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← Unit 3: Trends in Marketing

BMI3C · Unit 3 test review

Trends in Marketing: Test Review

Everything for the Unit 3 test on one page: the key facts from all 6 lessons, the mistakes that cost the most marks, and a practice test that points you back to the lessons you need.

Key facts

Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends

  • Demographics (age, household size, income, language, birthplace, location) are measurable and predictable, which makes them powerful for forecasting markets.
  • Statistics Canada's Census of Population runs every five years and is the main source of free secondary demographic data.
  • Approximate figures: about 19% of Canadians are 65+, about 23% are immigrants, and nearly 3 in 4 live in large urban centres.
  • Most of Canada's population growth now comes from immigration; multicultural marketing means language, products and cultural respect, not just translation.
  • Indigenous peoples are a young, fast-growing population; partner with Indigenous businesses and creators rather than appropriating designs.
  • Trend → implication → action: link each trend to a customer need and a change in the marketing mix.

Ethics and Regulation in Marketing

  • Competition Act (enforced by the Competition Bureau): no false or misleading representations to promote a product; both the literal meaning and the general impression of an ad count.
  • Canadian Code of Advertising Standards: a voluntary industry code administered by Ad Standards, which reviews public complaints and can ask that an ad be changed or withdrawn (it cannot fine).
  • CASL: commercial electronic messages need consent, clear sender identification, and a working unsubscribe method.
  • PIPEDA: identify your purpose, get meaningful consent, collect only what you need, and protect personal information (overseen by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada).
  • Quebec's Consumer Protection Act prohibits commercial advertising directed at children under 13.
  • Greenwashing = misleading environmental claims; they are treated as misleading advertising and must be supported by evidence.

Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing

  • CSR = a business's commitment to benefit society and the environment as well as its owners; triple bottom line = people, planet, profit.
  • Carroll's pyramid, base to top: economic → legal → ethical → philanthropic.
  • Cause-related marketing links sales to donations; trustworthy campaigns name the cause, the amount, the dates and any cap.
  • Green strategy touches all 4 Ps; packaging follows the waste hierarchy: reduce, reuse, then recycle or compost.
  • B Corps are for-profit companies certified by B Lab for verified social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
  • Circular economy: design out waste and keep products in use through repair, resale, rental, refill and recycling.

Technology and Marketing

  • Conversion rate
  • CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions)
  • Marketing ROI
  • SEO earns unpaid search traffic; paid search buys ad placements, usually priced per click.
  • Influencers must clearly disclose any material connection (payment, free products, relationship) with a brand.
  • Personalization trades convenience for privacy — businesses need consent and must protect the data they collect.

International Marketing

  • Entry methods from least to most involvement: exporting → licensing/franchising → joint venture → direct investment. More investment brings more control and more risk.
  • Licensing and franchising earn fees or royalties: royalty
  • Standardization keeps one global mix; adaptation changes it for local culture; glocalization blends the two.
  • Foreign price a weaker Canadian dollar makes Canadian exports cheaper abroad.
  • Tariffs tax imports, quotas limit import quantities, embargoes ban trade; trade agreements (such as CUSMA, CETA, CPTPP) reduce barriers.

Careers in Marketing

  • Brand managers run a brand's whole marketing mix; market research analysts turn data into insight; digital specialists run and measure online campaigns.
  • Event planners manage venues, suppliers, budgets, and schedules; PR specialists manage reputation and media relations; sales representatives build relationships and close sales.
  • Sales pay with commission: total pay
  • Ontario college pathway: OSSD with Grade 12 college prep courses → apply through ontariocolleges.ca → diploma (typically 2 years) or advanced diploma (typically 3 years) → optional graduate certificate.
  • Transferable skills (communication, teamwork, creativity, adaptability) matter in every marketing role.

Where marks get lost

  • Presenting a statistic as exact without a source or date. Demographic figures change with every release, so label them approximate and cite Statistics Canada and the year. (Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends)
  • Treating "newcomers" or "multicultural consumers" as one group. People from different countries have different languages, tastes and habits. (Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends)
  • Picturing all seniors as frail and offline. Many older Canadians are active, have money to spend and shop online. (Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends)
  • Using generation labels as stereotypes. Birth year gives a starting point, but life stage, income and values matter just as much. (Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends)
  • Using Indigenous designs or symbols without permission or partnership, which is cultural appropriation and damages trust. (Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends)
  • Thinking an ad cannot be misleading if every word is technically true — regulators also judge the general impression, so buried fine print does not fix a misleading headline. (Ethics and Regulation in Marketing)
  • Mixing up the Competition Bureau (a government law enforcement agency) with Ad Standards (an industry self-regulatory organization that cannot issue fines). (Ethics and Regulation in Marketing)
  • Believing CASL only covers email — it covers commercial electronic messages generally, including promotional texts. (Ethics and Regulation in Marketing)
  • Assuming a bought email list is fine because the addresses are "public" — without the recipients' consent, sending them promotional messages breaks CASL. (Ethics and Regulation in Marketing)
  • Treating "legal" and "ethical" as the same thing — the law is a minimum, and many unethical tactics are not specifically illegal. (Ethics and Regulation in Marketing)
  • Treating CSR as only charitable donations. Carroll's pyramid starts with being profitable, legal and ethical; philanthropy sits on top. (Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing)
  • Writing vague cause claims such as "a portion of proceeds" without naming the charity, the amount, the dates or any cap. (Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing)
  • Starting green marketing with the ad instead of the product. If the product and operations have not changed, the campaign is likely greenwashing. (Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing)
  • Assuming shoppers who say they care about sustainability will always pay more. The intention-action gap means green products also need a personal benefit. (Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing)
  • Thinking recycling is the best packaging option. In the waste hierarchy, reducing and reusing come before recycling. (Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing)
  • Dividing by impressions or visitors in the wrong place — conversion rate is conversions ÷ visitors, not visitors ÷ conversions. (Technology and Marketing)
  • Forgetting the × 1000 in CPM and reporting the cost of a single impression instead of 1,000 impressions. (Technology and Marketing)
  • Judging an ad only by its low CPM — cheap impressions are worthless if they do not lead to clicks or sales. (Technology and Marketing)
  • Calculating ROI as revenue ÷ cost instead of (revenue − cost) ÷ cost, which overstates the return by 100 percentage points. (Technology and Marketing)
  • Assuming AI-written marketing or an influencer's post is not the brand's responsibility — the business is accountable for misleading claims either way. (Technology and Marketing)
  • Multiplying instead of dividing when converting — if 1 US dollar costs $1.35 CAD, a $27 CAD product is 27 ÷ 1.35 US dollars, not 27 × 1.35. (International Marketing)
  • Thinking a stronger Canadian dollar helps exporters — it actually makes Canadian goods more expensive for foreign buyers. (International Marketing)
  • Mixing up licensing and franchising — licensing grants the right to use a brand, patent, or process; franchising hands over an entire business system and standards. (International Marketing)
  • Assuming a successful Canadian ad will work anywhere after a word-for-word translation, ignoring humour, symbols, colours, and values. (International Marketing)
  • Confusing a tariff (a tax on imports) with a quota (a limit on the quantity imported). (International Marketing)
  • Thinking marketing is only advertising — research, sales, events, public relations, and analytics are all marketing careers. (Careers in Marketing)
  • Assuming creative skills are all you need; most marketing roles now also expect comfort with data and metrics. (Careers in Marketing)
  • Calculating commission on profit or on base salary instead of on the sales amount stated in the pay plan. (Careers in Marketing)
  • Leaving course planning until Grade 12 and discovering a college program requires a credit you did not take. (Careers in Marketing)
  • Ignoring transferable skills and part-time or volunteer experience, which employers and college programs value. (Careers in Marketing)

Practice test

24 questions from across the unit. Each one shows the lesson it comes from.

  1. Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends
    1
    A hypothetical city has 260,000 residents, of whom 54,600 are aged 65 or older. What percentage are seniors? Round to the nearest whole percent.
    %
  2. Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends
    2
    Which Statistics Canada source is the main free survey of Canada's whole population, run every five years?
  3. Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends
    3
    Put these generations in order from oldest to youngest.
    1. 1Generation Alpha
    2. 2Generation Z
    3. 3Millennials
    4. 4Baby boomers
    5. 5Generation X
  4. Canada's Changing Consumers: Demographic and Social Trends
    4
    What term describes taking elements of another culture, such as Indigenous designs, without permission, credit or fair benefit?
  5. Ethics and Regulation in Marketing
    5
    Which organization enforces the Competition Act's rules against misleading advertising?
  6. Ethics and Regulation in Marketing
    6
    A café's email list has 1,850 addresses. Of these, 1,420 people gave documented consent to receive promotions; the rest were copied from a purchased list. How many addresses should be removed before sending a promotional email?
  7. Ethics and Regulation in Marketing
    7
    Which requirement is part of CASL rather than PIPEDA?
  8. Ethics and Regulation in Marketing
    8
    Name the industry organization that administers the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.
  9. Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing
    9
    Put the levels of Carroll's CSR pyramid in order from the base to the top.
    1. 1Legal
    2. 2Philanthropic
    3. 3Ethical
    4. 4Economic
  10. Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing
    10
    A hypothetical restaurant reduced its landfill waste from 900 kg to 315 kg a month. What is its waste diversion rate, in percent?
    %
  11. Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing
    11
    What makes B Corp certification more believable to customers than a company's own green claims?
  12. Sustainability, CSR and Cause Marketing
    12
    What is the name for a partnership in which a business donates to a charity based on its sales?
  13. Technology and Marketing
    13
    An online store had 8,000 visitors last week and 184 of them placed an order. What is its conversion rate?
    %
  14. Technology and Marketing
    14
    A social platform charges a CPM of $6. How much will it cost to buy 300,000 impressions?
    $
  15. Technology and Marketing
    15
    What is the term for showing ads to people who visited your website but left without buying?
  16. Technology and Marketing
    16
    A fitness app wants to personalize offers. Which practice best balances personalization and privacy?
  17. International Marketing
    17
    A Canadian hoodie sells for $54 CAD. If 1 US dollar costs $1.35 CAD, what is the price in US dollars?
    USD
  18. International Marketing
    18
    A shipment of imported goods is valued at $12,000 and faces a 10% tariff. What is the total cost of the shipment including the tariff?
    $
  19. International Marketing
    19
    Order these market-entry methods from lowest to highest investment and risk.
    1. 1Direct exporting
    2. 2Wholly owned subsidiary
    3. 3Joint venture
    4. 4Indirect exporting
  20. International Marketing
    20
    A hypothetical Canadian snack company launches in a new country using its Canadian slogan translated word for word. Sales are poor because the slogan sounds awkward and the mascot's hand gesture is considered rude there. What should the company have done?
  21. Careers in Marketing
    21
    A sales representative earns a base salary of $2,000 per month plus 5% commission on sales. She sells $48,000 this month. What is her total pay?
    $
  22. Careers in Marketing
    22
    Which career focuses on designing surveys and analyzing data about customers?
  23. Careers in Marketing
    23
    Put these steps of a typical college pathway into marketing in order.
    1. 1Start an entry-level marketing coordinator job
    2. 2Complete a marketing diploma, including a field placement
    3. 3Apply to college programs through ontariocolleges.ca
    4. 4Complete Grade 11 marketing
    5. 5Take Grade 12 college preparation courses that meet program requirements
  24. Careers in Marketing
    24
    Which work setting would give a marketer the greatest variety of clients?

Endless drill

Fresh numbers every time, for the calculation questions in this unit.

Endless drillnew numbers every time

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