Question 4 OR (b)
Push and pull strategies, and the products each suits
6 marks
- Time to write
- About 12 minutes
- Topic
- Promotion and IMC
Question
Question 4 OR (b) · 6 marksDifferentiate between a push strategy and a pull strategy. For which type of products is each strategy suitable? Discuss with example.
Reworded from the university paper; the task is the same. The original paper belongs to the University of Delhi. See DU's question bank.
Before you write
Read off the question and its marks
Read from the question
- Differentiate…Which…?Discuss…3 questions in all: answer every one.
- Differentiate betweenSet the differences out in a table, basis by basis, not as two separate essays.
- with exampleExamples are asked for: one short example with each point.
Write it in this order
- Read; underline the asks; jot your points 1 min
- 1 Difference between push and pull strategies 3 marks 5 min
- 2 Products suited to each, with an example 3 marks 5 min
- Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 1 min
Short on time? Trim steps 1 and 2 evenly rather than skip one: each is capped at its own marks.
Try it first. About 12 minutes for 6 marks. Write it out, then open the solution.
Solution
Hover or tap a marked figure, like 72,000, to see how it is made and where else it appears.
Push and pull strategies differentiated
A push strategy pushes the product through the distribution channel to final consumers. The producer directs its marketing, personal selling and trade promotion, at channel members, encouraging wholesalers and retailers to stock and promote the product to their customers.
A pull strategy directs marketing, advertising, consumer promotion and digital campaigns, at final consumers so that they ask retailers for the product; retailers then order it from wholesalers, who order from the producer. Demand pulls the product through the channel.
| Basis | Push strategy | Pull strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Target of promotion | Channel members (dealers, retailers) | Final consumers |
| Main tools | Personal selling, trade discounts, dealer contests, display allowances | Advertising, consumer promotions, social media, influencers |
| Flow of demand | Producer → channel → consumer | Consumer → retailer → wholesaler → producer |
| Brand loyalty | Low; buyers decide in the store | High; buyers come asking for the brand |
| Cost pattern | Higher margins and incentives to intermediaries | Heavy spending on mass media |
| Time to results | Faster for a new product's stocking | Slower to build, but lasting |
Which strategy suits which products
Push suits products with low brand loyalty, impulse buying in the store, technical or complex products needing explanation by a seller, industrial products, new brands of small firms with limited advertising budgets, and markets where dealers strongly influence choice (paint, cement, insurance, consumer durables in small towns).
Pull suits products with high brand loyalty, where buyers see real differences between brands, decide before entering the store and are reached cheaply through mass media: branded fast-moving consumer goods, soft drinks, cosmetics, smartphones and branded apparel.
In practice most firms use a mix of both.
A cement company relies largely on push: it offers dealers margins and incentives and trains masons and contractors, whose advice decides the buyer's choice. A cola brand relies largely on pull: celebrity-led advertising and digital campaigns make consumers ask for the brand, so shops must stock it: while trade schemes (push) secure visibility and cold-storage space in the same shops.
Where the 6 marks sit
| # | Component | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Difference between push and pull strategies | 3 |
| 2 | Products suited to each, with an example | 3 |
| Total | 6 |
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