Common Criticism of Marketing

List and discuss three common criticisms of marketing. For each criticism, state how you, as a marketer, might respond to the criticism.

High prices

Deceptive practices

High pressure selling

High prices: Many critics charge that the marketing system causes prices to be higher than they would be under more sensible systems. Such high prices are hard to swallow, especially when the economy takes a downturn. Critics point to three factors:

High costs of distribution

High advertising and promotion costs

Excessive markups

High cost of distribution: A longstanding charge is that greedy marketing channel intermediary’s mark up prices beyond the value of their services. Critics charge that there are too many intermediaries, that intermediaries are inefficient, or that they provide unnecessary or duplicate services. As a result, distribution costs too much, and consumers pay for these excessive costs in the form of higher prices.

How do resellers answer these charges? They argue that intermediaries do work that would otherwise have to be done by manufacturers or consumers. Markups reflect services that consumers themselves want – more convenience, large stores and assortments, more service, longer store hours, return privileges, and others. In fact, they argue, retail competition is so intense that margins are actually quite low. For example, after taxes, supermarket chains are typically left with barely 1 per cent profit on their sales. If some resellers try to charge too much relative to the value they add, other resellers will step in with lower prices. Low-price stores such as ALDI, Costco and other discounters pressure their competitors to operate efficiently and keep their prices down. In fact, in the wake of the recent recession, only the most efficient retailers have survived profitably.

High advertising and promotion costs: Modern marketing is also accused of pushing up prices to finance heavy advertising and sales promotion. For example, a few...