Concept of Modern Marketing
1
The Concept of Modern Marketing
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
focus
• Define marketing.
• Specify the three basic propositions of the marketing concept.
• Name and describe the four components of the marketing mix.
• List the five major environmental forces that affect marketing.
An exciting, dynamic discipline, marketing affects our daily lives in many ways. We are all consumers, and many people are part of the marketing process—as salespeople, advertising executives, retailers, product managers, and so forth. This course introduces you to the study of marketing, beginning in this chapter with a description of marketing, an overview of marketing management, and an explanation of the environmental factors that affect modern marketing. The chapter also presents a preview of the topics covered in the remaining chapters.
WHAT IS MARKETING?
Marketing has been viewed traditionally as a business activity. Business organizations exist to satisfy human needs, especially material needs. Consequently, one way to define marketing is from the business perspective. For instance, marketing has been defined as the “delivery of a higher standard of living.”
Other definitions refer to marketing as an exchange process. This process involves at least two parties: buyer and seller. Each party gives up something
© American Management Association. All rights reserved.
1
2
FUNDAMENTALS
OF
MARKETING
of value and receives something of value. Noted marketing scholar Philip
Kotler defines marketing as “a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others.”
Because marketing activities bring about exchanges, marketing is an essential function in an economic system. In a free-enterprise economy, resources are allocated by the interaction of supply and demand in the marketplace. Marketing activities and institutions
The Concept of Modern Marketing
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
focus
• Define marketing.
• Specify the three basic propositions of the marketing concept.
• Name and describe the four components of the marketing mix.
• List the five major environmental forces that affect marketing.
An exciting, dynamic discipline, marketing affects our daily lives in many ways. We are all consumers, and many people are part of the marketing process—as salespeople, advertising executives, retailers, product managers, and so forth. This course introduces you to the study of marketing, beginning in this chapter with a description of marketing, an overview of marketing management, and an explanation of the environmental factors that affect modern marketing. The chapter also presents a preview of the topics covered in the remaining chapters.
WHAT IS MARKETING?
Marketing has been viewed traditionally as a business activity. Business organizations exist to satisfy human needs, especially material needs. Consequently, one way to define marketing is from the business perspective. For instance, marketing has been defined as the “delivery of a higher standard of living.”
Other definitions refer to marketing as an exchange process. This process involves at least two parties: buyer and seller. Each party gives up something
© American Management Association. All rights reserved.
1
2
FUNDAMENTALS
OF
MARKETING
of value and receives something of value. Noted marketing scholar Philip
Kotler defines marketing as “a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering, and freely exchanging products and services of value with others.”
Because marketing activities bring about exchanges, marketing is an essential function in an economic system. In a free-enterprise economy, resources are allocated by the interaction of supply and demand in the marketplace. Marketing activities and institutions