Meaning, Definition, Scope, Nature of Marketing

Table of content:-

Marketing Meaning

Generally, marketing is understood as a means to sell and purchase goods and services but it is too narrow a view to understand it so. The term ‘marketing’ is much broader in nature and scope. It is not limited only to the needs, sale or purchase of goods and services. It means the whole process of satisfying the needs of consumers. It starts with the discovery of the needs and wants of the consumers, and it continues till the wants are satisfied and the customers are delighted.

Marketing is not only about providing services or products but also about providing benefits to the changing needs and demands of the customers. Marketing is thus the total of all the activities and processes including creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.  Marketing, through its studies and research, will determine for the engineer, designer and manufacturing man, what the customer wants in a given product, what price he is willing to pay, and where and when it will be wanted.

Marketing Definition

According to William J. Stanton, “Marketing is a total system of interacting business activities designed to plan, price, promote and distribute want-satisfying products and services to the present and potential customers”

According to Prof. Malcolm McNair, “Marketing is the creation and delivery of standard of living to the society”.

According to Cundiff and Still, “Marketing is the business process by which products are matched with the market and through which the transfers of ownership are affected”.

According to American Marketing Association (new definition), “Marketing is an organisational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organisation and its stakeholders.”

The Nature and Scope of Marketing are given below:

Nature of Marketing

The nature of marketing is as follows:

1) Marketing is an Integrated Process: Marketing is not a single activity. It is a coordination of many interrelated activities. The interaction between various marketing activities gives a unique character to it. Marketing is a managerial process in so far as it involves planning and control functions. Marketing is a multidimensional and social process as it is concerned with the satisfaction of human needs.

2) Marketing is Customer Oriented: The basic objective of a business is to satisfy human needs. Therefore, businesses must first find out what the consumers want and then produce goods according to the needs of the consumers. Only such products should be produced that best satisfy consumer needs and at a profit to the maker. Products that are offered for sale should be determined by the buyer rather than by the seller. In the words of Levitt. “Instead of trying to market what is easiest for us to make, we must find out much more about what the consumer is willing to buy. In other words, we must apply our creativity more intelligently to people, and their wants and needs. rather than to products.” Marketing exists to identify and satisfy the wants and needs of present and potential consumers. The main focus of all marketing activities is the customer.

3) Marketing Starts and Ends with the Consumer. Many times it is thought that marketing is concerned only with the flow of products and services from the manufacturer to the end user. Under consumer-oriented marketing, it is highly essential to know what the customers really want. This is possible only when information is collected from the consumers. In the older days, the producer was in direct contact with the consumers. But after the mass production system, this limit was broken. Therefore, a formal mechanism is required to keep in touch with consumers. Marketing research and marketing information systems have, therefore, emerged as a full-fledged function of marketing. Marketing involves the satisfaction of customer needs and wants.

4) Marketing is a System: Another important feature of marketing is its function as a system. Marketing is a system comprising several sub-systems. Under marketing, inputs are drawn from society and transformed into outputs that are supplied to society. Marketing is a system consisting of several interdependent and interacting sub-systems. It obtains the inputs from the environment (Supra System), transforms these inputs and supplies the output (customer satisfaction. profits, etc.). Marketing is an approach to business problems and philosophy.

5) Marketing is Creative: Marketing creates possession, time, and place utilities. Time utility is created by keeping goods for use in future. Place utility is created by carrying goods to places where they are needed the most by consumers. Marketing creates possession utility by transferring services and products from producer to customer. The exchange process between buyer and seller is an important element of marketing.

6) Marketing Precedes and Succeeds Production. Today, all organisations accept that marketing activities must start far ahead of production. It is not enough if the activities are begun after the product is ready. In companies operating under the marketing concept, entire marketing is designed to serve consumer needs. This is evident from the speech of the Chairman, General Electric Company, in the Company’s Annual Meeting of 1952: “We, over the last ten years. attempt to build customer and market appeal into the product from the design stage on. We consider the actual act of selling only as the last step in the sales effort. The effort begins before the engineer puts a pencil on drawing paper. We introduce the marketing man at the beginning rather than at the end of the production cycle and would integrate marketing into each phase of the business.”

7)  Marketing is the Guiding Element of Business: Marketing has become a pervasive force that guides a business today. It involves the integration of a number of activities from the conception of a product idea to its profitable selling and ultimate consumption. In recent years marketing has assumed greater importance due to the rapidly increasing tempo of the production of a wide range of goods and services. Sustained economic growth depends, to a large extent on the performance of marketing activities, because it is only through marketing that the demand for goods and services is stimulated. This stimulation leads to the multiplication of products and ultimately leads to higher production. Marketing, therefore, is at the heart of all industrial activity.

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8) Marketing is Goal Oriented: Of the many vital characteristics of marketing, one essential aspect is it is goal-oriented. Marketing seeks to achieve benefits, for buyers and sellers. It results in a mutually beneficial relationship by fulfilling the wants of customers and by generating revenues for customers. The ultimate aim of marketing is to earn profits through the satisfaction of human wants.

9) Marketing is Pervasive: Marketing is needed in business as well as in social and other organisations. In other organisations, marketing is necessary for spreading socially useful ideas and programmes, adult education, family planning,  communal harmony, environmental protection, national integration, etc. Such marketing is called social marketing. 

10) Marketing in Science as well as Art: Marketing has evolved from economics but it has a closer relationship with social and behavioural sciences. Marketing is interdisciplinary in nature, orientation and design. It is closely associated with streams of science and humanities and subject lines such as Economics, Law, Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology, Information Technology, etc. It heavily depends upon the demographic features of the target market, philosophy,  political environment, mathematics, statistics, etc.

11) Exchange is the Essence of Marketing: Marketing revolves around commercial exchange. Exchange implies transactions between buyer and seller. This also involves the exchange of technology, exchange of information and exchange of ideas. The seller hands over a product or service to the customer who in turn gives money to the seller. There is also an exchange of information between buyers and sellers.

12) Marketing is a Continuous Process: Marketing is not an isolated, static process but is a complex, continuous and interrelated process. It involves continuous planning, implementation and control. It is a significant functional area of management.

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13) Selection of Target Markets: No marketer can satisfy everyone in the market. A marketer has to select target markets rather than a quixotic attempt to win every market and be all things to all people. Therefore, marketers start with market segmentation, choosing a target group(s), identifying target group needs and requirements and meeting these needs in a better way than the competitors through a suitable marketing mix.

 Scope of Marketing

The primary thrust of marketing is on coordinating activities that satisfy customers’ needs and fulfil the organisational goal. It has a broader scope because the activities are all-pervasive. 

The scope of marketing can be explained with the following points:

1) Study of Consumer Needs and Wants: Goods are produced to satisfy consumer needs. Therefore the study is done to determine consumer needs and wants. These needs and wants to motivate the consumer to purchase.

2) Study of Consumer Behaviour: Marketers perform a study of consumer behaviour. Analysis of buyer behaviour helps marketers in targeting the market and also in market segmentation.

3) Production Planning and Development: It starts with the generation of a product idea and ends with product development and commercialisation. Product planning includes packaging and branding to product line contraction and expansion. 

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

5) Distribution: The study of distribution channels is essential in marketing. For maximum profit and sales, goods are needed to be distributed to the ultimate consumers at minimum cost. 

6) Promotion: It includes sales promotion, personal selling, and advertising. The right promotion mix is important in the accomplishment of marketing goals.

7) Consumer Satisfaction: The product or service offered must satisfy the consumer. Consumer satisfaction is the main purpose of marketing.

8) Company Analysis: In company analysis, the marketers highlight the cost structure and the constrained resources of the company to the competitors. Marketing managers can work with the accounting department to analyse the profit that the firm is generating from various offerings and different groups of customers. A brand audit can also be done to know the strengths of the different brands offered in the market.

9) Competitor Analysis: This is done to build a detailed profile of each player operating in the related field. Marketing managers analyse the competitors’ cost structure, sources of profits and resources, competencies, product positioning and product differentiation to ascertain the relative strengths and weaknesses of the players operating in the market.

Questions:

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