THE MARKETING CONCEPT

 A correct understanding of marketing concept is fundamental the study of modern marketing and marketing management.  In any walk of life, thinking precedes doing; the way of thinking that, determined the very course of action. A 'concept' is a philosophy, an attitude, a course of thinking, and an idea or a notion relating to any aspects of divine and human creations. The philosophy of an organisation in the dynamic realm of marketing is referred to as a 'marketing concept.' A concept is an orientation or a philosophy; Marketing concept is "an integration of marketing activities directed towards customer “satisfaction" as defined by Prof. Robert, F. Hartley. According to Prof. Philip Kotler, Marketing Concept "is a customer orientation backed by integrated marketing aimed at generating customer satisfaction, as the key to satisfying organizational goals". In the words of Mr. Mc Namara, C.P. "Marketing concept is a philosophy of business management, based upon a company wide acceptance of the need for customer orientation, profit orientation, and recognition of the important role of marketing in communicating the needs of the market to all major corporate departments." Mr. King, R.L. defined it as "a managerial philosophy concerned with the mobilization, utilization and control of total corporate effort for the purpose of helping consumers solve selected problems in ways compatible with planned enhancement of the profit position of the firm.

       " Thus, marketing concept is the way of life in which all the resources of an organisation are mobilized to create, stimulate and satisfy the consumer at a profit. It represents a distinct philosophy of business and considers marketing more than a physical process. Wherever this concept prevails, that marketing organisation is future oriented, customer oriented, value oriented, profit oriented and applies modern management practices to all sales, distribution and other marketing functions. It is a managerial philosophy and organizational structure that centers on the desires of the consumers. It calls on the company, in essence, to make only what it can sell. It, therefore, reserves the right of reversing the logic of the past that the task of marketing is to sell what the firm makes. 

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING CONCEPT 

     This marketing philosophy has undergone a thorough and gradual change since the great Industrial Revolution that took place during the latter half of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries. This gradual changes can be traced under four periods 

and captions namely, production orientation period, sales orientation period, customer orientation period and social orientation period. Following is the brief explanation of each philosophy and corresponding period.  

1. Production Orientation Philosophy: Till 1930s, there prevailed a strong feeling that whenever a firm has a good product, it results in automatic consumer response and that needed little or no promotional efforts. This production oriented marketing concept was built on "Good wine needs no bush." That is, if the product is really good and the price is reasonable, there is no need for special marketing efforts. The assumptions of this concept are: (1) Any thing that can be produced can be sold. (2) The most important task of management is to keep the cost of production down. (3) A firm should produce only certain basic products. This concept can be illustrated as under: Under this concept, production is the starting point. The product acceptability occurs after the product is produced. 

2. Sales Orientation Philosophy: The failures of the production orientation philosophy of 1930s paved the way for change in the outlook that was possible during 1940s. This reshaped philosophy was sales orientation that holds good to a certain extent even to day. It states that mere making available the best product is not enough, it is futile unless the firm resorts to aggressive salesmanship. Effective sales promotion, advertising and public relations are of top importance. High pressure salesmanship and heavy doses of advertising are a must to move the products of the firm. The essence of sales orientation philosophy is "Goods are not bought but sold." The maker of product must say that his product is best and he fails if he keeps mum. The assumptions of this philosophy are (1) Producing the best possible product. (2) Finding the buyer for the product. (3) The management's main task is to convince the buyers through high pressure tactics, if necessary.  

The philosophy has been prevailing since 1940. It is more prevalent in selling all kinds of insurance policies, consumer non-durables and consumer durable products, 

particularly the status-symbols. 

3. Customer Orientation Philosophy: This philosophy was brought into play during 1950s and points out that the fundamental task of business undertaking is to study and understand the needs, wants, desires and values of potential consumers and produce the goods in the light of these findings so that consumer specifications' are met totally. Here, the starting point is the customer than the product. The enterprise is to commence with the consumer and end with the requisite product. It emphasizes the role of marketing research well before the product is made available in the market place. The assumptions are: 1. the firm should produce only that product as desired by the consumer. 2. The management is to integrate all its activities in order to develop programmes to satisfy the consumer wants. 3. The management is to be guided by 'long-range profit goals' rather than 'quick sales.'  This means a radical change in the philosophy. It meant two basic changes namely. (1) move from production to market orientation. (ii) Gradual shift from age old "Caveat emptor” to "Caveat vendor". Since 1950, this philosophy is in vogue and will continue so long as consumer is the King of  the market. 

4. Social Orientation Philosophy. There has been a further refinement in the marketing concept particularly during 1970s and 1980s. Accordingly, the new concept goes beyond understanding the consumer needs and matching the products accordingly. This philosophy cares for not only consumer satisfaction but for consumer welfare or social welfare. Such social welfare speaks of pollution-free environment and quality of human life. Thus, a firm manufacturing a pack of cigarettes for consumer must not only produce the best cigarettes but pollution-free cigarettes; an automobile not only fuel efficient but less pollutant one. In other words, the firm is to discharge its social responsibilities. Thus, social welfare becomes the added dimension. The assumptions of social orientation philosophy are : (1) The firm is to produce only those products as are wanted by the consumers. (2) The firm is to be guided by long-term profit goals rather than quick sales. 3. The firm should discharge its social responsibilities 4.The management is to integrate the firm's resources and activities to develop programme to meet these individual consumer and social needs.  

This social oriented philosophy is the latest and is considered as the integrated concept. This philosophy, as it covers earlier long-standing concepts, is bound to rule the marketing world for pretty long time. However, we are to wait and see as to what changes are likely in the coming years and decades that will shape the new marketing concept.  

 WHICH IS THE BEST MARKETING CONCEPT? 

 The question arises as to which of these concepts is the best? The most ideal approach would be an integrated one in which the sequence of events of a firm begins with market research and product research working together on the need for the product and the feasibility and the capacity for producing it. This approach is superior to other approaches and represents directions that many advanced and progressive marketing firms are taking. The production oriented firm suffers from producing the products that are not really needed by the market thereby increasing the cost of promotion and selling. When the technological orientation is carried to extremes, the products can be an engineer's dream and a marketer's night-mare; an over- riding marketing orientation creates problems in opposite direction. This easily results in the proliferation of products none of which is profitable. By contrast, the integrated approach or system is an open approach or system that guarantees two-way communication among all the events on one hand, and the efforts on the other. In a nutshell, modern concept says that marketing is not mere selling; it is something more than that. Prof. Theodore Levitt, in his article, "Marketing Myopia" brings home very succinctly the distinction between 'selling' and 'marketing'. These points of distinction are: 1. Selling focuses its attention on seller's needs while marketing on buyer's needs. 2. Seller is interested in converting a commodity into cash while marketer in 

consumer satisfaction. 3. Selling aims at profits through sales while the marketing through serving the consumer needs. Therefore, the 'total' or 'integrated' marketing concept implies that the fundamental strategies of business and all aspects of both its long-term and short-term management decisions are based on a thorough understanding of the needs and desires of the customers who compose the market. 

FEATURES OF INTEGRATED MARKETING CONCEPT 

In its fullest sense, the marketing concept is a philosophy of business which states that consumers want satisfaction is the economic and social justification of a firm's existence. Resultantly, all the firm's activities in the areas of production, engineering, finance as well as marketing must be devoted primarily to determine what the consumer wants are and then satisfy these wants, of course, making a reasonable profit. In the words of Mr. Fred. J. Poorch "marketing is a fundamental philosophy; fundamental to this philosophy is the recognition and acceptance of a customer oriented way of doing the business; under making, the customer becomes the fulcrum, the first point about which the business moves in operating for the balanced best interests of all concerned." To be very precise, the modern marketing concept is one which starts with an interpretation of consumer needs and desires both qualitative and quantitative follows through all the activities involved in the flow of goods and services from the producers to consumers, and ends with those services essential to assist the consumer in getting the expected utility from the products he has purchased. These expressions bring home the following outstanding features of this integrated marketing concept.  

1. Consumer orientation: New concept is one that replaced 'product' by 'customer' in the center of the whole scheme of marketing. Consumer is the 'King' and the pivot around which all the business philosophy or thinking rotates. This is a revolutionary change in the line of thinking where it is shifted from product to consumer or from factory to market. What is important is that consumer is placed both at the alpha and omega of the chain of business activities. 

2. Consumer satisfaction: Modern marketing concept is also founded on the consumer satisfaction. The success of a firm is not measured by its capacity to pass on the products lucratively or making huge profits and building up additional assets; contrary to this, its success lies in its ability to satisfy the consumer his needs and aspirations. Consumer purchases are made with certain purposes of expectations. These expectations are normally related with say, price, quality, quantity and timely supply. A marketer who fails to identify these consumer preference has failed to satisfy the consumer. The present and the future organizational success is hinged on this consumer satisfaction which an alert marketer cannot afford to forget. 

3. Integrated managerial action: Marketing activities are only a part of total managerial activities. That is marketing management cannot be an independent function; it is a phase of overall management functions. The management functional areas are interdependent and not independent. The marketing function influences production, finance, personnel and in turn is influenced by these functions. Any firm wedded to modern marketing concept cannot think of working in isolation. For instance, the production manager has to think not as per his idea or plans of production maximization, limited varieties and slicing down the cost for he is to produce what is determined by the marketing manager. The finance manager cannot think of fixing product prices as per his calculations but take into account the cost calculation of production and marketing manager. In short, in an integrated marketing setup all the functions of management are aligned and integrated in tune and tone with marketing variables. 

4. Realization of organizational goals: Though consumer satisfaction is the main stay of modern marketing concept, it is not the final aim. On the contrary, it is the means to attain the organizational goals. Among other goals, the basic aims of an organisation may be survival, growth, innovation, productivity, profits, social obligations and so on. These goals can be achieved effectively through consumer orientation. When a firm has succeeded in maximizing consumer satisfaction, it means that it has delivered a quality product, at a reasonable price, at convenient place and in sufficient quantity. The marks of consumer satisfaction are product and hence company image that is being created in the minds of consumers. Among these goals, profit maximization is also important. Marketing concept is for profit and not for profiteering. Reasonable profits are a must for survival and growth and innovation. The modern marketing concept allows earning reasonable profit through enhanced consumer satisfaction. In a nutshell, modern marketing concept or integrated concept underscores the fundamental end of consumer satisfaction; consumer orientation and integrated management action are its means and that organizational goals are achieved through consumer satisfaction including profit maximization. 

FACTORS INFLUENCING MARKETING CONCEPT 

 There are good many factors that influence the marketing concept. Any firm operating under the marketing concept receives signals from the market place. That is, detailed information regarding the consumer need, wants, desires and the desire backing or supporting parameters. These factors are:  

1. Growth of Population: It goes without saying that an increase in population leads to increase in demand for goods and services. Market - we mean people - their diverse needs, desires and wants. 

2. Changing concept of family: Over the years, the concept of joint family has lost its importance though it has many plus points. In place of joint families, we come across the nucleus family, which is divided which is a product of Western World. This is based on astute individual freedom, supported by education, occupational mobility, migration and self- relevance. More families more goods and services needed. 

3. More Disposable Income: The young generation has the advantage increased and new job opportunities caused by changing values of culture, life style and quality of life. That is, their income avenues are increasingly increasing leading to enhanced purchasing power. Increased purchasing power backs up needs and desires and finally 

buying action.  

4. More Discretionary Income: The people are left with more surpluses even after meeting their needs that enables to cross the barrier of hand to mouth fashion of living. This discretionary income now meant for not necessaries but comforts and business. In fact, all are not lucky enough to have such surplus. However it affects the very cycle of thinking and course of action. 

5. Technological Advancement: The process of science and technology is never ending. One invention or discovery leads to another. The technological advancement is so fast that people are great and deeply influenced by the wave of planned obsolescence. They shorten the life of products though they can last longer. Thus, earlier generations, the watch lasted for 20 years, 30 years and even 50 year, People used to take pride of longer life. Now a wrist watch, if it comes to repairs, they exchange or  dispose as a scrap and go for new. 

6. Mass-Communication Media: The people learn about the arrival of new products and services because of the onslaught of mass communication media print audio visuals that fasten the speed of change and exchange. Modern ad world has revolutionized the marketing process. 

7. Credit Facilities: Credit is the greatest weapon that makes the people to go in for those products, which they can not easily afford. Now credit cards, zero percent interest schemes have further made the people to meet their pressing needs. A person speaks of car, which he used to dream. Dreams are a reality caused by modern credit the plastic money. 

BENEFITS OF MARKETING CONCEPT 

The modern marketing concept serves certain purposes and extends benefits to the users and non-users. These benefits can be seen from the angles of individual firms and society. 

 Benefits to the Individual Firms

By business firms, we mean all those organizations engaged in business activities. "The major benefits that accrue to the firms are: 

I. It Makes Firm More Adaptive: The integrated concept of marketing impels the firm to keep abreast of latest changes. It makes the firm to make use of tools and techniques of feeling the pulse of changing markets. These tools are marketing research, consumer testing, marketing audit and evaluation of marketing performance. It means that the firm is sensitive to change and buyer behaviors. It makes up the deficiencies in product or products and service packets. This warrants a scientific planning, creative research and paying innovation. It means that the firm is making sound and timely decisions based on the data collected, analyzed and interpreted. It also means that the firm is diversifying, in its product and service offerings. In short, it is moving along with the current. 

2. It Guarantees Financial success: Studying and identifying the consumer needs in their various dimensions of cost, time, quality, quantity and place, encouraging innovation and accepting and implementing "diversification - all these lead to profit maximization. These purposes are not earned not by exploiting the consumer but by satisfying them or" by toiling hard to satisfy them. These profits are reasonable and consistent and lasting to take care of current operations and future bold programmes of growth and expansion. Profits from operations guarantee the much-warranted financial success. To reiterate this pecuniary victory, it is the direct product of consumer satisfaction. 

Benefits to the Society 

The society, in general, stands to gain the following benefits. The members of society are marketers and non- marketers.  

1. It Delivers the Goods to it Expectations: Society expects from all the business houses to make available the goods and services at reasonable prices, of improved quality, in sufficient quantity and at convenient locations. Not only that, it expects to have choosing and bargaining capacity, credit purchases, rejection or return of product if the consumer is dissatisfied. The modern marketing concept accepts these demands and works hard to mean what it says. 

2. It Uplifts the Living Standards: The standard bf living of the people in a country is deeply influenced by the level of efficiency of marketing organizations working as the sub-systems of the broad economic system. If at all, to-day we classify the nations as 'advanced' and „backward‟. It is based on the marketing efficiency. Today, marketing system is not only a structure of products and people but the agent of change and the catalyst for desired change known for value adding. It is through marketing that new ideas, new services, new products in the form of necessities, comforts and luxuries that are introduced, multiplied and maintained. It is marketing that brings the benefits of productive efficiency to the people in terms of improved standard of living. 

3. It Builds Dynamic Manpower: The opportunities and challenges in this dynamic and pragmatic field make possible development of managerial talents. Constant exposure to these ever changing challenges develops good managers to find satisfactory solutions to these problems. Manpower development takes place in a natural setting rather than in a deliberate atmosphere. The marketing system becomes the crucible to test the validity of these business executives with grit, talents and acumen.