our profits all our profits have gone in paying overhead expenses ˽ to absorb a loss by a subsidiary to write a subsid- iary company’s loss into the group ac- counts ˽ a business which has been absorbed by a competitor a small busi- ness which has been made part of a larger one absorption / əbzɔpʃən / noun mak- ing a smaller business part of a larger one, so that the smaller company in ef- fect no longer exists absorption costing / əbzɔpʃən kɒstŋ / noun costing a product to in- clude both the direct costs of production and the indirect overhead costs as well accelerated depreciation / ək- seləretd dpriʃeʃ(ə)n / noun a system of depreciation which reduces the value of assets at a high rate in the early years to encourage companies, as a result of tax advantages, to invest in new equipment accelerator / əkseləretə / noun the theory that a change in demand for con- sumer goods will result in a greater ABC method 1 accelerator change in demand for the capital goods used in their production accept / əksept / verb 1. to take some- thing which is being offered ˽ to accept delivery of a shipment to take goods into the warehouse officially when they are delivered 2. to take something which is being offered or to say ‘yes’ or to agree to something ć to accept an offer of employment ć she accepted the offer of a job in Australia ć he accepted £2000 in lieu of notice 3. to agree for- mally to receive something or to be re- sponsible for something acceptable / əkseptəb(ə)l / adjective which can be accepted ć Both parties found the offer acceptable. ć The terms of the contract of employment are not acceptable to the candidate. acceptance / əkseptəns / noun ˽ ac- ceptance of an offer agreeing to an of- fer ˽ to give an offer a conditional acceptance to accept an offer provided that specific things happen or that spe- cific terms apply ˽ we have his letter of acceptance we have received a letter from him accepting the offer acceptance against documents / əkseptəns əenst dɒkjυmənts / noun a transaction where the seller takes charge of the shipping documents for a consignment of goods when a buyer ac- cepts a bill of exchange ć Acceptance against documents protects the seller when sending goods which are not yet paid for. acceptance sampling / əkseptəns sɑmplŋ / noun testing a small sample of a batch to see if the whole batch is good enough to be accepted accepted bill / əkseptd bl / noun a bill of exchange which has been signed, and therefore accepted by the buyer acceptor / əkseptə / noun a person who accepts a bill of exchange by sign- ing it, thus making a commitment to pay it by a specified date access / kses / noun ˽ to have ac- cess to something to be able to obtain or reach something ć She has access to large amounts of venture capital. í verb to call up data which is stored in a com - puter ć She accessed the address file on the computer. ȣ access to the market 1. the legal right to sell in a particular market 2. the ability to reach a market by promotion and distribution Access / kses / a credit card system formerly operated by some British banks, part of the MasterCard network accessibility / əksesblti / noun the ability of a market to be reached by promotion and distribution ć There is much demand in the market, but, be- cause of the great distances involved, accessibility is a problem. ć We must analyse the geographical aspects in as- sessing the market’s accessibility. access time / kses tam / noun the time taken by a computer to find data stored in it accommodation bill / əkɒmə- deʃ(ə)n bl / noun a bill of exchange where the person signing (the ‘drawee’) is helping another company (the ‘drawer’) to raise a loan account / əkaυnt / noun 1. a record of financial transactions over a period of time, such as money paid, received, bor- rowed or owed ć Please send me your account or a detailed or an itemized ac- count. 2. ( in a shop ) an arrangement which a customer has to buy goods and pay for them at a later date, usually the end of the month ć to have an account or a charge account or a credit account with Harrods ć Put it on my account or charge it to my account. ˽ to open an account ( of a customer . ) to ask a shop to supply goods which you will pay for at a later date ˽ to open an account or to close an account ( of a shop ) to start or to stop supplying a customer on credit ˽ to settle an account to pay all the money owed on an account ˽ to stop an account to stop supplying a cus- tomer until payment has been made for goods supplied 3. ˽ on account as part of a total bill ˽ to pay money on ac- count to pay to settle part of a bill ˽ ad- vance on account money paid as a part payment 4. a customer who does a large amount of business with a firm and has an account with it ć Smith Brothers is one of our largest accounts. ć Our sales people call on their best accounts twice a month. 5. ˽ to keep the accounts to accept 2 account write each sum of money in the account book ć The bookkeeper’s job is to enter all the money received in the accounts. 6. STOCK EXCHANGE a period during which shares are traded for credit, and at the end of which the shares bought must be paid for ( NOTE : On the London Stock Exchange, there are twenty-four accounts during the year, each running usually for ten working days.) 7. ano- tice ˽ to take account of inflation or to take inflation into account to assume that there will be a specific percentage of inflation when making calculations 8. an arrangement which a company has with an advertising agency, where the agency deals with all promotion for the company ć The company has moved its $3m account to another agency. ć The small agency lost the account when the company decided it needed a different marketing approach. ć Three agencies were asked to make presentations, as the company had decided to switch its account. í verb ˽ to account for to ex- plain and record a money transaction ć to account for a loss or a discrepancy ć The reps have to account for all their expenses to the sales manager. accountancy / əkaυntənsi / noun the work of an accountant ć They are study- ing accountancy or They are accoun- tancy students. ( NOTE : American English is accounting in this meaning) accountant / əkaυntənt / noun 1. a person who keeps a company’s accounts ć The chief accountant of a manufactur- ing group. 2. a person who advises a company on its finances ć I send all my income tax queries to my accountant. 3. a person who examines accounts account book / əkaυnt bυk / noun a book with printed columns which is used to record sales and purchases account director / əkaυnt da- rektə / noun a person who works in an advertising agency and who oversees various account managers who are each responsible for specific clients account executive / əkaυnt - zekjυtv / noun an employee who looks after customers or who is the link between customers and the company account handler / əkaυnt hndlə /, account manager / əkaυnt mndə / noun a person who works in an advertising agency, and who is re- sponsible for a particular client ‘…we have moved the account because we thought it would be better suited in a smaller agency’ [Marketing Week] accounting / əkaυntŋ / noun the work of recording money paid, re- ceived, borrowed or owed ć accounting methods or accounting procedures ć accounting system ć accounting machine ‘…applicants will be professionally qualified and have a degree in Commerce or Accounting’ [Australian Financial Review] accounts department / əkaυnts dpɑtmənt / noun a department in a company which deals with money paid, received, borrowed or owed accounts manager / əkaυnts mndə / noun the manager of an ac- counts department accounts payable / əkaυnts peəb(ə)l / noun money owed by a company accredited agent / əkredtd edənt / noun an agent who is ap- pointed by a company to act on its behalf accurate / kjυrət / adjective correct ć The sales department made an accu- rate forecast of sales. ć The designers produced an accurate copy of the plan. accurate description / kjυrət d- skrpʃən / noun an honest and true de- scription of a product or service in an advertisement or catalogue ć As the ad- vertisement was clearly not an accurate description of the product, the company had to pay a fine. ć It is not an accurate description of the product to state that it gives out more light than the sun. accurately / kjυrətli / adverb cor- rectly ć The second quarter’s drop in sales was accurately forecast by the computer. achiever / ətʃivə / noun a person who is successful or who tends to achieve his or her objectives ć It was her reputation as a high achiever that made us think of headhunting her. VALS accountancy 3 achiever [...]... my letter of the 24th ć We acknowledge receipt of your letter of June 14th acknowledgement /əknɒld mənt/ noun the act of acknowledging ć She sent an acknowledgement of receipt ć The company sent a letter of acknowledgement after I sent in my job application ACORN / ekɔ n/ noun a classification of residential areas into categories, based on the type of people who live in them, the type of houses,... loan band /b nd/ noun a strip of paper or plastic or a rubber ring put round articles to attach them together banded / b ndd/ adjective attached with a band banded offer / b ndd ɒfə/ noun a type of sales promotion involving the offer of an additional item along with the main one ć The banded offer consisted of a full-sized bottle of shampoo along with a small bottle of hair conditioner banded pack... spot offered to an advertiser as part of an advertising package book /bυk/ noun a set of sheets of paper attached together ˽ a company’s books the financial records of a company book club / bυk kl b/ noun a group of people who pay a small subscription and buy books regularly by mail order booking / bυkŋ/ noun the act of reserving a room or a seat etc ć Hotel bookings have fallen since the end of the... turned down all offers ć She was approached by a headhunter with the offer of a job appropriation /ə prəυpri eʃ(ə)n/ noun the act of putting money aside for a special purpose ć appropriation of funds to the reserve appropriation account /ə prəυpri- eʃ(ə)n ə kaυnt/ noun the part of a profit and loss account which shows how the profit has been dealt with such as how much has been given to the shareholders... with a backlog of orders ć We’re finding it hard to cope with the backlog of paperwork back of book / b k əv bυk/ noun the last pages of a magazine containing advertisements back -of- the-house services / b k əv ðə haυs s vsz/ plural noun services which are in the back part of a shop back orders / b k ɔ dəz/ plural noun orders received and not yet fulfilled, usually because the item is out of stock ć It... small group of people as a method of producing new ideas or solving problems brainstorming session / brenstɔ mŋ seʃ(ə)n/ noun a meeting to thrash out problems, where everyone puts forward different ideas branch /brɑ ntʃ/ noun the local office of a bank or large business, or a local shop which is part of a large chain branch manager /brɑ ntʃ m nd ə/ noun a person in charge of a branch of a company... selling of a brand as an independent item brand manager /br nd m nd ə/ noun the manager or executive responsible for the marketing of a particular brand ć The brand manager and the production manager met to discuss changes to be made to the company’s leading brand of soap brand name / br nd nem/ noun a name of a particular make of product brand positioning /br nd pəzʃ(ə)nŋ/ noun the practice of placing... articles 2 a section of a legal agreement such as a contract, treaty, etc ć see article 8 of the contract article numbering system / ɑ tk(ə)l n mbərŋ sstəm/ noun a universal system of identifying articles for sale, using a series of digits which can be expressed as bar codes artificial obsolescence / ɑ tfʃ(ə)l ɒbsə les(ə)ns/ noun the practice of deliberately making old models seem out of date by bringing... terms of agreement or general principles on which something is decided ˽ on a short-term or long-term basis for a short or long period ć He has been appointed on a short-term basis ć We have three people working on a freelance basis basket of currencies / bɑ skt əv k rənsiz/ noun a group of other currencies used to establish the value of a particular unit of currency batch /b tʃ/ noun a group of items... bentʃmɑ kŋ/ noun the testing of an audience’s response using a benchmark benchmark measure / bentʃmɑ k me ə/ noun the measure of a target audience’s response at the beginning of an advertising campaign which is then compared to responses at the end of the campaign to test its efficiency benefit / benft/ noun the way in which a product or service will improve the quality of life of the purchaser, as opposed . DICTIONARY OF MARKETING third edition DICTIONARY OF MARKETING third edition A. Ivanovic MBA P.H. Collin. to something ć to accept an offer of employment ć she accepted the offer of a job in Australia ć he accepted £2000 in lieu of notice 3. to agree for- mally