Institute of linguistic and intercultural studies chair of applied modern languages in economics and law
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WHAT IS QUALITY? Quality is important to businesses but can be quite hard to define. Customers want quality that is appropriate to the price that they are prepared to pay and the level of competition in the market. Quality is subjective, it is a matter of personal opinion, and what constitutes an acceptable level of quality will vary from one individual to another. Among the key aspects of quality that are important to the customer we should mention good design, good functionality, reliability, durability, good aftersale maintenance, and value for money. ‘Value for money’ is especially important, because in most markets there is room for products of different overall levels of quality, and the customer must be satisfied that the price fairly reflects the quality. For example, the car maker Skoda is now part of the Volkswagen group which is well-known for quality cars, but prior to this, Skodas were tough, reliable and very good value for money, even though the cars fell short of most others in style, comfort and performance. For the firm, good design is fundamental, so that the product can be produced efficiently, reliably and at the lowest possible cost. If products are being made for other, large firms, then the quality standards may be dictated by the firm placing the order. Why is quality important? Quality helps determine a firm’s success in a number of ways. It may ensure customer loyalty, when customers make repeat purchases and recommend the product or service to others. It helps to win strong brand reputation for quality. Retailers are always willing to stock the qualitative product. As the product is perceived to be better value for money, it may command a premium price and will become more price inelastic. That is why firms have to work hard to maintain and improve their reputation for quality, which can easily be damaged by a news story about a quality failure. Among the factors instrumental in measuring quality are failure or reject rates, level of product returns, customer complaints, customer satisfaction (usually measured by a survey), and customer loyalty that is evident from repeat purchases. Of course, the degree of assurance given by a firm’s name or reputation can be very important even though it is hard to measure. Quality is always evolving owing to improved technology, better materials, new manufacturing techniques and fresh competitors. No firm can afford to stand still as far as quality is concerned. KEY WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS:
1. Answer the following questions: 1. How would you define the notion of ‘value for money’? 2. How does quality help to sell products? 3. What factors help companies to measure the quality of their goods? 4. Can a cheap product be qualitative? Share your consumer experience. 5. What are the main characteristics of quality?
___ 2. Manufacturers dictate quality standards to all of their customers. ___ 3. Repeat purchases attest to customer loyalty and ultimately product quality
___ 4. Companies pay no attention to criticism of their products. ___ 5. Product return rate indicates that the product needs improvement. ___ 6. Retailers tend to reject high-quality products. ___ 7. A qualitative product does not need improvement. 3. Give English equivalents for the following:
4. Form as many derivatives from the verbs below as you can.
5. Match the beginnings of the sentences with their endings.
6. Brainstorming activity. When consumers talk about quality, what different aspects or criteria do they have n mind? How would you define quality in relation to the following?
7. Do the crossword below. 1 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ 2 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ 3 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ 4 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 5 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ 6 ___ ___|___|___ 7 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 8 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ 9 ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 10 ___ ___ ___ ___|___|___ 11 ___ ___ ___|___|___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 1. to make smth better;. 2. the best / top; 3. long-lasting; 4. able to work well / produce good results; 5. to develop gradually; 6. to change or to differ; 7. trying to o smth better than another person/company; 8. goods sold under brand names; 9. to produce; 10. to refuse to accept; 11. which can be agreed to. 8. Questions for understanding:
BRANDS AND BRANDING A brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer. More specifically, it refers to the concrete symbols such as a name, logo (or mark), slogan, and design scheme that are used to distinguish a product from other similar products offered on the market. The name may be given to a whole range of products, thus identifying them with a certain producer, or to individual products made by the same manufacturer. Brand recognition is created by the accumulation of experiences with the specific product or service, that are gained by directly using the product or under the influence of advertising, design, and media commentary. Thus, a brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, product or service. A brand serves to create associations and expectations among products made by a producer. That is why most manufacturers feel it important to create a brand style so that any of the products from a given range is instantly recognizable. For the marketer, the importance of branding lies in the process of creating brand awareness, brand image, and ultimately brand loyalty which ensures repeat purchases of the product. The hope is that over time the consumer will develop value judgements about certain brands and use them as a basis for discriminating between products. Brand types Manufacturer brands are created by producers and bear their chosen brand name.The producer is responsible for marketing the brand. The brand is owned by the producer. By building their brand names, manufacturers can gain widespread distribution (for example by retailers who want to sell the brand) and build customer loyalty. Own-label (or “own”) brands, otherwise known as “generics” are created and owned by businesses that operate in the distribution channel – often referred to as “distributors”. This is a relatively new development in branding, which may be observed primarily in major retail stores, such as Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Safeway, etc. A generic is a product that is sold under the brand name of the retailer and applies to all kinds of products. It may be identical to a nationally known brand on the same shelf, but is generally sold at a cheaper price to appeal more to the price conscious shopper. Generics may even build a brand image that goes beyond price and value to indicate real product quality. Marks and Spencer, for example, deliberately promote this image with their own brand name “St Michael”. In any case, own branding can offer the consumer excellent value for money and provide the distributor with additional bargaining power when it comes to negotiating prices and terms with manufacturer brands. Brand name protection A successful brand image can be a great advantage to a company, as a favorable image of the products already on the market positively influences all the new products launched by the same company. Thus, branding adds value to the products. It is for this reason that many firms protect their brand names by registering them as trademarks. The registration of a trademark enables its owner to have the legal right to prevent competitors from using the same or similar brand name or mark for the same type of product or service. This also protects the consumer from being deceived and confused about the origin of the goods. KEY WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS:
1. Answer the following questions: 1. How does branding increase product value? 2. How do firms protect their brand names? 3. How do trademarks protect the consumer? 4. What is the difference between generics and manufacturer brands? 5. How is brand recognition built?
a) legal right b) copyright c) rights 2. The lengthy negotiations resulted in a very profitable … made by our company. a) bargain b) gain c) deal 3. Brand … is built with the help of advertising campaigns and consumers’ own experience. a) loyalty b) image c) name 4. In order to protect their products manufacturers register … with specialized patent offices. a) marks b) landmarks c) trademarks 5. Sainsbury’s plastic bags so cheaply sold in Chisinau help to build the image of their … brand name. a) owner b) own c) manufacturer’s
4. Give English equivalents for the following:
5. Fill in the gaps with the words supplied in the box.
Directory: Litere Litere -> Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) Litere -> Free International University of Moldova Faculty of Letters Department of Germanic Languages Zinaida Cameneva syntheses in Linguistics Suport de curs la disciplina "Lingvistica" Chişinău – 2014 Litere -> From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Download 0.78 Mb. Share with your friends:
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