Pest Analysis - Restaurant

The five Vs – a buyer’s perspective of the marketing

mix

Anthony R. Bennett

Anglia Business School, Anglia Polytechnic University, Danbury, UK

Advances the case for a new

marketing paradigm: a paradigm that is driven by the

needs of the market, rather

than the organization. Examines the notion of targeting,

from the perspective of the

buyer, a concept labelled by

the author as “buyer disposition” – the process undertaken by buyers when sourcing a product or service.

Argues that the disposition of

the buyer towards a product

or service, or supplier, during

the sourcing process can be

represented by five criteria,

termed the “five Vs”: value,

viability, volume, variety and

virtue. Proposes that the five

Vs can be used in conjunction

with the marketing mix to

enable a supplier or provider

to achieve a more detailed

understanding of the buying

process, and ultimately of

product/service adoption.

Argues that a fundamental

understanding of buyers’

needs and wants, through the

eyes of the buyer, will help to

generate a stronger and more

strategic focus on the

achievement of marketing

objectives.

The author would like to

acknowledge the help,

support and guidance of

Professor Ian McNay, Anglia

Polytechnic University, in

the preparation of this

paper.

Marketing Intelligence &

Planning

15/3 [1997] 151–156

© MCB University Press

[ISSN 0263-4503]

Introduction

It is now just over 30 years since McCarthy

(1964) offered the “marketing mix”, often

referred to as the “four Ps”, as a means of

translating marketing planning into practice.

The product, (which we will understand to

relate in a general sense to both products

and/or services throughout this paper), tailored for maximum customer benefit, priced

according to the buyer’s ability to afford the

product, made available for the customer to

buy (place), and promoted in order that potential buyers knew as much as required about

the product on offer. In effect, the...