Oxford Business English Dictionary for Learners of English

a feature of a product that a customer thinks is important when deciding whether or not to buy it: Consumers often consider quality to be the most important attribute when choosing a product, о Price is only one of many product attributes that affect sales.

verb /a'tribju:t/ [+ obj] (often be attributed)

to say or believe that sth is the result of a particular thing: The sales boom is attributed to low unemployment.

attrition /a'trijn/ noun [u]

(HR) the process of reducing the number of people who are employed by an organization by not replacing people who leave their jobs: We will lose 150 jobs through attrition and retirement over the next six months. IsynI natural wastage layoff

(Marketing) the loss of customers, especially when they start buying another company's products: The health club is trying to lower the rate of customer attrition.

at' wa re h О U se adjective, adverb (Trade) used to describe goods that can be delivered immediately, with the buyer paying a price for delivery that includes loading the goods onto road or rail transport: All prices given are at warehouse, о an at-warehouse price -> ex warehouse

auction /'o:kJn; 'Dk-; AmE'э:к-/ noun, verb (Commerce)

noun [C,U]

attraction /a'traekjn/ гюип [С]

see also: absolute auction, Dutch reverse uniform price ~audience /'o:dians/ noun [C]

see also: cumulative audience, secondary target ~

a number of people or a particular group of people who watch, read or listen to the same thing: Many regard TV advertising as the best way of reaching mass audiences, о The magazine will target a core audience of 14-year-old girb. о The drama had a 29% audience share between 9 and 10.30p.m.

a dedining/large/mass/small/wide audience ♦ a female/male/young audience ♦ sth has/is aimed at/ reaches/targets an audience

.audience 'flow noun [c, usually sing., u] (Marketing)

the change in the number of people watching a television station before, during and after a particular programme: Audience flow diagrams show where an audience went after watching a programme.

the number of people who continue to watch the same television station after a particular programme has finished: If a new show follows a very popular show, the new one will benefit from audience flow.

.audience re'search noun [u] (Marketing) research that is carried out on people who watch television or listen.to the radio, in order to find out how popular particular shows, advertisements, etc. are and the kind of people who watch or listen to them: Audience research showed the programme was very popular with children.

audio- /'o:diau; AmE "o:diou/ combiningform (in nouns, adjectives and adverbs) connected with hearing or sound: audio-visual aids for the classroom

.audio 'conferencing noun [u] a system that allows people in different places to discuss something at the same time by telephone; the activity of doing this: Benefits can be gained from audio conferencing, о an audio conferencing facility ►.audio 'conference noun [C] -» teleconferencing, videoconferencing

.audio-'visual (AmEspelling audiovisual)

adjective (abbr AV)

using both sound and pictures: audio-visual technology

audit /'o:dit/ noun, verb

noun [c,u]

see also: continuous audit, green internal management non-~, position retail etc.

(Accounting) an official examination of business and financial records to see that they are true and correct: The company was in the middle of an annual audit, о a tax audit о fees paid to audit firms

an annual/a year-end audit ♦ an external/ independent audit ♦ to carry out/complete/ conduct an audit ♦ an audit committee/firm/group/ team

an official examination of the quality or standard of sth: The company paid a consultant to carry out an audit of its software.

verb [+ obj]

(Accounting) to officially examine the financial accounts of a company: We have just had our accounts audited, о audited accounts/financial statements -» unaudited