(G-I) marketing and finance glossary G-I

Marketing

Gender segmentation	The segmentation of markets based on the sex of the customer. The cosmetic industry is a good example of widespread use of gender segmentation
Geographic segmentation	Geographic segmentation divides markets into different geographical units
Going-rate pricing	A pricing strategy that sets price largely based on the prices of competitors
Growth stage	The stage at which a product's sales rise rapidly and profits reach a peak, before levelling off into maturity.

Harvest	A strategy based on the Boston Matrix. Here the company reduces the amount of investment in order to maximise the short-term cash flows and profits from the SBU. This may have the effect of turning Stars into Cash Cows.
Hold	A strategy based on the Boston Matrix. Here the company invests just enough to keep the SBU in its present position

Impulse buying	Behaviour that involves no conscious planning but results from a powerful, persistent urge to buy something immediately
Income elasticity of demand	Income elasticity of demand measures the relationship between a change in quantity demanded and a change in income
Industrial buyers	Industrial buyers are those who purchase items on behalf of their business or organisation
Industrial market	Industrial markets involve the sale of goods between businesses. These are goods that are not aimed directly at consumers.
Inferior goods	Inferior goods have a negative income elasticity of demand. Demand falls as income rises
Influencer	A person in a group buying situation (e.g. a family) who exerts significant influence in the final buying decision
Initiator	A person in a group buying situation (e.g. a family) who first suggests buying a particular product or service
Innovators	Innovators are those who adopt new products first. They are usually relatively young, lively, intelligent, socially and geographically mobile. They are often of a high socioeconomic group (“AB’s”).
Intensive distribution	Intensive distribution aims to provide saturation coverage of the market by using all available outlets
Internal marketing	The process of eliciting support for a company and its activities among its own employees, in order to encourage them to promote its goals. This process can happen at a number of levels, from increasing awareness of individual products or marketing campaigns, to explaining overall business strategy.
Introduction stage	A product's first appearance in the marketplace, before any sales or profits have been made
Involvement	The level of interest, emotion and activity which the consumer is prepared to expend on a particular purchase

Finance :-

G7 The group of seven major industrialised economies, comprising the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.

G8 The G7 plus Russia.

G20 The G8 plus developing countries that play an important role in the global economy, such as China, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. It gained in significance after leaders agreed how to tackle the 2008-09 financial crisis and recession at G20 gatherings.

GDP Gross domestic product. A measure of economic activity in a country, namely of all the services and goods produced in a year. There are three main ways of calculating GDP - through output, through income and through expenditure.

Glass-Steagall A US law dating from the 1930s Great Depression that separated ordinary commercial banking from investment banking. Like the UK's planned ring-fence, the law was intended to protect banks which lend to consumers and businesses - deemed vital to the US economy - from the risky speculation of investment banks. The law was repealed in 1999, largely to enable the creation of the banking giant Citigroup - a move that many commentators say was a contributing factor to the 2008 financial crisis.

H

Haircut A reduction in the value of a troubled borrower's debts, imposed on, or agreed with, its lenders as part of a debt restructuring.

Hedge fund A private investment fund which uses a range of sophisticated strategies to maximise returns including hedging, leveraging and derivatives trading. Authorities around the world are working on ways to regulate them.

Hedging Making an investment to reduce the risk of price fluctuations to the value of an asset. Airlines often hedge against rising oil prices by agreeing in advance to to buy their fuel at a set price. In this case, a rise in price would not harm them - but nor would they benefit from any falls.

I

IIF The Institute of International Finance is a global trade association of the major banks.

IMF The International Monetary Fund is an organisation set up after World War II to provide financial assistance to governments. Since the 1980s, the IMF has been most active in providing rescue loans to the governments of developing countries that run into debt problems. Since the financial crisis, the IMF has also provided rescue loans, alongside the European Union governments and the ECB, to Greece, the Irish Republic and Portugal. The IMF is traditionally - and of late controversially - headed by a European.

Impairment charge The amount written off by a company when it realises that it has valued an asset more highly than it is actually worth.

Independent Commission on Banking A commission chaired by economist Sir John Vickers set up in 2010 by the UK government in order to make recommendations on how to reform the banking system. The commission reported back in September 2011, and called for:

• a ring-fence, to separate and safeguard the activities of banks that were deemed essential to the UK economy
• measures to increase the transparency of bank accounts and competition among banks, including the creation of a new major High Street bank
• much higher capital requirements for the big banks so that they can better absorb future losses

Inflation The upward price movement of goods and services.

Insolvency A situation in which the value of a borrower's assets is not enough to repay all of its debts. If a borrower can be shown to be insolvent, it normally means they can be declared bankrupt by a court.

Investment bank Investment banks provide financial services for governments, companies or extremely rich individuals. They differ from commercial banks where you have your savings or your mortgage. Traditionally investment banks provided underwriting, and financial advice on mergers and acquisitions, and how to raise money in the financial markets. The term is also commonly used to describe the more risky activities typically undertaken by such firms, including trading directly in financial markets for their own account.