With the high regulation of the U.S. government before the 1980s, carriers of products did not compete in which of these areas, as they do now?
A. Promotion
B. Price
C. Place
D. Product
E. Service
Answer: (B) Before the 1980s, regulation of the country's transportation systems was intense. The federal government set the rates that could be charged by the carriers. Therefore, carriers could not compete on price as they do now. The carriers had to compete with the other variables of the marketing mix, and often had increases in promotion (A). The government did not tell the carriers where to ship (C), so that is incorrect. Product offerings (D) and service offerings (E) are also incorrect because the carriers were competing in these areas to make up for the lack of differences in cost.