marketing

WHAT IS MARKETING ?
We have deliberately avoiding defining “marketing” until now, to allow you to develop some tentative definitions of your own.
From the historical discussion, for example, you may have based your definition upon the exchange of surplus commodities. This certainly would have been appropriate for past times.
Or your tentative definition may have stressed the exchange of goods by a family or a business, and the exchange of those goods for other goods they were less able to produce for themselves.
A more modern definition, in tune with greatly expanded productive capacity, might emphasize the adaption of production facilities to the market. Specifically, marketing might be defined as the response of businessmen to consumer demands through adjustments in production capabilities. Adjusting production capabilities would refer to the coordination of production, accounting, finance, and marketing in the light of changing needs of consumers whoare affluent enough to have varied buying choices.
Or, recognizing the growing interest in consumerism and the performance of our marketing system, you might have developed a definition which emphasized macro marketing concern, such as: Marketing is concerned with designing an efficient (in terms of use of resources) and fair (in terms of distribution of output to all parties involved) systems which will direct an economy’s flow of goods and services from producers to consumer and accomplish the objectives of the society.
Marketing begins with the customers … determines … what product … what prices … where and how sold. That satisfies some customers in order to earn the right to operate in our markeing system.

WHY STUDY MARKETING ?
• In our economy of abudance, businessmen must cater to their customers. They cannot smply wait until customers “beat a path” to their doors, because most of us can get along quite well without the product offered by any particular manufacturer, wholesaler, or retailer. We need clothing manufacturer’s product. The same is true of food, house furnishings, automobiles sports equipment, and most other consumer goods. Likewise, manufacturers usually have several sources of supply for the components incorporated into their product.

• An equally important reason for a college student to study marketing is the availability of many interesting and rewarding jobs in this area. Even more important, marketing offers opportunities for rapid growth and advancement. A careful study of marketing will give the student a better idea about business and where the best opprtinities lie for a career.