Marketing Definitions, nature and scope of marketing.

Introduction
In today's world of marketing, everywhere you go you are being marketed to in one form or
another. Marketing is with you each second of your walking life. From morning to night you are
exposed to thousands of marketing messages everyday. Marketing is something that affects
you even though you may not necessarily be conscious of it.

After reading this you'll understand - what exactly the marketing is, to whom it is beneficial, and
what are the nature and scope of marketing.

Definition of Marketing
According to American Marketing Association (2004) - "Marketing is an organisational function
and set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for
managing relationships in a way that benefits both the organisation and the stakeholder."
AMA (1960) - "Marketing is the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods
and services from producer to consumer or user."
According to Eldridge (1970) - "Marketing is the combination of activities designed to produce
profit through ascertaining, creating, stimulating, and satisfying the needs and/or wants of a
selected segment of the market."

According to Kotler (2000) - "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."

Nature of Marketing
1. Marketing is an Economic Function
Marketing embraces all the business activities involved in getting goods and services , from the
hands of producers into the hands of final consumers. The business steps through which goods
progress on their way to final consumers is the concern of marketing.

2. Marketing is a Legal Process by which Ownership Transfers

In the process of marketing the ownership of goods transfers from seller to the purchaser or
from producer to the end user.
3. Marketing is a System of Interacting Business Activities
Marketing is that process through which a business enterprise, institution, or organisation
interacts with the customers and stakeholders with the objective to earn profit, satisfy
customers, and manage relationship. It is the performance of business activities that direct the
flow of goods and services from producer to consumer or user.

4. Marketing is a Managerial function

According to managerial or systems approach - "Marketing is the combination of activities
designed to produce profit through ascertaining, creating, stimulating, and satisfying the needs
and/or wants of a selected segment of the market."

According to this approach the emphasis is on how the individual organisation processes
marketing and develops the strategic dimensions of marketing activities.

5. Marketing is a social process

Marketing is the delivery of a standard of living to society. According to Cunningham and
Cunningham (1981) societal marketing performs three essential functions:-
1. Knowing and understanding the consumer's changing needs and wants;
2. Efficiently and effectively managing the supply and demand of products and services; and
3. Efficient provision of distribution and payment processing systems.
6. Marketing is a philosophy based on consumer orientation and satisfaction
7. Marketing had dual objectives - profit making and consumer satisfaction

Scope of Marketing
1. Study of Consumer Wants and Needs
Goods are produced to satisfy consumer wants. Therefore study is done to identify consumer
needs and wants. These needs and wants motivates consumer to purchase.

2. Study of Consumer behaviour

Marketers performs study of consumer behaviour. Analysis of buyer behaviour helps marketer
in market segmentation and targeting.

3. Production planning and development

Product planning and development starts with the generation of product idea and ends with
the product development and commercialisation. Product planning includes everything from
branding and packaging to product line expansion and contraction.

4. Pricing Policies
Marketer has to determine pricing policies for their products. Pricing policies differs form
product to product. It depends on the level of competition, product life cycle, marketing goals
and objectives, etc.

5. Distribution
Study of distribution channel is important in marketing. For maximum sales and profit goods
are required to be distributed to the maximum consumers at minimum cost.

6. Promotion
Promotion includes personal selling, sales promotion, and advertising. Right promotion mix is
crucial in accomplishment of marketing goals.

7. Consumer Satisfaction
The product or service offered must satisfy consumer. Consumer satisfaction is the major
objective of marketing.

8. Marketing Control
Marketing audit is done to control the marketing activities.

Importance of Marketing for the Economic Development of a Country

Importance of Marketing for the Economic Development of a Country!

Marketing has acquired an important place for the economic development of the whole

country. It has also become a necessity for attaining the object of social welfare.

As a result of it, marketing is considered to be the most important activity in a business

enterprise while at the early stage of development it was considered to be the last activity. For

convenience, the importance of marketing may be explained as under:

i) Delivery of standard of living to the society:

A society is a mixture of diverse people with diverse tastes and preferences. Modern marketing

always aims for customer satisfaction. So, main liability of marketing is to produce goods and

services for the society according to their needs and tastes at reasonable price.

Marketing discovers needs and wants of society, produces the goods and services according to

these needs creates demand for these goods and services. They go ahead and promote the
goods making people aware about them and creating a demand for the goods, encouraging

customers to use them. Thus, it improves the standard of living of the society.

ii) Decrease in distribution cost:

Second important liability of marketing is control the cost of distribution. Through effective

marketing the companies can reduce their distribution costs to a great extent. Decrease in cost

of distribution directly affects the prices of products because the cost of distribution is an

important part of the total price of the product.

iii) Increasing employment opportunities:

Marketing comprises of advertising, sales, distribution, branding and many more activities. So

the development of marketing automatically gives rise to a need for people to work in several

areas of marketing. Thus the employment opportunities are born. Also successful operation

marketing activities requires the services of different enterprises and organisation such as

wholesalers, retailers, transportation, storage, finance, insurance and advertising. These

services provide employment to a number of people.

iv) Protection against business slump:

Business slump cause unemployment, slackness in the success of business and great loss to

economy. Marketing helps in protecting society against all these problems.

v) Increase in national income:

Successful operation of marketing activities creates, maintains and increases the demand for

goods and services in society. To meet this increased demand the companies need to increase

the level of production in turn raising their income. This increase, in turn, increases the national

income. Further effective marketing leads to exports adding to the national income. This is

beneficial to the whole society.

Marketing mix , structure of marketing mix and its elements

The Marketing Mix

Summary (Click to go directly)

 Introduction to Marketing Mix

 Definition of Marketing Mix
 Meaning of Marketing Mix
 4P's - Producer-oriented Model
 4C's - Consumer-oriented Model

Introduction to Marketing Mix

Marketing is the process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customers' requirements
with the purpose to make profits. In this process marketing managers and marketing
representatives have to take various marketing decisions to make the operations profitable.
They have to decide what combination of marketing policies and procedures be adopted to
bring about desired behaviour of trade and consumers at minimum cost. They have to decide
how can advertising, personal selling, pricing, packaging, channels, warehousing, and the other
elements of marketing be manipulated and mixed to make marketing operations profitable.
More specifically, they have to decide a marketing mix - a decision making method in relation
with the product, price, promotion, and distribution.

The term Marketing Mix was introduced by Neil H. Borden in his article - "The Concept of
Marketing Mix". He learned about it in a research bulletin on the management of marketing
costs, written by his associate, Prof. James Culliton. in 1948. In this study of manufacturers'
marketing costs he described the business executive as a "decider," an "artist" - a "mixer of
ingredients," who sometimes follows a recipe prepared by others, sometimes prepares his own
recipe as he goes along, sometimes adapts a recipe to the ingredients immediately available,
and sometimes experiments with or invents ingredients no one else has tried.

Definition of Marketing Mix

According to Philip Kotler - "Marketing Mix is the combination of four elements, called the 4P's
(product, Price, Promotion, and Place), that every company has the option of adding,
subtracting, or modifying in order to create a desired marketing strategy"
According to Principles of Marketing, 14e, Kotler and Armstrong, 2012 - "The Marketing
Mix is the set of tactical marketing tools - Product, Price, Promotion, and Place - that the firm
blends to produce the response it wants in the target market."

Meaning of Marketing Mix

The Marketing Mix is a marketing tool used by marketing professionals. It is often crucial when
determining product or brand's offering, and it is also called as 4P's (Product, Price, Promotion,
and Place) of marketing. However, in case of services of different nature the 4 P's have been
expanded to 7P's or 8P's.

In recent times, giving more importance to customer a new concept have been introduced,
i.e.Concept of 4C's. The Concept of 4C's is more customer-driven replacement of 4P's.
According to Lauterborn's the 4C's are - Consumer, Cost, Communication, and Convenience.
According to Shimizu's the 4C's are -Commodity, Cost, Communication, and Channel.

4P's - Producer-oriented Model of Marketing Mix

 Product - Products are offerings that a marketer offers to the target audience to satisfy
their needs and wants. Product can be tangible good or intangible service. Tangible
products are goods like - cellphone, television, or motor car, whereas intangible products
are services like -financial service in a bank, health treatment by a doctor, legal advice of a
lawyer.
 Price - Price is the amount that is charged by marketer of his offerings or the amount that is
paid by consumer for the use or consumption of the product. Price is crucial in determining
the organisation's profit and survival. Adjustments in price affects the demand and sales of
the aproduct. Marketers are required to be aware of the customer perceived value of the
product to set the right price.
 Promotion - Promotion represents the different methods of communication that are used
by marketer to inform target audience about the product. promotion includes - advertising,
personal selling, public relation, and sales promotion.
 Place - Place or distribution refers to making the product available for customers
at convenient and accessible places.
In case of services, the producer-oriented model of marketing mix is consists of 7P's. Including
the above 4P's there are additional 3P's - Physical Evidence, People, and Process. Physical
evidence refers to elements like uniform of employees, signboards, and etc. People refers to
the employees of the organisation comes in contact with the customers in the process of
marketing. Process refers to the systems and processes followed within organisation.

4C's - Consumer-oriented model of marketing Mix

 Consumer - In this model the Product is replaced by Consumer. Marketers focuses more on
consumer satisfaction. The product is designed and produced keeping in consideration the
requirements of consumer.
 Cost - Price is replaced by Cost. Here the cost refers to the total cost of owning a product. It
includes cost to use the product, cost to change the product, and cost of not choosing the
competitor's product.
 Communication - Promotion is replaced by Communication. Communication includes
advertising, public relation, personal selling, and any method that can be used for
proper,timely, and accurate communication between marketer and consumer.
 Convenience - Place is replaced by Convenience. it focuses on ease of buying, convenience
in reaching to the store/product, and convenience in getting product information.

What do you mean by marketing and marketing environment?

Answer
Introduction
In today's world of marketing, everywhere you go you are being marketed to in one form or
another. Marketing is with you each second of your walking life. From morning to night you are
exposed to thousands of marketing messages everyday. Marketing is something that affects
you even though you may not necessarily be conscious of it.

Definition of Marketing
According to American Marketing Association (2004) - "Marketing is an organisational function
and set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for
managing relationships in a way that benefits both the organisation and the stakeholder."

According to Kotler (2000) - "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."

Marketing Environment
The term Marketing Environment refers to the forces and factors that affects the organisation
ability to built and maintain good relationship with its customers. Marketing environment
surrounds the organisation and it impacts upon the organisation. Marketers have to interact
with internal and external people at micro and macro level and builds internal and external
relationships. The key elements of marketing environment are as follows :-
1. Internal Environment,
2. Micro Environment, and
3. Macro Environment.
Internal Environment
Internal factors like men, machine, money, material, etc., on which marketing decision depends
consists internal marketing environment. The internal environment refers to the forces that are
within the organisation and affects its ability to serve its customers. It includes
marketingmanagers, sales representatives, marketing budget, marketing plans, procedures,
inventory, logistics, and anything within organisation which affects marketing decisions, and its
relationship with its customers.

Micro Environment
Individuals and organisations that are close to the marketing organisation and directly impacts
its ability to serve its customers, makes Marketing Micro Environment. The micro environment
refers to the forces that are close to the marketing organisation and directly impact the
customer experience. It includes the organisation itself, its suppliers, marketing intermediaries,
customers, markets or segments, competitors, and publics. Happenings in micro environment is
relatively controllable for the marketing organisation.

Macro Environment
Macro environment refers to all forces that are part of the larger society and affects the micro
environment. It includes demography, economy, politics, culture, technology, and natural
forces. Macro environment is less controllable.

What do you mean by consumer behavior? What are the different factors that influences

consumer behavior?

Introduction to Consumer Behavior

We all are consumers, daily we use many products that we buy from the market according to
our needs, wants, preferences, and purchasing power. What we buy, how we buy, when we
buy, from where we buy, in what quantity we buy depends on various factors like our needs,
preferences, beliefs, values, motivation, perception, attitude, personality, age, sex, family,
social and cultural background, and many other factors. These factors determines our
consumer behaviour.

Consumer behaviour is a complex and dynamic decision process; and physical activity of
evaluating, acquiring, using, or disposing of products and services. Developing an
effectivemarketing strategy requires in-dept knowledge of target consumers and how they
behave and make their buying decision. Proper study of consumer behaviour is important as all
marketing decisions are based on assumptions about consumer behaviour.

Definition of Consumer Behaviour

According to American Marketing Association, consumer behaviour can be defined as "the
dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour, and environmental events by which
human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives."

According to Hawkins, Best, and Coney, 2001, p7, Consumer behaviour can be defined as "the
study of individuals, groups or organisations and the processes they use to select, secure, use
and dispose of products, services, experiences or ideas to satisfy needs and the impacts that
these processes have on the consumer and society."

According to Satish K. Batra and S. H. H. Kazmi, 2004, Consumer behaviour is "the mental and
emotional processes and the observable behaviour of consumers during searching purchasing
and post consumption of a product and service."

Meaning of Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is the complex and dynamic processes of deciding what product to buy,
when to buy, how to buy, from where to buy, how to secure, how to use, or how to dispose to
satisfy individuals, groups, or organisations' needs. Consumer behaviour is a decision process
andphysical activity individuals, groups, or organisations engage in when evaluating, acquiring,
using, or disposing of goods and services.

Consumer behaviour has two aspects - final purchase behaviour and decision making process.
Purchase behaviour is visible to us, but the decision making process involves number of
complex variables which are not visible to us. Purchase behaviour is the end result of long
decision making process. Study of consumer behaviour attempt to understand the decision
making processes of buyers.

Market segmentation depends on two levels − the strategic level and thetactical level. At a
strategic level, it has a direct link with the decisions on positioning. At a tactical level, it relates
with the decision of which consumer groups are to be targeted. We will discuss here the
parameters based on which a market can be segmented.

Geographic Segmentation
Prospective customers are in local, state, regional or national marketplace segment. If a firm is
selling a product such as a farm equipment, the geographic location will remain a major factor
in segmenting the target markets because their customers are located in specific rural areas.

In case of retail stores, geographic location of the store is one of the most important
considerations. Here, urban areas are preferred.

Segmentation of customers based on geographic factors are −

 Region − Segmentation by continent / country / state / district / city.

 Size − Segmentation on the basis of size of an urban area as per the population size.

 Population Density − Segmentation on the basis of population density such as urban / sub-urban /
rural etc.

Demographic Segmentation
Market segmentation can be done based on demographic factors such as Age. For example,
Rico watches have segmented their product portfolio according to different age groups of
people.

Psychographic Segmentation
Psychographic Segmentation focuses on group customers according to their life-style and
purchasing psychology. Many businesses offer products based on the attitudes, beliefs and
emotions, ideas, and perceptions of the target market. Psychographic segmentation includes
variables such as Activities, Interests, Opinions, Attitudes, and Values.

Behavioralistic Segmentation
Markets can be segmented on the basis of buyer behavior. It is because the buying behavior of
consumers differ based on the geographic, demographic and psychographic factors. Marketers
often find practical benefits in using buying behavior as a separate segmentation basis in
addition to factors like geographic, demographics, and psychographics.

Market Positioning means selecting a marketing mix that is most suitable for a target market
segment. The following illustration shows a product positioning map.

The position of a product is the sum of those attributes normally recognized by the consumers
− its position, quality, quantity, the type of people, strengths, weaknesses, threats, etc. "A
product's position is how potential consumers see the product", and it is expressed
proportional to the position of the competitors.

Positioning is a podium for the brand. It facilitates the brand to get through the mind of the
target consumer groups. The position of a brand has to be diligently guarded, maintained, and
managed.

Example − Watches like “Guess” are positioned as luxury brands, thus they are quite expensive
and treated as a status symbol. If Guess reduces its prices, it loses its real image and potential
customers.