IGNOU : M.COM : IBO 2 : UNIT 1 : Q - 2. What are the marketing concepts? Explain the process of evolution of these concepts.

Ans. Marketing Philosophies

There are five different marketing philosophies under which business enterprises conduct their marketing activity:

1) Production concept

2) Product concept

3) Selling concept

4) Marketing concept

5) Societal concept

Production Concept

This is probably the oldest concept. Some businessmen believe that the consumers are interested only in low priced, easily and extensively available goods, and finer points of the product are not very important to them. So the producers believe they must concentrate only on efficient (economical) and extensive (large scale) production, A company which believes in this approach concentrates on achieving high production efficiency and wide distribution coverage. Organizations may adopt this concept in two type of situations.

Product Concept

As against the production concept, some organizations believe in product concept. The product concept implies that consumers favour those products that offer the most quality, performance and features. They also believe that consumers appreciate quality features and will be willing to pay 'higher' price for the 'extra' quality in the product or service made available. Hence, those companies which believe in this concept concentrate on product and its improvement. But, while improving the product they rarely take into consideration the consumers' satisfaction and their multifarious needs. Even when new products are planned, the producer is concerned more with the product and less with its uses or the consumer needs. For example, a biscuit manufacturer produced a new brand of biscuits with good ingredients, color, packaging, etc,, without taking into account consumer tastes and preferences. This may fail in the market if the biscuit does not taste good to the ultimate consumer.

Selling Concept

Sometimes the man problem of the enterprise is not more production, but to sell the output. Similarly, a better product may not assure success in the market. Hence selling assumes greater importance. So some producers believe that aggressive persuasion and selling is the crux of their business success, and without such aggressive methods they cannot sell and survive. Therefore, attention is paid to find ways and means to sell. They also believe that consumers left to themselves, will not buy enough of organization's products and services, and hence considerable promotional effort is justified. Thus, the selling concept assumes that consumers on their own will not buy enough of organization's products, unless the organization undertakes aggressive sales and promotional efforts. Many insurance agents, sales persons of certain electrical gadgets, health drinks, soft drinks, and fund raisers for social or religious causes come under this category.

Marketing Concept

In an evolutionary process, many organizations have come to change their focus and to see their marketing tasks in a broader perspective. Marketing concept is considered a business philosophy wider in its implications. Under the marketing concept, the organization considers the needs and wants of consumers as the guiding spirit and the delivery of such goods and services which can satisfy the consumer needs more efficiently and effectively than the competitors. It is also said that the marketing concept is consumer orientation with the objective of achieving long run profits. It is a modern marketing philosophy for dynamic business growth, In other words, under this concept the task of marketing begins with finding what the consumer wants, and produce a product which will meet that want and provide maximum satisfaction. Implicitly, the consumer is the boss or king who dictates. The focus which moved from the product to selling , now rests with the consumer.

Societal Concept

With the growing awareness of the social relevance of business, there is an attempt to make marketing also relevant to the society. In a sense, marketing is not a business activity alone but must take into account the social needs. Excessive exploitation of resources, environmental deterioration and the customer movements in particular have necessitated the recognition of the relevance of marketing to the society. Marketing then must be a socially responsible or accountable activity. The societal concept holds that the business organization must take into account he needs and wants of the consumers and deliver the goods and services efficiently so as to enhance consumer's satisfaction as well as the society's well being. The societal concept is an extension of the marketing concept to cover the society in addition to the consumers.