Marketing and the Information Age Reading Answers

Jul 14, 2025

Marketing and the Information Age Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. Marketing and the Information Age Reading Answers has a total of 13 IELTS questions in total such as Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-H. Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? Write true, false, or not given. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

The IELTS Reading section is an essential part of the test that evaluates a candidate's comprehension and analysis of various passage types. You will work through a number of IELTS reading practice problems in this section that resemble actual test situations. These questions are designed to help you improve your ability to recognise essential concepts, extract particular facts, and make inferences. Practising these IELTS reading problems can help you get comfortable with the structure and increase your confidence for the exam, regardless of whether you are studying for the Academic or General Training module.

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Section 1

MARKETING AND THE INFORMATION AGE

A.For the early practitioners of marketing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the business of selling was simply a matter of continually finding new customers. By contrast, marketing managers in the current era recognise the importance of gathering information about the market and about potential customers. They recognise that if companies are to be profitable, customers must gain and retain their perceptions of value from the brands they buy over a long time frame, rather than from a single transaction. This also means that customers must see value in returning continually to the stores where they shop, as well as to the service providers they deal with.

B.Marketing practitioners and marketing scientists have never worked more closely than they currently do. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that this is the information age where convergence in telecommunications, media and technology is causing old ways to be challenged, and new methods and tools to be tested. Customer expectations have risen as new technologies allow new approaches. For instance, the subscriber-TV music channel. Channel [V] encourages its viewers to sign up for text messages and email alerts that tell them when their favourite artists and songs are about to be broadcast. Competitive advantage lies in being able to recognise which customers can be given greater attention, not just because they demand it but because it makes commercial sense to provide high levels of product quality and service.

C.Modern marketing information systems rely on information technology to enable marketing intelligence to be gathered and to store and analyse marketing research information. While some of the information used is gathered by government bodies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Statistics New Zealand, most of it is purposefully gathered by marketing organisations for client companies. In the process, computer technology is used to manipulate the data and then to present the information in such a way that executives can readily identify any problems or issues and quickly arrive at solutions.

D.In order to produce superior value and satisfaction for customers, marketing managers need information at almost every turn. They need information about customers—end-users and resellers— as well as competitors and governmental and other forces in the marketplace. One marketing executive put it this way: “To manage a business well is to manage its future, and to manage the future is to manage information.” Increasingly, marketers are viewing information not just as an input for making better decisions but also as an important strategic asset and marketing tool. As household incomes increase, choice widens, and buyers become better

discriminating, so sellers need information about how buyers respond to different products and advertising campaigns.

E.The supply of information has also increased greatly. It has been suggested by the futurist and best-selling author John Naisbitt that the United States and, by observation, developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore are moving from industrial to information-based economies. These post-industrial economies earn 70-80% of their Gross Domestic Product from services, and have entered what some commentators have termed the “Information Age” or the “Information Technology Era”.

F.One study found that with all the information now available through supermarket scanners, a packaged goods product controller is bombarded with one million to one billion new numbers each week. As Naisbitt points out: “Running out of information is not a problem, but drowning in it is.” Yet marketers frequently complain that they lack information of the right kind but have plenty of the wrong kind, or they claim that marketing information is so widely spread throughout the organisation that it takes great effort to locate even simple facts. In addition, subordinates may withhold information they believe will reflect badly on their performance, and important information often arrives too late to be useful, or on-time information is not accurate. So marketing managers need better information. Although marketing organisations have greater capacity to provide managers with information, they often do not use it well. As a result, many marketing organisations are now studying their managers' information needs and designing information systems specifically to meet those needs.

G.One solution is to use a Marketing Information System (MIS). This consists of people, equipment, and procedures which, when put together, are able to gather, analyse, evaluate and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information to marketing decision-makers. The MIS begins and ends with marketing managers. First, it interacts with these managers to assess the information needs they have. Next, it develops the needed information from internal records, marketing intelligence activities, and the research process. The analysis unit processes the data to make it more useful, and finally, the MIS distributes it to managers in the right form and at the right time to help them make better marketing decisions.

H.However, the costs of obtaining, processing, storing, and delivering information can mount quickly. In some cases, additional information will do little to change or improve a manager's decision, or the costs of the information will exceed the returns from the improved decision. For example, if an organisation estimates that launching a new product without any further information will yield a profit of $500,000, then it would be foolish to spend $30,000 for additional information that would increase the profit to only $525,000. By itself, information is valueless—its value comes from its use.

Questions 27-31

Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-H.

27. The fact that there may be too much information to cope with

Answer: F

Supporting statement: As Naisbitt points out: “Running out of information is not a problem, but drowning in it is.”

Keywords: Naisbitt, Running, information

Keyword Location: Para F, Line 3

Explanation: Paragraph F of the text mentions that the information present nowadays might be more than one can consume, which makes it impossible to keep up with the information.

28. The relevance of generating repeat business

Answer: A

Supporting statement: They recognise that if companies are to be profitable, customers must gain and retain their perceptions of value from the brands they buy over a long time frame,

Keywords: profitable, customers, gain and retain

Keyword Location: Para A, Lines 4-5

Explanation: The importance of generating continuous business to keep earning profit is mentioned in paragraph A.

29. An example of personalised marketing

Answer: B

Supporting statement: Channel [V] encourages its viewers to sign up for text messages and email alerts that tell them when their favourite artists and songs are about to be broadcast.

Keywords: Channel [V], artists and songs

Keyword Location: Para B, Lines 5-7

Explanation: An example of a business using personalised marketing is Channel V, which asks its viewers to sign up for messages and email alerts for their favourite songs and singers.

30. An illustration of a situation where commissioning new might not be advisable

Answer: H

Supporting statement: then it would be foolish to spend $30,000 for additional information that would increase the profit to only $525,000.

Keywords: $30,000, profit

Keyword Location: Para H, Lines 5-6

Explanation: Paragraph H talks about a company spending money on additional information to increase their business, but not getting the estimated profit.

31. How the greater wealth of customers enables them to select from a broader range of products

Answer: D

Supporting statement: As household incomes increase, choice widens, and buyers become better discriminating,

Keywords: household incomes, buyers

Keyword Location: Para D, Lines 7-8

Explanation: Paragraph D, customers start selecting from a broader range of products when their income increases, so the seller needs to identify the needs of these customers.

Questions 32-33

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? Write:

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks

32. The majority of marketing statistics are gathered by government agencies.

Answer: NO

Supporting statement: While some of the information used is gathered by government bodies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Statistics New Zealand,

Keywords: government bodies, Statistics

Keyword Location: Para C, Line 3

Explanation: According to the text, only some of the marketing statistics information is gathered by government agencies.

33. The move from an industrial to an information-based economy has happened more quickly in New Zealand than in Australia.

Answer: NOT GIVEN

Explanation: No information about New Zealand's economy transitioning from an industrial to an information-based economy faster than Australia's is given in the text.

34. Employees sometimes hide information that gives a poor impression of them.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: In addition, subordinates may withhold information they believe will reflect badly on their performance

Keywords: subordinates, withhold,

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 6-7

Explanation: According to the text, some of the information is withheld by the employees if they think the information will have an impact on their performance.

35. Managers frequently fail to make good use of the information they receive.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: Although marketing organisations have greater capacity to provide managers with information, they often do not use it well.

Keywords: marketing, greater capacity, information

Keyword Location: Para F, Lines 9-10

Explanation: According to the text, sometimes managers fail to utilise the information they receive to its full capacity.

36. Marketing information has to be used to be valuable.

Answer: YES

Supporting statement: the MIS distributes it to managers in the right form and at the right time to help them make better marketing decisions.

Keywords: MIS, managers, marketing

Keyword Location: Para G, Lines 7-8

Explanation: According to the text, marketing information has no value until it is utilised

Questions 37-40

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

(37).............

Answer: MARKETING MANAGERS

Supporting statement: The MIS begins and ends with marketing managers

Keywords: begins and ends, marketing managers

Keyword Location: Para G, Line 4

Explanation: According to the text, the Marketing Information System starts and ends with the marketing managers.

FIND OUT THEIR (38).......

Answer: INFORMATION NEEDS

Supporting statement: First, it interacts with these managers to assess the information needs they have.

Keywords: managers, information

Keyword Location: Para G, Lines 4-5

Explanation: According to the text, the Marketing Information System is used by the managers to find the information needed.

DEVELOPED THROUGH: (39).......... MARKETING INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES

- RESEARCH PROCESS

Answer: INTERNAL RECORDS

Supporting statement: Next, it develops the needed information from internal records, marketing intelligence activities, and the research process.

Keywords: internal records, intelligence activities

Keyword Location: Para G, Lines 5-6

Explanation: According to the text, the internal records are used to develop the needed information in the Marketing Information System (MIS) process.

PROCESSED BY THE (40)..............

Answer: ANALYSIS UNIT

Supporting statement: The analysis unit processes the data to make it more useful, and finally, the MIS distributes it to managers

Keywords: analysis unit, distributes

Keyword Location: Para G, Lines 6-7

Explanation: According to the text, the data is processed by the analysis unit before being given out to the managers to utilise it.

TIMELY AND ACCURATE DATA DISTRIBUTION

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