Marketing Terms and Definitions

KnowThis.com offers a detailed list of marketing terms that includes definitions and links to more detail found within our Principles of Marketing Tutorials. For most terms to learn more click on the For More See link.

• Rack Jobber (also Service Merchandiser)

  Wholesale format represented by distributors that are assigned and manage space (i.e., racks) within retail stores including managing inventory, setting price and developing promotions.
  • For More See: Wholesale Formats: Part 2

• Rebates

  A form of sales promotion, mainly used in the consumer market, which typically lowers a customer’s final acquisition cost for a product purchase but generally does so by: 1) requiring customers provide information and/or undertake activity after the purchase, and 2) only offering the incentive after the information is received.
  • For More See: Promotion Types: Rebates

• Reference Group

  Found within the Group Membership component of the external influences on consumer buying behavior, this concept represents people and organizations which a person simultaneously associates or, in some cases, feels the need to disassociate.
  • For More See: External: Culture and Groups

• Research

  The process of gathering information to learn about something that is not fully known.
  • For More See: Importance of Marketing Research

• Research Design

  A plan to collect information within a specific type of research method.
  • For More See: Step 4: Research Design - Data Collection

• Research Instrument

  Research method used to record information gathered during a research study that range from basic methods, such as a questionnaire that record participant responses to research questions, to highly advanced electronic measurement where respondents are connected to sophisticated equipment.
  • For More See: Primary Research

• Research Reliability

  A concept in conducting research that is concerned with making sure the method used to gather data leads to consistent results that would be duplicated if others follow the same methods.
  • For More See: Research Validity and Reliability

• Research Validity

  A concept related to carrying out research that is concerned with whether the research is really measuring what it claims to be measuring.
  • For More See: Research Validity and Reliability

• Reseller Network

  The collection of resellers such as retailer, wholesalers and industrial distributors, who provide services that assist the marketer in reaching their final customer.
  • For More See: Type of Channel Members

• Resellers (a.k.a. Intermediaries, Distributors, Dealers)

  Members of a distribution channel who purchase products from the marketing company with the intention of selling to others and includes retailers, wholesalers and industrial distributors.
  • For More See: Type of Channel Members

• Retailer

  A business classification that includes resellers who, in general, obtain products from suppliers in order to sell to the final consumer.
  • For More See: What is Retailing

• Retailer-Sponsored Channel

  A form of contractual dependent channel arrangement where retailers work together to manage channel relationships.
  • For More See: Channel Arrangements: Dependent

• Retailing

  A distribution channel function where organizations sell products directly to the final consumer for their own personal use.
  • For More See: What is Retailing

• Roles

  A component of the internal influences on consumer buying behavior that represents the position a person feels they hold or others feel they should hold within a particular group environment.
  • For More See: Internal: Roles and Motivation

• RSS - Really Simple Syndication

  Internet technology that allows a company to send information quickly and to a large number (i.e., subscribers) with little manual effort compared to traditional methods.
  • For More See: Customer Service: RSS, Wireless, Text Messaging