1. CONCEPTS OF MARKETING?
Meaning: - The concept of marketing has changed over the years, in olden days, marketers adopted the exchange concepts and now a days , professional marketers follow the holistic concept of marketing; the main concepts of marketing are as follows :
1. The exchange concept:
It is the traditional concept of marketing. According to this concept, marketing involves the exchange of a product between the seller and the buyer. This concept assumes;
· Customer will accept products of any design, quality, etc., available in the market.
The main features of marketing concept include;
1. Lack of marketing research to find out customer preferences.
2. No emphasis on research and development
3. Emphasis only on profits
4. No emphasis on after sale service.
It is to be noted that this concept is still practiced by sellers in third world countries and by some small traders. (Both in developed and developing countries), who are merely involved in trading rather than in real marketing.
2. The Production concept:
This concept came into existence after the industrial revolution in England (as a result of large scale production). This concept assumes;
· Customer will prefer those products that are widely available and are of low price.
The main features of production concept include;
1. Firms focus on large scale production to reduce costs
2. Focus on profit objective.
3. Lack of marketing research.
4. Lack of emphasis on research and development to improve quality. Etc.
Under this concept, marketers concentrate on achieving high production efficiency and wide distribution coverage. They treat marketing as an extension of production function, i.e., marketing performs the role of physical distribution of mass production. This concept makes sense in less developed countries, where consumers are more interested in purchasing the product rather than its features.
3. The Societal concept:
The 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of societal concept of marketing. This concept assumes that a company can prosper, if it strikes a balance between;
· Society’s welfare + Customer Satisfaction + Company’s Profits.
The main features of societal concept include;
1. Emphasis on preservation of environment
2. Focus on research and development to produce ‘green goods’.
3. Emphasis on profits as well as customer satisfaction.
4. Focus on marketing research.
The societal marketing concept calls upon marketers to build social and ethical values into their marketing practices. It stresses the need for a firm to balance three factor while taking decisions; society’s well being + Consumer Satisfaction + Company’s Profits., firms should not just make consumer-satisfying goods but also ‘environmental friendly’ (green goods).