Marketing

CHAPTER 1

LO1 Define marketing and identify the requirements for marketing to occur.

Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. This definition relates to two primary goals of marketing: (a) assessing the needs of consumers and (b) satisfying them. For marketing to occur, it is necessary to have (a) two or more parties with unmet needs, (b) a desire and ability to satisfy them, (c) communication between the parties, and (d) something to exchange.

LO2 Explain how marketing discovers and satisfies consumer needs.

The first objective in marketing is discovering the needs of prospective consumers. This is not an easy task because consumers may not always know or be able to describe what they need and want. A need occurs when a person feels physiologically deprived of basic necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter. A want is a felt need that is shaped by a person’s knowledge, culture, and personality. Effective marketing can clearly shape a person’s wants and tries to influence what we buy. The second objective in marketing is satisfying the needs of targeted consumers. Because an organization obviously can’t satisfy all consumer needs, it must concentrate its efforts on certain needs of a specific group of potential consumers or target market—one or more specific groups of potential consumers toward which an organization directs its marketing program. Having selected its target market consumers, the organization then takes action to satisfy their needs by developing a unique marketing program to reach them.

LO3 Distinguish between marketing mix elements and environmental forces.

Four elements in a marketing program designed to satisfy customer needs are product, price, promotion, and place. These elements are called the marketing mix, the four Ps, or the controllable...