Question 1

Please read the case given below and answer the question that follows.
Mr.Jain buys a house. (Case 2)
The Jains finally decided to buy an apartment. They had been in Mumbai for over twenty
years now. While Mr. Jain worked for a CA firm with its office in Cuffe Parade, Mrs. Jain was
a housewife. The firm had provided them with a 2 BHK house in Andheri, the rent of which
was deducted from his salary. Andheri was about one hour by the local train. Unfortunately,
the house was about six kilometers away and added an extra one hour to Mr. Jain's
commuting time.
The Jains were slowly feeling constrained for space. Their children were growing. The rent of
the house had increased to a level where the deduction from the salary was hurting. Mr. Jain
calculated that with the rent he was paying, he could buy a bigger house in Navi Mumbai, an
upcoming area in Mumbai's suburbs. It increased his commuting time by local train. But in
Navi Mumbai, he reasoned, could stay close to the station and save on the time he spent
traveling to and from the station.
He was helped in his decision by a fall in property rates. The Covid pandemic halted the real
estate business, which brought prices down. The banks had eased interest rates on loans.
His firm had operated on a work-from-home mode during the pandemic and discovered that
it could work just as well from with employees at their homes using software like Zoom.
After the pandemic, the firm's proprietor announced a blended work model in which the
employees were allowed to work three days a week from their homes. This was a bonus for
Mr. Jain as it reduced the inconvenience of commuting. The Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation (Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation) also announced plans to introduce a
hovercraft service from Navi Mumbai to the Gateway of India, reducing his traveling time to
thirty minutes. He could now work from his house in Navi Mumbai without being overtly
bothered by the stress of commuting.
Buying a house was a once-in-a-lifetime decision. Mr. and Mrs. Jain and their two children
decided to go through it systematically. Mr. Jain spoke to his colleagues at work, some of
whom had bought flats in Navi Mumbai. They checked ads in the newspapers, and on
Sundays and other official holidays, they travelled to inspect houses in various apartment
buildings. For most of their life in Mumbai, they had a negative impression of Navi Mumbai.
The area had a bad reputation for crimes. They had read newspaper reports about wild
animals and snakes which infested the region and often attached human beings. Some of
those concerns were allayed after repeated visits to the place.
The Jains were clear about the following criteria while choosing the house he prioritized
sequentially. First and foremost, the house was to be Vastu compliant. (Vastu is an ancient
Indian method for constructing a house.). They would buy a place only in a vegetarian
housing society. It should be situated within 2 kilometers of the local station. It should be
gated and with adequate security. They finally created a shortlist of three apartments in
Wishtown, Eldorado, and Kensington housing societies. Mr. Jain decided to invite his aging
parents, who lived in Indore, to Mumbai to help him make the final decision. Meanwhile, he
contacted various banks to get the best financing to purchase the house. He wanted to
complete the purchase by early October to move into his new home on the auspicious day
of Deepavali.
Some of the suggestions he received from his parents prompted him to rearrange his
thoughts.
The older couple was surprised when told that the apartment would cost upwards of Rs. 1
crore. "With that money," his father said, "you could buy two flats in Indore with change to
spare."
He turned a little serious. "Have you checked the profile of the builder? You are putting a
considerable sum at risk. Please ensure the builder delivers. Here trust is important as going
to the courts is a time-consuming process. Preferably, ensure you get all possession papers

before you part with your money."

"Secondly, check that the construction is good. The electrical fittings are secure, and the
builder has put a professional security agency in charge of the society. That is about safety,
on which there should be no compromise. Also, don't buy an apartment close to a mobile
tower. We keep reading that radiation from them is harmful. This has not been scientifically
proven, but why take a chance?" Mr. Jain nodded in agreement. His decision so far had not
encompassed such points. Mere knowledge, he acknowledged was no substitute for his
father's experience and wisdom.
Mr. Jain had had a tense relationship with his father. His father was a teacher at Indore's
famous Daly College and a disciplinarian. As a child, he struggled to meet his expectations
and suffered from his sharp tongue on many occasions. When he cleared his CA examination
with distinction, his father's attitude towards him changed somewhat.
"Now don’t be an oaf. You are a fifty year old kid.” Mr. Jain was startled to hear his father’s
words which had lost nothing of its old harshness.
“If the construction is new, check some other buildings constructed by the builder. That
would give you some idea about their credibility. To save a few miserable rupees, the
builders of this day would not mind giving you a substandard building whose roof would
start to leak in six months." The senior man’s voice boomed.
"That is about pride." The older man philosophized. "My school was built by the British in
1909 and is still being run on the same premises. Can you say the same thing about today's
contractors? All they think of is money."
The senior man was an inveterate Anglophile. He had been a toddler when the country
achieved independence. Even after seventy-five years, the older Jain thought the British
departure was the biggest tragedy to befall India. He pointed to the partition, the endemic
corruption, and the emasculation of all governance systems, which he opined happened
because the colonizers left too early, abandoning India to its fate.
Mr. Jain often chafed at his father's rantings. But on this occasion, he saw the logic behind
his statements.
"Also, check with the gentry, the folks who would be your neighbours. They should be
people of similar social standing. Otherwise, you and your family would feel out of place.
Your children should get a good peer group. Stay away from the hoi polloi.”
The raised voice probably alerted Mr. Jain’s mother who entered the room to enquire. The
father turned to her and growled.
“This boy has completely taken after you. He only thinks of his vegetarian food, religious
festival and frankly knows nothing about buying a house”

As per the case, which of the following would qualify as a physical risk associated with
buying an apartment?
Select one:
a. Delay in delivery of the apartment.
b. Exposure to radiation due to proximity to a mobile tower.
c. Possibility of shock due to bad electrical fittings
d. Uncooperative neighbours

Question 2
Mr.Jain buys a house. (Case 2)
Which of the following can be considered an economic stimulus behind Mr. Jain's decision to
purchase a house?
Select one:
a. Constraint for space
b. Growing children
c. The reduced interest rates
d. Commuting time

Question 3
Tirumala Hospital Case
"Do you run a hospital, or do you do marketing? In other words, are you a doctor or a salesman?"
A reporter asked Dr. Chandrasekhar Raju, the owner of Tirumala Hospitals, a leading chain of
hospitals in South India.
Dr. Raju paused for a moment before answering. "What is your background, ma'am?" he courteously
asked the reporter.
The reporter, Tara, wondered if she had somehow offended the famous doctor. She timidly replied.
"I have done my graduation in journalism, Sir. I have enrolled in an online MBA program with a
leading university based out of Rajasthan."
Something about the answer amused Dr. Raju. He laughed out loudly.
"Don't you worry; I will not ask you whether you are a journalist or a businesswoman?"
"But I expect you to know the difference between a salesman and a marketing professional."
"As per me, I wear twin hats. I am certainly faithful to my primary profession as a doctor. I had taken
the Hippocratic oath and shall abide by it all my life. But I am a marketing person as well. I ran this
organization, which could not survive if I lacked the marketing skills to support it. And yes, I don't see
any conflict between the two professions. If anything, they complement each other."
"Can you please elaborate?" The young reporter asked. She was now in rapt attention. All her life,
she had thought of doctors as greedy creatures who run savagely commercial practices where they
fleece their customers by ordering unnecessary tests, prescribing extra medicines, and accepting
kickbacks from pathology labs and pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Raju was in an expansive mood with some time in his hands.
"Ok, Tara, you want to know how good a marketing person I am. Right! Of course, you don't want to
know how good a doctor I am because you would have to fall sick for that. So we will do it this way. I
shall tell you all that I do here, and you would have to link it with a particular marketing element. Are
you ready for it? Let me also hint that all the elements have P as their starting letters."
Tara shook her head in the affirmative.
"Ok, let us start from here. We are sitting at the reception lounge of the Tirumala Hospital,
Hyderabad. This is the first point of contact for a normal patient. Patients needing emergency care
are checked in at the casualty ward."
"For patients with disabilities or those who cannot be moved without support, we also provide an
ambulance service."
"Oh, yes, Sir. The ambulances of Tirumala hospital are very prominent in the city. They are so
prettily designed that they look more like the dressing van of a movie star."
"Ok, Probably, that is one of the reasons why you have noticed it," the doctor said.
"We provide healing services in the following areas. Just turn around and read it out.

Tara swiveled her chair and studied the impressive list. A massive dashboard hung from the wall
citing the various ailments that the hospital treated. They included Cardiology, pulmonology —
urology, Psychiatry, and Otorhinolaryngology, among others.
"What was that again? Tara asked, trying to make sense of the last term.
Otorhinolaryngology is what laymen call ENT. The doctor smiled at the crude manner in which
ordinary people mocked doctors. In reality, one had to spend umpteen hours sweating to commit
terms like these to memory. The medical profession was not for the faint-hearted.
We get two types of patients here. The ones who need in-house care are admitted. We must provide
one attendant's stay, boarding, and other services. That is why we have to run a kitchen. The chefs
are specially trained to cook as per the doctor's diet prescription.
"There is also a travel desk where patients, especially those who come from outside, we do get many
patients from abroad, book their travel tickets."
"We have also started an insurance service, having tied up with an American firm."
"Now we have a lot of information to handle. Some are active information used when the patient is
under our care. We use ERP software to track patients, admission, room allotment, payment, and
virtually every other visit aspect. The health care data of every patient who has visited this hospital
during the last ten years is carefully maintained. The Information system has been designed by a
leading IT company that retains a maintenance desk to ensure the MIS is up and running 24/7."
The data from MIS is used to upgrade our processes. For example, we check the time spent by a
customer in admission and discharge and try to find out if it could be improved. All our surgeries are
video recorded and are often shown to reputed surgeons to suggest improvements. The recording is
also retained as evidence if we end up with some medico-legal cases.
In a sophisticated field, we must be cautious with the people we hire. We usually go to the best
graduates from leading medical colleges. However, many of them have to be trained in the non-
medical aspects of the profession. A large number of them need input in communication. We have
tie-ups with some of the finest training centers for such things. The same applies to our nursing staff.
And, of course, as a hospital, the place must be neat and clean. We have an enormous cleaning staff
to ensure that the housekeeping is good. We use the most advanced machines too.
"Well, thank you, Dr. Raju. But we have not attempted the most important question. Are you in this
for money, or is there a greater purpose?"
"I will tell you a few things about what we do here. You decide about the purpose."
"Naturally, our services carry a cost. The hospital cannot run on goodwill alone. Our doctors and staff
have to be paid. The money can only come from the beneficiaries of our services, mainly our
patients. However, we do differentiate between our customers."
The patients are charged depending on the type of rooms they occupy. You might be surprised that
the same surgery would cost you twice if you chose to admit your patient to a suite compared to a
patient in the ward. Even the doctor's visit would cost less if you put the patient in a general ward.
Don't worry; they would still write the same prescription.

Secondly, we try to see that more severe problems are charged less than non-essential services like
cosmetic surgery. This is a form of cross-subsidization. So we have slightly inflated prices for the
patients doing a nose job to keep our care of heart attacks a little more affordable.
Finally, we have authorized all senior doctors to recommend three patients every month who, in
their opinion, are financially distressed. Such patients are offered free treatment where our doctors
use the sample medicine they get from various pharmaceutical companies.
"I got it, Sir," Tara replied.
"But seriously, Sir, don't you do anything for publicity?"
"Well, why not? For example, sitting with the press for interviews like this." The doctor replied
smilingly.
"We also conduct health awareness weeks during which we invite interested people to come for
workshops on things like diabetes management, women's health, and senior healthcare issues. At
times we do free health check-up camps also."
"One last question. What about growth?" Tara asked.
"Well, in a country like India, there is no shortage of people needing healthcare services. The only
question we face is how to provide these services while balancing the twin objectives of monetary
viability and social needs. We are venturing into the interior towns of the country on a franchise
model where the franchise holders would provide primary health care services while referring more
serious patients to our main facilities in the nearest available city. We are also setting up clinics in
some locations to be manned by our young resident doctors. We are trying out many things to hit a
winning formula ultimately."
"For example, we are trying to see if we can increase the per bed revenue at our more crowded
hospitals. On an experimental basis, we are trying to provide nursing and essential healthcare
services to patients who have sufficiently recovered to complete their recovery in their homes.
Many such patients tend to occupy our beds unnecessarily, where they incur avoidable costs and get
exposed to the risks of infection, for which the hospital gets blamed. We also don't make much
money on such patients as they need less medicare. If we could provide the same service at their
homes, we could create a win-win situation for both of us, i.e., the patients and the hospital. The
patient would convalesce at their home at a lower cost. We will also get an additional revenue
stream while freeing our beds for more severe patients. We have also started a telemedicine service
where patients can consult our doctors on a 24/7 service. We call this "Any time, Anywhere
Medicine."

Which of the following would qualify to be called an input under People for a service
business?
Select one:
a. The training of doctors on non-medical aspects
b. Free treatment to financially distressed patients
c. The ERP software
d. Development of franchise network

Question 4
Thums up is well known for its "Taste the Thunder" campaign. The following statement/s is
most likely to be true about the campaign.
Select one:
a. This is an example of usage occasion bases segmentation aimed at promoting the
consumption of Thums Up during rainy days.
b. This is an example of demographic segmentation aimed at teenagers.
c. This is an example of geographic segmentation aimed at people who live in high
rainfall areas.
d. This is an example of psychographic segmentation aimed at the "Experiencers" as
per VALS.

Question 5
Mountain Dew's ad shows its brand ambassador (currently Hrithik Roshan, the Bollywood
actor) in extreme environments with the tagline "Darr Ke Aage Jeet Hai (Victory is one step
away from fear)." Choose the option that would best describe the ad.
Select one:
a. The ad is likely to appeal to people with high achievement orientation.
b. The ad is likely to appeal to people who are money constrained.
c. The ad is likely to appeal to customers whose core values include simple living and
high thinking.
d. The ad is likely to appeal to time constrained customers.

Question 6
Tirumala Hospital Case
Which of the following is an example of after-sales service?
Select one:
a. Ambulance service
b. Nursing services for patients recovering at home
c. Outpatient service
d. Cross subsidization

Question 7
Please read the case given below and answer the question that follows.
Mr.Jain buys a house. (Case 2)
Which of the following refers to his choice of a product?
Select one:
a. 3 BHK apartment
b. 3 BHK apartment at Navi Mumbai
c. Kensington, El dorado or Wishtown.
d. Location of Navi Mumbai

Question 8
Please read the case given below and answer the question that follows.
Mr.Jain buys a house. (Case 2)
As per the case, which of the following would qualify as a functional risk in buying an
apartment?
Select one:
a. The leaking roof
b. Exposure to radiation due to proximity to a mobile tower.
c. Delay in delivery of the apartment.
d. Uncooperative neighbours

Question 9
Tirumala Hospital
Which of the marketing elements would cover "Any time, Anywhere medicine."?
Select one:
a. Price
b. Place
c. Promotion
d. Product

Question 10
Please read the case given below and answer the question that follows.
Mr.Jain buys a house. (Case 2)
As per the case, Mr. Jain had sequentially prioritized the criteria for choosing their house.
Which of the following would best describe their evaluation method amongst different
alternatives?
Select one:
a. Lexicographic
b. Conjunctive
c. Compensatory
d. Disjunctive

Question 11
Please read the case given below and answer the question that follows.
Mr.Jain buys a house. (Case 2)
Which of the following would qualify to be a social risk
Select one:
a. Uncooperative neighbors
b. Delay in delivery of apartment
c. Possibility of shock due to bad electrical fittings
d. Exposure to radiation due to the proximity of the mobile tower

Question 12
Tirumala Hospital Case
"Process" is an essential element of service business. Which of the following would come
under the purview of the process?
Select one:
a. Free treatment to financially distressed patients
b. ERP software
c. Ambulance Service
d. Development of franchise network

Question 13
Tirumala Hospital Case
The investment required to make the hospital's ambulances look like Film Star's dressing
vans would be covered under which marketing element?
Select one:
a. Process
b. Price
c. Product
d. Promotion

Question 14
Tirumala Hospital Case
The specialty of Psychiatry would come under which marketing element?
Select one:
a. Price
b. Place
c. Promotion
d. Product

Question 15
During the nineties, the manufacturers of Bullet motorcycles started losing market share to
smaller 100 cc bikes like Hero Honda. During this period, Bullet ran a campaign with the
tagline" Mard Khilone se Nahin khelte (Real men don't play with toys)." Which of the
following statements would best explain the philosophy behind the campaign?
Select one:
a. All the answers are correct.
b. Real men, tough and macho, constituted an aspirational reference group for those
who bought bikes.
c. With its robust design and distinctive sound, Bullet was designed to have a
masculine brand personality that resonated with the tagline.
d. Toys are associated with children, a dissociative group for prospective customers of
bikes.

Question 16
Badal life ki raftaar (Change the pace of life)" is a series of campaigns run by Nestle for its
successful brand Nescafe. One particular ad shows a teenage girl informing his father she
would like to study at a college in a distant town (Mumbai). The father gently disagrees and
later makes up with his upset daughter over a cup of coffee. Which statement/s is/are most
likely to describe the philosophy behind the campaign? You can view the ad here. Nescafe:
Badal Life Ki Raftaar - YouTube
Select one:
a. None of the above.
b. The ad is built around the theme of acceptance by a secondary reference group.
c. The ad is built around the theme of love and bonding young children experience in
their family orientation stimulated by a cup of coffee.
d. The ad is centered on the theme of separation and consequential loss

Question 17
Please read the case given below and answer the question that follows.
Mr.Jain buys a house. (Case 2)
Question: Kensington has created a tower within the housing society to exclusively accommodate
people with
vegetarian food habits. In which way is this going to affect a customer's buying
decision?
Select one:
a. None of the above.
b. This would be relevant for the customer’s socio-economic status
c. This would appeal to the customer's cultural preferences.
d. This would appeal to the customer's social standing

Question 18
The company promoted the Perk brand of chocolates with the tagline "Thodisi pet puja (For
that untimely pang of hunger)." This is most likely to be a case of
Select one:
a. Usage occasion-based segmentation
b. User Status based segmentation
c. Geographic segmentation
d. Usage Rate Based segmentation

Question 19
Please read the case given below and answer the question that follows.
Mr.Jain buys a house. (Case 2)
El Dorado has tied up with ICICI bank, offering to bear a part of the customer's interest cost.
This input from the company's side is likely to affect which aspect of the customer buying
decision.
Select one:
a. Payment method and choice of brand
b. Product Choice
c. Purchase Timing
d. Purchase Quantity

Question 20
Tirumala Hospital Case
Tirumala Hospital's cross-subsidization policy helps keep the cost of essential health care
affordable. Under which element of marketing would this input come?
Select one:
a. Price
b. Product
c. Place
d. Promotion